I may never run on a road again. Or at least not when the option of a trail is available.
I went running on the trails of Afton State Park Sunday, approximately 10 miles worth. The trails were covered with compacted snow that was slow to melt. But melting it was. I soaked my shoes, socks and kicked slop onto my calves.
Afton State Park is on the western shores of the Mississippi. The river is protected by bluffs and hills on either side by hills further inland. Afton is bordered on its western edge by Afton Alps Ski hills. Those geographical characteristics appropriately define the trails within the park's borders.
I ran about 10 miles (16.6 km) over the course of 80 minutes. Up and down hills, almost falling hard once. I ended up starting running down a hill that became steep as I descended and slop prevented me from stopping. High step turnover saved me from a fall, and sped me up the immediate uphill.
Uphills on trails are difficult to run and many ultrarunners walk up them. This is in stark difference to hills on road races. In road races, the roads are designed to that cars can safely get up in all seasons. No so with trails. They are designed for walking, at best an ATV or a horse.
Running the uphills was a immensely difficult and draining on my legs. I understand now why runners walk up them. Fatigue is inevitable, but postponing its onset is key (paraphrased). I was shocked by the energy I expended up the hills; that said, I ran up them to prove try and prove a point. I will continue to run up these, but when push comes to shove I will likely walk up them when the 50 miler comes.
All of this is in preparation for the ultramarathons this year. Trail running is a whole different beast that breathed more life into my already over-excited exercise schedule.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Swimming back into academia, and other things
As a student, all things non-academia can take a pretty sharp turn toward "irrelevant" pretty quick. Now is one of those times. A few midterms are fast approaching and being out every weekend for the past six has not encouraged my study habits. But never fear, drafts are being compiled and three full-length gear reviews will drop this week.
On a gear note, for some goofy reason a few discount codes came out for 40 percent off anything at Backcountry.com. The crazy sale, or fluke, is over now - speculate as you will - but not before some folks dropped some serious cash on some crazy items. Western Mountaineering bags received the discount, as did other stupendously expensive stuff. My brother scored a Marmot Hydrogen for approximately $190 - a steal.
Myself, I ponied up for two items: Patagonia Capilene 1 bottoms in black, as always, and a Mont-bell U.L. Down Inner Parka. As for the Capilene, my current running top (and 3 season hiking top) is a Capilene 1 long sleeve. Thus far, I have found it to be the best base layer material I have ever used, especially for warding off stench. The Inner Parka is a conscious decision to reduce packweight. After reading about how much warmer the U.L. Down clothing is over the U.L. Thermawrap pieces (a must read for anyone ready to finally ditch fleece), I decided take the plunge and pick the Down Inner.
My other alternative was the Ex Light Down Jacket. I knew I wanted a tight-fitting insulation piece, and originally I thought I needed a men's medium - at the time I was perusing Backcountry's sight, they only had the Down Inner in small and Large. After measuring, I once again realized that I am really a men's small for most purposes. Out went the Ex Light, in with the parka.
Although I read through all of the Ex Light reviews on BackpackGearTest, I really, really like hoods on my insulation pieces. The Ex Light is essentially a down sweater that has a single feature - a full front zip. If I am going to do a mid-layer, I have plenty of lightweight fleece jackets to use in winter. So, I really didn't need it.
The addition will save me at least 5.33 ounces over my Thermawrap if you trust manufacturer specs. That number should be higher because the jacket's list weight is for a men's medium - one size larger than mine. I do not think it will significantly affect the weight. The issue now becomes as to when to use which insulating parka.
On a gear note, for some goofy reason a few discount codes came out for 40 percent off anything at Backcountry.com. The crazy sale, or fluke, is over now - speculate as you will - but not before some folks dropped some serious cash on some crazy items. Western Mountaineering bags received the discount, as did other stupendously expensive stuff. My brother scored a Marmot Hydrogen for approximately $190 - a steal.
Myself, I ponied up for two items: Patagonia Capilene 1 bottoms in black, as always, and a Mont-bell U.L. Down Inner Parka. As for the Capilene, my current running top (and 3 season hiking top) is a Capilene 1 long sleeve. Thus far, I have found it to be the best base layer material I have ever used, especially for warding off stench. The Inner Parka is a conscious decision to reduce packweight. After reading about how much warmer the U.L. Down clothing is over the U.L. Thermawrap pieces (a must read for anyone ready to finally ditch fleece), I decided take the plunge and pick the Down Inner.
My other alternative was the Ex Light Down Jacket. I knew I wanted a tight-fitting insulation piece, and originally I thought I needed a men's medium - at the time I was perusing Backcountry's sight, they only had the Down Inner in small and Large. After measuring, I once again realized that I am really a men's small for most purposes. Out went the Ex Light, in with the parka.
Although I read through all of the Ex Light reviews on BackpackGearTest, I really, really like hoods on my insulation pieces. The Ex Light is essentially a down sweater that has a single feature - a full front zip. If I am going to do a mid-layer, I have plenty of lightweight fleece jackets to use in winter. So, I really didn't need it.
The addition will save me at least 5.33 ounces over my Thermawrap if you trust manufacturer specs. That number should be higher because the jacket's list weight is for a men's medium - one size larger than mine. I do not think it will significantly affect the weight. The issue now becomes as to when to use which insulating parka.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Now on YouTube
You can now find me on YouTube. There you will find video gear reviews, trip reports and other hiking, backpacking and running-related videos. I will also post how-to videos and other skills-related videos, too.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Windchill galore and upchuck reflex
It was a windy one this weekend. The campsite my scouts selected is only protected on one side - the east. And giving the local weather pattern, if weather is coming from the east you're looking at some serious precipitation comeing from the sky anyways. The site is on a peninsula and is exposed from the north, west and south. And there was wind out of the northwest this weekend.
Life got real for a few scouts as a result. Scouts were getting cold while they were eating dinner as a result as the temps dropped as radiant heat loss left the earth. The lack of clouds did not help this scenario. The temps bottomed out at -2(F) sometime in the early morning. This was the second coldest weekend of the season for the camp; the season low is a balmy -12(F) a few weeks ago that I was absent for.
Speaking of getting warm, here is a getting warm dance I learned at a scout camp in 2000. It is a little complicated and most folks can't hack it. But this scout was great at it, and his entire crew was, too.
I also joined a selective group of camp staffers who have been woken up by scouts in the middle of the night, a group that now consists of two persons. Sometime around 2:14 a.m., there was a light shining on the long side of my tent. "Wake up," the light said. "I threw up in the parachute." Great. I got up, opened the door and two scouts approached the small entrance. I sat up and shuffled my torso out of my sleeping bag.
The scout promptly relayed the pertinent information: he had woken up, vomited and managed to dispense the contents onto the snow instead of his bag, boot or other thing that would need to be cleaned. He woke up his buddy, drank some water, ate some gorp, got dressed and started moving to get warm. And that wasn't working. So I was called in, and rightfully so.
Camp policy on this situation is pretty simple: we are not a survival camp and no scout has to sleep outside he or she does not want to. Vomiting generally puts a scout into the category of not wanting to stay outside - it removes all the liquid and food from your stomach. Because digestion generates heat and provides energy to movement (which also generates heat), vomiting is especially troublesome because it is like taking a fuel bottle and dumping it all over the snow. This is not the first time a scout has vomited while outside in the course of the weekend. In 2008 or 2007, a scout vomited almost immediately after supper. He got cold and did not want to stay outside with his sick stomach and went in almost immediately.
So while I got dressed to the light of my headlamp, the scout woke up his father and we walked back to base camp, a series of two buildings about 1.5 miles away through a swamp and over a hill or two. I got to base camp around 3 a.m., and was back at my site about 20 minutes later. I stripped down to my base layers once again and crawled back into my sleeping bag. (The scout was fine - him and his father walked back out to our site the following morning to eat breakfast and pack up their gear.)
I never did figure out what prompted his upchuck reflex. My best guess is dehydration, although he said his urine was clear throughout the day. The dehydration was likely caused by eating supper without drinking water and not drinking water later in the evening before bed. The issue then is why did this occur at 2 a.m. and not earlier? I guess I'll never know.
As for gear, I changed up my gloves system this weekend, opting for the PowerStretch gloves as liners underneath the packable SD mitts. In previous weeks, I have used a pair of generic polypro liner gloves. As a further push of the mittens, I tried to do as many tasks as possible with the mittens on - pulling zippers, buttoning pants, pumping and lighting stoves, etc.
The results were mixed - I could pull zippers, pump and prime stoves and set up my tent with no minimal dexterity issues. Much to my surprise, I could even unclasp the Velcro closures that held the poles in place in my tent. I had issues closing the fly on my pants and fine tasks such as removing a match from a matchbox. Lighting the match, however, was no issue.
Although winter is not over yet, there is only one weekend left of scouts. I have a trip tentatively planned over spring break in late March, but my winter camping for this season is almost at an end. There issue with this is that so far I have not been able to effectively test the precipitation resistance qualities of the Sierra Designs insulating parka and softshell jacket that I have been testing throughout the season. Final and summary comments on these two garments, along with the Packable mitts is coming next week. I have already compiled my notes from the previous weekends and will be putting together a final product soon.
Life got real for a few scouts as a result. Scouts were getting cold while they were eating dinner as a result as the temps dropped as radiant heat loss left the earth. The lack of clouds did not help this scenario. The temps bottomed out at -2(F) sometime in the early morning. This was the second coldest weekend of the season for the camp; the season low is a balmy -12(F) a few weeks ago that I was absent for.
Speaking of getting warm, here is a getting warm dance I learned at a scout camp in 2000. It is a little complicated and most folks can't hack it. But this scout was great at it, and his entire crew was, too.
I also joined a selective group of camp staffers who have been woken up by scouts in the middle of the night, a group that now consists of two persons. Sometime around 2:14 a.m., there was a light shining on the long side of my tent. "Wake up," the light said. "I threw up in the parachute." Great. I got up, opened the door and two scouts approached the small entrance. I sat up and shuffled my torso out of my sleeping bag.
The scout promptly relayed the pertinent information: he had woken up, vomited and managed to dispense the contents onto the snow instead of his bag, boot or other thing that would need to be cleaned. He woke up his buddy, drank some water, ate some gorp, got dressed and started moving to get warm. And that wasn't working. So I was called in, and rightfully so.
Camp policy on this situation is pretty simple: we are not a survival camp and no scout has to sleep outside he or she does not want to. Vomiting generally puts a scout into the category of not wanting to stay outside - it removes all the liquid and food from your stomach. Because digestion generates heat and provides energy to movement (which also generates heat), vomiting is especially troublesome because it is like taking a fuel bottle and dumping it all over the snow. This is not the first time a scout has vomited while outside in the course of the weekend. In 2008 or 2007, a scout vomited almost immediately after supper. He got cold and did not want to stay outside with his sick stomach and went in almost immediately.
So while I got dressed to the light of my headlamp, the scout woke up his father and we walked back to base camp, a series of two buildings about 1.5 miles away through a swamp and over a hill or two. I got to base camp around 3 a.m., and was back at my site about 20 minutes later. I stripped down to my base layers once again and crawled back into my sleeping bag. (The scout was fine - him and his father walked back out to our site the following morning to eat breakfast and pack up their gear.)
I never did figure out what prompted his upchuck reflex. My best guess is dehydration, although he said his urine was clear throughout the day. The dehydration was likely caused by eating supper without drinking water and not drinking water later in the evening before bed. The issue then is why did this occur at 2 a.m. and not earlier? I guess I'll never know.
As for gear, I changed up my gloves system this weekend, opting for the PowerStretch gloves as liners underneath the packable SD mitts. In previous weeks, I have used a pair of generic polypro liner gloves. As a further push of the mittens, I tried to do as many tasks as possible with the mittens on - pulling zippers, buttoning pants, pumping and lighting stoves, etc.
The results were mixed - I could pull zippers, pump and prime stoves and set up my tent with no minimal dexterity issues. Much to my surprise, I could even unclasp the Velcro closures that held the poles in place in my tent. I had issues closing the fly on my pants and fine tasks such as removing a match from a matchbox. Lighting the match, however, was no issue.
Although winter is not over yet, there is only one weekend left of scouts. I have a trip tentatively planned over spring break in late March, but my winter camping for this season is almost at an end. There issue with this is that so far I have not been able to effectively test the precipitation resistance qualities of the Sierra Designs insulating parka and softshell jacket that I have been testing throughout the season. Final and summary comments on these two garments, along with the Packable mitts is coming next week. I have already compiled my notes from the previous weekends and will be putting together a final product soon.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Finally, a comparison chart for insulating garments
Richard Nisley at BPL has put together a lclo comparison of various different insulating garments here (subscription not required). The chart is focused on Mont-bell garments; a good decision because its garments are warm for their weight, weigh very little for insulating garments and are reasonably priced. As it has been said for sleeping bags, your general feature options are lightweight, warm and cheap - you can pick two but cannot have all three. Montbell insulating garments are an excellent balance between these three factors. As a bonus, Mont-bell has a wide variety of insulating garments.
Like many, I have been waiting for a similar chart for a while. Also like many, I have not taken the time to truly sort out the volumes of data available on various garments to figure out what temperature each garment is capable of dealing with. I would gladly support entering and continuing this chart into BPL's Wiki to assist persons in researching insulating garments.
The most interesting find (and forum posts concur) is how significantly warmer the MB U.L. Inner Down Parka is over the Thermawrap parka despite the Inner Down Parka weighing five ounces less. The chart also demonstrates scientifically the difference in warmth between between the Thermawrap Parka and Jacket. The Parka uses 80 g/m^2 of Exceloft and has a hood, while the Jacket uses 50 g/m^2 of Exceloft and lacks a hood. I prefer the Parka because of my preference for hoods. I would only use the jacket is I was using it as a true inner insulation layer, such as under a hardshell and a larger insulating parka.
Like many, I have been waiting for a similar chart for a while. Also like many, I have not taken the time to truly sort out the volumes of data available on various garments to figure out what temperature each garment is capable of dealing with. I would gladly support entering and continuing this chart into BPL's Wiki to assist persons in researching insulating garments.
The most interesting find (and forum posts concur) is how significantly warmer the MB U.L. Inner Down Parka is over the Thermawrap parka despite the Inner Down Parka weighing five ounces less. The chart also demonstrates scientifically the difference in warmth between between the Thermawrap Parka and Jacket. The Parka uses 80 g/m^2 of Exceloft and has a hood, while the Jacket uses 50 g/m^2 of Exceloft and lacks a hood. I prefer the Parka because of my preference for hoods. I would only use the jacket is I was using it as a true inner insulation layer, such as under a hardshell and a larger insulating parka.
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