Lessons Learned - Moving Efficiently In the Mountains

Many of the lessons we have learned about efficiency are from our friend and racing hero - Jim Mandelli. Jim is a dear friend and one of the most humble people we know, but has completed close to 200 of the hardest races in the world over the past 20 or so years. Many of the lessons we learned came from Jim and from watching him in action and include the following;

Rest Up
The day before the race - relax, read, put your feet up, eat and drink and keep activity to a minimum. Going into the race well rested can have an enormous impact on your mental confidence and simply start the race on a more positive note. We  - ahhh - did not do this.

Pack Light
This does not come easy to Delena and I as we are fond of food and love to carry weight. However in a race this length - planning how much water and food we will need, and relying more on food and drink supplied on the course can eliminate a huge amount of weight from the pack that over 6 days adds up to an enormous energy savings. We eventually began to plan to run out of water at least 30 minutes before the next water station - and to drink and much at each station as we could to minimize how much we needed to carry. This applied to both food and water.

Sleep More - Go Harder
We decided after this race that a better strategy would be to sleep more - and go slightly harder between sleeps. However - our intention on this race was not to compete per se - but to simply finish the race feeling good, with no injuries - which we accomplished. But if our goal was to compete - we would definitely sleep at least 2 hours for every 24 and go a little faster in between sleeps as we found our pace slowed considerably when we were really sleepy and there was little we could do to improve our pace. Also, some of the terrain on this race was quite severe - where a slip could easily result in a 2000+ foot fall - so there were sections where complete alertness would be required to go any faster and trying to do so while sleepy would introduce unnecessary risk.

Don't Stop
Sounds simple enough - but there are a thousand reasons to stop in a race this long - pictures to take, people to talk to, apple strudels to buy! sheep to play with! Well we don't regret any of these stops - and they certainly gave us a well needed rest - but they also add up to a lot of time over 6 days. A few minutes several times a day quickly adds up to hours of time by the end of the race.

Clothing changes are another potential waste of time - I am guilty of wasting a lot of time with changing my clothing layers. Simplifying your clothing system so you have less options is one approach - or get used to running a little cold or hot before deciding to change your layering system - if you can change while moving - even better.

Rest Efficiently
Take advantage of every mandatory stop to put your feet in the air and REST. If you need to stop - put your feet up, eat, drink and make every minute count.

Transitions
Another easy way to waste a lot of time is at transition points. They are comfortable, there are plenty of people to talk to - and there is lots of food - it's quite easy to waste an hour or more when you could probably do what you need to do in only a few minutes if you arrive at the transition with a clear plan of what you need to achieve and how long you want to remain before you head out again. I would consider having an inflatable mat that I could lie down on somewhere quiet away from the crowd for a few minutes of valuable uninteruppted sleep. I would recommend plenty of spare socks - they are worth their weight in gold. Have all your replacement food for the next race section in a single zip lock you can grab and go - making decisions with a tired mind is difficult and can waste an enormous amount of time.

Antacids / Ginger
Eating racing food can result in all kinds of stomach problems - simply from the stress or racing, too much sugars in the diet or any combination of factors depending on your own biology. Carrying Antacids was a lifesaver that allowed me to continue with peace of mind and continue eating when I otherwise would not have. Another friend carried raw ginger in order to calm their stomach - which I have not tried but apparently works quite well. These strategies probably require some trial and error to find out what works - but it's well worth the effort in my opinion.

Medical Kit
I would never attempt another race of this sort without carrying the following items: Tylenol, Ibuprofen, antacids, sinus decongestant, medicated throat lozenges, water treatment tablets, immodium, waterproof bandaids, anti chafing lube (bag balm, vaseline, glide etc.), hand sanitizer, self adhesive bandages, anti inflammatory cream.

Gear
Lightweight hiking poles and a very bright headlamp are worth their weight in gold. Travelling fast over difficult terrain in the dark becomes very tough with a poor headlamp and poles are absolutely essential in my opinion - especially on steep up and downhills. Keep plenty of batteries on hand for your headlamp.