A few after thoughts on Cat -
Dates may be the perfect running fuel (for me at least) but I wish I could find a way to make them less bulky to carry. 10 dayes take a lot of room in a small waist (don't fall it a fanny) pack. I consumed about 6 dates with Cliff Shots (organic and vegan)in between and my energy stayed high. The aid stations themselves were stocked with a pretty nice selection of fruit - bananas, cantolope, watermelon (great) and grapes (even greater!)and towards the last quater of the race I had a handful of raw almonds and that really seemsd to help as I think the fat in the nuts can help stabalize the blood sugar and provide a bit of slow burning fuel in contrast to the faster burning fruit. My science could be off on this but it sure did the trick for me.
My hydration could have been better. Not to be overly graphic - but I only peed once the entire race and that's a sure sign of not drinking enough. I did do well with the electrolyts (S Caps and Salt Stick) and I definitely believed I was drinking enough (at least until I almost ran out of water due to my unexpected re-route)but seriously you can (almost) never drink too much water on these runs and in these conditions (90+ degrees.)
Training wise I felt dead-on. Strong and fast and no real body issues throughout. The double runs really helped as well as the tempo runs as the trail running pace felt extremely comfortable. More of this for the next ultra! Kettlebells (as always0 were instrumnetal and the addition of planks really aided my core strength and kept low back fatiuge at bay. The Leg Matrix, bodyweight squats and lunges all helped as well - especially for the hills and I this I'll add even a bit more to help for those tough downhills next year.
Gear wise the NB 101 were a great choice and actually felt "sturdy" after a year of running in Vibrams and Trail Gloves. I don't know if I'll attempt Cat in "true" minimal fashion but I believe the new version of the NB minimal line (106 I think) will be zero drop and that will make a great shoe even better. I'm looking forward to trying them. I will however run Stone Mill 50 Mile in the new version of Merrell Trail Gloves (zero drop, Vibram sole and not much more)so I'm sticking with the minimal route.
My shorts kept falling down (and I aologize to all who ran behind me) and I've yet to find a pair of shorts I really like for hot weather. Send suggestions if you have some. I won't mention the brand name here but the shorts I wore sucked. I have been wearing Brooks shorts recently and are much happier with these. Another mistake in not sticking with them. However my brand new WrightII socks worked fine and I was a bit nervous as I haven't worn socks on a run since mid winter. Oh - and the NO Meat Athlete tech shirt rocks! Not just for what it represents (a lot for me) but in its performance. Thanks to Matt Frazier and nomeatathlete.com for the shirt and all the great information they provide. Check them out!
Thats it for now.
Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share and I write more if something comes to mind (about the race.)
Stay tuned for a search for an August race (maybe Trail Dawgs)Septembers haf marathon (Freedoms Run) and the ever epic Conestoga 10 miler! October should be Baltimore Marathon (for training) and the Metric Marathon which will all lead up to Stone Mill 50!
Thanks for reading!
Eric
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