July 2, 2025 • 28 mins
At The Yellow Post, we don’t just sell outdoor gear—we live it.
When we opened our brick-and-mortar store in Big Bear, our mission was simple: curate the best brands and gear we actually use on the trails, in training, and during race day. This guide isn’t filled with random recommendations or sponsored placements. Every product listed below helped me train for and finish my first ultramarathon: a 50K trail race that demanded reliable, high-performance gear.
These are the real-world-tested products that got me to the finish line.
My 50K Trail Running Gear Shoes Topo MTN Racer 4 → https://amzn.to/44UyCtL All Topo Shoes → https://amzn.to/4nWt7ne Hoka Mafate 4 → https://amzn.to/46MKGzM Hoka Mafate X → https://amzn.to/4o09qux
GPS Watch Suunto Vertical Solar → https://amzn.to/4mbyHjM Suunto Run → https://amzn.to/40CGMFY Coros Apex 2 Pro → https://amzn.to/459STf5
Socks Feetures → https://amzn.to/4ePiRJ8 Injinji Trail Midweight → https://amzn.to/468ZIzC
Hydration Pack Ultraspire Spry 3.0 → https://amzn.to/4kZ6Oue Soft Flask → https://amzn.to/4o6V9w7 Iso Pocket 3.0 → https://amzn.to/4nXBJde Ultraspire Store → https://amzn.to/3IPqIKE
Apparel / Hats Sprints Running Hats → https://amzn.to/4o6V0c3
Sunglasses Tifosi Swick → https://amzn.to/40xvN0y Tifosi Store → https://amzn.to/4m98Nx1 Method Seven Silverton → https://methodseven.com/products/silverton-trail26-matte-black-trail-running-sunglasses?sca_ref=9194148.u7konADiWDYLx2mp Method Seven Closer → https://methodseven.com/products/closer-trail26-trail-running-sunglasses?sca_ref=9194148.u7konADiWDYLx2mp Use code TYP10 for 10% off
Nutrition Tailwind Single Serve → https://amzn.to/44PRzPG Tailwind 3lb Bag → https://amzn.to/44LDq5T Tailwind Recovery → https://amzn.to/45j2WQ5 Untapped Waffle → https://amzn.to/45lwCMo Untapped Gel → https://amzn.to/4lHPzP7 Primus Fuel (not affiliate) → https://primusfuel.com/
Support The Yellow Post, a local mountain gear shop in Big Bear, CA, by shopping through these affiliate links. Thanks!
Summary
In this conversation, the speakers delve into the essential gear needed for ultramarathon running, emphasizing the importance of personal preference in shoe selection, the necessity of a well-fitted pack for carrying hydration and supplies, and the critical role of practice and preparation in ensuring a successful race experience. They discuss various types of shoes, hydration packs, and other gear essentials while sharing personal anecdotes and tips for new runners preparing for their first ultra.
Chapters
00:00 The Gear Enthusiast's Journey
06:52 Choosing the Right Shoes
13:43 Packing Essentials for Ultra Running
19:42 The Importance of Practice and Preparation
26:47 Final Thoughts on Gear and Readiness
Takeaways
I've always been a gear head.
Shoes is going to be huge and super personal.
You want quality on your feet.
You want to look at what you're getting ready to go do.
You want that to be nice and easy to pop up to the aid station.
You want to practice with this stuff.
Find the thing that works for you and then practice.
You want to have that confidence that you have that stuff.
You want to mitigate that as much as possible.
Gear, check. Done.
Keywords
ultramarathon, running gear, shoes, hydration packs, training, preparation, ultra running, gear
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I've always been a gearhead. I'll admit that.
I enjoy. I used to enjoy even.
Like, how do I rack my bike on my car more than the bike itself
or what I was about to go do. Yeah, that looks cool when you
throw a bike on your roof. You know what I mean?
This is. Couch to 50K How to?
(00:21):
Finish. Your first ultra marathon.
What's up, man? What's up?
How you doing good man? How are you?
Good, I'm doing well. Doing well.
Excited to talk about gear for aminute.
This is our gear episode where we where we dig into what it
(00:43):
takes to get it done. How do you support yourself out
there? So I dig the gear, I dig the
gear it it is all very expensive.
That stuff adds up. But the cool thing about running
is there's a lot less to it, right?
I mean, we need some shoes to get it done.
Typically not everybody's out there in shoes, sandals and
barefoot and and all kinds of stuff going on out there in the
(01:05):
in the world. So let's start there.
I think maybe talk about shoes for a second and then we can get
into some of the smaller accessories and things that help
us get through a race like this.Yeah, yeah, shoes is, is going
to be huge and super personal. You know, that's you're going to
see people and in the like the toes, you know, the, the five
(01:29):
finger, Yeah, you know, you're going to see people wearing
Hoka, like the Bondi, the big huge cushion and they're going
to be running next to each otheron the same trail, right.
You know, so it really is going to become a matter of personal
preference. But the cool thing is there's a
lot of really great shoes, shoe brands and, and shoe ideas out
(01:53):
there. You know, like just here in the
shop, we carry a variety of likewe have barefoot, we have the
Vivo barefoot and we have the Hoka and we have Topo which is
different and speed lamp which is different.
All of them are have their own kind of little unique things
that make them, you know, they're in their category.
But yeah, I mean shoes and it's like it's super obvious, right,
(02:15):
Right. You're on the run.
You need something on your feet.So, you know, you got to find
what it is that works for you. I don't really know that there's
going to be a one size right. I mean.
Try some. Things out.
I think there's a difference between like well made shoes and
wearing, you know, like lower end shoes.
(02:40):
And I'm not even going to say like, you know, this can be
within a brand. Sure, right, Because you can go
to like Marshalls and find a pair of $30 New Balance, right?
Probably not the best shoes to go run an ultra in, right?
But like New Balance makes greatshoes.
Sure, right. They just got to probably pony
(03:00):
up for like the ones that they put a little bit more, you know,
are, I mean, you're going to be on your feet for a long time.
So you want to have something under something you like,
whether even like the barefoot shoes are like well made, right?
They're like well made for what they are.
So I think that that would be the thing that I would, if I'm
going to give a recommendation, it's like get something that's
(03:21):
well made and that's suit that'sgoing to be durable and it's
going to hold up. And then like if you want like a
zero drop or a barefoot or a hookah or what you know, that's
going to all be personal preference.
But like for running, for being out there for a long time, you
want quality on your feet. Yep, Yep.
Unless you're crazy and you go barefoot like, you know, we've
(03:44):
seen people do. Absolutely.
Yeah. Well, you know, I do feel like
it can be a little bit overwhelming because as the
sport has gotten so popular, so has the the brands have paid
attention to that and there's a ton of options out there now.
But I think that's that's reallysolid advice.
(04:04):
Of course, there's millions of reviews about everything.
So you can get a pretty good sense of whether you're looking
for that maximalist big shoe that's going to make it feel
like you're running on a cloud or something more minimalist
barefoot style, or, you know, somewhere in between and then
sort of hone in on a quality product.
And then, then you can get even more specific, I think, right?
(04:26):
Yeah. And you know, if you can and you
can have multiple pairs of shoesthat you wear like, oh, I'm
going to go out and I'm going torun on the road now.
So I'm going to wear like a heavily cushioned Rd. shoe, you
know, because so I don't beat myself up on the asphalt.
And now, now I'm going to go, I'm going to go do a workout in
(04:47):
the on the football field, you know, and I'm going to do
strides and I'm going to, I'm going to wear a barefoot shoe
and I'm going to try and build up that like strength in my
ankles. And now I'm going to go for a
run. I'm wear the trail shoe out, you
know, so, you know, if you, if you can, you know, and obviously
that's a luxury like, you know, to be able to have a, a stable
(05:07):
of shoes, right? It's like a dream for people,
like open the door and it's like, oh, every, any shoe for
any purpose, you know, But, you know, that would be great.
Like if you can have a handful of shoes that it's going to make
each shoe last longer and you'regoing to probably get better
performance out of each shoe. Yeah.
Yeah, I like that a lot. There's something to the new
(05:28):
shoe day too, right? That's motivating.
That's pretty sweet. New new cool piece of gear will
will get you out there and keep the training going time right
even if you're getting in early fresh.
Kicks, yeah. Yeah, and we so we have a
specific race prep episode coming later, but surely you
wouldn't unless you've done it many, many times, walk onto the
(05:48):
the starting line in a brand newpair of shoes that you've never.
Felt on your. Feet before.
No, but you also don't want to walk into a pair that's got, you
know, 300 miles on them. Sure.
So you want to break them in? That would be my break in break
in the pair of shoes, you know, so where it's it's comfortable
on your foot, it's not going to be rubbing in any weird ways.
(06:10):
Like you already know. Ideally you're you're wearing
like a new version or a new pair, newish pair of the shoe
that you trained in, right. You know, that's that's kind.
Of so we, we've got a good six months in our program, right
where we can find something thatwe know is working well for us,
especially towards the later months when you're going a
(06:32):
little longer and it's kind of training tested for you
personally. That's cool advice, though.
You know, grab that fresh pair that's exactly like what you
found that you fell in love with.
Yeah. Break it in a little bit, and
then then you're. Yeah.
Usually it's like an old model too, so you're gonna get a deal
on it. You already been wearing it, you
know, like a brand new thing youhave to get, you know.
(06:54):
But then you get the problem. You go buy 2 pairs of shoes at a
time. You.
Might as well, yeah. Right.
You're gonna wear them eventually.
Well, cool. I feel good about shoes.
There's more to it, of course, so let's let's move on.
I'm going to go with my the nextthing and I'll have a caveat on
this, but the next thing is going to be a pack or some type
(07:16):
of some type of some type of capacity to carry the gear that
you need. The gear you need being like,
you know, your water bottles. And we'll go through a list of,
you know, random things that I like to carry in my pack, but,
you know, having something comfortable to transport the
gear while you run, that's goingto be like kind of the, the
(07:40):
thing next to shoes. And in the caveat that I'm going
to put on that is that there's alot of races where you, even
though they're ultras, you don'tneed to carry stuff because the
aid is so close. And I, I've seen people like
many times carrying way more stuff than they need to.
And at that point it's just burdensome and like, it's hard
(08:02):
to tell somebody who's into gearthat they don't need to carry
the gear. Sure.
See, my first 50 miler, I carried a Garmin like a like a
handheld Garmin because I wantedto track it so bad.
They probably weighed a pound, you know, you had a big
(08:23):
camelback on with like all my, Ihad everything that I needed in
it. And then you get out there and
you know, the aid stations were like 4 miles apart and I really
didn't need all of that stuff. So there the caveat is that like
you got to, you want to look at what you're getting ready to go
do and make sure that you're notoverdoing it.
(08:44):
But they make packs that, you know, only carry a bottle of
water. They're very thin and it just
lets you carry the water right here, you know, instead of in
your hand or, you know, on your back.
Right, right. So you don't just because you
say pack, it doesn't have to be like a huge big piece of gear,
(09:06):
right? But yeah, pack, pack is going to
be like the thing that you want to, you want to get and you want
to get used to running with it too, because it is like, you
know, it bounces and you got to figure out, you know, where is
the thing that I need like, oh, I want to get my food, how do I
reach it? And you know, like what?
You know, it's yeah, it's a little bit of a learning curve,
(09:28):
right? You know, huge.
Fit component to that. Absolutely.
Make sure that that pack, however you're carrying your
stuff, is secure. Seems like bounce would be a big
part of that. Right.
Yeah, I think. I've never really run with a
pack. Well, be honest.
I mean, it's OK, we're staying pack 2 and you know, I'm gonna
even go. It's a it's going to be a vest.
(09:51):
The, you know, the difference between like a day pack and an
ultra running pack is that it puts the, you know, the brunt,
it puts most of the stuff on your chest as opposed to your
back. So a vest is probably a better
way to to say it. Now, a lot of times you will
still have like the backpack part of it, like a camelback and
(10:11):
maybe some clothes or whatever on your back.
But in terms of that's what you know, like the access, having it
right on your chest, but also ifyou think about when you're
running and you're slightly leaning forward, just that
little bit of like extra lean and momentum helps.
And and it also like it really hones in the wig, like the
(10:34):
jiggling and the wiggling and stuff.
If you have it tight against your chest, it's like the least
you know right movement that you'll find.
Yeah, so I mean forever, you know, as mountain biker, that
type of thing. I I would often rock the, you
know, reservoir with the straw. I in, at least in videos and
stuff that I've seen, I see a lot more of like the soft flask
(10:56):
with the straws and people are just stealing sips like.
That, yeah, it's easier. Yeah, it's easier.
I mean, soft flasks are, I don'tknow if they're new, but yeah,
pretty recent that like everything went to a soft flask.
So when it's pushing on your chest, it doesn't hurt.
Also, as you drink the water outof it, it like compresses and so
(11:18):
it's not sloshing around. If you just have like a hard
water bottle, it sloshes and like all those little like
momentum things like will add up.
So if we're carrying a lot of water still, the reservoir is
like, you know, going to be yourgo to, but you can get like a
leader on your chest in 2 bottles, which is, you know,
(11:43):
that's a significant amount. And so if you want to talk about
another piece of gear, if I'm, if I'm, you know, increasing my
capacity to carry water, I'm going like first I'm going to
bought with one bottle on my chest, a soft flask.
Then I would go to another soft flask.
Then the next thing I would go to would be a handheld.
(12:05):
And then if I had to, I would goto a reservoir and maybe ditch
the handheld or ditch one of thesoft flat, you know, But the
handheld is a great it. Like you, my the 1st 100 mile
Miller that I ran, I just wore shorts and shoes and I carried A
handheld because the again, the aid stations were like, you
(12:29):
know, it was close and my shortshad pockets in them that I could
put gels and I could put food in.
But you know, I was just aid station to aid station and I
really didn't need to carry a a ton of a ton of fuel.
And so handheld's a great is a great tool.
The other you can now find a handheld that's a soft flask.
(12:51):
And so as you drink it, it compresses into nothing.
And then when it's gone, it's nothing.
You stick it in your pack and now you're not carrying anything
again. So that that that's a huge kind
of like thing to play around with is like basically what it
comes down to is your capacity to carry water and fuel.
How do you want to do that? What's the most comfortable way
(13:13):
to do that? A vest that's like the industry
standard now is like what kind of vest, how much capacity does
it have? Handheld is another great way to
do that. Cool.
Yeah. I mean, so we'll have a fuelling
episode as well where we kind ofget into more specifics of how
much we should be taking in calorie wise, you know, water
(13:37):
wise, all that type of thing. But I do on the gear note, I
think you do refilling throughout the race, I'm
assuming, right. So you want that to be nice and
easy to pop up to the aid station and whip it out, undo
it, give it a refill. That's one of the nice things
about the vest, you know, And inlike 2 soft flasks, you know,
(14:01):
that's, you run up to the aid station, you they're right here.
You take them right out, you undo it.
As opposed to the reservoir in the back.
You might have to take off your pack.
You got to unbuckle something, you got to unslide the thing.
Now they fill it up. And now it's like this giant
thing of water and you're tryingto put it back to get, you know,
all those little, those little things add up.
(14:26):
Yeah, No, I the you're going to find like some things are like
you think that this is like a great.
I had these really cheap soft flasks that I got from like
Amazon China basically, and they're great.
They leak a little bit, but they're OK.
(14:48):
And then the first time I used them in a race, the top is so
small that I couldn't like to dump in the, you know, the like
the the mix that I had that I was using was like a.
Like a powder mixing. With the water, yeah, because
you're like trying to get it into like the tiny hole.
(15:09):
So you will notice that like better brands will make like
they know that. And so they have like a full
wide mouth at the top, you know.And so little things like that
you would think about. But yeah, the, the vest, the
pack, that's probably your thingafter shoes.
And then it's like, what are youputting in your pack?
Obviously, you know, for you going to run Holcomb Valley,
(15:34):
you're going to have a specific set of things that you're going
to want to put in there just in case, you know, like for you it
might be like sun protection. Sure, right.
You're going to want to carry something to help you, whether
that's a hat or sunglasses or sunscreen or whatever.
For somebody else, it might be rain, like a rain gear.
(15:56):
You're going to want to be able to put a poncho in there or a
raincoat. I'm always carrying Lube 100%
That's like definitely in there.I take like a zip lock baggie
and I just squirt a bunch of like I use I use A&D ointment,
squirt a bunch of it in the zip lock baggie and I put it in my
(16:18):
in my pack. I'll also put that in drop bags,
you know, in case I have to just.
Yeah. Whatever, wherever, wherever you
need some other things. I'm always carrying in my pack,
Ginger. For the tummy.
Ginger for the tummy, so like they make these little like
(16:40):
ginger candies, always have those in my pack.
And now this is like just for a race setting.
Obviously you're going to want that, but also in training, like
having this stuff in your pack all the time.
The more we run, the more we're out there, the more situations
you're going to find yourself in.
(17:01):
Wipes, wipes, you never know. You never know when the nature's
going to call, you know, And so,you know, like I have like a
little kit that I, I put in my pack.
It's like ginger wipes, Lube, really lightweight headlamp,
like Petzel makes this one that's like, it's just got like
(17:22):
paracord and it's just a tiny headlamp weighs almost nothing.
But, you know, you go out for a run and something happens and
you're walking and now you're instead of three hours, you're
out there for six, you know, andyou might need a headlamp.
That's a good. I, I think a lot of this goes to
going from the shorter distancesto the longer distances.
(17:44):
It kind of shocked me that my normal, you know, four or five
miles setup almost starts to break down at like 8 miles.
Yeah. Like add in those couple extra
miles and all the sudden I'm coming home with little chafing
in a weird spot or blister that I wasn't expecting, you know?
And so obviously we're not talking about 8, we're talking
about ultra marathon distance, right?
(18:06):
This is all going to become really important and could be
the difference in ADNF and get into the finish line.
Yeah, man. Or calling your wife for a ride
midway through your, like, you know, your training run, Like
I've been there where it's like,yeah, man, if I would have had
an extra pair of socks with me, I would be great.
(18:26):
But yeah, I didn't have wipes either.
I had to use one of my socks. And then, you know, now I'm
running barefoot and it's just, you know, you know, being
prepared is it Obviously you don't want to be over prepared
because you got to carry all this stuff.
But you know, having a kit like like buffs, like like carrying a
(18:49):
buff with you, especially for usin the mountains, if you go out
for an evening run, you know, and you know, the temperature
swings up here can be like pretty drastic and for.
People who might not know a buffis.
It's kind of like a neck gaiter,you know, it's just like a
really thin piece of cloth that you can wear as a face covering
(19:09):
or a a hat, or you can wear it in a variety of ways, you know,
But you know, if you have like, like my pack is basically like
it's, it stays the same. It's like a really lightweight
windbreaker, a buff little medical kit that's got Lube and
like a Band-Aid and like a couple of things, some ginger.
(19:30):
And the reality is I almost never touch that stuff.
I almost never do. But it, it is the things that I
am going to use in that situation.
And so you do, if that comes up,you, you practice with it.
And then like the race is going to be a situation where you're
longer, you're go, you're out there more than you are in
(19:50):
training. And you, you know, you want to
have that, that like confidence that you have that stuff.
You want to have the practice oflike, Oh yeah, like, oh, I know,
oh, my stomach hurts. I have two Tums.
Like I always carry 2 Tums. You don't you like the idea
you're going to need a whole bottle of Tums is like, but two
Tums and a piece of ginger, likethat'll get you back to your
(20:12):
car, you know, and then to the toilet.
So I think those are like the, the gear, if you want to call
them gear. Those are the things that are
like, that's why you have a vest, right?
That's why you're wearing a vestout there.
You're carrying all these littlethings that are going to let you
keep going. I like it.
(20:34):
Yeah, yeah. Keep the journey moving.
Keep moving forward. Yeah.
All right. So there's a few other things.
I do see people do some ultras with poles, like, yeah, almost
traditional hiking poles. Maybe there's race versions I've
seen like the collapsible ones? Yeah, carbon, carbon fiber like
the carbon fiber poles are you know going to be the
(20:54):
lightweight. They they are probably overused,
OK, but it's hard because they man, they like they save your
legs. At the right times.
Right yeah, so they save your legs but it there's a there's a
(21:15):
trade off because now you're carrying two poles so everything
that you do you now have to manage these two poles.
You want to fill up your bottle,you want to get something out of
your pack. You want to do so like the
amount of time that you can waste and the amount of energy
you can waste with poles is is like a negative of it.
(21:39):
Like the benefit of it is that it really can preserve your
legs, especially on the downhill.
It can take away some of the force every time, every step
that really can add up. But you know, you want to
practice with them just like theother stuff if you're going to,
if you're going to use poles andand I guess I would say they're
(22:02):
overused because you see them inlike flat running races on, you
know, where it's like, you know,yeah, I guess.
Yeah. I, I, I see that because there
there is significant downside to, to carrying that with you
all day long. Yeah, right.
But you know, and, and, and certainly race specific too,
(22:23):
right. I mean, like you just said,
there's, there's most races, maybe it's not needed or maybe
most isn't the right word. I don't, I don't, I don't have a
great sense of all the ultras that are out there.
But it's, I guess what I'm saying is it takes a pretty
significant terrain for it to belike this is a huge benefit
versus the downside that comes along with it.
(22:43):
Yeah, there's races where it's obvious that you should be using
poles because it they're steep and they're technical.
And so the, the efficiency you gain from carrying the poles
outweighs like the nuisance of carrying the poles.
Now if it's a, you know, a fire Rd. that you're running on and
(23:04):
you're running, but you have poles with you at that point,
they're not, you know, they're really not.
Now, I will say as a caveat, if you're, you know, hurting no
matter what the terrain is, the poles are going to be a savior.
So you know, you know, again, personal preference.
What are you looking to get out of the thing?
(23:26):
What's your what's your practicewith?
I would not recommend just grabbing poles for a race.
They're they're they're you're going to burn more energy trying
to figure out how to use them, you know then.
But if you're willing to practice with them, they can
make you feel like you're going faster in a lot of situations
(23:46):
going uphill. They can really add a lot, you
know, you can get, but work on them.
You get tennis elbow. You know, if you, if you're,
you're with that first when you first start doing them.
Yeah, I did. I got a lot of tennis elbow.
I I carried poles for four days at Tour de Jean and I couldn't
(24:07):
feel my pinkies for like 3 weeks, but I couldn't, I
couldn't zip up my pants like after a four day, after a four
day run. The thing that hurt the most was
my hands because I was just gripping poles the entire time.
And now I think it's Leckie makes like a glove that it
(24:32):
attaches to the top of the pole.OK, so you're not like the you
don't have to grip as much. And I've, I've kind of figured
out, you know, some ways to holdthem a little bit and did not
grip them so tight. But that was definitely like a
learning experience. Yeah.
What is wrong with my hands, youknow?
And then it's like. Yeah, it's the long distance
(24:54):
stuff, man. It's, it's, it's that
compounding thing over time, right.
I experienced that on a, on a bike with it, just a regular old
water bottle that has that, you know, you pop the top up and
down, but it was kind of hard todo and I was doing it with my
mouth and I, I felt like my teeth were going to fall out.
Like then it was the same thing as your hands.
(25:14):
But the next morning, like I couldn't move my mouth because I
spent the whole day doing, Oh, that's not a great gesture for
the camera, but you know what I'm saying?
It was, it was painful, you know, and I, and I, but back to
the specific poles. I, I, I've only used them a few
times hiking little bit of backpacking, but it was hard
(25:34):
even even just getting the cadence of of like how is this
actually an efficient motion formy body took it took some more
practice than I thought it would.
You know, it doesn't seem like adifficult thing, but getting it
In Sync with your legs and. Yeah, making it.
Work pressure. Yeah, yeah.
And I think that's like probablythe thing to take away from the
(25:55):
gear talk is like, you wanna practice with this stuff, right?
And, you know, and it can feel absurd at times because almost
none of your training runs are, you know, six hours or 7 hours,
like you're 50K is gonna be right.
But you want to be practicing and wearing like all this stuff
(26:18):
so that it's not new when it comes.
There's like that old adage of like, don't ever try anything
new in a race. And I, and I don't take that as
like, don't use a new piece of gear.
Like, yeah, go buy new trekking poles that are in great shape in
their lightweight before the race.
But you will have practiced withtrekking poles for a long time
before you do that. You know, it's like don't,
(26:41):
don't, you don't do a new movement.
Like don't create a new skill set right before the race.
Like you want to know what you're doing with the gear.
You know, like putting a new headlamp on isn't necessarily a
bad thing, but like knowing how to run with the headlamp on
where you keep the headlamp in your pack.
You know all of those things youwant to have dialed in.
(27:04):
Nice. Yeah, that feels good.
We we ran down the list pretty good there.
I think we hit our kind of firstaid essentials and that you
should really just kind of be caring anytime you're going out
a little bit longer, training orracing.
Choose Yeah, that that feels like a pretty good list.
I I, you kind of summed it up with the take away, but I think
(27:25):
that's, that's probably the, thebiggie here is find the thing
that works for you and then practice, practice, practice,
You know, just get super used toit to where that gear is just a
part of what you do. Right.
Yep. Yeah, yeah, they, they make fun
of like, you know, like the ultra runner on the like 3 mile
trail with all his stuff that like the, the little kids hiking
(27:48):
next to him. And it's like, you know,
there's, it's kind of funny, butat the same time it is like you
want to practice what you're going to use.
And even if it's not needed on the run that you're on, you
know, I, I over carry often, youknow, in training.
Yeah. Well, I mean, look, there's,
there are going to be surprises within the race.
(28:10):
I've done enough races to know that regardless of the race,
like something's going to happenthat you're not planning for,
right. And it's almost like, how do we
mitigate that as much as possible?
And it, it comes through practice time, using these
things over and over and over sothat when we're out there and we
need it, you, you're ready to doit.
You're ready to throw it into action.
(28:32):
I think that goes a long way. Yeah.
Oh yeah. Cool.
All right, Gear check. Gear check.
Check. Done.
Gear check. Cheers.
Couch to 50K is an elevated SoCal project.
All rights reserved.
I've always been a gearhead. I'll admit that.
I enjoy. I used to enjoy even.
Like, how do I rack my bike on my car more than the bike itself
or what I was about to go do. Yeah, that looks cool when you
throw a bike on your roof. You know what I mean?
This is. Couch to 50K How to?
(00:21):
Finish. Your first ultra marathon.
What's up, man? What's up?
How you doing good man? How are you?
Good, I'm doing well. Doing well.
Excited to talk about gear for aminute.
This is our gear episode where we where we dig into what it
(00:43):
takes to get it done. How do you support yourself out
there? So I dig the gear, I dig the
gear it it is all very expensive.
That stuff adds up. But the cool thing about running
is there's a lot less to it, right?
I mean, we need some shoes to get it done.
Typically not everybody's out there in shoes, sandals and
barefoot and and all kinds of stuff going on out there in the
(01:05):
in the world. So let's start there.
I think maybe talk about shoes for a second and then we can get
into some of the smaller accessories and things that help
us get through a race like this.Yeah, yeah, shoes is, is going
to be huge and super personal. You know, that's you're going to
see people and in the like the toes, you know, the, the five
(01:29):
finger, Yeah, you know, you're going to see people wearing
Hoka, like the Bondi, the big huge cushion and they're going
to be running next to each otheron the same trail, right.
You know, so it really is going to become a matter of personal
preference. But the cool thing is there's a
lot of really great shoes, shoe brands and, and shoe ideas out
(01:53):
there. You know, like just here in the
shop, we carry a variety of likewe have barefoot, we have the
Vivo barefoot and we have the Hoka and we have Topo which is
different and speed lamp which is different.
All of them are have their own kind of little unique things
that make them, you know, they're in their category.
But yeah, I mean shoes and it's like it's super obvious, right,
(02:15):
Right. You're on the run.
You need something on your feet.So, you know, you got to find
what it is that works for you. I don't really know that there's
going to be a one size right. I mean.
Try some. Things out.
I think there's a difference between like well made shoes and
wearing, you know, like lower end shoes.
(02:40):
And I'm not even going to say like, you know, this can be
within a brand. Sure, right, Because you can go
to like Marshalls and find a pair of $30 New Balance, right?
Probably not the best shoes to go run an ultra in, right?
But like New Balance makes greatshoes.
Sure, right. They just got to probably pony
(03:00):
up for like the ones that they put a little bit more, you know,
are, I mean, you're going to be on your feet for a long time.
So you want to have something under something you like,
whether even like the barefoot shoes are like well made, right?
They're like well made for what they are.
So I think that that would be the thing that I would, if I'm
going to give a recommendation, it's like get something that's
(03:21):
well made and that's suit that'sgoing to be durable and it's
going to hold up. And then like if you want like a
zero drop or a barefoot or a hookah or what you know, that's
going to all be personal preference.
But like for running, for being out there for a long time, you
want quality on your feet. Yep, Yep.
Unless you're crazy and you go barefoot like, you know, we've
(03:44):
seen people do. Absolutely.
Yeah. Well, you know, I do feel like
it can be a little bit overwhelming because as the
sport has gotten so popular, so has the the brands have paid
attention to that and there's a ton of options out there now.
But I think that's that's reallysolid advice.
(04:04):
Of course, there's millions of reviews about everything.
So you can get a pretty good sense of whether you're looking
for that maximalist big shoe that's going to make it feel
like you're running on a cloud or something more minimalist
barefoot style, or, you know, somewhere in between and then
sort of hone in on a quality product.
And then, then you can get even more specific, I think, right?
(04:26):
Yeah. And you know, if you can and you
can have multiple pairs of shoesthat you wear like, oh, I'm
going to go out and I'm going torun on the road now.
So I'm going to wear like a heavily cushioned Rd. shoe, you
know, because so I don't beat myself up on the asphalt.
And now, now I'm going to go, I'm going to go do a workout in
(04:47):
the on the football field, you know, and I'm going to do
strides and I'm going to, I'm going to wear a barefoot shoe
and I'm going to try and build up that like strength in my
ankles. And now I'm going to go for a
run. I'm wear the trail shoe out, you
know, so, you know, if you, if you can, you know, and obviously
that's a luxury like, you know, to be able to have a, a stable
(05:07):
of shoes, right? It's like a dream for people,
like open the door and it's like, oh, every, any shoe for
any purpose, you know, But, you know, that would be great.
Like if you can have a handful of shoes that it's going to make
each shoe last longer and you'regoing to probably get better
performance out of each shoe. Yeah.
Yeah, I like that a lot. There's something to the new
(05:28):
shoe day too, right? That's motivating.
That's pretty sweet. New new cool piece of gear will
will get you out there and keep the training going time right
even if you're getting in early fresh.
Kicks, yeah. Yeah, and we so we have a
specific race prep episode coming later, but surely you
wouldn't unless you've done it many, many times, walk onto the
(05:48):
the starting line in a brand newpair of shoes that you've never.
Felt on your. Feet before.
No, but you also don't want to walk into a pair that's got, you
know, 300 miles on them. Sure.
So you want to break them in? That would be my break in break
in the pair of shoes, you know, so where it's it's comfortable
on your foot, it's not going to be rubbing in any weird ways.
(06:10):
Like you already know. Ideally you're you're wearing
like a new version or a new pair, newish pair of the shoe
that you trained in, right. You know, that's that's kind.
Of so we, we've got a good six months in our program, right
where we can find something thatwe know is working well for us,
especially towards the later months when you're going a
(06:32):
little longer and it's kind of training tested for you
personally. That's cool advice, though.
You know, grab that fresh pair that's exactly like what you
found that you fell in love with.
Yeah. Break it in a little bit, and
then then you're. Yeah.
Usually it's like an old model too, so you're gonna get a deal
on it. You already been wearing it, you
know, like a brand new thing youhave to get, you know.
(06:54):
But then you get the problem. You go buy 2 pairs of shoes at a
time. You.
Might as well, yeah. Right.
You're gonna wear them eventually.
Well, cool. I feel good about shoes.
There's more to it, of course, so let's let's move on.
I'm going to go with my the nextthing and I'll have a caveat on
this, but the next thing is going to be a pack or some type
(07:16):
of some type of some type of capacity to carry the gear that
you need. The gear you need being like,
you know, your water bottles. And we'll go through a list of,
you know, random things that I like to carry in my pack, but,
you know, having something comfortable to transport the
gear while you run, that's goingto be like kind of the, the
(07:40):
thing next to shoes. And in the caveat that I'm going
to put on that is that there's alot of races where you, even
though they're ultras, you don'tneed to carry stuff because the
aid is so close. And I, I've seen people like
many times carrying way more stuff than they need to.
And at that point it's just burdensome and like, it's hard
(08:02):
to tell somebody who's into gearthat they don't need to carry
the gear. Sure.
See, my first 50 miler, I carried a Garmin like a like a
handheld Garmin because I wantedto track it so bad.
They probably weighed a pound, you know, you had a big
(08:23):
camelback on with like all my, Ihad everything that I needed in
it. And then you get out there and
you know, the aid stations were like 4 miles apart and I really
didn't need all of that stuff. So there the caveat is that like
you got to, you want to look at what you're getting ready to go
do and make sure that you're notoverdoing it.
(08:44):
But they make packs that, you know, only carry a bottle of
water. They're very thin and it just
lets you carry the water right here, you know, instead of in
your hand or, you know, on your back.
Right, right. So you don't just because you
say pack, it doesn't have to be like a huge big piece of gear,
(09:06):
right? But yeah, pack, pack is going to
be like the thing that you want to, you want to get and you want
to get used to running with it too, because it is like, you
know, it bounces and you got to figure out, you know, where is
the thing that I need like, oh, I want to get my food, how do I
reach it? And you know, like what?
You know, it's yeah, it's a little bit of a learning curve,
(09:28):
right? You know, huge.
Fit component to that. Absolutely.
Make sure that that pack, however you're carrying your
stuff, is secure. Seems like bounce would be a big
part of that. Right.
Yeah, I think. I've never really run with a
pack. Well, be honest.
I mean, it's OK, we're staying pack 2 and you know, I'm gonna
even go. It's a it's going to be a vest.
(09:51):
The, you know, the difference between like a day pack and an
ultra running pack is that it puts the, you know, the brunt,
it puts most of the stuff on your chest as opposed to your
back. So a vest is probably a better
way to to say it. Now, a lot of times you will
still have like the backpack part of it, like a camelback and
(10:11):
maybe some clothes or whatever on your back.
But in terms of that's what you know, like the access, having it
right on your chest, but also ifyou think about when you're
running and you're slightly leaning forward, just that
little bit of like extra lean and momentum helps.
And and it also like it really hones in the wig, like the
(10:34):
jiggling and the wiggling and stuff.
If you have it tight against your chest, it's like the least
you know right movement that you'll find.
Yeah, so I mean forever, you know, as mountain biker, that
type of thing. I I would often rock the, you
know, reservoir with the straw. I in, at least in videos and
stuff that I've seen, I see a lot more of like the soft flask
(10:56):
with the straws and people are just stealing sips like.
That, yeah, it's easier. Yeah, it's easier.
I mean, soft flasks are, I don'tknow if they're new, but yeah,
pretty recent that like everything went to a soft flask.
So when it's pushing on your chest, it doesn't hurt.
Also, as you drink the water outof it, it like compresses and so
(11:18):
it's not sloshing around. If you just have like a hard
water bottle, it sloshes and like all those little like
momentum things like will add up.
So if we're carrying a lot of water still, the reservoir is
like, you know, going to be yourgo to, but you can get like a
leader on your chest in 2 bottles, which is, you know,
(11:43):
that's a significant amount. And so if you want to talk about
another piece of gear, if I'm, if I'm, you know, increasing my
capacity to carry water, I'm going like first I'm going to
bought with one bottle on my chest, a soft flask.
Then I would go to another soft flask.
Then the next thing I would go to would be a handheld.
(12:05):
And then if I had to, I would goto a reservoir and maybe ditch
the handheld or ditch one of thesoft flat, you know, But the
handheld is a great it. Like you, my the 1st 100 mile
Miller that I ran, I just wore shorts and shoes and I carried A
handheld because the again, the aid stations were like, you
(12:29):
know, it was close and my shortshad pockets in them that I could
put gels and I could put food in.
But you know, I was just aid station to aid station and I
really didn't need to carry a a ton of a ton of fuel.
And so handheld's a great is a great tool.
The other you can now find a handheld that's a soft flask.
(12:51):
And so as you drink it, it compresses into nothing.
And then when it's gone, it's nothing.
You stick it in your pack and now you're not carrying anything
again. So that that that's a huge kind
of like thing to play around with is like basically what it
comes down to is your capacity to carry water and fuel.
How do you want to do that? What's the most comfortable way
(13:13):
to do that? A vest that's like the industry
standard now is like what kind of vest, how much capacity does
it have? Handheld is another great way to
do that. Cool.
Yeah. I mean, so we'll have a fuelling
episode as well where we kind ofget into more specifics of how
much we should be taking in calorie wise, you know, water
(13:37):
wise, all that type of thing. But I do on the gear note, I
think you do refilling throughout the race, I'm
assuming, right. So you want that to be nice and
easy to pop up to the aid station and whip it out, undo
it, give it a refill. That's one of the nice things
about the vest, you know, And inlike 2 soft flasks, you know,
(14:01):
that's, you run up to the aid station, you they're right here.
You take them right out, you undo it.
As opposed to the reservoir in the back.
You might have to take off your pack.
You got to unbuckle something, you got to unslide the thing.
Now they fill it up. And now it's like this giant
thing of water and you're tryingto put it back to get, you know,
all those little, those little things add up.
(14:26):
Yeah, No, I the you're going to find like some things are like
you think that this is like a great.
I had these really cheap soft flasks that I got from like
Amazon China basically, and they're great.
They leak a little bit, but they're OK.
(14:48):
And then the first time I used them in a race, the top is so
small that I couldn't like to dump in the, you know, the like
the the mix that I had that I was using was like a.
Like a powder mixing. With the water, yeah, because
you're like trying to get it into like the tiny hole.
(15:09):
So you will notice that like better brands will make like
they know that. And so they have like a full
wide mouth at the top, you know.And so little things like that
you would think about. But yeah, the, the vest, the
pack, that's probably your thingafter shoes.
And then it's like, what are youputting in your pack?
Obviously, you know, for you going to run Holcomb Valley,
(15:34):
you're going to have a specific set of things that you're going
to want to put in there just in case, you know, like for you it
might be like sun protection. Sure, right.
You're going to want to carry something to help you, whether
that's a hat or sunglasses or sunscreen or whatever.
For somebody else, it might be rain, like a rain gear.
(15:56):
You're going to want to be able to put a poncho in there or a
raincoat. I'm always carrying Lube 100%
That's like definitely in there.I take like a zip lock baggie
and I just squirt a bunch of like I use I use A&D ointment,
squirt a bunch of it in the zip lock baggie and I put it in my
(16:18):
in my pack. I'll also put that in drop bags,
you know, in case I have to just.
Yeah. Whatever, wherever, wherever you
need some other things. I'm always carrying in my pack,
Ginger. For the tummy.
Ginger for the tummy, so like they make these little like
(16:40):
ginger candies, always have those in my pack.
And now this is like just for a race setting.
Obviously you're going to want that, but also in training, like
having this stuff in your pack all the time.
The more we run, the more we're out there, the more situations
you're going to find yourself in.
(17:01):
Wipes, wipes, you never know. You never know when the nature's
going to call, you know, And so,you know, like I have like a
little kit that I, I put in my pack.
It's like ginger wipes, Lube, really lightweight headlamp,
like Petzel makes this one that's like, it's just got like
(17:22):
paracord and it's just a tiny headlamp weighs almost nothing.
But, you know, you go out for a run and something happens and
you're walking and now you're instead of three hours, you're
out there for six, you know, andyou might need a headlamp.
That's a good. I, I think a lot of this goes to
going from the shorter distancesto the longer distances.
(17:44):
It kind of shocked me that my normal, you know, four or five
miles setup almost starts to break down at like 8 miles.
Yeah. Like add in those couple extra
miles and all the sudden I'm coming home with little chafing
in a weird spot or blister that I wasn't expecting, you know?
And so obviously we're not talking about 8, we're talking
about ultra marathon distance, right?
(18:06):
This is all going to become really important and could be
the difference in ADNF and get into the finish line.
Yeah, man. Or calling your wife for a ride
midway through your, like, you know, your training run, Like
I've been there where it's like,yeah, man, if I would have had
an extra pair of socks with me, I would be great.
(18:26):
But yeah, I didn't have wipes either.
I had to use one of my socks. And then, you know, now I'm
running barefoot and it's just, you know, you know, being
prepared is it Obviously you don't want to be over prepared
because you got to carry all this stuff.
But you know, having a kit like like buffs, like like carrying a
(18:49):
buff with you, especially for usin the mountains, if you go out
for an evening run, you know, and you know, the temperature
swings up here can be like pretty drastic and for.
People who might not know a buffis.
It's kind of like a neck gaiter,you know, it's just like a
really thin piece of cloth that you can wear as a face covering
(19:09):
or a a hat, or you can wear it in a variety of ways, you know,
But you know, if you have like, like my pack is basically like
it's, it stays the same. It's like a really lightweight
windbreaker, a buff little medical kit that's got Lube and
like a Band-Aid and like a couple of things, some ginger.
(19:30):
And the reality is I almost never touch that stuff.
I almost never do. But it, it is the things that I
am going to use in that situation.
And so you do, if that comes up,you, you practice with it.
And then like the race is going to be a situation where you're
longer, you're go, you're out there more than you are in
(19:50):
training. And you, you know, you want to
have that, that like confidence that you have that stuff.
You want to have the practice oflike, Oh yeah, like, oh, I know,
oh, my stomach hurts. I have two Tums.
Like I always carry 2 Tums. You don't you like the idea
you're going to need a whole bottle of Tums is like, but two
Tums and a piece of ginger, likethat'll get you back to your
(20:12):
car, you know, and then to the toilet.
So I think those are like the, the gear, if you want to call
them gear. Those are the things that are
like, that's why you have a vest, right?
That's why you're wearing a vestout there.
You're carrying all these littlethings that are going to let you
keep going. I like it.
(20:34):
Yeah, yeah. Keep the journey moving.
Keep moving forward. Yeah.
All right. So there's a few other things.
I do see people do some ultras with poles, like, yeah, almost
traditional hiking poles. Maybe there's race versions I've
seen like the collapsible ones? Yeah, carbon, carbon fiber like
the carbon fiber poles are you know going to be the
(20:54):
lightweight. They they are probably overused,
OK, but it's hard because they man, they like they save your
legs. At the right times.
Right yeah, so they save your legs but it there's a there's a
(21:15):
trade off because now you're carrying two poles so everything
that you do you now have to manage these two poles.
You want to fill up your bottle,you want to get something out of
your pack. You want to do so like the
amount of time that you can waste and the amount of energy
you can waste with poles is is like a negative of it.
(21:39):
Like the benefit of it is that it really can preserve your
legs, especially on the downhill.
It can take away some of the force every time, every step
that really can add up. But you know, you want to
practice with them just like theother stuff if you're going to,
if you're going to use poles andand I guess I would say they're
(22:02):
overused because you see them inlike flat running races on, you
know, where it's like, you know,yeah, I guess.
Yeah. I, I, I see that because there
there is significant downside to, to carrying that with you
all day long. Yeah, right.
But you know, and, and, and certainly race specific too,
(22:23):
right. I mean, like you just said,
there's, there's most races, maybe it's not needed or maybe
most isn't the right word. I don't, I don't, I don't have a
great sense of all the ultras that are out there.
But it's, I guess what I'm saying is it takes a pretty
significant terrain for it to belike this is a huge benefit
versus the downside that comes along with it.
(22:43):
Yeah, there's races where it's obvious that you should be using
poles because it they're steep and they're technical.
And so the, the efficiency you gain from carrying the poles
outweighs like the nuisance of carrying the poles.
Now if it's a, you know, a fire Rd. that you're running on and
(23:04):
you're running, but you have poles with you at that point,
they're not, you know, they're really not.
Now, I will say as a caveat, if you're, you know, hurting no
matter what the terrain is, the poles are going to be a savior.
So you know, you know, again, personal preference.
What are you looking to get out of the thing?
(23:26):
What's your what's your practicewith?
I would not recommend just grabbing poles for a race.
They're they're they're you're going to burn more energy trying
to figure out how to use them, you know then.
But if you're willing to practice with them, they can
make you feel like you're going faster in a lot of situations
(23:46):
going uphill. They can really add a lot, you
know, you can get, but work on them.
You get tennis elbow. You know, if you, if you're,
you're with that first when you first start doing them.
Yeah, I did. I got a lot of tennis elbow.
I I carried poles for four days at Tour de Jean and I couldn't
(24:07):
feel my pinkies for like 3 weeks, but I couldn't, I
couldn't zip up my pants like after a four day, after a four
day run. The thing that hurt the most was
my hands because I was just gripping poles the entire time.
And now I think it's Leckie makes like a glove that it
(24:32):
attaches to the top of the pole.OK, so you're not like the you
don't have to grip as much. And I've, I've kind of figured
out, you know, some ways to holdthem a little bit and did not
grip them so tight. But that was definitely like a
learning experience. Yeah.
What is wrong with my hands, youknow?
And then it's like. Yeah, it's the long distance
(24:54):
stuff, man. It's, it's, it's that
compounding thing over time, right.
I experienced that on a, on a bike with it, just a regular old
water bottle that has that, you know, you pop the top up and
down, but it was kind of hard todo and I was doing it with my
mouth and I, I felt like my teeth were going to fall out.
Like then it was the same thing as your hands.
(25:14):
But the next morning, like I couldn't move my mouth because I
spent the whole day doing, Oh, that's not a great gesture for
the camera, but you know what I'm saying?
It was, it was painful, you know, and I, and I, but back to
the specific poles. I, I, I've only used them a few
times hiking little bit of backpacking, but it was hard
(25:34):
even even just getting the cadence of of like how is this
actually an efficient motion formy body took it took some more
practice than I thought it would.
You know, it doesn't seem like adifficult thing, but getting it
In Sync with your legs and. Yeah, making it.
Work pressure. Yeah, yeah.
And I think that's like probablythe thing to take away from the
(25:55):
gear talk is like, you wanna practice with this stuff, right?
And, you know, and it can feel absurd at times because almost
none of your training runs are, you know, six hours or 7 hours,
like you're 50K is gonna be right.
But you want to be practicing and wearing like all this stuff
(26:18):
so that it's not new when it comes.
There's like that old adage of like, don't ever try anything
new in a race. And I, and I don't take that as
like, don't use a new piece of gear.
Like, yeah, go buy new trekking poles that are in great shape in
their lightweight before the race.
But you will have practiced withtrekking poles for a long time
before you do that. You know, it's like don't,
(26:41):
don't, you don't do a new movement.
Like don't create a new skill set right before the race.
Like you want to know what you're doing with the gear.
You know, like putting a new headlamp on isn't necessarily a
bad thing, but like knowing how to run with the headlamp on
where you keep the headlamp in your pack.
You know all of those things youwant to have dialed in.
(27:04):
Nice. Yeah, that feels good.
We we ran down the list pretty good there.
I think we hit our kind of firstaid essentials and that you
should really just kind of be caring anytime you're going out
a little bit longer, training orracing.
Choose Yeah, that that feels like a pretty good list.
I I, you kind of summed it up with the take away, but I think
(27:25):
that's, that's probably the, thebiggie here is find the thing
that works for you and then practice, practice, practice,
You know, just get super used toit to where that gear is just a
part of what you do. Right.
Yep. Yeah, yeah, they, they make fun
of like, you know, like the ultra runner on the like 3 mile
trail with all his stuff that like the, the little kids hiking
(27:48):
next to him. And it's like, you know,
there's, it's kind of funny, butat the same time it is like you
want to practice what you're going to use.
And even if it's not needed on the run that you're on, you
know, I, I over carry often, youknow, in training.
Yeah. Well, I mean, look, there's,
there are going to be surprises within the race.
(28:10):
I've done enough races to know that regardless of the race,
like something's going to happenthat you're not planning for,
right. And it's almost like, how do we
mitigate that as much as possible?
And it, it comes through practice time, using these
things over and over and over sothat when we're out there and we
need it, you, you're ready to doit.
You're ready to throw it into action.
(28:32):
I think that goes a long way. Yeah.
Oh yeah. Cool.
All right, Gear check. Gear check.
Check. Done.
Gear check. Cheers.
Couch to 50K is an elevated SoCal project.
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