We have long known that heat is certainly not my strength. Living on the coast is perfect for me. It's great running weather year round. Which is highly inconvenient for training for hot races. I tried wearing extra layers for San Diego training, but the weather was cooler than usual. Coupled with early morning runs, the extra layer was usually welcomed. With a couple of hot events coming up (glow bar marking for
Tevis, and
Pioneer Spirit 50 miler), I jumped on the opportunity to go visit a friend, check out the trails, and get some heat training in. The most significant of this was a long run with a fellow ultra runner/endurance rider/
blogger who has the same events on her schedule. We elected to run the section from Foresthill to Driver's Flat, about 20 miles point to point, staging vehicles at each end. I planned for a couple of tests on this run.
1. White long sleeved cotton shirt. I got this idea from Pam Smith, 2014 WS100 winner. Cotton stays wet, helping cool you, as opposed to the quick drying wicking technical fabric that most of us opt for. On a record heat year, this was something she contributed a lot to her success. In a closet clear out I found one and after a few test runs to be sure it wouldn't chafe (bane of my existence) I wanted to give it a shot in the heat. It was fantastic, as long as it stayed wet. Laying in creeks or stripping off the shirt to soak it and use it as a washcloth to cool the rest of my body was effective and felt delightful. There were a couple of sections that it had time to dry out on, and it got a little warm then, but not much more so than I would have been otherwise and at least my skin was covered so burning was less of a concern. Success!
2. Adding stack to shoes. I'm still loving the Carsons, but they don't come with much stack height. I appreciate the extra cush on the long distances, so tried to experiment. I added an Altra stone guard underneath the sock liner, and took the sock liner from my 2nd pair and added it on top. This gave a little more rigidity to the shoe, and an additional 5mm of soft lining. It was a little better, but not yet ideal. I also have some sock issues to work on, so this is a combination problem.
3. Chia bars. I found some bite size chia based energy bars that I wanted to experiment with. I put about 4 scoops (400 calories) of Tailwind in my 2l pack, and took 3 of the bars. I only tried 1 bite of the Acai flavor bar, had to spit it out and throw the rest away. I had been experiencing dry mouth due to my water dilemma, and the bar was drier and more crumbly than I anticipated, immediately sucking any remaining moisture out of my mouth to the point of almost painful. Will experiment on a more hydrated day. Pleased that 400 calories seemed to do pretty well at least!
A few miles into the run I declared it to be 100 degrees and was informed it was in fact only high 80s. (Only - I'm from England. They closed offices when it was 86 there!) An hour or so on I was sure it had to be at least 130, and was relieved to hear it was 98ish, and that Mel, who does well in heat, was also warm. I've noticed running here that you go through little pockets of warmer or cooler air. The same thing happened yesterday, except the warm pockets felt like opening an oven door. Yuck! I was trying to find the right balance between conserving water and not getting too dehydrated. After about 10 miles we were reduced to speed hiking and I was very conscious of not feeling my best. I started paying attention to my decision making, and checking in with myself regularly. I can't afford a SAR bill! Mel ran out of water a few miles before I did, and both of us were out long before was ideal. No matter how much I drank I also couldn't fix the dry mouth sensation, which was at best unpleasant. I'm going to pick up some
dry mouth dental spray to see if that would help next time.
We spent several miles traveling alongside the American River, taunting us with it's coolness and wetness.We briefly contemplated swimming back, but the rapids would have been a problem. There were a few rafts that we were roughly keeping pace with, and I really wanted to just hang on to the back of them and be towed along. The rafters kept jumping into the river, something I began fantasizing about. I was so happy when we got to Franciscos, where it was just 2 more miles to the truck. 2 miles of exposed, hot, steep uphill! As we were leaving Franciscos there was a mileage sign confirming 2.3 miles. After a short stretch of single track, I turned and saw a sign that actually made me shriek out a little. 3.2 miles!!! Nooooo! Thankfully there was soon a trail that led to the river, something we had been looking for for a while. We both briefly considered how foolish it was, determined that people didn't die from giardia, and slurped up deliciously cold, refreshing river water. It was amazing. We spend a little while here cooling, just sitting in the water, and taking a few more sips. It may not have been our best decision making, but it was so good!
Unfortunately the recovery from the river didn't last too long, and the road to Driver's Flat took its toll quickly. A State Park truck passed us heading down the hill, and a couple of the rafting companies came by. We were taking a break in the shade when the SP truck was coming back towards us in our direction of travel. We flagged him down, and he graciously gave us a ride back up the hill to the staging area. Apparently we looked as bad as we felt. Even though we were hot and dehydrated, we never fell into a death march. We had given up on running a long way back, but we were always moving with purpose. We got 5:30 hours trail time, and temperature reports of hitting 104 degrees. While I didn't do fantastic with the heat, I recovered much faster than I have done previously. As soon as we got back to Foresthill, we went to agas station for cold ginger ale and a Snickers ice cream bar. Totally hit the spot! I'll be back in the area next week to get a couple of rides and runs in, plus Tevis on Saturday - a long run in heat, with a purpose, followed by volunteering all night. Excellent 100 miler training!
