Equipment review

Last week's training came up short in terms of volume but at least I finally managed to complete a longish run and test out some of my ultra equipment - some new and some purchased last season.

First a quick word on how near I got to my weekly (ambitious) time goal of 14 hours. Unfortunately I missed, yet again, by some margin (about 4 hours light). Here come the excuses...

The bike was light by about 2.5-3 hours because I opted for the car one morning as the weather conditions were really awful. It would have actually been quite dangerous to cycle into work. Then there was a big of re-jigging with my coaching/swimming and one of my morning runs that reduced the overall total. I am sure I could have found some way to get it done but in the end my focus was on the main set of the week, which was a 2 hour plus weekend run.

So it was up at 6am with all the gear including head torch (which was useful for the first 30 mins only), my new Salomon running vest and a new pair of Asics gel trail running shoes with Gore-Tex. 

The Salomon S-Lab Adv Skin 12 litre  running vest replaced my previous Inov-8 backpack (I actually returned 2) with the lumbar positioned bladder that kept leaking. This high-end backpack fitted very snuggly to my body (I went for Med/Large size). This latest version is 30% lighter (only 270g) and comes with 2x 500ml soft flasks for hydration.

I found the soft flasks to be very light and easy to drink from. I left them in the specially designed front pockets and simply dropped my head so I could reach the mouthpieces - one side I had water and the other an energy drink. There was ample of storage space for extra clothing and nutrition. On this occasion I only took the 2 soft flasks a couple of energy bars (only ate one) and my waterproof jacket, which fortunately I didn't need. There was no rubbing or annoying movement from the race vest. I reckon the soft flasks will be faster and simpler to refill during an ultra event than the rubber bladder found in many Camelbaks and the Inov-8 backpack I had last.

I purchased the Salomon S-Lab from the Ultra Marathon Running Store. It was not cheap however I managed to secure a decent discount thanks to Mark (friend and fellow experienced ultra runner) who kindly offered me a code that he received from a recent race. Full details can be found via the Ultra Marathon Running store website - Salomon S-LAB ADV SKIN3 12L

You can also see my mug shot below with the race vest on and ready for action.

The other new addition to my ultra gear was a long overdue replacement for my Asics trail shoes with yes another pair of Asics - this time the Asics Gel-Sonoma G-TX Sn61 Gore-Tex (picture below).

The shoes fitted beautifully and although the Gore-Tex makes the shoe a lot stiffer there was no rubbing or pain whatsoever. It was probably a bit too long a run to break the shoes in but I was confident that they would perform - as indeed they did. I have been suffering with some Achilles niggles recently and I was pleased that I did not experience any pain during or after the long run.

In terms of my older equipment - my head torch worked beautifully, yet again, albeit I only needed it for the start of the run. My clothes were all good with the exception of my Skins compression shorts that I wore under my running tights - unfortunately I got a bit of rubbing that lead to some chaffing. Nothing serious but could have certainly ruined my efforts for a longer run when it would have become a much bigger problem.

So the week ahead... I hope to get in 1-2 bike commutes as usual. I expect only one swim (need to do more based on my poor 200m time trial times last week) and then a good amount of  running, hopefully including a back to back session over Sat/Sun.

Equipment check and selfie before my long Sunday morning run

New Asics trail shoes - did the trick