Trail Monster
I'm going over my plan for Burning River 100 in 3 weeks. I can have a drop bag at 26, 46, 65, and 86 miles. I'm figuring extra socks, maybe spare shoes, Advil, Gu/ShotBloks, headlamp and arm warmers (at 65), and that's about it. Anything I'm missing? I will have a two person crew meeting me at 6.2, 17.2, 26.2, 41.7, and 65.7. My pacer will join me at 70.6 and my remaining crewman can meet us at 86.7, 93.2, 96.2, and the finish (101.0). I've never had a crew or pacer before and I rarely use drop bags for anything under 100k so I'm a little lost on what I may need or should supply to my crew. Thoughts and recommendations?
2013 races:
3/17 Shamrock Marathon
4/20 North Coast 24 Hour
7/27 Burning RIver 100M
8/24 Baker 50M
10/5 Oil Creek (distance to be determined)
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Brands I Heart:
FitFluential
INKnBURN
Altra Zero Drop
Solid food or supplements? Body glide or similar. immodium, caffeine, extra watch. That's all I can think of.
What's been suggested via FB so far:
sunscreen
body glide
chapstick
change of clothes
S! Caps
tums/ginger candy
arm warmers/jacket for night
extra watch
bandaids
I don't have anything to add, except that I was struck at WS this year by my runner's drop bags. They were all food. Last year, mine were all gear.
I've kept it really simple at my races (both of them
stuck with sunscreen, bodyglide, socks. I worry about losing the bags, or things getting broken, so I stick with stuff I don't care if I lose (I did lose a drop bag at my first race.)
I do like putting in a special "treat" to give me a little pick me up. Last race it was a Mt. dew Code Red, and a kit kat,
next race I'm trying to figure out how to get a hot bacon cheeseburger and fries in there.
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Faster Than Your Couch!
insect repellent
sunglasses, if you don't wear them at the start already
wet washcloth or baby wipes
TP, tissues
Run for fun.
I have an iron stomach so I'm not worried about food. I survive just fine on aid station fare. I don't wear sunglasses ever. I think bug spray, wet wipes, and something to look forward to are good ideas. I will add those to the list of things to provide my crew. Thanks!
GreyBeard
duct tape / blister guards that won't come off.
needles (blisters)
2020
Vasaline. There are just some places I don't want to rub the glide.
Uh oh... now what?
We (doddering old joggers) were discussing the percentage of runners ignoring the aid station stuff. They come in, run to their cache, do whatever, and head back out. The aid station tended to be food (gels and blocks were available). The drop bags tended to be the chemical stuff, e.g., energy drinks, the full gamut of gel/block brands, chia seed thingies, and other mysteries.
Kathy noted one woman who would get a cell phone call when her runner was a mile out. This was the signal to get up, mix a batch, and be ready. When questioned about it, she explained her husband did not like the stale taste from the bottles. He goes only to runs where he has full control of aid availability, no drop bags, fresh aid only.
Some of our conversations about the almost thirty years of running are fun. With no intention of insulting anyone we wonder what some of the current runners would have thought one morning when we headed out on the 40-something miles from Lake Cushman to Dosewallips in the Olympic Peninsula. We each had a two-bottle fanny pack, two soon to be smashed PN&Js, some water purification pills, and two Hershey bars.
Trends and changes are both fun and interesting to watch... cotton shirts might be making a comeback too.
rgot
... I do like putting in a special "treat" to give me a little pick me up. Last race it was a Mt. dew Code Red, and a kit kat, next race I'm trying to figure out how to get a hot bacon cheeseburger and fries in there.
...
At Michigan Bluff there was a hamburger stand staffed by the local volunteer firefighters (I think)--many a runner would swerve over to the stand (even though they had just left the aid station) and order a double-everything burger, get their burger and head for Foresthill. I had one for my runner. I would learn it was the best refueling she had done since leaving Squaw.
Pam Smith, women's winner at WS this year, wore a cotton shirt because of the heat -- it held more water.
Yes, someone on a trail asked me about my plain shirt yesterday. I said I used the tech shirts mostly in the cooler months. She mentioned something about Pam Smith's innovation. That was the word she used, innovation. I think some Texas runners still show up with what looks like long sleeve white dress shirts.
Someone is going to worry a lot trying to figure out the secrets of the Oregon women--superduperspecial group of women.
Not sure I understand the benefit. Back in gradeschool, I was taught that sweat cooled the body through evaporation. Why would you wear something that prevented evaporation? If water just clings to your skin in 100 degree temps, my limited physics understanding says that best case scenario your body is absorbing as much heat as it lets out. I thought I read she was a science teacher so maybe I'm missing a concept somewhere?
She's not a science teacher; she's a pathologist. I can't say I really understand it either, except that water should evaporate from the shirt's surface, cooling it (and therefore your skin), and the more water it holds, the more it should be able to cool, right?
Part of the equation here, I think, is that the runner will periodically douse with water, at aid stations or in between, from a water bottle. So it's not just about evaporating sweat most efficiently.