After some time off (about two and a half months to be precise) I am starting to climb out of the hole and get my training going. Of course winter has set in and has made the world cold and dark. My training plan for the next three months is based on what I did leading up to Grand-to-Grand in September with some slight modifications. Hopefully I will remain health and motivated to follow it. In summary I am looking at around 600 miles before heading out to the desert including over 5,000 lb-miles of pack running. One "B" race is also on the calender - Antelope Canyon Ultra (50 miler) in February. Some cross/strength training is also going into the mix just for balance.
I hope your training is going well and you are staying healthy.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Monday, December 1, 2014
Gaiter Modifications
Previous posts have outlined my design and performance for over-shoe gaiters. These have worked out quite well under extreme circumstances, in fact I used the same pair of gaiters for both my 2013 MDS run and my 2014 Grand-to-Grand participation (this event also having large amounts of sand) along with various training runs and a trail marathon.
In total this equated to over 350 miles of very hard use. Some peoples shoes don't last that long! Towards the end of the Grand-to-Grand the front end of the gaiters began to show some wear and fraying. This was to be expected and was the main reason I went with a more rugged material for the lower portions. With the rest of the gaiter in such good shape I decided to modify the design slightly for further use. The obvious and simple solution was to add a small leather patch to the nose of the gaiter to take the beating that inevitably occurs there.
This modification only added a small amount of weight but should extend the life of the gaiter by at least two. Look for them in Morocco next year!
 |
| Bataan Memorial Death March 2013 |
 |
| 2013 MDS |
 |
| 2014 Grand-to-Grand |
In total this equated to over 350 miles of very hard use. Some peoples shoes don't last that long! Towards the end of the Grand-to-Grand the front end of the gaiters began to show some wear and fraying. This was to be expected and was the main reason I went with a more rugged material for the lower portions. With the rest of the gaiter in such good shape I decided to modify the design slightly for further use. The obvious and simple solution was to add a small leather patch to the nose of the gaiter to take the beating that inevitably occurs there.
 |
| Modified with leather toe cap |
This modification only added a small amount of weight but should extend the life of the gaiter by at least two. Look for them in Morocco next year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)