Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[avondale]

That's the way to stick with it! Think how much character you built! LOL

More seriously, if you get some sucky conditions later on, you can think, "Yeah, but it wasn't as bad as that long run where it poured the whole time!" And you really tested out some things like how to handle your gear in those conditions, how did your nutrition go in those conditions (i.e., M&Ms that have all their colors run all over in the wet). If you were going to get specific things that chafe you in those conditions, you would have found out. All that good stuff.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I'm probably over-thinking this.

I will also preface this with: DH is not planning on hanging out all day at the race. He's not planning on jumping around to the different spectator access areas to see me for 2 minutes. And that's absolutely OK. We have all of the kids and dogs that need to be watched, and I wouldn't want to sit around the race by myself for 9 hours waiting for him. That also means I can't just say "DH can hand ____ off to me at x aid station."

Prime day "deals" and thinking ahead to fuel and hydration logistics:

The basics: this is a cupless race, with aid stations approximately every 3 miles (total of 10 stations.) I just ordered a 2-pack of those silicone, squishable "race cups." 3 stations are hydration-only, and the other 7 will have hydration and food. Per the race website there's cut up fruit in buffet pans, and food items like ramen noodles, turkey and cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese, assorted gummy candies, potatoes, pretzels, popsicles, etc. I'm planning on spending as little time as possible in the aid stations because of pace needs.


The 50k allows 2 drop bags on the course. The first is at mile 9.5 and the second is at mile 24. I'm currently planning on having spare shoes/socks in one (if the weather looks wet) and refills of whatever I'm using for fuel in both. I'm wondering if it makes sense to have ready-to-go additional soft flasks or a spare bladder for my vest? I'm thinking that I could use a small cooler as a "drop bag" and be able to just remove-and-replace the flasks and unclip the old bladder from the hose and clip in a filled one instead of having to open the whole thing up, pour, burp, and re-situate everything. (I already have a 2nd bladder for my vest; this isn't something I would buy specifically for this use.)

ORRRR.

What if I ditched the bladder altogether and just use larger soft flasks? I don't carry any of my own hydration at disney races, and there is an aid station approximately every 3 miles, which seems like plenty without me needing to haul around an extra 2 pounds of water on my back. Currently I have 2 8oz ones that I use for electrolytes and caffeine. Nathan has 14oz bottles on sale for prime right now at $16/ea (it *says* they are usually $26 for whatever that's worth) and fitly has 12oz ones for $12/ea. I'm not saying I wouldn't bring anything, I'm just saying maybe I don't need to bring quite so much. Of course there's always the fear of them running out since I'm going to be back-of-the-pack.

Yes. I'm over-thinking this.

I'm doing my 16 miler on the course this weekend, covering the hilly last 9 miles of the course first, and then looping over to run approximately miles 3-6 as an out-and-back. (Miles 1-3 of the race course are a loop that comes back to the start/finish, and the first "major" hill of the course is somewhere around mile 4.) And I feel like maybe I need to start testing a few of these plans out sooner than later. Of course, we are currently looking at a forecast with approximately a 50+% chance of thunderstorms until around 2pm, and then mid-80s for temperatures, so it'll be extremely humid as well. I'm really hoping the forecasted front fizzles out or comes through sooner. If the rain looks like it's going to be a for-sure thing, I'll push it off until Sunday. If this training run goes horribly I will seriously consider changing my registration down to the HM.

 

[avondale]

I'm probably over-thinking this.

I will also preface this with: DH is not planning on hanging out all day at the race. He's not planning on jumping around to the different spectator access areas to see me for 2 minutes. And that's absolutely OK. We have all of the kids and dogs that need to be watched, and I wouldn't want to sit around the race by myself for 9 hours waiting for him. That also means I can't just say "DH can hand ____ off to me at x aid station."

Prime day "deals" and thinking ahead to fuel and hydration logistics:

The basics: this is a cupless race, with aid stations approximately every 3 miles (total of 10 stations.) I just ordered a 2-pack of those silicone, squishable "race cups." 3 stations are hydration-only, and the other 7 will have hydration and food. Per the race website there's cut up fruit in buffet pans, and food items like ramen noodles, turkey and cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese, assorted gummy candies, potatoes, pretzels, popsicles, etc. I'm planning on spending as little time as possible in the aid stations because of pace needs.


The 50k allows 2 drop bags on the course. The first is at mile 9.5 and the second is at mile 24. I'm currently planning on having spare shoes/socks in one (if the weather looks wet) and refills of whatever I'm using for fuel in both. I'm wondering if it makes sense to have ready-to-go additional soft flasks or a spare bladder for my vest? I'm thinking that I could use a small cooler as a "drop bag" and be able to just remove-and-replace the flasks and unclip the old bladder from the hose and clip in a filled one instead of having to open the whole thing up, pour, burp, and re-situate everything. (I already have a 2nd bladder for my vest; this isn't something I would buy specifically for this use.)

ORRRR.

What if I ditched the bladder altogether and just use larger soft flasks? I don't carry any of my own hydration at disney races, and there is an aid station approximately every 3 miles, which seems like plenty without me needing to haul around an extra 2 pounds of water on my back. Currently I have 2 8oz ones that I use for electrolytes and caffeine. Nathan has 14oz bottles on sale for prime right now at $16/ea (it *says* they are usually $26 for whatever that's worth) and fitly has 12oz ones for $12/ea. I'm not saying I wouldn't bring anything, I'm just saying maybe I don't need to bring quite so much. Of course there's always the fear of them running out since I'm going to be back-of-the-pack.

Yes. I'm over-thinking this.

I'm doing my 16 miler on the course this weekend, covering the hilly last 9 miles of the course first, and then looping over to run approximately miles 3-6 as an out-and-back. (Miles 1-3 of the race course are a loop that comes back to the start/finish, and the first "major" hill of the course is somewhere around mile 4.) And I feel like maybe I need to start testing a few of these plans out sooner than later. Of course, we are currently looking at a forecast with approximately a 50+% chance of thunderstorms until around 2pm, and then mid-80s for temperatures, so it'll be extremely humid as well. I'm really hoping the forecasted front fizzles out or comes through sooner. If the rain looks like it's going to be a for-sure thing, I'll push it off until Sunday. If this training run goes horribly I will seriously consider changing my registration down to the HM.

Aid stations every 3 miles is very generous. But if you're really dragging, that could be an hour between stations and it could be hot and humid. You definitely need to bring something.

I would say YES, have soft flasks waiting in your drop bags and trade empties for filled ones. I did this in my trail marathon and 50k where I had drop bags. It doesn't take that long to do a trade-off even if you do it yourself (I did everything myself).

Maybe trading off soft flasks will get you most or even all of your hydration. If you carry two 500-mL soft flasks and trade them both off twice, then that's 3 L of liquids in total you would potentially have. If you take a "cup" with you for the aid stations, you can supplement that. You could also refill a soft flask at an aid station, but that will take some time.

Yes, test things out in your long runs. One thing to pay attention to is: if you drink on the schedule you plan to drink at the race, how much liquid do you end up using? For example, I generally take 3 sips through my straw every half mile. Once you see what your drinking adds up to over a several-hour long run, then you can estimate how much you'll need for the whole race.

Personally, I pretty much never stop at any aid stations. I just don't like to stop moving. So I plan to carry all my fuel and liquids with me - excepting the drop bag trade-offs. But that's just me. Lots of trail runners like to stop and hang out for awhile at the aid stations.

Trail races are smaller, so the aid stations will not be very crowded, so you'll only spend the time there that you spend - you won't be waiting in lines or anything like that. Probably if you ask someone to help fill your flask, they will.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Yes, test things out in your long runs. One thing to pay attention to is: if you drink on the schedule you plan to drink at the race, how much liquid do you end up using? For example, I generally take 3 sips through my straw every half mile. Once you see what your drinking adds up to over a several-hour long run, then you can estimate how much you'll need for the whole race.

I have not been drinking on a schedule other than "oh yeah, I just fueled, so I need to drink some water" or "I'm thirsty." So that's probably something that would be good to work on with long runs over the next few weeks. I use text-to-voice for my interval timer, and I can make a complex timer and add in reminders for both hydration and fuel.....that actually seems like a good idea so I don't get behind on fueling. I just don't want to run into the issue I had in my first marathon where I was drinking too much, and ended up needing to stop at literally every single porta on the course and still felt like I had water sloshing around my stomach the whole time.


I'll go ahead and order some more of soft flasks.

 

[avondale]

I have not been drinking on a schedule other than "oh yeah, I just fueled, so I need to drink some water" or "I'm thirsty." So that's probably something that would be good to work on with long runs over the next few weeks. I use text-to-voice for my interval timer, and I can make a complex timer and add in reminders for both hydration and fuel.....that actually seems like a good idea so I don't get behind on fueling. I just don't want to run into the issue I had in my first marathon where I was drinking too much, and ended up needing to stop at literally every single porta on the course and still felt like I had water sloshing around my stomach the whole time.


I'll go ahead and order some more of soft flasks.

When you get too hot and/or too tired, sometimes you don't feel like drinking (or eating) even though you really need to. This is partly why I drink on a schedule. I drink 3 sips every half-mile....but I don't usually start until 1.5 or 2 miles, to try to avert the pee problem. If it's a cold race, I will maybe cut back a bit, but I don't think that's an issue you're going to have.

 

[garneska]

i am really bad about nutrition for my marathon. i absolutely sucked at it for my 50k trail race. I started bonking really bad, and finally at an aid station i had a cheese tortilla. it was a life saver. I know dont try new stuff on race day, but dont be opposed either.

 

[Herding_Cats]

You know it's the night before a long run when you're putting denture cleaning tablets in all of your hydration items to clean them. And then bagging up 25 servings of nerds gummies (2in x 3in bags hold 16 perfectly.)

The trail/course run is getting put off until next week as tomorrow is supposed to have thunderstorms, high-ish temperatures, and 90% humidity. Plus I'd be solo an hour drive away from home and potentially an hour away from shelter if the weather gets weird. And DH is wanting to do something as a family on Sunday. Shoehorning in a 4hr run + post-run recovery on Sunday isn't really in the cards.

I'm planning to run 2 8mi loops at home so if anything flares up over the lake I'm not more than 3mi from home, and DH can be to me with a car within 5min. Planning to use the mailbox as my "drop bag" spot with fuel and refilled soft flasks at the halfway point. If the weather is bad first thing in the morning I'm going to start on the treadmill and then get outside when it's clear.

 

[nancipants]

What flasks did you get from Amazon? I want to pick up some extra.

 

[Herding_Cats]

What flasks did you get from Amazon? I want to pick up some extra.

I got the 500mL aonijie ones. I already have the 250mL ones. They definitely have a plastic taste, but so does my $$ Nathan vest bladder so who knows. I’m trying a few things to lessen the taste but nothing has worked for any of it so far.