What a wonderful day for the 1st annual Gate2Gate Trail Run back in October. I ran the 25k.

At dawn's first light, ready to go (I'm on the left wearing the Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra Set Hydration Vest and Under Armour - The Flash compression shirt):


Photo Credit: Cathy Bester

The 50k and 25k runners started together with a real shotgun start (boom!):


Photo Credit: Cathy Bester

For the past few years I have used Nathan handheld bottles for my hydration needs. These have worked well, and carried me through my first 50k quite successfully a few years back. This summer has been especially brutal in Florida... high heat and lots of humidity, day after day, week after week. I have begun to think about running another Ultramarathon and thus started looking for ways to carry a little more water on my runs while training in the heat. Looking ahead, I might have a chance to run in the mountains this fall so I also wanted to be able to carry a little more gear with me if desired. This led me to investigate hydration vests and packs.

I am generally a minimalist runner and want to have the least amount of gear (and weight) possible.

Many runners are happy with their hydration packs and bladder systems. After asking around, there is a bit of care that needs to be taken with them to keep them clean and keep them from "growing stuff" in the drinking tube, etc. Most modern bladders seem to be fairly easy to refill (think moving through aid stations quickly), but overall it seems that bottles / flasks would be a little easier to deal with.

I did try on a few small bladder hydration packs at the local stores and they just didn't feel great to me.

Based on a number of favorable reviews and the fact that the vest was reported to be wearable shirtless, I purchased the Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra Set Hydration Vest which comes with two soft flask bottles.


Image credit: salomon.com


Image credit: salomon.com

My first run with the vest was very short but I did test the pack running shirtless and felt confident enough to try shirtless on a longer run.

My second run with vest was on one of those hot humid Florida days where absolutely every single square millimeter on one's person becomes drenched with sweat from head-to-toe. I wore the vest shirtless for 13 miles. It was "fine" running shirtless but I did notice the roughness of the fabric a bit and was definitely more susceptible to hot spots when I wore the pack shirtless. However, it is nice having the shirtless option since this increases airflow across the midriff, chest, and lower back. After 13 miles I put on a compression shirt underneath and just felt "aaaahhhhhh" as the pack completely disappeared on my body. I stuck with the compression shirt underneath for the remainder of that run (21 miles total).

My third run was during an all-morning rain and I ran the entire way (20 miles) with an Under Armour - Alter Ego compression shirt underneath as seen here:



The Salomon vest combined with compression shirt is definitely my preferred setup for long trail runs.

The running hat pictured above is by Outdoor Research and has a nice feature of mesh across the top of the head that is a separate layer under the top of the cap.

One thing I didn't notice until after I looked at my photos is that the bottles, when completely empty and left hanging out of the pockets, gave me a "Fembot" look. Next time I will tuck the bottle tops back inside the pockets.

The 2016 Gainesville "Thursday Night Lights" track meets begin on the evening of June 30. Cone Park Track will be host to track and field events for children and adults of all ages.

The cost is $1 admission at the gate to cover the cost of Timing and Starter.

Questions?

Contact: Coach Larry Holsey of the Gainesville Striders track and field organization

Dates: June 30, 2016

Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Location: Fred Cone Park - East University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32641 (Google Map)

The schedule provided by Coach Larry Holsey is available as a PDF for download here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4BFIg0rntkSUVZaOHhkZUJ2NDA/view?usp=sharing

 

I have reproduced the schedule below for convenience (as in, I'm not an official source, I am just sharing the information I have been given)...

 

Running events

6:10pm 60 meter hurdles 10 under

6:20pm 40 Yard Dash All Ages (Football Ready)

6:30pm 600/800 meters All Ages (choose one or other to run)

6:45pm 100 meters All Ages (blocks allowed)

7:15pm 4x100 relay All Ages (mix and match is allowed)

7:45pm 1500 meters All Ages (2 heats)

8:00pm Sprint Medley All Ages

8:15pm Sprint Medley Adult Ages (Coaches/Parents)

8:20pm 300/200 meters All Ages (choose one or other to run)

8:45pm 3200 meters All Ages (1 heat)

 

Field Events

6:30pm Long Jump 8 and Up (Two Jumps)

6:30pm Shot Put All Ages (Bring your own implement)

 

This past weekend my friend Richard G. and I went to the local track to take some video of our running forms.



Here are two videos of my running, both edited with the OpenShot Video Editor.

The first video was taken on a GoPro Hero in 720p mode, with the camera at the end of a selfie stick while the camera operator rode a bike:




The second video was taken on a Nexus 6P smartphone in high FPS mode with the phone in stationary stable position (on a chair with Play-Doh to hold it in place). I believe the occasional jerkiness comes from the editing / conversion process and is not visible in the original video.



Edit: Front and rear views in slow motion, note the trialing left leg issue and the twist of the left foot on lift-off, crossover gait tendencies:



Here are some additional static images taken via frame capture of the GoPro video:

Racing a 15k three weeks after running a full marathon PR is not ideal. I managed to squeeze in some speed work and felt remarkably recovered on race day of the 2016 GATE River Run.

This year I once again rode the charter bus provided by Florida Track Club which is just one of the nice perks provided by the club.

I don't have much to report. It was another warm year. I ran faster than last year but not my fastest on this course.


Photo by Speedy Banana

My RunFlix race video:



The rest of this report is mostly photos.