I've experienced our current heat wave thoroughly by now: 10 miles in 95 degrees on Thursday; a double workout Friday, with 7 miles in 90 degrees in the am and 8 miles in 97 degrees in the pm. Saturday I logged 12.5 miles and the thermometer was at 101 when I finished around 12:30 pm. Saturday's run finally broke me. I was intending to put in 19 miles but, as I said, stopped at 12.5. My thoughts on Saturday kept going back to the Hellgate 100k and all the miles I've logged in that race during the cold December mountain weather. At times I would image the nighttime hours looking up through the frozen landscape to the bright stars and thinking about how my hydration pack would freeze up. It's fun to imagine that kind of cold when you are blanketed by steam. On Saturday I also thought about Neal Jamison and the others running Old Dominion 100, although thankfully it was a few degrees cooler up in the Shenendoah valley than it was here in the NC Piedmont.

Over the seven summers we've lived here I've acclimated fairly well to the annual heat and humidity. My first summer running here was pretty rough. I've come to understand what my body goes through during the high heat and what I need to do to be successful (or to survive to run another day). Acclimation is important, which is why I do not shy away from the heat of the day. Part of acclimation is increasing the capacity of your blood vessels to transfer heat out of your body by moving blood into the extremeties and close to your skin, which turns into an evaporative cooling machine. This diverts blood away from your stomach and core muscles, which is one reason why it is hard to digest food while running in the heat.

Another key to acclimation is learning to recognize the signals your brain is sending to your body. Recent research has made a strong case that your brain decreases muscle activation as your core body temperature increases in order to prevent your brain from cooking. I have come to recognize this process as an feeling of increased effort along with a feeling of fatiuge. How I react to these signals depends on the circumstances, but I know that my options are only two: slow down get my core body temperature under control or prepare to bonk shortly. (A third option is to sit in a 50 degree mountain stream for 10 minutes, but unfortunately that option is not always available.)

UNC British exchange student Lisa Moran was killed while running last week in Chapel Hill. Police today said that she contributed to the accident when she crossed a busy intersection.

Moran “contributed to the collision by failing to yield to traffic,” police said Tuesday. The investigating officer concluded that (Lisa) Moran lost her footing, causing her to eventually slide under the bus. Ms. Moran was wearing an iPod when the collision occurred. No charges were filed against the bus driver. Moran was trying to cross the intersection of South Columbia Street and Manning Drive, not far from UNC Hospitals, around 11 a.m. Thursday when the bus struck her. She was taken to UNC Hospitals, where doctors pronounced her dead.

Another article from the Telegraph has statements from Moran's family and more information about her life. It is horrible to read of traffic deaths involving runners. Be careful when running on roads. Crossing intersections is very dangerous - more dangerous than running 100 miles or wilderness running adventures.

With temperatures in the 80's yesterday at the Promise Land 50k, now is a good time to discuss hydration and electrolyte replacement while running ultramarathons. A lot has changed in the past few years and some of the advice we are being offered is now different from in the past. Some of the new science has been done in response to deaths due to over-hydration in marathons.

We have been told that to wait until we were thirsty to drink is too late, rather we should drink according to a set schedule. Another thing we have been told is to consume a lot of sodium in the form of salt tablets on a regular basis, also according to a set schedule. Not every source has been repeating this advice, fortunately.

There are several links below that anyone considering an ultra in the summer should read. Some of the material is provocative, challenging the validity of research sponsored by Gatorade. (It turns out that much of the research on hydration for athletes has been funded by Gatorade.) To sum up the new research in one sentence is: trust your body and drink to thirst; also salt to taste. Read on...

I've been running for two weeks in the new Inov-8 Roclite 295. These shoes are excellent for longer races because of their roomy fit and light weight. Like all Inov-8 shoes, the 295's have minimal cushioning. The design of most Inov-8 shoes allows you to feel the trail with your feet, providing instant feedback on each landing. For myself and many other runners, minimal shoes encourage the most comfortable running form.

Selecting the right Inov-8 shoe can seem complicated because of the large number of models and the specificity of each model. Each model is designed for a type of running (fell, mountain, orienteering, trail, mixed road and trail, etc.) and for a Terrain (loose rock, dry grass, mud, dry rock, etc.)

I believe the three most important factors for selecting an Inov-8 shoe are: last, activity, and cushioning.

Denise Davis sent me a note about Norfolk, VA resident Tommy Neeson, who this fall will run across the USA from North to South along the East coast, including North Carolina. Neeson is raising funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Neeson's two-year-old daughter Randi died of brain cancer in 1998. Neeson will be in North Carolina for the entire month of September. The Four Million Steps web site provides opportunities to house Neeson, contribute funds, and to help in other ways.

I was speaking with friend over the weekend of his running shoes and injury problems. He has chronic knee pain, runs in motion control shoes with orthotics. He tried a neutral cushioned shoe but ended up with plantar fasciaitis.

Just as running in the wrong shoe type can cause injuries, so too can changing shoe type. When changing to a lightweight neutral shoe from a cushioned, motion control, or anti-pronation shoe, it is good to understand how your running form, the length of your calf muscles, and the fitness of the foot muscles interact with your running shoe.

Running Form

Many times motion control and orthotics are fixing a problem with running form, as opposed to fixing a real orthopaedic problem. I posted a short story on running form in October 2006. It is a good idea to invest in a stride analysis. A trainer will shoot a video of you running on a treadmill at different speeds, and together you will analyze your form and work out a therapy plan to correct issues that are identified. My post on form was preceded almost a year earlier with a stride analysis. The point of having good form is to prevent injuries, run more efficiently, and ultimately to run faster. Running in a neutral lightweight shoe allows you to benefit from your good form while leaving your feet and lower legs to deal with cushioning the impact of each stride.

Calf Muscle Length

If you have been running in a cushioned shoe (all running shoes are cushioned except for the lightest neutral trainers and racing flats), your calf muscle has shortened because your heel is higher than your forefoot every time your foot meets earth. This shortening can cause real problems. If you suddenly start running in a racing flat your calf muscle will have an extra 1/4 - 1/2 " forcefully added to its range of motion. The muscle itself doesn' t have a chance to resist this forced lengthening because the impact of the footstrike is too great. The calf muscle won't stretch far enough and will start to tear. The day following a run in flats will be painful because your calf muscles will be very sore Two injuries are common when changing to a flatter shoe: achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciaitis. These injuries can be caused by the tendon and fascia pulling against the calf muscle. Don't let your injury prevention strategy cause an injury!

The Science of Sport blog recently posted some more commentary and data on running shoes. There are three posts: part 1, part 2, and part 3. The entire series and all the links are worth reading in full.

There is some evidence that the best shoes are the ones that do not interfere with natural biomechanics (aka neutral shoes with little cushioning). The evidence is subject to interpretation, however.

"...ever since the "boom" in the running shoe industry about 30 years ago, the percentage of runners who get injured each year has remained pretty much the same...And fascinatingly, in 1989, a study found that runners who ran in shoes costing more than $95 actually were twice as likely to get injured than runners who ran in shoes costing only $40!"

Since shoes with a lot of cushioning and motion-control or anti-pronation are more expensive than lightweight trainers, statistics such as those from the 1989 study call into question the benefit of over-engineered running shoes.

The authors of the Science of Sport don't have a real opinion on the type of shoes a runner should train in. They do have a lot of thoughts, however. They believe that training is more important as a factor in reducing injuries than shoe choice. Personally I agree, however I have suffered injuries that were caused by shoes (anti-pronation shoes, as a matter of fact). Part three has a fascinating discussion of barefoot running and the natural biomechanics that allow the foot and leg muscles to provide cushioning.

"The point for the running shoe industry is to recognize that the best efforts of researchers, product developers and (we have to point out) marketing experts, may in fact be trivial by comparison with the remarkable ability of the human body to adapt and respond to "stress", whether that stress is changing running shoes or long term training."

I think that serious runners are continually pondering running shoes and looking for the shoes that interfere with running the least, while protecting our feet. I do almost all my running these days in Asics hyperspeed2 and Inov-8 Roclite 285 models. Back in 1998 when I once again started running seriously I was wearing the lightest road shoes I could find, but really heavy new balance trail shoes. Every year my trail shoes have become lighter and less cushioned up to now.

There will always be the need for orthotics and other orthopaedic intervention, but I agree with the authors that mechanical problems must first be addressed through training (perhaps including physical therapy). Running shoes are a personal choice, and we are all different. My personal experience is that less is better than more.

These are the Inov-8 Roclite 285's that I wore Saturday March 8th for the Umstead Marathon. On the prior Monday I ordered them from Zombie Runner. They arrived that Thursday. Race morning I laced them up, removed the insoles, put them on, and ran the Umstead Marathon in them. They felt like a dream for the entire race. I knew I would like them because I already had a pair that were 1/2 a size larger. I have only one complaint against these shoes: they are a little too narrow for my feet. Size 12 1/2 are wide enough but too long. (Long as in "elf shoes," which cause me to tick the tops of roots and rocks with the toes.) Size 12 are just wide enough if I remove the insoles, which I did. This is not the first time I've run in shoes sans insoles. I do this frequently. It lowers the profile of the shoe just a little.

Running in these Roclites is like running in bionic feet. You know that when your foot meets the ground it is not going to slip, no matter what. The low profile and nice fit around the heel gives you utter confidence that you are going to get a good landing and push off. I'm interested to know more about other Inov-8 models. Is there a model that is just as light and low as the 285 but built on a wider last or with a little more room in the forefoot?

Back to the marathon: The Roclites felt just as good on the last mile as they did on the first, and I wore them home in the car (only a 30 minute drive). I'll wear them again this weekend. I don't think they will work for a 100 mile race, though, because I am pushing the limits on the width and if my feet swell up I will need to change shoes.

For three years, 2005-1007 I had a sponsorship from Carb-boom. Of course, after all the injuries I had last year I did not apply for a renewed sponsorship. Nevertheless, Carb-boom has been my favorite fuel during ultramarathons. On February 8th I sent a large order over the internet for more gel. As of today I still don't have an order or a tracking number. Twice I sent emails asking about the order. Yesterday I finally got a response:

I wanted to let you know that we are in a transition of ownership that is the reason for the delay. We have also changed the size of the big boom to a larger size. The big boom will be about two more weeks, so I will send the individual box now. Look for all the new products in 2008. Thanks for your patience.

Rob weikel
Sales director
Carbboom

I also received the following:

You have nothing to worry about. Again I apologize for the delay in
delivery, but the company has been taken over by a new owner and we are in
transition mode. This delay will not occur in the future. Thanks you for
your patience and look for a great number of new products coming out in 2008
from Carbboom Nutrition Inc.

Thanks

Ben'J Thibeault, B.A.A. & M.B.A.
Marketing Coordinator
Carbboom Nutritition Inc.
United States: P.O Box 856, Derby Line, VT 05830

Endurance Nutrition Inc.
Canada: 4087 Blv Industriel, Sherbrooke, Qc, J1L 2S7

I was hoping for the gel packs to arrive in time for Holiday Lake, more than a week subsequent to my order. In the mean time, I received a box of e-gel, which I started to use yesterday. I don't know why the new company declined to send my order to me or notify me of a delay, but It doesn't look good, and I wonder what is going on when a company can't keep ship the goods, since that is how it earns money. The new owner is Endurance Nutrition. I still think Carb-boom is the best gel, but if I can't get it reliably it doesn't matter. E-gel is a little too sweet for me and it doesn't come in bulk containers.

The Beast is a new Virginia Ultrarunning series. It includes the existing Lynchburg Ultra Series, plus a trail marathon, trail 100 miler, and the Hellgate 100k. Here is the entire series:

1. Holiday Lake 50k
2. Terrapin Mountain Marathon
3. Promise Land 50k++
4. Grindstone 100 Miler
5. Mountain Masochist 50 Miler++
6. Hellgate 100k

Anyone who finishes the entire series is definitely a beast.

The Grindstone 100 Miler is a brand new ultramarathon. The course has 26,000 feet of climb and descent and is touted as the toughest 100 mile course east of the 100th meridian. The October 3rd race date holds the promise of beautiful fall weather over the Blue Ridge. The race has a 38 hour cutoff. Clark Zealand is the RD for Grindstone. Clark is also the new RD of MMTR.

The traditional David Horton Lynchburg Ultra Series is still active, and registration in the LUS automatically gets you a registration in the Beast series.