4th o' July

21 days late in posting this.  I could say that's how long it took me to recover from the 4th of July 4 miler.  But i'm not that big of a baby.  Honestly it was the most humid, miserable 4 miles of my life.  I tried to be awesome and "warm up" with Dave, jogging around the start to break a sweat.  And break a sweat I did. Everyone was drenched just from standing at the starting line, just waiting for the damn race to start. 

It was a nice, short, 2 mile loop out and back. The race itself was very well put together, organized, and they had lots of snacks and drinks at the finish.  Ok, i'm done being positive.  I never want to have to do anything like that race again.  They started us in "waves" a minute or so apart.  I was up in the first wave with Dave in the beginning, then I chicked out and went a few waves back.  Big mistake.  The first half mile or so was a narrow, paved trail that was virtually impossible to pass anyone on.  I was in a giant cluster of moms with strollers, kids in sketchers, and people like me who felt cool to be faster than other people but frustrated because we couldn't pass them (even though the people we were faster than were moms in strollers).

All in all, it was a wonderful way to start out our Independance Day celebration.  If you're into waking up at 4:30, sweating half your body weight, and wanting to pass out all before you've even had a chance to eat breakfast.  Oh, running, how I love you.

Arm Coolers

From Dave:  If you had a chance to watch last years Ironman world championship in Kona you were probably wondering why some of the pros were wearing arm warmers in the blistering heat of the island, and if you don't know what arm warmers are, you might have been wondering "what are those things on their arms?" Or if your as crazy as me and watched it online live, you got to hear the announcer repeatedly get corrected by his partner for calling them "arm warmers."

Well lately it seems there is a new craze going around, and for good reason, and its all about the wonderful "Arm cooler." It looks and fits exactly like an arm warmer if your familiar, just a sleeve you pull on to your arm that fits below your armpit down to your wrist. Except unlike and arm warmer, an arm cooler is made with thinner material that promotes cooling. Being in Arizona where its 90 degrees at 7 am i thought this would be worth a shot to experiment with. There are a few brands that make them but being a fan of Zoot i went with them. For $35 at Triple Sports in Scottsdale you can get a pair.

 Besides being partial to Zoot, i went with them because they have a unique "ingredient" to their design. These arm coolers have xylitol woven into the material. not too sure what this does exactly because you can pick up xylitol as an alternative  sweetener to sugar at Hi-Health. Kind of like Splenda or stevia. Xylitol is typically used to sweeten gums. Zoot calims that the Xylitol is used to discharge the thermal radiation. Fancy talk yes, but i didn't care, i was curious what this sweetener fused arm cooler would feel like.
 Once you throw a pair on you will immediately notice a cooling sensation all over yuor arms, kind of similiar to the "icy" part in "Icyhot", feels pretty unique. once wind is rushing over them however, that is when you start to notice why they are called arm coolers, but its not until you get your arms coolers wet that you begin to feel the freeze! These things are pheonominal when wet. The claim is that they lower the temperature 5.4 degrees on your arms, but to me it seems like 20 degrees when wet. and the wetter and more air movement, the colder. I cant wait to try these things on my bike.

 The color of these things is white, a nartural heat deterent, and the besides being "coolers" they are 50UPF so they block the sun from damaging the skin. So the AZ sun can do as it pleases, but your arms are going to feel like money. Im just waiting for them to make a whole jump suit out of this stuff! They also had a little head cap that you can wear under your helmet for cycling at Triple Sports, if you were interested. All in all i recommend these to anybody that doesn't like the heat.......aka everybody, especially with how intense some of the temps can get around here. Heres a quick review of what and why you need to get these:

• 50 UPF (Built in sunblock)
• Laced with Xylitol
• Literally keeps your arms cool
• Keeps your arms freezing when wet
• Fairly inexpensive  $35
• The fit is amazing
• Makes you look cool (even if you aren't)

From Kym: I have this thing where my body doesn't regulate its temperature very well.  I over heat, turn beet red, and dehydrate VERY quickly.  The Southwest wasn't exactly my best choice for living, but I love it here so I deal.  Unfortunately, during the summer, you can only get up SO early to beat the heat.  The further into the summer you get, there's less "beating the heat" and more "heat beating me."  5am is a good time of day to start a run: you still have the heat but at least the sun isn't beating down on you making you start to seriously consider jumping into the carp/catfish/dead body/miscellaneous infested Canal water. 

To be honest I was skeptical of the arm coolers.  Along with zero heat tolerance, I also feel SUPER claustrophobic if I have to run in anything more than a tank top and shorts.  I'm that crazy girl running in the middle of winter in gloves, a beanie, thick socks, and a tank top.  Not because I'm trying to show off my sexy triceps, mostly because I feel like I'm going to suffocate if I have to wear sleeves.  So the thought of wearing super tight long sleeves in the middle of an Arizona summer was less than appealing to me.  But I figured I'd try it.  Starting out, I wasn't thrilled.  They felt ok, I just knew that further into the run I was going to get annoyed and end up ripping them off anyway.  Thennnnnnnn.... I got water on them. 

*insert angel music here*

The air against the sleeves while running was seriously magical.  I wanted to cover my entire body in this stuff.  It was one of the hottest mornings of the year to date and for the first time it didn't feel like running around in the Devil's armpit.  I initially covered the entire sleeves, top to bottom, with water from a water fountain.  After they mostly dried off, I just poured a little ice water from my fuel belt onto the insides of my elbows (what the heck is that part of the body called??) and it was heavenly. The whole time I was running, I thought: Why doesn't anyone make running shirts out of this stuff?? I'd be willing to pay the (probably fairly high) price.  I can't imagine what these things feel like on a bike.  Can't wait to find out. 

And since David gets all fancy with the bulleting, here's my super cool list of why these arm coolers are SO worth the price:

• They keep you from dying of heat exhaustion (if you're staying on top of water drinking)
• If you're running super slow, they make you look like a bad-A and people will just assume you're on mile 20 even if you just left the house 10 minutes ago
• You feel like you're running with peppermint gum on your arms (minus the sticky)
• They really DO work

  I won't be going without these things all summer.  If you have any heat intolerance or have been trying to make an excuse of "it's just TOO hot to run"...... you've officially lost your excuse.  Get these things and get out there.  Just remember, having these WILL NOT make up for water intake.  Never run in the summer without your fuel belt/some sort of water carrying device.  Heat stroke is NOT fun and once you have it once, the odds of you suffering it again are highly likely.  Stay safe, stay cool, and stay HYDRATED!!!!

therunningdiaries.





Gaspin in the Aspen

From Kym: 15 gorgeous Ks' of dirt trail, aspen trees, fresh mountain air, sweat, hills, elevation, breathing dust people kick up, burning thighs........ is this starting to take a negative turn?  They don't call it Gaspin' in the Aspen for nothin'..... I was hoping someone might follow me closely with a respirator and a stretcher.  People like me are the reason there are medics around every turn of every race.  Kidding.  I've only passed out, like, once.  Otherwise, running has been pretty harmless.... you hardly need a medic for barfing all over someone at the end of Pat Tillmans' 4.2mi run (the poor guy i threw up on probably needed some assistance, however).

Anyways.  Flagstafff.  Trees. Less Pollution. Scenery. Weather under 110 degrees. I'll do just about anything to get out of this desert, including 9.3 miles of self inflicted torture.  Can you tell I love mountain running?   I do zero hill training.  Partly because there aren't very many easily accessible hills in our part of Arizona, and partly because...well, hills make me want to cry.  I can go for miles and miles on my flat dirt trail but the second I see an incline my legs involuntarily seize up.

This article was interesting and gave me a little pep talk pre-race: click here!

The cool thing about this particular race is it's pretty much one of a kind, and for a REALLY good cause. The beginning and end portion of the race was mostly evergreens, but there is an AMAZING middle part where the forest opens up into an incredible trail through giant Aspen trees.  Unfortunately, most of the Aspen groves in the area are sick and will be gone in 10 years or less.  Flagstaff Nordic Center and host of the race does a LOT of work in that part of the woods to clear out the dead trees and maintain the health of the ones still living.  The proceeds from this race help immensely in the efforts to keep it beautiful and thriving over the summer.  The hippie in me says YES!!!!!!

I was less than prepared for this run.  But it was absolutely phenomenal.  Slow and steady, had to walk on the intense inclines.  Flew down the hills and only fell once (and hard).  The course was tricky and you had to watch basically every step you took to avoid twisting and ankle or stepping in a giant pile of cow poo.  I crossed the finish line at 1:39 and have never felt better.  Thanks to Tim at the Nordic Center for throwing us in this race so last minute, and thanks for Powerade for sponsoring us for this amazing event!!

From Dave: On a scale of 1-10 of AMAZING, "Gaspin in the Aspen" sits right at about an 11. This race held in flagstaff which has an elevation of around 7000ft so i knew i was in for a treat with this one. I had heard about other races that this company put on and assumed the course was going to be fairly primitive and my assumptions where correct. The race is called "Gaspin in the Aspen" for good reason, and as Kym said, the middle of the race puts you smack in the middle of some of the few remaining aspen groves left in Arizona. The race was interesting as it is regulated by the forest services, and will only allow 350 runners to race.  The reason behind this is to preserve the forest and not do any more damage. These heavy regulations also mean that the trail at some points goes from single file to non-existent. At times the only reason we knew where to go was by following the chalk arrows in the grass and the line of little orange flags. 

And it didn't stop there, recently the flagstaff area was hit by a few random tornadoes that did a good amount of damage, and at some point of the race we were practically run on the actual tornadoes destructive path. Cool, yes. but this also left a blown over trees, thick branches and other random obstacles all over parts of the course. At one point i felt as though i was running through a mine field with my eyes glued only inches from my feet to make sure my every step was a safe one. The other Crazy part was the mapping of the course, it seemed like the directors turned on their GPS, got on a 4-Wheeler and chased a bunch of deer for 15 kilometers. The course went straight up hills through random meadows, down steep grassy/rocky declines and through aspen groves. As an experienced Athlete and runner, this one is going in the books as one of the hardest. Not saying its harder then a marathon but on average, I've never had 9 consecutive miles work me in a similar manner. I recommend the race to everybody as it truly was one of a kind, definitely "bucket-list" worthy. "gaspin in the aspen" definitely gets my seal of approval. here's a quick recap of why

1. Gorgeous Course 
2. Good cause
3. Burning lungs
4. Hard enough to work the pros but can also be completed by rookies
5. Lots of local support and good atmosphere
6. Good excuse to get out of the Phoenix heat
7. Spectacular post race refreshments( Powerade......NBD)
8. And if your looking for 9 miles that will kick your a@#! 

I finished in 1:14, 8th in my division.  This race will bring a dirt filled smile to your face, as it did mine.

therunningdiaries.