Currently Loving

It's time for another installment of my running favorites - I hope you'll enjoy checking these out too! If you missed it, check out my first Currently Loving post from the fall.

Note: These are all my opinions, and I was not compensated for promoting any of the items in this post.

Oiselle and Headsweats Hats
I'm sure everyone else in the world already knows how great running hats can be, but I'm late to the party on this one. The SF Marathon sent us Headsweats Ambassador hats and Oiselle recently came out with the Superfly Cap, and both have become my new favorite running head gear (especially with my shorter haircut). The Oiselle hats won't be available again until the end of April, but definitely check them out if you get the opportunity.

Highlights of each? The Headsweats hat has the soft terry cloth around the rim, which feels great against the head. The Oiselle hat is super flattering and cools the head with mesh in the back. I can't say which I like better, I love both!

Oiselle Superfly cap in Slate Blue

Legs Up The Wall

After hearing talk of legs up the wall on Twitter and in the run community, I had to try it. I didn't even know what I was trying, but when the legs need recovery I'll try anything (reasonable)! I first read the details in this Yoga for Dummy (Runners) blog post, and I later chatted with runners who like it. The general idea is that having your legs up the wall prevents the blood from pooling and helps recovery and/or soreness. What I know is, it feels good after a hard workout.

I like to mix it with a little ProCompression

Experia Socks by Thorlo

For the last couple of years, my go to running socks have been the Experia socks made by Thorlo. They are expensive, but I always find them at race expos for buy x, get x types of deals and pick them up then. They are worth the cost - I love how they are thicker in all the right places but thin enough to feel good in shoes. They take a beating and last a long time, plus they come in fun colors like neon pink.

Experia Socks in Electric Pink (Photo Credit: Thorlo website)

Lux Layer and Winona

A highlight of the Oiselle Spring '13 collection is the new and absolutely amazing fabric called Lux. I'm in love, as is everyone I know who has tried it on. The fabric feels super soft on the skin and wicks moisture like a pro. The Lux Layer is the long sleeve option and Winona is the tank, and both use this new fabric. I wore the Lux Layer for last week's 800m repeats, which involved tons of sweat, and I didn't feel chilled at all in the cool evening temperatures like I often do. Even better? The heathered colors, especially the Heather Poppy, really pop.

Winona in Heather Poppy (Photo Credit: Oiselle Website)

Heather Graphite close-up, looking awesome with the Bright Pink (Rhody)

Lock Laces

In my last gear post, I mentioned falling in love with elastic shoelaces. Well, I'm still loving them but I've now found a brand that I plan to stick with! When I returned to Sports Basement for shoelaces, they no longer had the old brand and instead had Lock Laces. Although the same idea, this brand has two features I love: they are long and much easier to lace (you cut off the excess later) and the adjustment button is much, much more user friendly. There is a plastic piece that fits over the lace ends after it is cut off to prevent fraying, but that can be removed and replaced if you need to make them shorter in the future. I'd highly recommend this brand if you decide to try elastic shoelaces.

Black Lock Laces

That's it for now, let me know what you love or if you've tried any of these in the comments!

Lake Chabot Trail Half Race Report

On Saturday, I ran the Lake Chabot Trail Half Marathon in Castro Valley, CA. It was my first Inside Trail Racing event, and I was very impressed with the race organization. I've been trail running for a few months now, but this is only my third trail race event; I love how much more laid back the races are and how everyone seems really into it. I know I am! Exploring new trails and parks is a fantastic way to spend a day.

I didn't go into this race with specific goals, I wanted to run the hills as much as I could and use it as a hard training run. I ended up feeling really good, the weather was cool but sunny, and the lake views were pretty. This half didn't have as much elevation gain as many trail races and parts were on paved bike trail, so it was definitely easier than the other trail races I've done.

The drive was only about 40 minutes from San Jose and I was there in plenty of time to get parking, pick up my race bib, and to chat with friends. I knew quite a few people running this one and met a number of others I'd only 'met' before on Twitter, so that was awesome!

The race director gathered us all at the start area, gave directions on how the trails were marked and a few things to note, then sent us on our way. The first couple of miles were on paved bike trail, so we got a good start with easy miles. Around mile 2 I confirmed that yes, I did overdress again, and I took a short break to remove my long sleeve shirt. I was wearing my hydration pack so that is easier said than done, but I was a much happier runner without the extra layer. When will I learn not to wear so much? Never it would seem.

I had time to chat with with Brian, Pavement Runner, at the start and grabbed a quick photo too. He was running the 50K in preparation for his next 50 miler. Impressive!

Quick photo op with Pavement Runner!

Finally after a little over 2 miles, we hit the dirt trail. That was more pavement than I would expect in a trail run, but at least it was around the lake with a view. We had a couple of hard climbs in the half, which slowed me down a bit in the middle, but that's one thing I love about the trails. It's an extra challenge! I like carrying my hydration pack even on the supported runs because I figure the weight is a good way to train and challenge myself too. Well that, and the pockets are super convenient for carrying my gels and phone (and the shirt I took off...)

The first big climb ended at the aid station, where I took a quick break to get sport drink. I had some trouble finding it because everything sitting out was pop; I've never taken pop during a race so I'm not sure how that would go, but then again I don't generally drink it ever anyway. After a minute or so I was on my way.

Finishing the long climb into the aid station. Photo Credit: Inside Trails

I think the half marathon was smaller because I felt very alone on the trail after the 30K split around mile 8. It was nice but also strange enough to have me wondering if I took a wrong turn. I sort of wish I'd done this 30K, but I wasn't prepared for that right now. I went through the second aid station quickly and then started to get passed by the 30K leaders. I love how fast and strong they are, fun to watch them run!

During the last uphill in mile 12 I was starting to feel tired, but I saw Christy from the Oiselle sales team and that motivated me to the end. So much fun to cheer each other on! Christy was running a total of 26 miles at the park to train for her 50K.

Posing with Christy after we were both done running.

The last couple of miles were back on the paved bike trail around the lake, and I came into the finish line at 2:23:27. I'm very happy with that for a mostly-trail race! I felt awesome after the race, and I hung around to wait for friends in the 30K. The race had a ton of finish line food options, including Cheez Its, which I've now determined are my post-race food of choice. I usually have trouble eating solid food for a while, but I had no trouble with those!

We received our race goodies at the finish line, and the race swag was a big highlight. They gave us nice tech shirts and coffee mugs. Coffee mugs!

Shirt is dark green, hard to tell here. Love the mug!

After the race, I went out for burgers and beers at the Englander in San Leandro with friends, where I had one of my fave IPAs - Pliny the Elder. Great end to a great day!

Post-Race with Kristen, Layla, and Alisyn. Photo Credit: Alisyn

SF Beer Week

We love craft beer. This past week was beer week in the Bay Area and it was incredible. There were so many events and many, many new-to-us beers to check out. I drank more beer this week than I should admit, but it was a fun time. And it's only once a year, right?

As the highlight, today was wait in line for Russian River's Pliny the Younger day. This beer is super limited and hard to get, but two places in San Jose were tapping it. We headed straight to the less well-known of the two after our trail run and literally got the last 8 oz pour plus the half pour from the kicked keg - talk about being lucky! They gave us the keg ring as a souvenir, so now I have my very own Pliny the Younger 2013 keg ring.

Throwing in a trail run photo as proof I deserved all of this beer.

1.5 pours and the keg ring.

Too much beer? No.

I'm sure you are wondering, was it really worth the line? And I'm going to say YES! Kevin and I are both huge IPA fans, and this hard-to-get beer was worth the effort. This is the smoothest IPA I've had, and it's a triple at 10.5% ABV. It's incredibly easy to drink and very enjoyable. I'm glad we went after it this year. That said, I find Rusian River's double IPA, Pliny the Elder, to be awesome too. The main difference is that Elder is more hop forward than the Younger. We tasted them in succession just to see the difference.

We also checked out beer week events for New Belgium at Beta Lounge, Ballast Point at Harry's Hofbrau, a general San Diego breweries tap takeover, Firestone Walker, Lagunitas, and Deschutes all at Original Gravity. 

I had the New Belgium Shift beer at Beta Lounge, which I ordered thinking the tap said Pale Ale but is actually a Pale Lager. Disappointing, but it wasn't as terrible as I expected considering I'm not a lager person. At least we got to keep the glass.

Love to keep the glass.

Harry's Hofbrau was our fun and unexpected Saturday night; we headed out intending to go to the grocery store but then remembered the beer event and went there instead. They had the Ballast Point tap takeover and quite a few unique beers. My first was the Tongue Buckler, a tasty Imperial red, which is a style I'm getting more into lately. I had the Indra Kunindra next which is, get this, a stout brewed with lime, coconut, and curry. It was spicy but fun and new! Last I tried the Big Eye IPA. It was very good, but still not my favorite IPA in the world of IPAs. 

We hit Original Gravity a few times throughout the week, sometimes on beer event nights and other times in between. As a bonus, we then had beers from multiple nights of events that were left. Highlights from OG were the Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin Nitro (love this stout in the bottle, even better on Nitro tap), Port Brewing Shark Attack (another Imperial Red), and Deschutes The Abyss 2012 (limited release Imperial Stout, often these are too alcohol-y tasting for me but I enjoyed this one.) Original Gravity is our favorite neighborhood hangout; it's a fantastic bar with great atmosphere, and it's only about a 10 minute walk from our condo. Win-win.

Ok, I'm done talking about beer now and I need a week to detox from this extra-beer drinking - but it was totally worth it!

Have you ever been to a beer event/festival? What's your favorite beer or type of beer?

No Comparison Allowed

This morning I read a race report that really got my blood boiling. I'm not even sure that it was warranted and it is entirely possible that I read into it too much, but either way I was feeling down on myself for a while after reading it. If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen me tweet-venting over it, although I don't have an actual link to share because it was in an email. I'm not going to share any exact quotes as the person isn't a blogger and it's not the right thing to do, but I am writing this post because I need to get this off my chest. Why did I let myself feel so inferior? I'm not, I work hard, and I make progress on my own terms.

In a nutshell, the report was from a difficult trail marathon and the person who wrote it is super fast. He set a course record, although he still didn't come in first place this time around. It was his first trail race ever. Shortly into the prose I realized this person doesn't understand how hard people work even when they run slower paces, and that is the reason it upset me. He suggested that people shouldn't be carrying water, they should be able to go 4-5 miles without it. People who are going slower are sweating less so they should be fine even if it's longer between aid stations (to me, this means he thinks they aren't working as hard and that is NOT true.) He was commenting on how he was x minutes per mile faster than people who started early for the longer race, and what are they doing, walking the whole thing?

As I read it, I knew I would have been one of the people carrying water, walking hills during a tough trail race, and 'not sweating as much' because I'm slower. But you know what? I would be working HARD even so. I'm not a speed demon, and I don't claim to be. I love that trail can be a little more laid back and it's a different vibe than a road race.

I know it's not worth comparing myself to other people and that the important part is personal progress, but it was hard to read these comments none-the-less. I wanted to go find the person and give him a piece of my mind, but of course I didn't. In a way, the race recap made me feel unworthy of being friends with fast runners for fear of judgement.

Now that I've gone through the day and had my run, I'm fine. I've realized that his recap wasn't intended to make anyone feel bad (I think?), he wanted to write his thoughts just like I do on this blog, and he can feel however he wants to about slower runners. (That doesn't mean I want to make friends though.) I know better than to think all fast runners judge slow runners - the support I've found on Twitter, Oiselle team, and the SF Marathon Ambassador team confirms that one. It doesn't matter what one runner says and I will not waste any more time being frustrated about it. I won't allow one person to affect my mental state.

We are all runners, we all make progress at our own pace, and we support each other. Now let's go run!

Friends & Fun

I've been lagging on the blog lately, mostly because I've been enjoying our visitors and a little ski travel.  Here's a quick photo update of the recent events!

We stopped in Auburn, CA, to run the Forest Hill Divide Trail on the way to ski at Northstar. 

With Alisyn pre-run in Auburn.

Skiing with friends Jen and Mike at Northstar.

We also went cross country skiing at Northstar & found this Caboose warming hut. 

The cross country day was really warm and sunny!

Our friend Jill came to visit, and we explored Berkeley for a day. 

We visited the new stadium and made friends with the Cal Bear.

 It's SF Beer Week, so we kicked it off at Beta Lounge in Berkeley and scored a fun glass.

The SF Marathon Wog 'n Wag meet up & 5K Fun Run was today. Grabbed a photo with ambassadors Meg, Albert, and Alisyn.

My kitty Akai modeling the SF Marathon bandana. Who says they are just for dogs?

That's the quick recap of the past 10 days or so. I'll make sure to get back to a more normal blogging schedule soon. What to look forward to? A post about Ryan Robert's book 'The Ultimate Beginners Running Guide' and another installment of run gear I'm loving!

Review: UltrAspire Surge Hydration Pack

Thanks to a great deal at ZombieRunner, I picked up the UltrAspire Surge Hydration Pack a week ago. After taking it for a 12 mile spin on the trails, I'm going to share my views on this (spoiler: fantastic) pack.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated or in contact with UltrAspire for this review; I just want to share my thoughts and help other runners.

Why this pack?
I'm a newbie to the long trail run and choosing was overwhelming, so I did quite a bit of internet research before settling on a pack. I looked at stores, product sites, blogs, and any reviews I could find. The hydration packs in the final list were: UltrAspire Surge, Nathan Intensity, and Hydrapak Elite vest. I ruled out the Hydrapak Elite vest because I wanted to start with something a little bigger to carry water on an unsupported route, and that pack only has a 1L bladder. However, I had become pretty attached to the hydrapak bladders and the UltrAspire packs use that brand.

In the end I chose the UltrAspire for a few reasons including pocket options, size of bladder, manufacturer of bladder, location and number of adjustable straps, and even look/color. The one big downside to the UltrAspire packs are the higher price, but luckily the ZombieRunner sale + a Coastal Trail Runs race discount made it similar in price to the Nathan pack.

First Impressions
I basically fell in love with this pack upon opening the package - I loved the great fit and weight, not to mention the purple color. There are two straps across the front and two straps on each side that help adjust the fit perfectly. The bladder is easy to take in and out, and Hydrapak uses a great closure system to make filling easy.

In Action
I couldn't wait for my trail run to give this pack a try, and it didn't disappoint. I filled the bladder about 3/4 full because I knew I wouldn't need 2L (or even 1.5L) on that particular run. The bladder slipped easily back into the pack when filled, and it goes through a wide inside strap that holds it in place. I had to readjust the side straps a bit after the bladder was filled, which surprised me, but it wasn't a big deal. Maybe I'm doing something strange or need experience with it to get adjusted more readily.

Once I began to run, the pack itself was very stable and didn't jump around but I could hear the water sloshing. I'm told this is normal and it makes complete sense, but I guess I hadn't thought about it before. I suppose this is because the only hydration pack I've ever used was a CamelBak for hiking, and hiking doesn't have that effect. I became used to it pretty quickly.

Back view

I loved having the extra pockets for carrying items, and on this run I used them for the car key, shot bloks, and my phone. Even my huge Galaxy Nexus fit in the front zip pocket. The part of the pocket by the body is mesh so it breathes, but that lets the sweat get to the item inside a little. I used the open top drawstring front pocket for the shot bloks, making them super easy to access when moving. There is also a magnetic 'electrolyte' pocket.

The bladder is very impressive too; it turns inside-out for cleaning and drying, and drinking from it is easy and feels natural. I like that the bladder is clear for cleaning purposes. To close, it folds over and is sealed with a black plastic piece that essentially 'zips' it closed. I didn't have any leaking problems at all, although I know it's still early in its life.

Bladder close-up

Closure

The drinking tube fits through a loop on the right shoulder and crosses to the left, where there is a clip to hold the end. This worked great for me, it didn't come out but was easy to unclip when needed.

Front view

Final Thoughts
Pros:
Bladder is easy to clean and closes easily
Pack is lightweight and fits super well
Pack is super adjustable, more points of adjustment than others
Easy to use pockets
Water tastes like water, not plastic

Cons:
More expensive
Side straps are long when adjusted, might need to clip them somehow

I'm a happy runner with this pack, I'm glad I made this choice, and I'd recommend it to others. Don't worry guys, it comes in red, blue, and black too. If I missed anything let me know and I'll help out!