Review: Nathan Intensity 2L hydration pack

4 mile run tonight while the sun was setting.
The rest of my pictures were deleted by an MP who tracked me down on a complaint that I was photographing the base. He took my iPhone, then viewed and deleted the pictures before writing me up. I wasn't even aware that I had been doing something wrong.
A very upsetting end to a nice run.
Anyhow, 12 miles to run down sometime this weekend. I'm feeling a little jaded right now but hopefully I'll get into the spirit soon.

Otherwise in the news, I received my Nathan Intensity 2L hydration pack! I took it on my short run tonight to work out the kinks before really needing it on longer distances.

Pros:
Didn't bounce.
Small and tight on my back but yet holds more than I even need to carry right now.
Easy to adjust - I think.
Easy to take apart and clean.
Key ring and strap so the keys don't bounce at all in the bag.
Mesh pocket holds my iPhone while I have it on speaker so I can hear music (because you can't wear headphones running on base).

Cons:
Bite valve was very stiff and I had a difficult time getting a sip and then pushing it back in to lock. This SUCKED. I tried using my fingers and my teeth. It is very difficult to pull out and in on top of having slick sweaty fingers.
I felt rubbing against a piece of plastic under one arm... I'm worried about chaffing and need to look at adjusting it differently if possible.
And lastly, the cords all seemed to loosen up as I ran and I had to keep adjusting them tighter. I am not sure if this is my problem or if the fabric is too slick. I'm really worried about this one because I'm not sure I can knot the cords in place because they'll stick out and rub against my arms I think.
Argh. I really do like this water pack.... It got GREAT reviews all over with only the mention of the bite valve problem. I think there have been complaints about the bladder but I'm wondering if I have an updated model because mine seemed secure. It does slosh, but didn't really move around or slouch - and I definitely didn't notice it beyond hearing water in it.
I'm just not sure if the issues are all me yet or if it's the Nathan design. It was kind of a love/hate run with it tonight and that has me a little worried. I am really, really not a big fan of hand carrying water though, so I'm going to really try to make this work.
I did get a good deal on mine: $69 on Amazon with no tax and no shipping (I got the last one sold by Amazon however). I couldn't find it anywhere local and online it's normally $85 plus possibly the tax/shipping on top!

Change Up

I wasn't planning on running until I put on my shoes and headed out the door. My knee had been tender, especially on stairs lately so I haven't pushed myself at all. The most I had done for the last 4 days was the daily one mile dog walk. So, by now, I had enough of sitting around.

Driving around post, I was thinking of changing things up. Firstly, I put on my older Brooks Adrenaline 8 shoes, the predecessor to it's upgrade that I usually wear. I thought that maybe I needed to get back to switching off between two shoes to avoid overuse injuries. Then, I added coconut water to my powerade zero to try out the natural carbs and extra potassium for avoiding leg cramps and soreness. I also decided to get out of the forest and run some open road. Maybe running the technical trail every time was wearing out my knee... I thought a smoother surface might be in order. Smooth, but it was not flat I should add. Lastly, I had received my Clif Bar samples and wanted to try something. I opened up the Blueberry Luna Moons and popped one in with a couple big swigs of my mixed brew. It was much better than the Clif Shot Bloks. Much better. It tasted a lot more natural and it was a smaller serving. Another change in this run - no iPod. I had forgotten my headphones and anyway it's against Fort Rucker rules to wear headphones while running near roads.
I decided to start my run near the beginning/ending of my last 8 mile run on Hatch road. This 3 mile section spreads from the Engineer/Hatch road intersection, past the Chinook helicopters at Knox ARMY Heliport to the Hanche Heliport turn where the Apache and Kiowa pilots train. It would be just a few hills, some new scenery and low traffic. My first concern though was where to park. I pulled into Knox AHP, where an MP was staked out and asked him for suggestions. He was super helpful and said parking on the side of the road is fine but recommended a hidden parking lot just behind the tarmac. So this way I would start my run at the Chinook AHP and use my GPS watch to just mark out when to turn around.
I take off and in the 1st mile I decided to run 6 that day, as long as my knee felt good. I also realized I had left my Powerade/Coconut brew on top my car. Great, it'll boil there until I returned. The sun was blazing at about 92 degrees. The southern sunlight is totally different than back home in Kansas too. The only way I can explain it is that it's just really intense.
Pretty quickly my run deteriorated. Although there was a storm coming and thunder in the distance, shady spots of road seemed far and few between. Energy just seemed to leak out of my body. The missing hydration was a little bit of a mental blow as well as physical. I decided the best thing to do was shorten my loop. Not total distance, just shorten my out-and-back to 1.5 miles so I can return to my car halfway and reassess the situation.
I noticed after peeing in the woods that I had these black specks all over my legs. Looking closer, they were just bits of plant debris. Whew, thought they could be small bugs.
And at 3 miles, I reached my car, grabbed my warm water and chugged a good bit. My stomach had been cramping and my sweat was really cool on my body which I read is a sign of heat exhaustion. It was obviously really hot outside and I felt really hot, but there's also a chill close to my skin. My body was workin hard to bring down the internal temps. I sat for a bit in my car, which I don't normally do. My thoughts were pretty negative...
"You just did 10 last weekend and you can't even do 3 now?"
"You're walking waaaay too much, you should be going faster."
"People are totally watching you from the heliport and stressing you're a bomber...quit looking at the gate guards so much."
"My knee is gonna give out..."
"Wow, my shirt is soaked."
"Maybe peeing again would help my stomach cramps... or throwing up."
"Maybe I ate too soon to running, ...too much sugar... too much new stuff...."
"Why can't I look like the Runners World covers all tan, sweat gleaming, and effortless form.."

*sigh*
As if the run isn't hard enough.
I decided I felt a little better. I grabbed a water bottle and headed back out to double my mileage. Within the first mile I was considering turning around. My body just felt exhausted.
I looked down at my legs with the specks still on them and they seemed to be moving individually. Maybe they were bugs after all! I bent down to look closer.. Naw, they're not moving. I picked one on my hand - definitely plant parts. Geesh.
Okay, now it's time for my own mental tricks. I invited tiredness to jump on my back and I accepted how I felt. I kept telling myself something a civil war soldier in The Blue and The Gray would tell himself: the body can go farther than the mind. My running friend texted and I put her on speaker and told her how I felt. She encouraged me and it helped. Laughing and smiling I got off the phone. A mile or two down the road a cyclist that had whizzed past me before, waving, now slowed down to almost a stop and asked me if I had enough water. Awe. Damn, that was nice. I assured him I did and after commiserating about the heat he started grinding up the hill that was in front of us, hooping and hollering. I was smiling again and soon enough I saw the Chinook, monstrous on a runway, before me and that meant my car was near. I finished 6 miles. Not the longest run I've done my any means, but it wasn't the easiest to lay down either.

Alligators and other hazzards

As soon as I pull up to my new favorite dirt road near the blackhawk heliport, a car pulls up behind me. A gray, unmarked car. At first, I think that I may have running company on the road and I'm disappointed. Well, I became even more disappointed because they were actually military police. Damn.

There were two of them and they were really nice. They asked me if I was okay (probably assuming I might be having car problems). I answered that I was going out for a run on this dirt road.

They let me know that it was unauthorized and I would need to run in a designated area. *sigh* He broke it down for me that this road is a bow hunting ground and for my safety, I couldn't do it. *true*

We talked for a little bit about where the designated areas on base are located. One being the Beaver Lake Trail that is nice, but so short and paved. The other as Parcours Lake trail. I exclaim, "The one with alligators?!" "Yeap."

See, now to me, being an accidental bow hunting target seems less likely than running around alligator territory. But what does a civilian know?

He also noted that I could run along any road, but that I'd need to remove my headphones. *ugh!*

After they took off I decided to drive around a bit and think about it. Running along any road is going to be bad idea because it's already really sunny and really hot.

I decided to go to Parcours Lake. I ran this one time last year and just remember it being really short and really technical. Technical where it goes to single track and even then, half of the path has fallen down a ravine 35 feet. Or the path is broken up and caved due to tree roots that are actually probably still holding the other half of the path in place. The path winds so much its difficult to know which way to go. Even though it's used as an ARMY obstacle course, and signs are everywhere, unless you find the start they are useless. You'll run past Obstacle 3A to just run into Obstacle 16A seconds later. The other challenge is the rolling hills which wind down to the lake area and raise my blood pressure thinking about alligators.

After starting off with the blocked staircase that pretty much takes you to the top of the "hill" you then go into the forest area. This section which I think might be called "B Trail" is really short but winds quite a bit. I have no idea how long it is but guessing I would say a mile. It's a mile that kicks your glutes into high gear as you use your stabilizing muscles and push off uneven ground and climb tons of short hills.

Coming out of the forest I ran into another runner across the street coming out of the woods. I found out from him that the trail actually continues on another mile or more. SWEET! I had no idea when I ran it last time that there was so much more trail. This section which I think is "A Trail" was much flatter and the dirt path compacted and easier to traverse. I really flew this part of the trail.

Something interesting about this trail are the 1950s physical fitness signs. "Exercises" like the "toe touch" just seem so silly now. But there were harder ones like the swinging rings and the pull up bar. I tried to do a pull up and ... yeah,.... nope.

Anyway, it turned out to be a really fun run. Really different and technical - kept my mind busy. It was also fun getting a little lost and not really knowing how far it would be or where it would end. I just really had to go on how I felt and turn around when I started to feel tired.

I got back to my car and saw that I'd been gone almost an hour. So, based on my running I would guess I ran 4 miles of very technical trail. I felt tired, but mostly due to the heat as it was about noon. My legs were shot though. After 8 miles on Saturday, they weren't completely recovered. I went out on tired legs and had only planned on an easy jog on the dirt road when I came out today. So, doing 4 hard miles was unexpected but really great.