And last but not least, What I Learned from the gear I used for G2G 2023. Gear can make or break your journey through the desert. Everything below I used and tested quite a bit during training and felt very comfortable with it. The only thing I didn’t test was the sleeping mat.
Hiking Poles (Black Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ AR): They are a must have for me. This is the second race (and lots of training) with the poles I have and they have been a good choice. They helped to propel me forward through a lot of the deep sand. I figured this out during the race. Beneficial climbing the steep ascents in varied terrain by helping pull myself up the hills Keeping my balance during steep descents, scree fields and other lose terrain. Even when just hiking along, it was nice to give my hands something to do and keep a little rhythm cruising down the trails. Here is a YouTube video that gives a good overview of the proper technique of using poles. And those times when you are dog tired and need a kick stand lean on while you take a few minutes to rest and regroup. And when you get really bored they make great drum sticks for air drumming when “that” songs comes on….
Sleeping Mat (Nemo Switchback) Bad choice for me, I hardly slept the whole week. I can’t blame the lack of sleep only on the mat, but it was part of the problem. The areas where the camps were setup and the tents pitched were on top of a lot of uneven desert, desert vegetation and the Nemo Switchback did little to help even it out. It may be fine for flat ground and with warmer night time temperatures. I didn’t bring a blow up mattress this time because I was worried about it getting punctured. And the last stage race I did it was a pain blowing it up after trekking through the desert all day. Next time I will take a chance and use a blow up sleeping mat (and have a patch kit). Getting at least a few good night of good rest is important.
Sleeping Bag: Western Mountaineering Summer Lite. It is rated to 32f/0c. It was adequate, but if the temperatures were colder than they were I would have been cold. The compression bag I used for the sleeping bag didn’t compress it small enough so the first few days when my race pack was at its maximum capacity it was harder to fit into the pack. Next time I will try a different compression sack and see if I can reduce the volume more.
Ultimate Direction 20L pack. I actually did most of my training with an Ultimate Direction 30L pack loaded up to 9kg or 20 lbs. But in the end I went with the 20L so I would be forced to trim down the weight and volume and only bring the necessary gear. Started out a little heavy at 10kg or 22lbs before water. It was just ok for the first few days, but my shoulders and back muscles would get pretty sore by the end of the day on the first couple of stages. Im not sure if that was the pack or just the weight. Once I used up a lot of my food and the pack weight and volume was reduced it was much more comfortable not an issue. The Ultimate Direction FastPacks held up really well, the quality seems to be there. After a few months of contemplation I think part of the problem with the pack was it was to big and not setting correctly on my back. I may order the small/medium and see if it fits better or I may take a chance and get a RAID LEGEND 24L Trail pack and see how that feels.
Shoes: Hoka Challenger GTX Trail Shoes (Gortex Version). During training I alternated between 2 pairs – 2022 and 2023 Hoka Challengers. Both were comfortable during training, but the 2022 Hoka Challengers were just a little more comfortable and I made a game time decision to go with them for the race. The shoes worked out well with the Dirty Girl Gaitors. The Dirty Girl Gaitors did a great job keeping sand and other debris out of the shoes for the first 2.5 days. After the first 2.5 day the amount of sand and the depth of sand increased and we had sand to battle it for the next 2.5 day. The 2022 version Hoka Challenger seemed to have an outer and inner layer that sand could get into and sand seemed to build up between the two layers. It was almost impossible to get the sand out and the shoes seemed to get heavier. This was especially noticeable after the sand dunes on the long stage. Desert gaiters would have prevented this. I was fortunate that I didn’t have any major issues with my feet. I developed a blister between my last two toes on my left foot and few other hot spots that I had taped up right away. After they were taped up I just left them alone the rest of the week and endured. Reconsider using desert gaiters if there is an chance sand can get in-between the layers of the shoe Treating hot spots on your feet as soon as you feel it. Don’t take another step until it is taken care of.
A few other things I used. I used a full brim Shelta hat without neck protection. I wore a Patagonia Capilene Cool Daily Hoody. The hood worked out well to keep the sun off my neck during parts of the day and the cool breeze at night. These are great shirts, lightweight, sweat drys quickly, since they dry quickly they can be rinsed in camp at the end of the day. Shorts – Patagonia Nine Trails Shorts – My go to trail running shorts. I did wear them over separate 2XU compression shorts. No problems with chafing in the nether regions and didn’t need to use any anti-chafing cream. I usually sweat a lot when running and training in Florida. As a habit I started wearing a Buff on my head under my hat to absorb most of the sweat and one wrapped around my wrist to wipe the sweat from my eyes. Although I didn’t have a problem dripping in sweat in the dry high desert I did continue to wear the Buffs.
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