Training Plans

As the year is waining into its final weeks it is time to look towards next year and the training plan to take me into the MDS.  With only four months to go until departure the biggest thing on my mind is to stay healthy and prevent injuries.  Weekly mileage is at a maintenance level through the holidays at which time I intend ramping up over two and a half months to peak around mid March.  Included even now are miles with the pack at around 20 lbs.  Frequency of pack runs are about once a week now and will increase in February.  I am also planning some dune work as well as some longer events (50k, marathons, etc).  Every effort will be made to maximize trail runs and include a variety of hills and technical/rocky terrain.  Speed work may come later for variety and cross training will be limited.  Heat acclimatizing will be conducted in March.

My weekly mileage will range from lows of 30 to highs around 50 and should be sufficient for my anticipated performance.  Again my fear is sustaining an injury that significantly curtails training or endanger participation!

Into The Night

With the shortening of days and the switch back to standard time there is little daylight available for running in the evenings. This necessitates the use of artificial illumination if one is running off the streets and away from local lighting. 

You can never have enough of certain things; electrical power, data storage, environmental cooling, money and in this case lumens. This has been born out with me numerous times during night orienteering and rogaine events. Of course more lumens comes at the expense of more power which translates to more batteries and thus unto weight. 

Having had lots of headlamps over the decade's I'm familiar with many makes and models. Most of my favorites have been Petzls. These are usually well constructed and get the job done. When selecting a headlamp for the MdS several criteria needed to be optimized:

1. Produce a reasonable spot type, trail finding beam
2. Be able to produce a diffused beam
3. Multiple intensity settings
4. Maximized operational time
5. Minimized weight
6. LED light source
7. Replaceable batteries

I finally settled on the Petzl Tikka XP 2.  The Petzl Zipka Plus 2 was a close second.  Reasoning was as follows.

The Tikka has both a spot beam and a flip up diffuser for wider angle operations while the Zipka only has a flood type beam.  The Tikka has almost 15% more light output over the Zipka.  Both of these headlamps have multiple intensity setting and both should have sufficient operational time for the duration of the event (even without spare batteries).  The Zipka beats the Tikka on weight but only by a small amount (0.6 oz/17 grams). LED light sources on both guarantees no need for a replacement bulb. Both of these Petzl model run on three AAA's.

If you really had to minimize weight and were not concerned about light output the Petzl E+ LITE would be your choice.  I personally carry one of these in my trail running bag as an emergency/backup light.

Night runs with the Tikka XP 2 have been very good.  The top two intensity settings both provide sufficient lighting to run even on very rocky trails and provide for route finding capabilities.  You can also program this model for the intensity settings you wish.  Depending upon the situation the spot beam is preferred over the diffused one, however it is easy to switch back and forth.

Finally, a word on batteries.  AAA batteries are small and light weight.  It goes without saying that lithium AAA's are the choice for this application since they have higher energy densities and weigh about 1/3 less than their alkaline counterparts.  Their increased cost is far outweighed by their superior performance.

Feet Fetish

Many things can impede your completion of an event.  Lack of training, improper race nutrition, dehydration, intestinal problems, etc.  But the fastest way to the DNF column for an event of this magnitude is to not employ proper foot preparation and care.  During my 2012 Desert RATS experience I suffered significant podiatry meltdown and paid a heavy price for most of the race.  In fact, after only 60 miles I seriously was doubting being able to finish.  Eventually I crossed the finish line but performance was greatly impacted.  Behold the horror below!

Three lost toenails later I have recovered.  Upon post race analysis it was determined there were several contributing factors:

1. I did not prepare my feet prior to the event
2. I wore too small of shoes
3. Poor field foot care (initially)

Point 1.  I did not toughen up my feet prior. A preventative strategy would have helped some and will be followed for the MDS.  I am currently trying a product called "Tuf-Foot" (which is also used on hunting/working dogs paws).  We will see how this performs.  Additionally while not one of the barefoot running crowd, I am ending my runs with up to a mile of barefoot work on the sidewalks/asphalt.  This will obviously be curtailed some in the coming winter months.  Foot strengthing exercises are also helping with training injury prevention.

Point 2.  BIG MISTAKE!  I have a very small (size 8 US) and narrow foot. Since almost every running shoe is a D width I have had little problems with wearing my street shoe size, only occasionally suffering a black big toenail.  The heat induced swelling experienced during Desert RATS (ground temperatures up to 140 F/60 C) has made me a firm believer of larger shoes.  The heavy socks worn also contributed to the situation.  The question then becomes, how much larger?  Currently I am using a 8.5 US shoe with a large toe box design. This appears to be working out with minimal heel slip. There is plenty of swelling space and additional room to loosen laces. Size 9 US may just be too big for me. 

Point 3.  During the second stage of Desert RATS I ignored pain and hot spots and within the span of a handful of miles had one bad set of blisters on the bottom of my feet.  Later stages resulted in toe blisters and finally heel specimens.  Post injury taping with Elastikon became the only solution.  It is apparent that immediate treatment of hot spots and potentially preemptive taping will be in order for Morocco.  Elastikon will be in my pack along with a small selection of foot care products.

In addition to settling on shoes model/size and preferred sock types, I am also working on a set of custom gaiters.  More details on these in a later post.