Head to Toe - Some Thoughts on Gear

Don't tell the shorter people in front of me but I'm balding on the top so I wear a buff as a bandanna to protect from the sun. It's a great piece of clothing. I wore the buff all winter as a hat, extra layer, or face protection.  I got the buff at the Mad Trapper Relentless 50km Trail race...the event that inspired the DNF (did not finish) in the name of this blog.

I wear Lokus sunglasses because my eyes are more sensitive to light with my contacts.  I changed to contacts for Spartan Races and never changed back.  Muddy and fogged-up glasses are pretty useless, especially when you have nothing to wipe them with as I had decided to race shirtless, a-la-Spartan.

I often wear my Spartan Beast Race shirt.  It's light and comfy, and I'm proud of completing the Spartan trifecta last year so it makes me feel strong : )

I love my camelbak.  I have two bladders - a 3 L and a 2 L.  It's great for long runs but I also use it for shorter runs, without the bladder, to carry gear.  Depending on the distance from civilization, I'll carry my wallet, extra food, toilet paper, headlamp, flint, etc.

I only really like one of my three pairs of running shorts.  They are shorter and lighter Adidas shorts with built-in mesh underwear.  Unfortunately none of my shorts have well placed or enough pockets.

I love my new Wolverine-like blue and yellow compression socks!

I have two pairs of shoes - both minimal, 4mm drop.  I have inov-8 trail shoes with crazy grip and a pair of new balance for the roads.  I like them both a lot.  I may buy some non-minimal shoes, based on advice I received on running 100km.

So that is head-to-toe...let's see...what else...

I use Chamois butt'r to prevent chafing on long runs.

I've been fueling my runs with Vega Endurance bars.  I usually eat a half or a third at a time - every 45 minutes or so, on a long run.  I don't usually eat or drink on runs shorter than 1.5 hours (ish).

My foam roller has allowed me to keep up running.  Before I was foam rolling my knees would hurt all the time...to the point of considering giving up on running.  Foam rolling hurts because some muscles are so tight but man does it ever help.