Petzl NAO Headtorch Run

Crisp, Fresh, Stinging. Winter is here in the High Desert and the words needed to describe the air have transitioned beautifully. You can feel the peaks waiting in earnest for their white, fluffy blanket to arrive. They were teased in early October with a dusting but now well into November, that big humid air mass of the future is receiving mental call after mental call from a good number of the people in our town. With this arrival of winter comes the continual chopping away of minute by minute. Maybe not so much of a chopping away as a transformation from a day minute to a night. That gentle leaning of our planet now gives me a new challenge. One that I am actually perceiving to possibly be the most interesting and enjoyable of my time out on the trails. I will now be pushing my runs far through the disappearance of the sun!

Sunset over Kendrick 

 Now, I have always been quite the collector of headlamps. My time climbing out on the multi-pitch cliffs of the West, usually produce the need to carry one deep in my pack. My yearning for full moon excursions into The Canyon, whether on a Rim-to-Rim or marathon distance loop hike, necessitate not one, but two headlamps on occasion. Anyone who knows summer in The Canyon knows that "sunset starts" are the most comfortable of options and a good headlamp is not only nice but vital.

Grand Canyon night fun!

Enter, night trail running. As I have become more and more hooked on my Ultra goal, I have been seeking (and finding) inspiration through Podcasts. They give me ideas, tips, and stories to use throughout my runs. One of the tips that constantly comes through is the recommendation of the Petzl NAO headlamp. What? Are you serious? $175 for a headlamp! That's insane to a budget watching, gear mongering, school teacher like me. But wait! What's this? An old gift card from Bass Pro Shops? I already have 3 kayak/boats; I am set with my fishing gear; I have yet to be drawn for an elk tag. Ooooh, headlamps! OOOOOHHH, the Petzl! This dropped the unreachable 100 to an...eh... "affordable" 75 bucks. Click, click... sold.

Sometimes UPS tracking #'s can be fun, sometimes they are a curse. It seemed to take forever to slug across the country (man, how spoiled are we these days?). Eventually, that little brown box was waiting for me at the front door. Open...cut...pull...unfold...scan...plug...click...smile. Wait, plug and click?  The NAO comes with the ability to program different activities right into the product. Complete customization! Because the NAO has a sensor that receives light and adjusts the output accordingly, you will no longer get blinded when looking down at your guidebook or map. I have also found that it is nice when I look up to the side of the trail to check out a peculiar shape. The torch will sense the darkness that it is pointed towards and beam a 300 lumen spotlight at, what turns out to be, a large stump. How sick is that? I now have a program for my backpacking, one for Grand Canyon and one that I am currently tweaking for trail running. Don't worry if you don't want to mess with it too much or at all. I found that 2 of the pre-programmed options are actually really good for just about everything.

Slightly Excited

So, this past Tuesday evening was my 4 mile run and the way things were looking, I better take torch. I cruised through the run at aerobic pace, but somehow still made it back to my driveway with no need of external illumination. The next evening I came home from work and had my 6 miler on the schedule. This time I almost spaced the torch, having to turn around mid driveway and retrieve it from the counter. I set off knowing this was sure to be the first of many experiences with my new friend...partner...coach...& tool. Its performance was great (once I got used to the different modes and how to find them). The weight was surprisingly light for a rear battery headtorch too. All in all, I love the tech, I like the feel, and I can't wait to turn to my running partner and NOT blind them off the edge of the Canyon!



Peace

Who knew there was a "Beer Pace"?

Wow, who knew that having a few too many IPA's on a Friday night would effect your Saturday run? I jest of course, but that is just what happened this morning. At some points I could actually feel my liver doing its' processing. Now, don't get me wrong, the run couldn't have gone much better and I had a smile on my face most of the way. But each glance down at the Garmin showed a pace that was a little bit embarrassing.

This was my first "official" 50K training run. Although my 20 week training plan does not really begin until Tuesday I could not give up the chance to get started on this beautiful breezy and cool morning. So with my wife at my side, handheld attached, and heart-rate monitor strapped, we headed out the front door to the rolling reclaimed road behind our house.

Let's talk real quick about the heart-rate monitor, or as I like to call it, my Biofeedback device (shmancy huh?). I have decided that because I am looking to start endurance running, I will be taking the advice of Dr. Phil Maffetone. No, not THAT Dr. Phil. His thoughts are that your training should always be in the aerobic zone. If your heart-rate is above a certain point (for me it is 140 bpm), you will suffer consequences to your endurance and having listened to him speak and being a Biology major... I agree! So with the Biofeedback device leading the way, we pushed at the blistering speed of 13:30 minute miles! Wow, it is really hard to run that slow. But, it was a very comfortable pace and 10 miles seemed like much less. And after a few weeks of doing this, I should be seeing pretty dramatic drops in that number.

Ok, so looking at that pace again, let's talk about the IPA's. I had tested out this aerobic threshold idea a few days ago and was able to maintain a 10:45 pace at 140 bpm. That's a significant difference huh? So we will just have to see if my next run, hopefully not after another beer fest, goes back to that lower pace.

All in all, we're off I guess. Hittin' the ground running and ready to see my endurance gain speed and power. Now, off to the Halloween party... ah crap

Here we go...

Here we go!
Paradise, absolute paradise! This is how I usually have to explain my awesome little mountain town. With almost 300 days of sunshine, four somewhat distinct seasons, mountain views and a humidity destroying high desert climate, I tell you again... paradise! It also doesn't hurt to have a 12,000 ft mountain out my front door, 4500 ft elevation slick-rock less than an hour South and Grand Canyon just over an hour North.
Whatever your outdoor pleasure, be it hiking through the forest, gliding down the slopes, hopping rocks on an MTB or testing your fortitude against craggy basaltic cliffs, this area never quits; oh, but don't come here cause as I always say, "everybody wants to be the last immigrant to paradise."

So in my adventures here on top of the Colorado Plateau I have come to do quite the flip flop. I used to call runners idiots. Who would want to run for fun? Sure, I used to do quite a bit of running for soccer. Sprints, hills, long distance, I did it all. But for fun? Hmmm, somethings wrong with these people. Well, now there is something wrong with me. I caught the bug up here and I have very little doubt that it was a double whammy of beautiful trails and some of the greatest people in the world.

I started the way I usually start things... full throttle and zero practice. My first trail race was a half marathon at 8200 feet with PLENTY of ups and downs! Next, I saw a post that a team was looking for a Ragnar relay partner...I'm in. But my next task, the real inspiration for this digital account of happenings, will probably need some practice if I hope to cross a few chalk lines. I have caught the bug of the Ultra.

Goal #1 - 50K     ... here we go...  

+TheCanyon.com

*I am hoping to complete the Mesquite Canyon 50K on the next Spring Equinox