Changes

I was hoping to be competitive at the 2014 Umstead 100, but I had not recovered sufficiently from [[2014 Graveyard 100| Graveyard 100]] four weeks earlier. Umstead is eight laps of the 12.5 mile course, and my first lap took me two hours. That was right on pace, but my perceived effort was too high, and my legs felt empty. The second one was similar, but the third lap took me 2:20 and it was obvious that it was not my day for being competitive. The next two laps took me about 2:40 and I was sorely tempted to drop out. It was a close call, but I decided to suck it up and finish the race. I picked up the pace slightly on the final three laps to around 2:30, mostly by cutting out some lollygagging, and finished in 19:10.

=What Worked=

* '''Handheld bottle'''. As you can see in the picture above, I'm using an unusually shaped handheld bottle. These are quite common in Europe, as but I've rarely seen them in the US. I find this style of bottle much easier to carry, as it doesn't put any rotational stress on my forearm. Of course, carrying a water bottle for 19 hours will make your shoulders ache, and I was grateful to Umstead's massage therapist Denise for working out the kinks after the race.

* '''Morton Stretch'''. The [[Morton Stretch]] helped during this race, but not as much as I'd have liked. It's a great stretch, but it can't compensate for the lack of recovery since Graveyard.

* '''Heat'''. [[Running in the Heat]] is always harder, and this year's race was quite warm. In fact, it was a dangerous, insidious warmth that tended to creep up on people. I found that my [[Under Armor Heat Gear Top]] was wonderful, and I regularly tipped water over it to keep me cool. I think the heat did impair my performance a little, but it was not my main problem.

* '''Altra Olympus'''. I the entire race in my [[Shoes| Altra Olympus Shoes]] and they seemed to work remarkably well.

* '''Fenix 2'''. I used my new Fenix 2 on this race, and I liked having things like the temperature display. However, the battery only lasted 10:40 rather than the claimed 15 hours, which was a little disappointing. The watch also lost satellite reception for over an hour, something I've never experienced with another watch.

* '''Dust & Pollen'''. Unless it's raining, dust and pollen is always an issue at Umstead. It's a particular problem on the short section of the course that carries cars, as they kick up a lot of dust. On my final lap I was passed by a car moving more quickly than most and I was engulfed in a blinding, choking cloud of dust. I think the combination of dust and pollen got under my contact lenses and annoyed my eye, but it healed up in a day or so.

* '''Taper Psychosis'''. It's quite common for runners to suffer or to mood swings and stress when their tapering for a race, something I referred to as [[Taper Psychosis]]. For this year's race, the symptoms were particularly bad for me, possibly because I was not running much for the four weeks between races. Given the evidence that running can improve mental health, I wonder if part of my problem was more the removal of something that normally keeps me sane (running) rather than the increase in stress.

* '''Heart Rate Variability'''. I've been experimenting with measuring my [[Heart Rate Variability]] as this is often claimed to be a good indicator of [[Overtraining]]. I found that my HRV went dramatically down the morning after Umstead 100, though that might have been due to a higher heart rate. After the race there was no noticeable change from my baseline.

[[File:ithlete.jpg|none|thumb|300px| My HRV using [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ithlete/id331348945?mt=8 the ithlete app].]]