Wakely Dam - T minus 8 days

I am into the home stretch now before the Wakely Dam Ultra on July 24th. Training has gone very well and I think I am in a good place and good shape to tackle this race. Derrick has lead me through some solid weeks of training, and I have managed to remain, for the most part, injury free. My weight is down almost 10lbs since Boston and I feel I have done as much as I could in preparation for this race.

Seeing Wakely is a self supported race, dialing in equipment, nutrition, and hydration has been one of the puzzles. Without any aid stations or support of any kind there is a fine line between having too much and too little, especially with the heat and humidity of the summer we are having. All the training in the world will do you no good if you become dehydrated or start cramping with 10km to go, it is a long walk to the finish.

So from Bottom to Top here is a list of the gear that I hope will get me to the finish.

• LaSportiva Crosslites - I was originally going to run in the Raptors but I am hoping to run this race fairly hard and the Crosslites are a good choice for both speed and support.
• Darn Tough Merino Wool Socks - Light, solid fit, breathable and wool. A great thing to have between you and your shoe
• Sugoi 42k Short - I usually race in a longer short, but after last weekends long run where my shorts got soaked from the sweat after a couple of hours, I decided I wanted something a little more minimal. These are really as close as you can get to wearing nothing :)
• LaSportiva/SHA Tech Tee - Light & thin and very simplistic, and I have to support the guy who got me here.
• Headsweat Go Hat - I usually prefer running with a buff, but this summer I have found a great relationship with this hat, and it helps to keep the deer flies away. Note, must be worn backwards, of course.
• Nathan HPL#008 - 1.5 liters of water, hoping this is all I'll need for just water. Great fit, and since I was training with a pack for most of my snowshoeing last winter, this was an easy transition, it has in effect become part of me.
• Nathan Speed 2 Belt - The second part of the hydration, this will be for my electrolytes. Plan is to refill and sterilize these along the way and use for mixing my electrolyte drink. I am figuring I will need to refill each bottle twice.
• EFS Liquid Shot - Made by First Endurance, I have been very pleased in training with this product, and I am really liking the Shot bottle and not having to deal with little packages. That said I will still have a couple of my Gu Vanilla as backup.
• Gu Chomps - a new product I started with this year as a supplement to Gels. Easy to chew and don't stick to my teeth.
• eLoad - My "go to" electrolyte drink for the last 3 years. If it ain't broke!
• S!Caps - A great electrolyte companion to eLoad and Gels, really important with these hot and humid days we have been having. 1 an hour does you good.
• Guayaki Energy Shot - None of the supplements I am using contain caffeine and I was looking for a little pick-me-up. I have been very impressed with the Guayaki products and the energy shots give you a nice perk up without the caffeine buzz or crash.
• Candied Ginger - another new addition, a small piece of this when your stomach seems to be turning on you seems to do wonders for settling everything down.

Tomorrow will be my last run of any significance, just an easy 1:30, but will be running fully equipped to make sure I have everything in it's place and every place has a thing.