Review: Nathan Quickdraw Plus and Adrenaline 10

Ran a 55 minute loop around the airfield today. It felt quick and very easy. I got a chance to test out two new pieces of gear as well: 1.) Nathan Quickdraw Plus Handheld and 2.) Brooks Adrenaline 10.

I tried a few hand held bottles over the past couple weeks but don't remember all of their names. I was inclined to buy the Nathan because I am so happy with my hydration pack. They test their products out on elite runners and although they aren't perfect in design, I feel like their products generally are well made. This was definitely true for the Quickdraw Plus. It fits like a glove. When you put your fingers through the strap, it just fits and stays. There is no effort to grasp the bottle at all so you don't feel like you are carrying weight at your hands. A bottle wouldn't necessarily slow you down, but mentally, I was always adverse to carrying one because I thought it would at least feel heavy enough to be a burden. I have no idea why, but it just doesn't feel cumbersome or weighty in your hands. I did have a little trouble with the screw on lid. After filling it with water, it never seemed torqued down tight enough. I couldn't tell if there was water spillage from the cap or if it was coming out the top of the nozzle or just that it was wet from being filled. I think this worked out okay though. When I started running some water was coming out but I hadn't pushed down the nozzle stopper. So that was my bad - but duly noted that you can't just throw the bottle around w/out plugging it back up. I don't think the cap not screwing down was really a problem either - - and maybe it just looks like it's not completely tight, I don't know.
Anyhow the strap also has a small pocket for keys and a few cards and /or energy gel. I didn't have to put anything in it so I'll have to do a short review when it's loaded up with stuff.

The second thing I picked up were some new shoes. I've been running in Brooks Adrenaline's since 2004 with only one deviation to Saucony that was a mistake by Garry Gribble's Running Sports. (I have a very narrow AA foot and I guess Saucony is a fairly wide shoe.) I have exclusively bought my shoes from Elite Feet otherwise and recommend them to everyone I can.
I was a little worried about the 10 because I've read that there have been a few changes in this model. It felt the same as previous versions when I slipped it on however.

Running in it for the first time today I felt two tweaks: one in my left ankle and one in my right knee. *brow furrows* I was running on the right side of a slightly sloping dirt road however so at the very end of my run, when the tweaks started letting me know something wasn't working, I moved over to the middle. I hope this was the problem. The only other thing that it could be was that I used an old insert in my new shoes. Since Elite Feet was closed, I couldn't buy my inserts because Gary Gribble's doesn't carry them. I might run in the shoes once more on a different terrain before going and getting a new insert at Elite Feet.... even if that is the issue, it's just a $20 solution. Otherwise, the feet felt fine I think.

One other issue that is still bugging me is that I'm getting a little skin irritation on my outer toes even during short runs like this one. Mainly my left foot. I'm wearing those thin drymax socks and a little disappointed in them still. I really wish I could get ahold of the thicker trail version. The skin issue turns to blisters at anything over 10 miles and especially on the trails in the mud. So in a race, I imagine I'd be in for a real problem. And the most irritating thing is that I've never had a blister problem before! I guess that's what training is for though - working out all of these problemos!

Homes Tour

Image: wikipedia

Today I planned to do 6-8 miles as a low mileage week between 12 (which turned out to be 11) miles last weekend and 14 miles next weekend. My legs were still a little sore and cranky from my trail run this week, so I decided to run the miles out at the flat Army airfield.

The first loop around, 4.5 miles-ish, went fairly easily and fast. That's one good piece of news. Every time I run a loop or two out there now it feels relatively easy. I think grass and trail running is really strengthening my legs and building my cardiovascular health as well.

When I came around from the loop, I saw some Army tents and soldiers sitting out in front of them. Mostly, everything looked dark inside the tents and I couldn't make anything out. There were also a few personal vehicles around the tents as well. My first thought was that it might be some kind of training but secondly I thought it might be a dragoon encampment! Dragoons are re-enactors who dress in 1840's uniform and educate people on what it was like living and working in a frontier fort. They usually have horses, tents, shoot cannons, as well as perform ceremonies (flag raising/lowering) and march. There are women as well who demonstrate what it was like to live and travel as an Army wife. I've heard they also have balls with full 1800s gowns and dress uniforms. Anyhow, when I saw them I decided to run the street nearest to them and check it out. Unfortunately, when I ran by, it was just far enough where I still couldn't make out what they were doing and it's not in the spot they usually perform. I didn't want to run by if it was a real training exercise so I took the road that led away and up to the old disciplinary barracks... home to the military prisoners for over a hundred and forty years.

I ran past some horses behind the DB and guiltily snapped a pic (it can be illegal to take photos on a military base). They always have horses on base but it had nothing to do with Cavalry anymore... I think they usually belong to families and even civilians. Past the horses I kept taken on the hill that leads up to the prison. It used to be called "the castle" and was built by it's own prisoners in 1875. A new facility has been built recently, but it still felt wrong to be running up along side the huge walls and guard towers. At one point I ran past the huge doors/gates that were open and led into some sort of yard inside the walls. I wanted to take a picture so bad but didn't.... So just think Shawshank Redemption and you'll pretty much get the picture not taken.

Once I got up past the DB and back onto the main post roads, I headed for the old housing. It turns out that day they were having the annual Homes Tour which features structures from the 1880-1890s. People pay to go inside homes and see the architecture and collections... in the fall they do an awesome history and ghost tour as well.

I passed the homes, wound around to the National Cemetary (c. 1844) and then pass the golf course and back to the main road for the last 1.5 mile back to the airfield. I had filled my hydration pack up with 50ml of coconut water and plain electrolyte water from Whole Foods. I ran out sometime in mile 6 so next time, if it's warm out at all, I need more than 50ml for a 1.5 hr run.

Lots of people were out walking in nice clothes for the Home Tour. I think I was attracting lots of stares passing them by at mile 6, 7 and 8 with my sun-pinked skin, hydration pack and huffing and puffing. Hey, I was just taking the tour as well... at a little faster pace!!

Review: Chocolate #9 and Drymax Socks

Easter Sunday I spent with my Dad running around Sherman airfield. The weather was great for most of the run but started pouring during the last 1/4th of my 8 miles. I had on an ipod with headphones and worried about electrocution. Can that happen? lol.

The downside to running on Post is that it's a pretty good drive for me. I feel bad about spending the gas on it when I'm also going to Lawrence to run twice a week now. I usually try to double up on my errands when I go there and visit my parents and/or grocery shop at the Commissary, get gas (tax free), etc...

But I love running here for a few reasons. The loop is 4.6 miles which means regular access to your car amost every 5 miles. I also love it because it's perfectly flat. The elevation gain and loss is about 40 feet. :) Watching planes come in over your head also makes for something new to look at.

On the front side of the loop there is almost always soldiers or their families out there. The 2 mile strip is the Army Physical Fitness Test 2 miler course so a lot of military guys and gals are out there training or doing their test.

I walked a little too much with my Dad on the first loop. He doesn't sustain a pace for long because he's not trained up but naturally, he's way faster than me and feels pretty uncomfortable running my slower pace. He's going to start biking it along side me in the future. This is what we did a couple times last year and it works out perfectly. We both get a good workout in that way. So although we walked, time wasn't really wasted because we get to catch up and spend time together. The 2nd loop he went back to the car and I really booked it. I finished the last half of my 8+ miles in 45 minutes. I just felt like I really knocked it out!

Two things I got to try during this run that were successful:
1. Chocolate #9 Agave Energy Gel

Taste: Like chocolate ganache. Amazing... sweet but not overly sweet like GU.

Ingredients: Agave and swiss chocolate. So I was able to eat it with my allergies and not have problems. This makes me so happy. This is the ONLY gel I've found that I can eat.

Packaging: I was carrying around agave sticks which would work but they are as long as straws and not easy to carry with me. I'm so happy to have a normal, rip off packet now, easily stored in my pocket.

I did get a little stomach nausea for 10 minutes about 10 minutes after eating it. I am used to agave as I use it in place of honey and maple syurp for my coffee or pancakes, etc. But, I still felt a slight queasiness so next time I'm going to try half a packet, eating the other half later.
Also, I never felt a jolt of energy. This was to be expected though, as agave is a slow burner and that's the whole point vs other sugars that spike and then crash. I only ate it on an 8 mile run so it's not a great test anyway as far as energy. I'd normally not eat an energy gel until running something like a 10 or 12+ miler. But I will say that at the end of my run, I still felt like I could do more. So overall, I'm very happy with the product and have 3 more to try out.


2. The other thing I tried out were my new Drymax socks. I wanted and looked for the trail socks but couldn't find them in stores in my area. I settled on picking up the Running Lite-Mesh version. They felt a little thin and weren't even the thinnest one they make! As soon as I put them on however, they felt comfy and gripped my feet in all the right places. No slippage or sliding. I wore them on this run even though my normal Target running socks would have probably worked fine. I still had 2 blisters from my mud run last Sunday so I didn't want to take chances on interrupting the healing process. So, for my 8 miler the Drymax socks seemed to have worked - no additonal blisters. My current blisters didn't lose their new skin and my feet felt great.
I still would like to try their trail socks though. The lite-mesh version are white and trail running turns all my socks brown. And I hate to use bleach as it damages some fibers. I also wonder if the trail version is more sturdy - especially with how much twisting and turning your feet do on a trail versus on the road... Anyway, I should be logging most my miles on trails this year and my big goal race is out on the Ice Age Trail! Can you guess which race I've set my sights on???

Oregon Trail Run

My Dad came out with me to run on Post today. We ran 4.6 miles around the Army airfield but had to plan out another three+ miles somewhere else unless we wanted to go another 4.6 around again.

We decided to head off the airfield towards the 120 year old housing. This post is the oldest active military post West of the Missouri and and has a lot of beautiful old buildings and housing. I figured we could run up the hill and then just run in the grass along the sidewalks and look at all the scenery.

There's a huge grassy field that we ran up. It's a long hill that dips right in the middle which was created from all the wagons heading West on the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. It still has the double ruts from the wheels although they are covered in grass now (shown in the picture of my Dad). It was fairly steep and we looked back down the hill towards the river and talked about how difficult it would be to get where we were standing. The travelers had to float their wagons and force their oxen to swim across a swirling, quickly moving, wide, muddy river (river pictured at the bottom of the post) - unless they could pay for a ferry. I copied the inscription on the monument:

The stone monuments to the West mark the trace of the original road leading up from the river. For many pioneers, traders, settlers and soldiers, this was the beginning of the Oregon and Stanta Fe Trails leading to the Far West. The steamboat and ferry landings were nearby, and foundations of one of the old levee warehouses may still be seen to the east of this marker.

It had rained for days before we were out there so a lot of the airfield road was muddy and rutted out. My dad held up great for not having trained at all (besides working out regularly at the gym). He finished with 5 miles and is thinking about doing a 5k. I told him he could probably even do a 10K at this point. Hopefully we will plan one together soon!

Sherman Airfield lap 4.5miler

Well, I'm finally feeling like I'm running again. I've printed out a year's calendar, found some races to shoot for and planned out a training schedule. It feels so good and a great motivator for getting me out there on a cold day like today.
The weather is trying to push into Spring although it's still usually cold, especially at night. And we are still getting ice storms here and there. Ugh. But now, each month that goes by means it gets warmer and I will be gaining more endurance!! I'm finally feeling some excitement. I'm going to try to think of my long term goals when I go out for these runs where all I was doing was questioning why I'm out there.
Today I headed out to Post to run my 4.5 mile loop. The dirt road is dodgy this time of year because wet=mud=bad ruts. It was dry today, though the ruts were so hard you could twist an ankle if you were abset minded enough!
From here on out I will be working on upping my mileage - can't wait to see what my body can do with my new eating guidines!

Sherman Airfield 5 miler

Went out for a 5 mile loop at Sherman Airfield today. I'm trying to hold onto some of the endurance I've built up this year.
Unfortunately, driving out to this spot is pretty time consuming and gas consuming so I don't get out here as much as I'd like. And there are probably not too many more bright and warm days left in this year.

10 Miles at Sherman Army Airfield

Ran 10 miles around Sherman Army Airfield while my Dad biked beside me. I was thinking for that many miles I wouldn't be able to talk much but we chatted the entire time!
It took a little over 2 hours. The weather was great but hot so we kept drinking and sweating!
As for longer, weekend runs: I'll run less than 10 next weekend, then a 13 miler the next and then taper for the Dogwood Canyon 25k!

Same Route, Different Run

This time, when I set out to run the dirt road near the blackhawk heliport, I made sure I started early. Last time, hot temps quickly deteriorated my run. It was slightly rainy and kept temps down today. Not knowing if it had rained all night, I thought the road might be too soggy to run but I keep forgetting the sandy soil drains quickly here. Awesome. Another thing that worked out well was to bring these tiny gatorade bottles and hand carry powerade zero (calorie and corn syurp free). I drank about half during the run. Fab.
The entire run felt different this time. I set out happy and motivated. I thought of old races and new ones for most of the way. The road just slipped underneath me quickly and effortlessly (almost). Wow.
I stopped half way because the road ends and intersects with the airport. Sipping my powerade I watched new pilots trying to balance airframes the size of buses in the air. As they hovered, I'd hold my breath and watch them tip and totter back and forth. The tail dipping lowly. Most were probably getting a good tongue lashing from a Gunnery Sergeant Hartman look-alike:

If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human, fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grabastic pieces of amphibian shit. Because I am hard you will not like me. But the more you hate me the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair.

*sigh* Poor bastards.
I turned around and set off again. This time, I didn't walk much until the last third of a mile or so. In fact, it was weird, I was thinking so much that I'd all of a sudden realize I was walking. So I would start running again, until soon, I would again be walking!? Crazy. Losin my mind.
Tomorrow I need to set up for a long run again. Last week was 6.3 miles. I could do that or push it to 8. I've been thinking all week about a slice of road that would equal four miles so I could just go out-and-back. I don't know any long stretches of road so I might have to wing it and drive it in my car real quick before running it. I do know of a VERY looooong hill on a road that would equal 1 mile, 2 there and back. I could run that four times and have access to my gatorade & car for refreshing. Loving the idea of refreshment, hating the idea of upping milage and attempting to mix in a new, large hill. The rule in running is to never up milage/speed/terrain at the same time. Do one new challenge in a week (either up milage, or add speedwork or add hill training, etc) and dedicate a run to it.
I'm a rule follower pretty much in life and in running. Not because I'm so good, but actually because I'm one of those people more likely to get screwed if I don't.

Another Dirt Road, Another Heliport, Another Run

I woke up this morning with stiff calves, not feeling well, and feeling tired. I chatted with a friend on Instant Messenger and fully believed it was going to be a day in bed watching a movie.

I was wrong.

After laying around I thought cleaning the house might be enough moving around to loosen my legs. I wiped, vacuumed, loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the floors, two bathrooms, dusted.... felt a little more energized. Then, I ate my gluten free Envirokids Rice cereal. More energy. I ran two errands. Then decided, I needed a run. I figured I'd stay slow and if my calves hurt too much I'd turn around.

I was anxious to try out a dirt road North of a Heliport on base. I parked in the grass, got out my ipod and took off around 2:19pm. It was hot but with forests on both sides of the deeply rutted road, I hit shade on/off. My calves were still tight in the beginning but started to loosen up. Unfortunately, around a half mile in my foot hit a tire rut and my ankle turned quite a bit. Scary. It felt a little achy and immediately sore but I could walk on it right away. I decided to run and found out that it actually felt better running, but was noticeably sore when I walked. So I ran.

I got to where the road splits right and left, took the right because I had driven it before and knew finishing it and turning around would give me 3 miles total. This leg of the road had quite a bit more shade and ended at the heliport. Blackhawks roared overhead and I stopped to watch them take off and land for a minute or so.

On the way back, it was really starting to feel hot and I was needing a drink. A lizard sprinted in front of me: show off. The darkened woods around me looked cool and deep but like a mirage, pretty inaccessible as they are really overgrown and thick. It's a shame the military can't make more dirt paths with the mileage of forest on this base. - Especially since PT is a really big deal to the Army.

I started to walk on/off. My calves had completely worked out the tightness but my ankle was starting to stiffen. I walked a good portion of the last 1/2 mile and returned to my car at almost 3pm. Wow that was almost a 40 min run and might have only been 3 miles. I either really took my time walking and staring at the helicopters as they flew overhead or maybe it's a little farther than I thought. I didn't get a good mileage check in my car when I drove it a few days back.

This is a PERFECT run for midweek. I will definitely use it again and learned my first off-road lesson: watch the ground or twist an ankle. Noted. Duly.

When I hit that fork in the road I was really missing my Timex Ironman Speed + Distance watch that died. I'm hoping to purchase the Garmin Forerunner 405cx. It doesn't seem to need an arm unit, looks more like a normal watch (hated the previous forerunner options), and seems to get good reviews. Need to read a little bit more about it first however, so I'm off to do that now!