Countdown to Leadville

It's been seven weeks since my first 100. This Saturday, I will embark on my next, setting off at 4am from 8th & Harrison in Leadville, CO. Am I ready? Yes. Will this one be better than the last? Yes. Here's what I've learned in seven weeks:

I love Montrail's line of shoes, but the Hardrocks I wore at Big Horn just don't treat my feet very well over long distances. They're too restrictive for my wide-ish feet. I tried a pair of 11s (I usually wear 10s) and they felt slightly roomier, but I quickly learned that having a pair of what felt like clown shoes flapping around on my feet while trail running was a sure-fire way to find every single stick, root, rock, rut, and pebble with my toes. Relearning how to run in clown shoes is not something I'm interested in doing. And spraining an ankle is also apparently a very real and concerning possibility. I almost had a horrible ankle disaster. So I quickly moved on to another shoe: The Streak.

Two ounces lighter than the Hardrock and not as stiff underfoot, but still well protected. Great cushioning and a TON of room in the toebox. I've spent hours and hours in these shoes with nary a blister or any other kind of foot problems.

I also took a look at my nutrition during Big Horn and realized a few things: I took in way too much protein. I took in way too much sodium. I took in way too much caffine. Hmmmmmmm... And that one has me a little perplexed. Since when is ingesting the caffine equivalent of 28 cups of coffee good for you? In ANY situation?! And why does every flavor of GU gel except for two contain caffine?! The only ones I've found that don't are Lemon Sublime and Strawberry Banana. The PowerGels I've been using have 200mg of sodium each. The Tangerine flavor contains 2X the caffine. The black cherry Cliff Shot Bloks I've been using also have the caffine equivalent of 2 cups of coffee per package. And they're also half sugar. The PowerBar Endurance electrolyte drink also contains 190mg of sodium per serving. And although the Myoplex protein shakes I've used taste great, go down easy, and contain alot of calories, 150g of protein in a 24 hour, 100 mile race is simply way too much. So I've made some changes. Basically, I've taken a look at what each product on my race-diet list is made of and decided what it's purpose is. (Cause, you know, a life without purpose is no life at all.) I have a full selection of foods to choose from and I fully believe that a moderate amount of a variety of things is much better than a large amount of the same things. So here's what I'll use:

Hammer Gel - Although I don't particularly care for the taste, Hammer knows their stuff and they make great products for going the distance. Their gel has no caffine, low sugar, and a reasonable amount of sodium.

GU gel - Lemon Sublime and Strawberry Banana. No caffine, low sugar, and a reasonable amount of sodium.

PowerGel - Vanilla. No caffine, a bit higher in sugar, and I'll get alot of my sodium intake from these potent little suckers. And they taste like frosting. Slurp!

Cliff Shot Bloks - Pina Colada and Cran Razz. Pina Colada?! Seriously? Yup. It's a little different, but not bad. No caffine, half-sugar (boohoo), and somewhat higher on the sodium scale. But they taste great and it's something other than gel.

PowerBar Endurance Electrolyte Drink - Lemon-Lime. Yup, still gonna use this stuff, but in a much more limited quantity. No caffine, reasonable sugar level, and alot of sodium. The PowerBar products have my sodium intake well covered.

Hammer Perpetuem - Orange Vanilla. I've been training with this stuff with great success over the past six weeks and I plan on having a bottle of this stuff with me over much of the race. I've used it on ten hour training runs without problems so hopefully it will get me through another 14?

I'm also going to continue with the Myoplex protein shakes, although in a much more scaled back fashion. One pre-race and one at the turn-around (50 mile).

I plan on using a much higher quantity of plain water this time out. No messin with it. Just plain, delicious, clean, clear water.

And lastly...

Ham & Pineapple pizza slices and potstickers. What? Having real comfort food out there with me is a good thing, right?

Oh, and post-race? Hammer Recoverite. This stuff is great.

So there it is. But I've left out one other very important detail. Experience. I know what 100 miles feels like this time out and even though there's only one on the list, I can already feel the difference between the first one and the second.

Giddyup!