A Few New Ideas

First, I just found out that I got in the Cascade Crest 100 in Easton, Washington next August.  It looks like a spectacular course.  The trail passes about 30 miles northwest of Rainier so if the weather is cooperative we will have some spectacular views.  I had better start training for running in very wet conditions.  I was beginning to have a few problems at RR with wet and very muddy feet.  When I changed socks and shoes at mile 40. I had several "hot spots" developing that I think would have caused problems.  I have never had any kind of issue with my feet in an ultra.  The Cascade Crest 100 starts about 80 miles east southeast of Seattle so I am going to have to try some of those foot lubricants many people use.


I did a few things different at the Rocky Raccoon 100 and they all seem to work very well.  Well, one thing didn't work at all, but the rest was great.

To start with I ran in a new pair of shoes.  And I mean NEW!.  I ran in them 2 hours before the race.  I intended to start in them, but the weather was so bad at the start I decided to save them for later.  I put them on at mile 40, after the rain had completely quit and my feet were beginning to have a few problems as I mentioned in the first paragraph.  They are the pair of Brooks PureGrit trail shoes.  They were so comfortable when I put them on at the store I knew they would work, so I didn't worry about running in them.  I guess it helped that I had another, backup pair at the Dam Nation AS (6.2 and 12 miles out) and another pair back at Dog Wood at mile 60, just in case.  I did wear them on the plane flying out to Houston so they got a little more break-in walking around the airport.  Besides, they look cool!

I did make one potentially serious error regarding the shoes.  To save space in order to "carry-on" all of my critical supplies, I wore the Brooks out to Houston on the plane.  The Brooks were

a mess following the race.  Fortunately, I didn't wear my old pair of Inov8 in the race, so I had a

pair of shoes to wear around Sunday Night (I went to a Super Bowl party with my brother, Paschall and his wife Paula) and on the flight home, Monday.

Another change I made was switching from Perpetuem to Carbo-Pro for the race.  This was a real leap of faith since I received the Carbo-Pro about an hour before I had to leave for the airport.  (I have never used it before.)  I had filled all my bottles with another similar product already so I emptied them all and refilled all 24 with the Carbo-Pro.  Drinking Perpetuem causes me real problems.  I think it is the protein in the drink, but every time a took a drink of Perpetuem, I begin to feel like my stomach was about to explode, then I get the hick-ups, and they hurt.  This stuff has no protein and virtually no taste.  Over the course of 27 hours I drank 22 bottles of it.  I would have drank two more, but I forgot to fill my spare bottles twice leaving Dam Nation AS so I had none to drink.

The thing that did not work was my Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches.  Thursday afternoon in Houston I made 7 sandwiches, cut them in half and carefully wrapped each in plastic wrap.  During the race I ate exactly TWO!  There was so much good stuff at the aid stations, including egg and sausage and egg and ham wraps early, chicken noodle soup at all AS and potato soup at some stations, boiled potatoes and pizza. (I can't handle pizza after an ultra much less during one.)   They even had pecan and apple pie at one aid station.  I did eat some of each. They also had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I didn't eat any of theirs PBJ either.  I threw the rest of my sandwiches away.  I just couldn't handle them.  I made a bunch of sandwiches for another race several years ago and did the same thing.  Somehow in a race they are not appetizing.  

So the Shoes worked great and the Carbo-Pro worked great.  The PBJ sandwiches did not work and my pace charts didn't work either.  Maybe I can figure out a way to get my pace charts to give me a shock every time I get ahead of pace!  There might be a market for that.

By the way, I have decided I was not bitten by a spider.  I think the problem is a strained Peroneus Longus muscle.  It is frequently injured by overuse or unusual activities you are not accustomed to, like running 40 miles in the mud!