Ultimate Direction Katoa II: A review

I was doing some Spring cleaning in our garage a few days ago, and I finally made it into our storage/utility room that serves as my "Man Cave" of sorts. No, I don't have a theater system or surround sound, it's actually just a storage room where I can stash all of my running gear without fear of my wife reminding me of how badly it stinks. With a wife and three boys, I don't get much storage space around the house, so this is a shrine for me.

While cleaning my "shrine", I came across a medium-sized box that contained many (and I mean MANY) different handhelds, waistpack carriers, fuel belts, one bottle systems, two bottle systems and even a hydration bladder setup that I recently won from Nathan Performance Labs. I don't think there is a single hydration option on the market that I don't already have at least two of. With the exception of the Nathan bladder system, I've used all of these bottle systems many times over, and I've come to know each of their strengths as well as limitations. The setup I choose on race morning greatly depends upon which options fits best for the race I'm participating in. It's all about dealing with the race-day variables for hydration.

At least, that was the case until the Katoa II. From my perspective, this particular pack from Ultimate Direction, has changed the way I think about hydration packs. The long and short of it is that the Katoa II may be the perfect waist pack. In fact, I'll go even further and say that I can't think of a single thing in which UD could improve upon. Seriously, it's THAT good.

Having used several single bottle waist packs in previous races over the last 7 years, my complaints are the same as many other runners:

* too bulky

* fit is not secure

* bouncing

* not enough storage pouches

* "slosh" around during running

UD has addressed each of these former problems with the Katoa II. Because it's a 2-bottle system, it doesn't feel bulky at all. The bottles serve to counter-balance one another, and the result is a more minimal feel in terms of weight and where it sits on your hips. The Katoa also has a thick waist strap and buckle that do not slip during the run. In this design, that snug fit helps you focus on your running and not on how much your waist pack keeps sliding down your hips. The Katoa also provides ample storage space for gels/nutrition, cell phone, a shell/jacket and small foot care kit. In all honesty, there is more storage capacity in this pack that I've ever seen in a hydration bladder setup, which is pretty impressive.

And the biggest selling point of the Katoa II is it's hydration capacity. Two 22-oz bottles give you enough fluid capacity to get you from one aid station to the next, and that's really all I ask of a pack. The storage and pockets/pouches are icing on the cake, but the fluid capacity is the reason we're here. Based upon my experience in the recent 100k, a couple of marathons and numerous training runs, the UD Katoa II waist pack is a piece of must-have gear for any ultrarunner needing to care for himself on the trail.

2012 Callaway Gardens Marathon race report

2012 Callaway Gardens Marathon (Plus an extra 7 miles or so of fun and frivolity, just to have some additional fun)

Today marked 3 weeks out from my start of the 2012 Iron Horse 100 Mile Endurance Run. As I'm running the 100k event, today was also scheduled to be my longest long run of training, with a 50k scheduled to happen. Fortunately for me, the Callaway Gardens Marathon is also scheduled for this very same weekend.

After my overly-understanding, incredibly patient, not-understanding-yet-accepting-of-me wife gave me the needed dispensation of grace for paying the $$ to register for it, I slipped into Late Registration the day before. Now my required long run could take place on a course I run often, and with a good number of fellow runners. This is so much more better than running such a distance by myself and in the middle of the night. I was pretty excited that it worked out so well.

To consolidate this report as much as possible, here are the relevant details of pre-race: Fueling plan on Saturday (day before the run) went according to plan. Pretty much adopted a fluid-only fueling strategy (Boost Plus is my friend). Clothing was shorts, The North Face arm sleeves, CEP calf compression sleeves, Nike compression short sleeve beneath a New Balance podium short sleeve technical shirt, and Nike Thermal gloves. I'm just now realizing how I sound with this description, and it does appear that I must have wandered into a running store clearance sale on gear. Multi-vendor mish-mash of my favorite running trinkets, but that's how I roll, I guess. I'm cheap, what can I say?

I also elected to wear my new Ultimate Direction Katoa II hydration waist pack (thanks honey). I decided that because this was to be a training run for race day, I would depend upon myself for nutritition, and not the aid stations along the course. The Katoa II provided me with (2) 22 oz bottles for hydration along with multiple big zippered pouches that I used for stashing my supply of Gu, S-caps, etc. All things considered, this configuration worked very well for me today.

From a pacing perspective, I am reasonably satisfied with how the day went. Again, I was NOT wanting to "race" this marathon. I had to keep telling myself that it's a training run. A 31+ mile long training run, and I need to take it slowly. Ideally, I was hoping to be able to keep my pace no faster than a 10:00-10:15 pace. No matter how hard I tried, I could not make myself go any slower than a 9:23. That seemed to be where my body "locked on" and it just hung there, no matter how hard I tried to slow it down more. In the latter miles of the race, though, I did have an epiphany on how to slow it down. I began to walk through the aid stations. I didn't stop, but found that if I walked, it would add some time on my feet, and that's what I was shooting for in the training run.

When I crossed the Finish line, the clock read somewhere around 4:23:22, which is way slower than my normal marathon times, but still way too fast for what I was planning on hitting. Either way, it was a great race with some great other runners along the course. This helps make all the difference, in my opinion. Just being out there with others is such a boost when you're comparing it to running this kind of distance solo. I'm really thankful that I had the opportunity to participate in this one.

Once I had stowed all of my gear and unneeded clothing in the Hummer, (it was much, much warmer by this time of day) I went out along the lakeside and hammered out another 6 miles or so to reach that 31.1 mile goal I had set.

In summary, todays run gave me the mental boost it was intended to, and I'm really stoked as I look forward to the Iron Horse 100 in three weeks. I will reach 200 miles of training for the month of January, and that's pretty sweet. I will likely begin to taper my mileage sometime next weekend and prepare my body for what I know is going to be the toughest challenge I have faced to date.

Happy running, guys. I hope your training continues to improve.

Iron Horse 100k training update and has anyone seen Winter??

It's barely over a month until I toe the starting line at the Iron Horse 100k in Florahome, and I'm feeling pretty stoked about it. In a lot of ways, this event has been the culmination of many things. For some time now, I've obviously wanted to compete in a 100k event. I'm also eager to get down to central Florida in the winter time to enjoy some warm racing temperatures. But...

If I am completely honest about it, this race is about one thing and one thing only, and that's redemption. There still isn't a day that goes by without me re-living the catastrophic turn of events that was my "2011 North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler" last October along the Pine Mountain Trail. I would be lying if I said I've put it behind me. I haven't. I haven't even tried. I honestly don't want to put it behind me because I don't ever want to forget what it feels like to just give up in a race, no matter the suffering. In four weeks, I'll have my chance to redeem my courage, my will, and yes, my pride.

On the training side of things, everything has progressed well to this point. I've been logging between 45 and 55 miles per week for months now, and I'm still training 6 days per week. I've had injuries this season (praise God) and I've brought my weight back down to pre-Christmas level. These next 2 weeks will see my mileage peak somewhere around 60 miles and then I'll begin to pull back into a "pseudo-taper" of maybe 2 weeks or so. While I will reduce my training intensity, I'll likely continue to run around 40 miles per week up until the weekend before the race.

At this point, I'm planning on taking the last 5 days off from running entirely. (I know, we'll see how well I hold to that one..) I want to give myself every chance to arrive at the race fresh and rested. This race is a 100k, not a 100 miler, so I'm not worried about it, honestly. I do respect the fact that this is over 62 miles of racing, and I'm going to enforce a smart pacing plan for race day. If I'm disciplined on that day, I hope to be able to cross the finish line in something less than 16 hours. Time will tell, but I think that goal is in reach.

In my next post, I'll share the volume of "ultra stuff" and gear I'm planning on taking with me.

Trying not to get ahead of myself ... again

My training for the Iron Horse 100 Endurance Run continues to move ahead nicely. I've been averaging 45-50 miles per week of training and have completed at least two 22 milers in the past few weeks. My midweek runs continue in the 6-8 miles per day range and I'm being fairly consistent about taking one day per week completely off from running. All in all, I'm happy with how things are moving forward towards February 18.

With the 100k now less than 6 weeks away, I'm nearing my peak mileage weeks of training, so I'm now starting to lean even more heavily on the weekend long runs and the back-to-back component that goes with them. For instance, I'm planning on running around 22 miles this Saturday morning, and will follow it up on Sunday with another 10 mile LSD run. This is a huge departure from marathon training tactics, and I'll be honest, it's not particularly easy to accomplish. It is making me stronger though, and I do believe that my endurance and mental toughness is seeing a benefit from it. I once heard a fellow ultra runner say that running a 100 miler is 90% mental, and the other 50% is physical. I'm believing that more and more.

I know how many of you have an absolutely hatred for the treadmill in your training, so I know you'll get a kick out of this. A few days ago, I needed to run a 24 miler. No problem, right? Wrong. Mother Nature brought a thunderstorm of epic proportions to our area and there was simply no way for me to spend 4+ hours out in it. What did I do? Bag the 24? Skip the run? Wait until another day?

You got it. I ran the miles on the ole treadmill. That's a LLLLLONG time to run on a treadmill, let me tell you. I started about 10 minutes after midnight, and I stepped off the 'mill at 4:25am. I don't know how I managed to do it, honestly, but I did. My relationship with our 'mill is a Love/Hate one. Sometimes, we get along fine; other times we hate each other.

Here's hoping noone has to do what I did...

Running where only goats can live

I ran (no pun intended) across these photos from last months Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Run in Silverton, CO. For those of you not familiar with the ultra scene, Hardrock is widely regarded as the most difficult 100 miler in the nation. The sheer elevation (over 9000 ft) makes finishing the race very difficult. The 24000+ feet of ascent through the Rockies makes it even tougher. These runners are STUDS:

Don't slip

Breathtaking vistas across the Rocky Mountain plateau

I would pay $$ to run this trail. Incredibly. Beautiful.

The ultragoodies are showing up under the Christmas tree

I just picked up a great deal on a new double-bottle waist pack from Ultimate Direction. I'm really excited to get this one in since I only have a couple of single bottle waist packs. For the 100k in February, having the double fluid capacity is going to be a big plus. I just really don't dig carrying handhelds, especially for 62 miles.

Once I've had a chance to run with it on a long run, I'll post a review.

"10 miler Tuesdays" continue; midnight 20 milers = running goodness

Really digging the 10 miler Tuesdays, and it's becoming a hard and fast effort as part of 50 miler training for me. It's really encouraging for me to see that I can now hammer out 45+ miles per week without issue, injury or fatigue. I know that ultramarathon training is supposed to get you to that point, and it really seems to be working well for me thus far.

I will finish up this week with around 50 miles, which is a decent week of training for me. Along with the "Tuesday 10", I"m incorporating Thursdays as hill workout sessions, and Monday and Wednesdays as 7-8 mile easy/recovery days. Saturday marks long run day, and I'm being considerably more disciplined about my long runs, and that's a first for me. During previous marathon training seasons, I was quick to cut out a long run at a moments' notice, knowing that if I grabbed a couple of 18 milers and a single 20 miler, I would be okay for race day. Not with ultra training. I've hit every single long run (except one) AND the back-to-back run that follows on Sunday. In fact, here's the breakdown of what I've done for long runs thus far:

• Two 12 milers
• Three 14 milers
• One 16 miler
• One 18 miler
• One 20 miler

The sweet thing is that I've done all of these within the first (6) weeks of training for the North Face 50 miler in October. By the time I toe the line on race day, my long run mileage tally will look like:

• Eight 12 milers
• Ten 14 milers
• Six 16 milers
• Six 18 milers
• Five 20 milers

The latest "weird thing" in my training revolves around the timing of my workouts. For the past few years, I've been religiously up at 4:30am to get the day started with a run. Since last November, I just have not had the discipline to be consistent about getting up that early to run. Eventually, I would find myself running in the late evening/lunch/nighttime hours, but it was not consistent at any single time of day. Since summer has started, I have (for some strange reason) gotten back into the swing of really enjoying doing my run (ESPECIALLY long runs) around 11pm. 

This just seems to really work for me, and it's the weirdest thing. Last night saw me start a 20 miler around 11:40pm, and I ran until around 3:15am this morning. I remember how much I used to enjoy running in the dark, and it really is speaking to me again now. I love just running through our neighborhood while the entire street is dark and everyone is asleep. For me, it seems to be easier (for now, anyway) to run until the wee hours of the morning, come in and shower, and go to bed. My wife thinks I've lost my mind, but I seem to make her think that on a regular basis anyway. :)

At least for now, I'm living the title of the blog; I'm definitely running after daylight ... :)

Tim Twietmeyer, Long run goodness and the Western States 100

Morning, everyone. I had a stellar 14 miler early this morning around midnight. I spent alot of the time concentrating on my running efficiency and form, and I gotta say that I had the best 14 miler I've had in a long, long time. Really concentrated on my foot landing, gait and stride economy. It's really amazing what level of feedback your body will give, but only if we 'unplug' long enough to be able to hear it.

So, I'm listening to a podcast leading up to today's running of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. Tim Twietmeyer is now on the board of directors and heavily involved in operating the guts of the race. For those of you that may not know about Tim, he's a past 5 time winner of the WS, and has 25 sub 24hour finishes to his credit. A real ultrarunning legend when it comes to Western States.

Over the course of the podcast interview, one of the hosts asked Tim how he managed to balance extensive WS training with the demands of a family, home life and the balance between  them. Tim came up with what I consider to be one of the most brilliant things I've heard in a long, long time. He said that he always relied on the "Domestic Tranquility Index" or DTI. Basically, if the DTI was high, everything at home was in good shape, his wife was happy with him, the kids were cheerful, etc. On a day with a high DTI, he felt that going out for a long run was acceptable. However, on days when perhaps the DTI was low, he called the run a wash and didn't go that day.

Domestic Tranquility Index.

Brilliant, man. Absolutely brilliant.

-------------------------

PS - I'm running a local 5k here in town later this evening, and I should have a race report soon thereafter. Haven't run a 5k in a couple of months, but I've got a fellow colleague that is going to be there, and has been talking a fair degree of smack regarding performance in the race. I intend of smoking him, but we'll see....

Now Showing: Ten Miler Tuesday's

A new summer ritual began today - the Tuesday 10 !

Learning it all over again

As many of you know, I've been doing this running thing for around 5 years now. I've made that progression from 5k to 10k, half mary to full mary, and then to 50k.

As you can tell, I've done the training it takes to accomplish these distances and endurance experiences. Althiugh I'm in a different running spot right now, and am training for the longer ultra distances, I still should know "how" to train for them.

But I don't.

Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of how important it is to have confidence in your training. That confidence comes from your past experiences with that same training. With the new distances I'm chasing, this is completely new for me, and its unsettling.

I am pretty certain that I went through a similar zone when I decided to tackle the marathon distance, but an ultra is different. If you haven't done one, I don't know that you can really understand what I'm talking about.

A marathon is a very challenging endeavor, make no mistake about it. But its over in a relatively short period of time. The North Face 50 miler I'm running in October can very easily see me out on the course for nearly 12 hours or more. And the majority of those final 15 miles will likely involve some significant suffering on both the mental and physical side.

That's difficult to know hoe to train for. Actually, I am now regularly rehearsing in my mind how I will deal with the inevitable problems and mental fatigue that I KNOW will confront me in the latter stages of that 50 mile course.

Make no mistake about it, I am so excited about running this race, I can sometimes hardly stand it. My mind also continues to plan ahead for April, where I will attempt my first 100 miler. But having said that, I do maintain a very real, very healthy respect for the effort its going to take to get me there, and get me through. I just believe that God gave us these bodies to make full use of, and that's exactly what I want to do. I want to know the outer limits of what His gift can help me accomplish.

It's been a crazy trip thus far, and I assume it likely will remain that way...

Training for The North Face 50 miler, but looking towards Leadville...

I'm now squarely in the training cycle for the TNF 50 in October. So far, everything is going very, very well. My fitness remains solid despite about 6 pounds I put on during the Winter. All things considered, my 50 miler training is moving forward with gusto.

But for whatever reasons, I can't get my thoughts to focus on this race. I can't even seem to focus on what completing it will feel like in October. And while I'm excited about running it in a few months, my mind eventually starts to drift...

...to Leadville.

Believe me when I say that I don't take lightly the very significant challenge that is the Leadville Trail 100 Miler. The failure rate hovers around 60%, and that sets the race apart from all others; Western States, Vermont, Hardrock - all are more forgiving than Leadville...so why can't I stop this train that I already know will see me lined up for this race?

Simply put, I honestly think I can train properly, plan wisely, and finish that race. I really do. If I didn't, I wouldn't even try. For the most part, I know my own limits. I'm not afraid to push though, and I can't think of a more glorious effort to push towards. Leadville. The name says it all, and I think I want a piece of it.

Only time will tell, but I've already mentioned to my wife that 2012 could very likely see me wanting to take it on.