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50k training: quick and dirty ‘stuff’ review

50k training: quick and dirty ‘stuff’ review

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I generally don’t write (or haven’t written, I should say) gear reviews because there is no shortage of posts out there on this very subject–and often written by people much better-versed in this topic than me–but a few friends had inquired about some stuff I’ve used for this training cycle, so I thought I’d throw it all down here for your edification. None of the links are affiliates; in other words, I paid for everything I’m using and am not getting any sort of kick-back to help promote it. Basically: these are my opinions. Promise. 🙂

  • Ultimate Direction (UD) women’s ultra vesta. I originally learned about the UD brand when I was a ZOOMA Napa Valley ’14 ambassador, though at the time I wasn’t using any of their products. UD worked with Scott Jurek’s wife, Jenny, also a kickass runner, to design this ergonomically-appropriate-for-women hydration vest, so when I saw that it had the Jurek seal of approval, I felt like it had more credibility than some of the other systems out there. Since moving to CA, I’ve had to get used to carrying my own fluids on my run (world’s smallest violin here, I know), and for a long time, I was simply using a Nathan belt. Nathan worked for a long time for me–the better part of this year, in fact–but eventually, I think it began to kinda fuck with my hips some and exacerbate some long-dormant ITBS. I had high hopes for this vest, and it has been wonderful. I honestly can’t feel it when I wear it–it’s pretty much like a second skin now–and I think it’s only chafed me maaaaaaybe once in the past 3-4 months. My only complaint? The bottles’ lids are kinda finicky (to me), so if you’re not super careful to shut them as tightly as possible, you’ll be reminded of your errors when you go to run and have a bunch of water fly up and hit you in the face or go barreling up your nose.  You can definitely use other bottles in place of the UD ones though–and for a while, I was using my Nathan ones instead–but honestly, my issue is probably more user error than anything.
from the UD website
from the UD website

 

recycled pic from a MP summit with Saurabh, but this is a decent profile view of the vest. On the front I've got 2 10-oz (ish) Nathan bottles (plus I managed to stick my Note 4 behind one of the water bottles), and on the back side, I've got a small fridge's worth of food and another 20 oz of fluids in the UD bottles.
recycled pic from a MP summit with Saurabh, but this is a decent profile view of the vest. On the front I’ve got 2 10-oz (ish) Nathan bottles (plus I managed to stick my Note 4 behind one of the water bottles), and on the back side, I’ve got a small fridge’s worth of food and another 20 oz of fluids in the UD bottles. On my run on Sunday, the pack also contained two headlamps, a jacket, and food, so yea… you can get a lot in there.
another recycled pic so you can see the back view of the vest. the way that the vest sits on my chest makes me pretty much forget it's there; no bouncing, no chafing, nothing. for sizing reference, I ordered a M/L but probably could have gone down to the S because there's not much up top. if you do go for the larger size, though, and find that it's a bit bigger than you were anticipating, you can pull the straps so the vest becomes snug with chest/sternum and it'll be allllllll good.
another recycled pic so you can see the back view of the vest. the way that the vest sits on my chest makes me pretty much forget it’s there; no bouncing, no chafing, nothing. for sizing reference, I ordered a M/L but probably could have gone down to the S because there’s not much on me up top (barely pushing a 34B, for reference). if you do go for the larger size, though, and find that it’s a bit bigger than you were anticipating, you can pull the straps so the vest becomes snug with your chest/sternum and it’ll be allllllll good.

 

  • shoes. Honestly, whatever. If you want trail shoes, then go for it, but I haven’t made the plunge because I’ve felt perfectly fine alternating between Ghosts (which function similar to Hokas) and PureFlows. Some people swear by exclusively using trail shoes for trail running, while others say it doesn’t matter as much as we think. Whatever floats your boat, gang.

 

  • food/fuel. I think it’s a tad problematic to liken our bodies to machines or engines, buuuuuuuuut in the discourse of endurance running, I think it can actually be pretty helpful. That said, quality in = quality out. If your diet sucks, and you’re not rebounding and recovering from hours-long runs with nutrient-dense food, your subsequent runs and, in general, your body, will surely suffer. It’s not rocket science. It’s hard to recommend any one particular thing because our bodies all respond so differently to food (especially mid-run!), but here’s a smattering of what’s worked for me, in no particular order: pancakes, naan, clementines, bananas, pepitas, pbj on white bread, super salty pretzels, and variably, nuun. When I’m out for several hours and am refueling with non-gel (read: real food) items, I tend to go for the stuff that’s going to give me calories as quickly as possible and, hopefully, with as few gastrointestinal issues as possible. My stomach can react absolutely horrendously to eating while running (hello, the 10+ times I had to go ‘bond with nature’ on my Saturday run, ugh!), so if you’re anything like me, I can’t recommend enough experimenting early and often throughout your training.  If, however, you’ve got a stomach of steel… you’re lucky.

 

  • socks. Whatever. Injinji–the crazy toe socks–work well for me, but I don’t discriminate. Honestly, whatever is clean is what I wear. Again, some people swear by a certain brand, or a certain thickness; I think it’s all just a matter of personal preference (and how well your socks and shoes jibe in terms of friction, moisture, and the like). I tend to swing Injinji and thin, but YMMV.

 

  • safety items: a headlamp and vest. My life schedule necessitates that I usually run between the hours of 4-6 a.m., and in Chicago, while a bit sketchy in some areas, it wouldn’t be that big a deal because the lakefront is completely illuminated. Here, though, I feel like the city of SJ goes to sleep at sunset and doesn’t awaken until well after sunrise; it is super dark here, even on the city streets! Shortly after I moved here, friends recommended the Black Diamond headlamp, and honestly, like the UD vest, it has been one of my best running investments this year. That little sucker is BRIGHT on the roads/trails and super comfortable on my head: no bouncing, no moving, nada.
pic from amazon, where I purchased this gem
pic from amazon, where I purchased this gem

For a vest, honestly, I think anything could work, as long as it’s bright and visible, but I’ve been wearing this guy for most of this year, and it’s been great. The less I notice something on the run, the happier I am. 🙂

 

  • reference/inspiration. I don’t know what I don’t know, so I turn to folks who have done this stuff before to show me the way. A couple sites, beyond my friends and cross-country/international training buddies, that have been especially helpful:
  1. strengthrunning.com. There’s lots of crap information on the webz about running, much of it nearly dangerously inaccurate, so this guy and his site is like a beacon of light on a stormy sea… or something. Anyway, he knows his stuff. Here’s a good one: http://strengthrunning.com/2014/08/how-to-become-an-ultramarathoner-5-steps-to-running-your-first-ultra/.
  2. rockcreekrunner.com. Recently relocated to NC but originally from DC, Doug knows trails and trail running and is determined to let people in on the little secret that trails and ultras are FANTASTIC. His site has lots of good, useful, and accessible information for runners who are looking to make the leap from marathons to ultras, and I appreciate his candor in his approach. He actually makes this stuff sound more fun than crazy 🙂  A good one: http://www.rockcreekrunner.com/2012/11/15/42-reasons-to-trail-run/.
  3. http://chrisultra.blogspot.com/.  For you IL-based folks, a downstate guy, who’s vegetarian, who’s been doing ultras for a good long while. Lots of good information on his site (especially if you’re looking to run some longer ones in IL). It’s been fun to follow his training since we connected in RYBQ in 2012. A good one from him:   http://chrisultra.blogspot.com/2014/09/my-ultra-running-advice.html.
  4. http://www.NoMeatAthlete.com. But of course. Matt’s another vegan ultra runner who’s got lots of good reference and inspiration up his sleeve, and it’s through him that I learned about Jason, and Doug, and Chris. Like the other guys, Matt’s got a lot of really great info on his site about going ultra, in addition to some good vegan lifestyle-centered stuff, too. One of the reasons I like Matt’s site and value what he has to say is because he’s married and has two small children at home and still manages to figure out how to get shit done and do crazy stuff, like train for and complete a 100-miler. One of his best: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/you-can-run-an-ultramarathon/.
  5. http://www.dirtytrailshoes.com/. Scott was an SF Marathon Ambassador this year, which is how I got to know him and began to follow his training on Strava (which is another great source of motivation, by the way). Scott’s well-versed in trails and ultras and has a ton of good information on his site, including some really excellent gear reviews. He also has some great race reviews and recaps of Bay Area races–super helpful to me since I’m still learning the area here and again, don’t know what I don’t know. Thanks, Scott!!! 🙂
  6. http://www.irunfar.com/. So. much. information. If you’re interested in stateside or international races, run-of-the-mill 50ks or crazy-ass, days-long races of attrition (hello, multi-stage!), chances are it’s covered here somewhere. Awesome, awesome resource. It’s from this site that I learned about Relentless Forward Progress and from where I’ve based a lot of my training for this forthcoming 50k. For more info about RFP: http://www.irunfar.com/rfp.Relentless-Forward-Progress-cover-250x375-200x300

 

I think that’s about it. There are certainly tons and tons more products, websites, books, or training guides out there I haven’t yet come upon, so I’d love to hear your recommendations. I think there’s definitely many opportunities for this stuff to go both ways between ultras and marathoning–what works in one might actually still work in the other–so let me know if you’ve come upon something recently that really gets you jazzed that might work in both marathon and ultra training.

Have an amazing Thanksgiving! It’s the busiest day of the year for runners (no joke!) and also one of my top three favorite holidays. 🙂

20 days ’til the 50k, baby!

Race recap: Nike Women’s San Francisco 13.1 to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Race recap: Nike Women’s San Francisco 13.1 to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

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Hello, very long race name and blog post title!

Just over a week ago, I ran the Nike Women’s San Francisco 13.1 in San Francisco as a member of the Greater Bay Area (specifically, the south bay) chapter of Team in Training. Team in Training is the world’s oldest and largest endurance sports organization, and since it serves as the fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, race participants fundraise in the upwards of ~$2k in exchange for being properly trained for their endurance event–in this case, a half marathon.

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As I’ve written earlier, when I lived in Chicago, it was through my involvement in TNT that I dove head-first into marathoning back in 2007, so when an opportunity to run NWSF as a TNT fundraising participant presented itself to me back in July, I was all over it. I hadn’t fundraised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society since the Chicago Marathon ’08, and I figured it was high time to do so–and especially since I wanted to do something to memorialize Traci’s mother who had just passed nearly a year ago to the day that I was asked if I’d be interested in doing this race for LLS. Honoring Traci’s mom and my own was the primary and initial reason why I forayed into long distance stuff back in the day, and fundraising with TNT this year for the first time in many years, seemed an appropriate and timely way to focus on the bigger picture, on the reasons that inspired me to begin to lace up my shoes a few years ago and start to do this crazy shit.

Team Ackron, or Team Awesome, with Mrs. Ackron, at the Chicago Marathon.
Moms are good at giving us perspective. Traci with hers + her siblings, post-CM ’08.
they rule. (also, don't mind the lady feeding the penguins).
she rocks.

Thus, this race was pretty meaningful to me, and I knew early on that it’d really just be part of my long run that Sunday, moreso than it would be a true half marathon-effort race. Plus, ahem… more miles for the day = a more comfortable pace during the 13.1.  (I’m totally drinking this 50k kool-aid now when it comes to my LRs and slowing the fuck down on ’em. Time on my feet FTW these days, friends).

Saturday: Team Yahoo! meet-up and Inspiration Dinner

With the race being in SF on a Sunday morning (and with a 6:30 start time), it gave me a perfect reason to get there a touch early and crash at my E-twin’s for the night. Shortly after I arrived, I met-up with the other folks from Team Yahoo! in the lobby of the Hyatt before heading over to the Inspiration Dinner at the Moscone Convention Center. It was also at the Yahoo! meet-up that I was finally able to meet the TNT coaches for the first time all season. I never made it out to any of the team practices because of schedule/family conflicts, but just as I suspected, the coaches were cool. They generally are. 🙂

Not long after our Yahoo! rendezvous, we all ventured over to the MCC for the typical and sacrosanct pre-race pasta dinner. Again, I was in the somewhat weird position of meeting all my teammates for the very first time, since I hadn’t trained with anyone at all for this event, but all good. Generally speaking, runners are fantastic people. The dinner was hilarious, thanks to John ‘the Penguin’ Bingham, and, appropriately inspiring, thanks to the patient honorees and their families who shared their stories, and we learned that:

  • Yahoo! earned top corporate honors by raising over $70k between this event and the NYC triathlon earlier in the summer;
  • this  year’s NWSF had approximately 1,500 TNT runners/walkers;
  • and finally, this year’s NWSF raised $5 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This race is  BFD for the LLS, and since the race’s inception a decade ago, it has generated over a billion – with a B – for the organization. Pretty awesome stuff.

Once the inspiring dinner concluded and the south bay team piled in for a picture, it was back to Erin’s for the night for a very brief snooze before race morning.

hello, team south bay!
hello, team south bay!

Sunday, race day

With Erin’s help (go here, don’t go here, this street is a big hill, this area is sketchy…), I ran to the starting line from her house without climbing any monstrous hills and safely in the dark dark dark pre-dawn morning. It ended up being about 3 miles to the start, and it was actually kinda cool because I ended up covering part of the race course along the way, kinda like a little accidental preview.

Once I got to the race start, I realized I missed the all-TNT group picture by about 5 minutes, so I focused on just figuring out where I needed to go and, of course, where I could use the bathrooms one more time. I’m not quite sure how this happened, but I had gotten assigned to the 9-9:59 minute/mile pace corral, so I knew I wouldn’t be toeing the line right at 6:30, but I figured I should still plan everything as though I were. I dropped my bag at gear check, stood in a very slow-moving line for the porta-potties before saying ‘fuck it’ and deciding that I’d either a) go find an alley or an unsuspecting shrub or b) join the not-oft talked-about group of female runners who piss themselves mid-race. TMI, sorry, not sorry…

Even from my brief jaunt over to the race start, I surmised quite quickly that it was humid–but not hot, just kinda… moist. Standing around in shorts and a LS was pretty comfortable, so I hoped that the sun wouldn’t come out at all during the run. Since moving here, I generally don’t look at the weather because it’s always the same (cough cough perfect cough cough), and race day mornings are about the only times when I realize that I should have… especially if I’m standing around for a while. At any rate, I made my way over to my 9-9:59 minute corral after having a flash of brilliance that I could go use the facilities in the Hyatt, the same place where I was just 12 hours earlier, therefore narrowly avoiding the necessity of pissing myself on the run. Phew. (Ed. note: I generally don’t wince much when it comes to bodily functions and running, but I wasn’t super keen on smelling like piss for more than 20 miles on Sunday morning. I knew you’d understand).

from the race's fb page. this gives you a good idea of how crowded things were on narrow SF streets with 25k runners and walkers. It definitely was pretty, though.
from the race’s fb page. this gives you a good idea of how crowded things were on narrow SF streets with 25k runners and walkers. It definitely was pretty, though.

Sooooooooo anyway, everything worked out–I didn’t have to piss myself, I was able to get to the very front of my corral and get outta dodge quite quickly, and I just had a super fun time at the race and as you can judge from my pictures, just had a fuckin’ blast and cruised cruised cruised with most of my miles ranging between HM-MP, depending on the course topography at the moment. I’m not super familiar with the ‘hoods of SF, but the first few miles took us from the start through downtown (ish?), then through the Panhandle, then through Golden Gate Park, and eventually, up the Lincoln Ave hill and down to the marina. This year’s course was brand new, and it seemed like parts of it were the same as Bay to Breakers or the SF Marathon course, though I’m not entirely sure; things kinda start to look alike, especially in GGP.

green = fast; red = slow parts of the course. giddyup!
green = fast; red = slow parts of the course.
running is fun! yay, running! (free race pics FTW. thanks, gameface media! I think this is somewhere in GGP...)
running is fun! yay, running! (free race pics FTW. thanks, gameface media! I think this is somewhere in GGP…)

While I wouldn’t recommend starting in a corral that’s several minutes slower per mile than what you’d usually run, it actually was kinda fun to try to chase down as many people as possible in those initial miles. Wearing a purple TNT singlet with my name on it was also a blast because people were yelling my name–as I was theirs–and when I’d see the many other TNT coaches on the course, it was a little pick-me-up to have them come over and chat with me on the run. I really had a blast and never really felt uncomfortable, as is the norm in a true HM effort run for me, but for a couple minutes somewhere around mile 6 or 7, my R ITB gave me some solid “what’s up now” scolding–frustrating but okay, but mostly frustrating because it happened on a downhill when I wanted to pick up the pace! Dammit! In fact, after a while, the ascents on the course became more comfortable than the descents. Kinda strange but kinda makes sense.

The hill up Lincoln was long but manageable, maybe from miles 9.5 to 10.5ish, if I remember correctly, but fortunately, I saw one of my chapter’s TNT coaches, and she just ran alongside me for a few minutes and just BSed with me and let me know how all the other runners and walkers on the team were doing. After I crested the hill–which, shout-out to the SF chapter of November Project because they were throwin’ it down up top with a crazy dance party for all the runners–it was a long descent down to the marina before a final more flat miles along the water and into the finish line.

running ascents is fun! (Karl the Fog showed up in full force on race morn and totally obscured all the views. Damn you, Karl!)
running ascents is fun! (Karl the Fog showed up in full force on race morn and totally obscured all the views. Damn you, Karl!)
somewhere along the marina, circa miles 10/11, apparently doing mental math (with some counting on my fingers for good measure)
somewhere along the marina, circa miles 10/11, apparently doing mental math (with some counting on my fingers for good measure)
props to Paulette for finding this one in the hw94134's flickr stream. probably around mile 12 or so, post mental-math. this gives a great glimpse into how foggy it was!
props to Paulette for finding this one in the hw94134’s flickr stream. probably around mile 12 or so, post mental-math. this gives a great glimpse into how foggy it was!

Somewhere around mile 10 or 11, the volunteers gave out truffles to the runners–how’s that for a crazy aid station–and shortly after I finished, a very sweet high school volunteer gave me the coveted blue Tiffany & Co. that held my race “medal” (read: a Tiffany necklace). I guess traditionally, suited-up firemen gave participants their Tiffany necklaces, and while they were there–you could go infield and have your pictures taken with them (awkward?)–I opted to instead go get the rest of my premiums (food food food galore, including vegan options *yay!*) and gear so I could get back on the roads again to finish my LR, get back to Erin’s, and get back to SJ so the family and I could leave for our Disneyland vacation. Serious Sunday funday!

tiffany box
all about the presentation. Paulette has a good photo close-up of the actual necklace on her RR here: http://www.justkeeprunningblog.com/2014/10/nike-womens-half-marathon-recap.html

At the end of the day, the HM was a 1:39 effort and completely comfortable and cruise-ish, even with the hills, so I walked away feeling actually really satisfied with how I felt after the race, if that makes any sense. I finished with gas in the tank–exactly how I wanted to feel–and though I’m more focused right now on my 50k fitness than I am on my marathon fitness, the NWSF half actually gave me a bit of confidence for a probably-in-the-kinda-near-future marathon just due to how I felt cruising. I haven’t done a lick of speedwork with the 50k cycle–again, folks, time on my feet is what I’m after these days–but to comfortably run 7:30s or subs, even on some hills, when I haven’t trained for that or those paces, was refreshing and surprising and…well… nice. By the time I concluded the day’s running adventures, I had posted just shy of 23 miles, so it was a good day, and I got a hell of a tour of SF in the process and some nice hills, to boot. 😉

Overall, I really enjoyed this race, considerably more than I thought I would. I don’t often run all-women or women-centered events, but it seems that the few times I do run them, I actually end up enjoying them more than I anticipate I would. I think this race was considerably more special to me just given my connection to LLS and the fundraising I did for the organization since this summer–and for that, THANK YOU for contributing nearly $2,500!–and while my expectations of “racing” were non-existent, I’m really quite happy with the day’s effort.

pace and race

Again: thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me in my fundraising efforts this year for this race, on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and for all your support. It means the world!