AR Ramblings

Thanks to both Phattire.com and Conti for providing exceptional customer service! Getting the defective tire replaced was much easier and quicker than I ever imagined it would be.

I bought two Continental Race King tires. One was the supersonic version (handmade in Germany) the other was the standard folding (seemingly made in we-dont-give-a-shit-3rd-world-factory-somewhere).

Check out the video of this wonky sucker. The wheel is within 1mm of being true. All of the crazy wobbliness is from the tire! Unbelievable!

Matt mentioned in a blog post that he estimated the total elevation gain of the BMT to be around 50,000 feet.  That is a big number.  Spreading it across almost 300 miles helps, but that is still a hell of a lot of climbing.

Today, it occurred to me that the KML file I used to create my GPS tracking map also contained elevation for each of the points.  I hacked up a quick script to parse all 12,000+ data points and add up the cumulative gain.  After triple-checking the logic in my script, I felt this really, really terrible sinking feeling in my gut.  I just stared at the screen in disbelief.

:~/Desktop/BMT$ ./calc_elevation.pl
Total gain = 22325.804708 meters : 73247.3908856141 feet

In my past experience, GPS units have had notoriously large margins of error when it comes to elevation readings.  I can only hope that a little bit of that error is inflating the result.  If not, this might take a little longer than I have originally estimated!

Matt posted up his incredibly light, home-made kit over at his blog.

See below for my slightly heavier commercial one. (listed top to bottom, and left to right)

• compass + maps (TI Ocoee, GSMNP) + BMT databook
• 13L Ultra-Sil dry sack
• Patagonia R1 fleece pullover
• thermal hat
• 1 extra socks
• lightweight hammock - for comfy sleeping
• Salomon Raid 30 backpack w/
  • SPOT GPS tracker
  • Ultimate Direction water bladder w/Sawyer inline water filter and CamelBak bite valve - carrying a 128oz bladder, but will probably only ever fill it halfway.
  • Photon Micro-light - emergency light source attached to backpack shoulder strap; good for replacing headlamp batteries in the middle of the night
  • 2x 20 oz. water bottles - one for drink mixes and one for filling the bladder
  • mini-biner + masons twine - for bear bag / food hanging kit (not sure if I’ll use this, but it weighs next to nothing)
  • folding knife w/ whistle attached - the whistle is yellow and makes it easier to find the black knife if I drop it.
• Petzl Myo XP headlamp w/lithium batteries (3 sets) - lithiums are not recommended by Petzl, but I’ve never had issues.  I usually only run low or medium brightness, though, never on high.
• Medkit / toiletries  (see below for contents)
• waterproof notepad & pencil
• GoLite Poncho/Tarp - shelter & rain gear combined

• space blanket
• ClO2 water purification - backup, in case the filter clogs
• antihistimine
• ibuprophen
• anti-diarrhoeal
• sunscreen
• tweezers
• needle
• gauze pad, gauze wrap, tape
• lighter
• cover roll & Leukotape (good for blisters)
• alcohol swaps
• antibacterial ointment
• toothbrush
• Sportslick - for chaffing
• emerg fire starter (cotton ball + petroleum jelly)
• garbage bag (multiple uses)
• bug spray

• HeadSweats visor
• GoLite shorts
• Capilene T-shirt
• Brooks Racer ST shoes
• Sunnto Vector watch

TOTAL WEIGHT: approximately 7 lbs.  (including ~0.5 lb for the SPOT tracker)

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I just finished packing food for the BMT speedpacking adventure and the stats are in: 12.5 pounds and 21,000 calories.  That only works out to 1,680 calories per pound, which is a little lower than I was hoping, but I know that I have some quality stuff in there, and more importantly, stuff that I know I will still want be able to eat after several strenuous days on the trail.

Almost 40% of my calories will be coming from the new Caffe Latte flavored Perpetuem.  Yes, it REALLY is that good!

The rest of the calories will be comprised of various solid foods and a few bars.  I tried to strike a balance between finding items with relatively high-quality ingredients and tastyness, but with tastyness receiving a slightly higher priority.  The average intensity of this effort will be much lower than most other events, so I should be able to digest foods that just wouldn’t work for something shorter (24-48hrs).

I briefly considered an all liquid nutrition plan, but I could be out there for up to a week and prefer to supplement with solid foods during really long efforts.

Here is a list of what is in the bags, for those who are interested:

• Caffe Latte Perpetuem (the most important of all!)
• Organic Toaster pastries (aka pop-tarts)
• Bear Naked granola
• Snyders multigrain pretzel sticks
• Snyders pretzel pieces (BBQ flavored)
• Trail mix (whole grain wheat thins, raw almonds, cranberries)
• pre-cooked bacon (2 pkgs)
• freeze-dried pastas (3 pkgs)
• a few slices of bread
• Bear Valley MealPack (natural energy bars)
• Kashi cereal bars
• Genisoy protein bars
• Luna bars
• Ginger chews (spicy apple flavored)

I’m working on finalizing my gear and supplies for the upcoming BMT fastpack.  After the first round, my pack weighs 6.5 pounds.  This includes the pack itself, shelter, rain gear, warm clothing, med kit & emergency supplies, tolietries, water filter, headlamp with extra batteries, bear bag kit, and (of course) map and compass.  This does not include the SPOT GPS tracker that I will be renting (+ 0.5 lb), water, or food.  I’m tentatively estimating 12 lbs of food at the start, which I think will be in the neighborhood of 22-24,000 calories.  Food packing will be this weekend, however.

This seems like a very reasonable base weight for a 300 mile backcountry fastpack, but I’m still wondering if there is anything I can safely cut out.  Plus, I’m sure I’ve forgotten something that will need to be added.

It seems like this adventure has snuck up on me!  Less than 10 days and counting!..with plenty more packing and planning, and thinking about packing, and re-packing, and re-thinking the planning. Rinse and repeat 10 times.  Whew, I’m tired already.

My rant on the demise of the original Montrail Hardrock shoe has been one of the most popular posts I’ve written. I still get an occasional comment to that post over a year later. Since the original post, I’ve done a lot of (ahem) sole searching and have completely changed what I look for in a shoe. Here is a quick update of what has happened since then.

I was fortunate enough to have local über-underground-ultra-runner Adam Hill encourage me to try using a more minimalist shoe. I did a lot of research, tried a few more pairs of “real” trail shoes (Brooks, La Sportiva), but eventually settled on running in a pair of road racing shoes - Brooks Racer ST’s. It took several months to fully make the transition. My muscles needed to adjust to the lower heel, feet had to toughen up, and adjustments had to be made to my stride, but the result was amazing.

I’ve since done several 24hr+ adventure races, a 24hr rogaine, and run another SCAR traverse using only these road racing shoes, and my feet have never been happier. The only downsides are lack of durability and poor traction in leaves and thick mud. A little shoe goo can extend the durability, but not much can be done about the traction. [well, Adam could customize them, I suppose]

Along the way, I’ve become convinced that modern shoes cause just as many problems as they try, or claim, to solve.

One of the easiest to observe examples is that a lot of people heel strike when running. Why? Because the shoes they wear tend to encourage that behaviour. I would bet that if you take the average heel-striker and make them run barefoot on a hard, flat surface, they would quickly learn and prefer a mid- or forefoot strike instead.

The thick heel cushioning in most shoes reduces the bone-jarring impacts of heel landings and cuts off the natural feedback that would normally discourage a person from running that way. Another modern design characteristic which seems to encourage this bad behaviour is the lifted heel.

I’m not sure why, but all running shoes place the heel higher than the forefoot. So, even if you naturally have your foot in a flat, mid-foot striking position, you will still land heel-first due to the extra thickness under the heel of the shoe. The heel rise is usually less on racing flats, which is a big reason that I prefer them. Switching to a shoe with a lower heel changes how the muscles are used when running, so give yourself plenty of time to adapt. You are likely to have sore calves when making this transition.

Oh, all of that motion-control and stability crap…well, I bet that is only necessary because the shoe is forcing you to land on your heel and it is very hard to keep everything aligned when rolling from heel to toe without some assistance. A better idea is just to land mid-foot and not have to worry quite as much about all of that. As a bonus, your shoes will be a few ounces lighter without it.

I also read an interesting post on Joe Freil’s blog about pronation. It talks about several runners being videotaped and evaluated.  One, an elite level marathoner who had “excessive pronation”, but never had any injuries.  Another was a runner with a “perfect” neutral foot with a “significant history” of injuries. They found that the hips stayed level on the healthy runner, but dropped on the runner with the injuries. It was determined that good core strength was keeping everything aligned on the “pronating” runner, and poor core strength was the cause of injuries in the “neutral” runner. So, next time you go to a speciality store that has you stand barefoot and walk back and forth, and then tells you what kind of runner you are, just be aware that such a shallow level of assessment could be meaningless for you. Video analysis while running on a treadmill is better, but you may just be applying a band-aid (type of shoe) in an attempt to fix a more fundamental running technique/core strength/muscle imbalance issue.

I’ve learned that less shoe is better. At least for me. Fixing deficiencies in technique  and eliminating muscle imbalances has done more for my running than any shoe ever has.

I still remember the agony I experienced after visiting my first “professional” running store. They fit me in big-ass, clunky, motion-control shoes due to my “pronation problem”. My running that year was terrible, but I told myself that I just needed to give my body time to adapt, and the shoes were probably helping overall. That was complete B.S.! Since then, I’ve visited several high-end running stores and physical therapists to be fitted and analysed (including three video analyses). Over the years, my “pronation problem” has miraculously faded away. The last treadmill video analysis at a local running shop even declared me a perfectly neutral runner. How did I go from being a moderate/severe overpronator to perfectly neutral? Well, as I’m sure any good shoe company will tell you, it must have been the shoes!..and that we all should go out and buy another pair of their most expensive models after the next 300 miles!  Hopefully, I shouldn’t have to point out the stratospheric level of sarcasm in that last statement.  There are actually a few reports suggesting that the cheaper, less technologically advanced shoes cause fewer problems than the more expensive models.  I doubt you’ll find the shoe companies advertising that fact, however.

Although I enjoy running in my road flats, I still occasionally wish for a shoe with some trail-specific features.  Inov-8 is a trail shoe manufacturer whose philosophy I can get behind. I recently picked up a pair of Inov-8 295 trail shoes as a grippier, more durable alternative to the road flats. The 295 is the lightest shoe Inov-8 makes with their Endurance last. The lighter models all use their performance last which is too narrow for my foot.  So far, I’ve been pleased with them.  The heel cup doesn’t seem to conform to my foot as good as the Racer ST’s, but the grip is amazing.  Having a bit of toe protection is nice also, for those times when you get a little sloppy and have a high-speed toe to rock collision.

I highly recommend that everyone experiment and do their own research into the potential advantages of  minimalist shoes and barefoot running.  Just be sure to experiment carefully, slowly, and listen to your body along the way.

REQUIRED READING (these links were in the article, but if you missed them, click now and read! And do some Googling for similar articles…there are plenty more out there!)

• The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?
• Joe Friel: Running and Core Stability

…at the WNC Trailrunner wiki site.  This dude is rockin’ it.  Check him out.

And while there, be sure to also check out a few of the sweet runs coming up in May.  Lots of good stuff.

The next few days should be interesting. I’m joining up with team Checkpoint Zero/Inov-8 (or perhaps ROAM/Inov-8…I’m not sure yet) to race the 3.5 day Odyssey Endorphin Fix.

I had originally planned to skip this race (as a solo) and focus on the Benton Mackaye speed attempt instead. But when Checkpoint Zero lost a teammate and asked if I’d like to join them, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to race with a strong, competitive team.

However, in the time-honored tradition of mentally bludgeoning a team before they reach the starting line of a multi-day AR, fate still had a couple of more blows to deliver.  With only a week to go, another teammate was lost.   Meanwhile, a nearly identical beating was be delivered to team ROAM/Inov-8, who had replaced a team member only to lose another one with mere days remaining until the start.

A last minute decision was made to combine the teams and race as a “six-headed monster“.  Officially, we will be separate 4-person and 2-person teams, but plan to stick together and race unofficially as a 6-person team.  Keeping six folks together over 3+ days of wilderness racing is going to be a challenge, for sure, but should also be a fun and interesting experiment.

And not to be done yet, fate delivered one more kick to the nads last night when I discovered that my CatEye LED light for the bike was missing, and my big-daddy MOAB HID had given up the ghost.  After some tinkering, I finally put the multimeter on the battery and measured a dismal 0.05V.  Far from the 11.1V it should’ve been.  I ignored the warnings of fire and explosion in an attempt to open the casing, but it was a rugged sucker and I gave up before getting out the power tools (it was getting late anyway).  Hopefully the LBS or REI will have a decent, cheap LED that I can pick up this afternoon.

So far, the weather looks relatively nice for three days of playtime in the woods.  I’m hoping the water sections will be as fun as previous Beast of the East races, or the EFix a few years ago near Seneca, WV.

You might be able to view our progress at the Checkpoint Tracker site.  But so far, Odyssey hasn’t really updated it and has warned that comms won’t be great across the course.  So, updates may be few and far between.  I’m sure there will be a report or two following the race, though.  Heck, I might even write one…maybe…probably not, but it could happen…

Leroy Spartacus Roberts was built on March 19, 2009 and weighed in at a studly 26.8 lbs. He was bit hyperactive and uncontrollable at first (the bike stork was out of rear brakes), but the careful application of a BB7, a few pieces of scrap cable housing and some electrical tape seem to have him temporarily under control. He also had a bit of a cleft palate (tall control knobs on a Talas + small Epiphany frame = downtube interference), but thanks to the dedication and love of his father, a +5mm King baseplate was eventually located and is being shipped.

He may be a bit ghetto fugly at the moment, but after a couple of minor reconstructive surgeries in the coming weeks, he should be the child I’ve always dreamed of…

Cycling and climbing are two things that I truly enjoy, but that always get pushed aside because I’m too busy training on the mtn bike or running.  This little video made me want to throw the race goals out the window and just go ride for the sake of riding.  Good stuff.