Saturday, November 6, 2010

Last Long Trail Run

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."

- Juma Ikangaa, Tanzania

Got onto the dirt around 0630 this morning.  The temp hovered in the upper 30s to lower 40s until right around 0800 when I began to feel a little warmth from the sun.  It began peaking through the trees a little after 0720 with enough light to put away my headlamp at 0750.

I finished my first 7 mile lap around 0800.  Refilling my pack and getting something in my stomache was a pain in the ass as I couldn't feel my fingers.  I couldn't grab the zippers on my pack, couldn't operate the twist off for the mouth of my Camelbak's bladder, and pouring water from my resovoir was a pain.  Lesson learned, next time it's that cold I'll wear gloves.

Things progressed well during the entire 20 mile run.  Ran into some friendly bikers, and one not so friendly.  I understand that when you get a flat your mood isn't in the stratosphere, but if someone's offering help (especially if that someone's a runner who happens to always keep his mountain biking gear in his pack) maybe being a little more humble would keep you from having to carry your bike back to your car.

Only saw one other runner, the guy I've started nicknaming Mr. Aqua Velva.  I can smell him coming around the corners, it's THAT strong.  I need to start saying hi to the regulars, is it weird that I feel guilty that I've seen some of these bikers and runners on a consistant basis and don't know any by their real names?

I've found out an easier method to keeping fueled.  Instead of hauling around a couple of water bottles and guesstimating how many calories of protein shake I'm drinking I made single serving bottles using my kiddo's old 4oz baby bottles.  They're small enough that I can fit two of them into the outer pouch of my camel and now I don't have to guess as to how much I'm taking in every hour and risk sicking it all up if I get too much accidently.  Each one is exaclty 200 calories.

Now that I think I've worked out all the kinks, it's time to start dialing it all down to get some rest for the race.

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