Curious about EXACTLY what gear I use for a 50k running race? Well here it is! This is the EXACT list of things I will be wearing/using during the North Face Endurance Challenge 50k in Beijing, China.

Watch - Timex GPS Global Trainer. After the craziness is said and done,  I want to share with you the course profile, my pace, my heart rate, and other fun data from the race. Out on course I’ll be able to see how far until the next aid station (they tell us the distance between) as well as how long the next climb is.

Clothing – Sugoi Turbo Singlet – Timex branded of course. And to hold in my thunder thighs – Sugoi Piston 200 shorts. The compression of the shorts will help lessen the fatigue on my legs over the 31 mile race. And for the footsies, I have a pair of Timex branded Wigwam socks.

Glasses - Rudy Project Ability. These things are light weight, don’t slip around on your face, and give amazing coverage without any blind spots.

Anti Chafe - SBR TriSlide to keep my thighs from rubbing together and starting a forest fire.

Hydration – The Nathan Quickdraw Plus for water and the Nathan Sprint for PowerBar Perform sports drink. I like to have a bit more water, so that I can pour it on my head as I run. I can easily refill both at each aid station. The Quickdraw also has a little pocket where I can bring an emergency PowerBar Gel. Eating is key during a race that is as long as this one!

Shoes - Saucony Peregrine. With only a 4mm heal to toe drop, these trails shoes feel very “minimalistic.” There are no rock plates, torsion control, air/gel cushioning, just a few millimeters of higher density foam. They are thick enough to protect from those sharp, pointy, bone bruising rocks, yet still pliable enough to allow for me to feel the ground below me. The upper is durable, yet unrestrictive.

Camera - Go Pro camera with chest strap to capture the excitement along the way.

So I tore myself away from the Royal Wedding coverage this morning for a 10mile run. This is a specific pace session, with a bit of a warm up then 10mile at 6min/miles. Ordinarily (over the winter at least) I’ve been doing this type of pace run on the treadmill for accuracy. But given the Royal holiday, access to treadmills today was a little limited (and indeed last weekend due to the Bank Holiday weekend too) so I’ve been getting out in the nicer weather and slogging it out on the roads.

The only problem with this is that around where I live is by no means flat. So, I strap on the trusty Global Trainer and head out for the run. With all the data that the GT collects, I did a little web surfing and found this article which suggests how to take into account ascents and descents: http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=10507

The article’s author suggests that athlete treadmill tests show that a 1% elevation means that per mile for a 5min/miler y should allow 10secs more per mile and that a 7:30 min/miler should allow 15 secs per mile more; and this is for every single % per mile. (52.8 feet per mile is 1%)

So this is what I’ve done:

The Global Trainer tells me that I’ve gained and lost (circular route) 1550 feet in total. So that’s 155 feet per mile, and at an estimated flat pace of 6min/mile, this amounts to a 3% grade or 36secs/mile extra due to the climbing. However, we need to add back in the descending – apparently you get back about 55% of the time of the climbs – so as you would expect, you do go slower over a hilly course compared to a flat course. This means that I’m left with a 16secs/mile handicap because of the hills.

My 6:28mins/mile pace through the rollers therefore works out at a ‘normalised’/flat 6:12mins/mile pace. Given that I was supposed to be running 6min/miles for the session, I clearly slacked off a bit, but not as much as the actual pace suggested ;)

Its not a bad guestimate at how hills translate into flat pace – the GT data again proves itself invaluable.

But now I’m going to get back to the Royal Wedding highlights!

Groningen – I am still at home. Tickets are booked for my flight to Lanzarote. Training improves on a daily basis. The weather is optimal. Training feels awesome. Confidence is building with each stroke in the pool, push on the peddles and stride while running. But for some reason there is still something in the back of my mind asking me what it is that I am doing.

By no means would I have expected to be at this point in preparation for Ironman Lanzarote. Actually I thought it would take till summer to get back to running. In February they told me the knee had both a torn meniscus and ligament. My world came to a full stop at that time and now only a short two months later Ironman Lanzarote is showing up at the horizon.

But there is this little bit of doubt in the back of my mind. Asking me if I am ready to race? I don’t know… Can I know? No, only race day will tell. In February I didn’t dare dream about this. But now I am getting ready to rumble! And that makes me smile and forget about that little bit of doubt. It will be awesome. It will be hard. It will be another part of my dream coming true! What more can you possibly want? Ironman Lanzarote here I come!

NOTE: This blog comes from my website: www.kasemier.eu.

This is a video of an F4 tornado that hit the University of Alabama yesterday.  The tornado then proceeded to track east and then hit Birmingham where my Mom and all my brothers and sisters live.  Thankfully all of them are OK.  Yesterday was a scary, scary day.

Tuscaloosa – Birmingham Tornado

This past weekend a few of the Team Timex members had  the opportunity to be a part of the grand opening of Tribella http://tribellas.com/ in down town Denver.  Tribella is a multisport store that is fully dedicated to the sport of Triathlon for women.

That evening Will, Trista and myself attended the opening to talk folks about some of the product’s that we represent with Team Timex.  Here is Trista helping Matthew from Orbea talk about some of the road and Tri Bikes that they make.

Will also jumped right in to talk with some folks that are new to the sport about hydration products from Nathan

I would have to say that this was one of the best turn outs I have seen for a store opening/ Chat with the pro’s in a long time.  By the end of the night they had a turn out of over125 people.  By the look of these two ladies’ I would have to say that Tribella is going to be a successful store for years to come.

Thank you to the staff of Tribella and the folks who came by that night.

Team Timex,

Trista,Will and Denny