Running kit review: Montane Bite 1

Way back in June I won a competition from Accelerate UK for some Montane kit which consisted of a Featherlite jacket, hydration belt, t-shirt, and 3/4 tights. The jacket is awesome, I've worn it several times but as of yet I've not tried out the shirt or tights--it's summer (sort of) so I'm wearing vests and shorts or running skirts as much as possible right now.  The Bite 1 hydration belt also didn't get tested out until last week because I've not gone on any runs long enough to justify the use of one since it arrived.  I finally decided that I should take it out for a spin on a short run to find out if it would cause any issues on a longer one.

Montane bite 1 hydration belt

First impressions:  It looks heavy.  Even my friend who I was meeting for a run the day I tested it out commented that it looked heavy.  It doesn't feel it once you get moving but it's hard to get past the psychology of it appearing that way.

Looks like I'm getting ready for a quick draw!

Next thing you notice is the pocket material, it's crinkly. And noisy as you are loading up whatever gear you are taking along.  Again, once you are moving it's not noticeable until you need to get something out and then you are reminded of the crinkliness (yes I know that's not really a word) and noisiness.

Roomy pocket

The pocket is nice and large though, big enough for a phone, gels, tissue, keys, a peanut butter sandwich, whatever you think you might need. It's large enough to fold up the Featherlite jacket and stow it away as well if you omit the sandwich from the aforementioned items.  But there is a downside to that roominess, it needs a smaller pocket within to kind of separate things out otherwise it's like a bottomless purse where things disappear never to be seen again unless you dump everything out.

Fiddly bottle

Is it going in yet?

Still trying to get it in place

Last step! But still not quite fully seated

I also wasn't impressed with the water bottle, it has a flat side that is meant to fit flush against your back but while on the run it's fiddly trying to get it back into place because it isn't different enough from the other sides by feel. It also started leaking around the lid during today's picture taking session. Amphipod totally wins with their shaped bottles because you don't have to take too much attention away from running to get the bottle back in place, if I decide to keep the Montane belt I will simply use those bottles with it rather than the one that came with it.

Excess belt

What I did really like about the Bite 1 is that it stayed in placed while running thanks to the stretch belt.  Only very minimal adjustments were needed which is miles better than the majority of belts I've tried out.  I have the excess bit of belt looped over and tucked under in the photos but there is a bit of blue strapping there to loop it through--something I didn't notice the first 2 times I wore it! Definitely a d'oh moment for me.

Belt wrapped over and tucked in

The mesh fabric on the inside of the belt is quite comfortable and according to the hang tag it is coated with an antibacterial treatment (no stink!).  Haven't tested it out enough to find out if the anti-stink actually works though.

Mesh on the inside of the Bite 1

One last thing that isn't normally an issue for the UK is that the black version can feel hot if you are running on a warmish day.  Normally not a problem for here but if you live where it stays warm I would suggest opting for the light blue version of the belt because the black absorbed the heat quite rapidly.

As of right now I'm not sure if I will keep the belt, I do like that the pocket is waterproof and large enough to fill with the necessities of a longer run but the water bottle being so fiddly might be a deal breaker if my amphipod bottle doesn't work with it.  The Bite 1 also rides further up on the waist than I usually prefer but at least it didn't bobble about like a Salomon belt does that I have.

Thank you again Accelerate for running such awesome contests! 

The 20 miler

From Etsy (not my shop)

Not gonna lie, thoughts of 20 mile training runs strike a wee bit of fear into my heart...something about that number is incredibly intimidating (let's not even talk about that additional 6.2 miles yet!) and I have always dreaded when they started looming ever closer in the training schedule.  That of course was for my first marathon in 2009, I didn't get up to 19 miles in 2011 when training for the Marine Corps Marathon (bad Gabby, very very bad).

Looking back over the 2009 posts it looks like I had one great 20 miler and one that was horrible (recap here)--I also had blogged about peanuts causing me tummy troubles which is something I'd totally forgotten about and mentioned this past summer like it was something new (memory like a sieve).  

End of the bad 20 mile run 2009

Enough down memory lane though, yesterday marked the first 20 mile training run for the Belvoir Challenge and true to form I had quite a bit of difficulty relaxing and falling asleep the night before. When the pesky alarm went off at 5:30 am I just laid there thinking about how insane I was to be getting up to prepare to go running before dawn. Eventually I did drag myself out from under the covers because a mate was going to be knocking on the door at 7:30 and I'm sure he wouldn't have appreciated me telling him I had changed my mind about this running lark.  I did dawdle long enough that my planned 5 miles before he got there had to be shortened to 3, oops.  

Long story short, ran 3 miles solo, then 2 up to the club with Ian to meet up with two other runners, 9.4 with them, then back to my house which brought my total up to 18 (15 for Ian), said the goodbyes and straight up the street to finish up the final 2 miles to get the 20 done.  That was so hard going past my front gate and not stopping! Having to run the last bit solo was good for mental toughness though and the last mile ended up being my fastest (8:39).  

What I did right:

*arranged to run most of it with friends so I wouldn't be tempted to back out or cut it short

*remembered to eat a couple of bites of a 9bar around mile 7

*was able to eat and drink without stopping to walk

*had fun!

*foam rolled afterwards

What I didn't get right:

*didn't eat or drink anything after mile 7 (every time I thought of it we were either running up or down a hill or we were chatting, lol)

*neglected to re-lace the new trainers in the way that takes pressure off my toes--my left big toe was in agony for a good part of the run

*didn't take the time to properly adjust my Amphipod fuel belt before running so was having to constantly move it back into place

Accessories and fuel for yesterday

Overall it was a very good training run and certainly the fastest 20 miler I have done with an average pace of 9:21 per mile and best yet I wasn't totally wasted for the rest of the day--although there might have been a nap later on. Let's just keep the fingers crossed I can keep the feet issues under control! As for today, I didn't wake up hobbling around and my 30 minute recovery run was much faster than it should have been.  

I do not get any sort of compensation from any of the links in this post but if you want to help fund my racing habit please click on the affiliate or Amazon links that are between the posts or in the sidebar, it's very much appreciated if you do. Thank you! 

back 2 back races

Doing back 2 back races/events is not anything new for me, not that I'm saying I do it several times a year or anything but it is something I've been known to do occasionally. However it has always been a shorter race combined with an endurance event, ie running a 5k or 10k on a Saturday then a sprint duathlon, a century ride, or a half marathon on a Sunday.  This past weekend I ended up running 2 longer distance races--the Sylamore 25k trail race followed by the Run the Line Half Marathon on Sunday in Texarkana.  Yes, I know the true distance runners are scoffing at my classifying these as distance events but let's not forget that even a 5k can be a daunting amount of miles for those starting out.  Heck, a 5k still scares me and that's my favorite distance to race.  

KT Tape and my new Brooks Running Launch trainers

I had no plans/illusions/goal times for the Run the Line half marathon, all I wanted to do was get there, get the distance done, collect my Arkansas RRCA Grand Prix point, and hopefully still be able to walk afterwards.  I told Julie and Luke (who I car-pooled down with) that I would be much slower than them (btw, I'm slower than those two in ideal conditions) and apologized in advance for the longer than usual wait time they were going to have because of me.  It was so hard waking up at 0345, feeling my left ankle throb and knowing that I was going to have to run 13.1 miles after a long drive--which I was just a passenger for thanks to Julie!!!!--but I had my goal and with KT Tape snugged around the cranky ankle I was all set (sorta) to get it done.

ummm, is that a bullet hole?

This was the first time for the three of us to run this race so we had no clue of where it was, what the course was like, the parking situation, etc but everyone I knew who had run it last year said it was great and we had no problems locating the place and everything went quite smooth with finding a primo parking spot close to the start line and the packet pickup.  The only complaint I could make was that there were 3 porta-potties outside and 2 of them appeared to be locked judging from the constant line of runners walking up and trying the doors and not being able to open them.  Thankfully there are facilities available inside the building where packet pickup was--yay for flushing toilets and hot water to wash your hands with!! Yes, that's a recurring theme for me, lol.  

Lots of hugs, lots of talking about my previous day's adventures, and lots of good lucks later we were off and running.  The first mile was all about getting my ankle un-stiffened up but once I did I was able to settle into a nice, steady pace, the good thing about the ankle was that I did NOT jack-rabbit this race like I have a bad habit of doing.  Also since I had no time goal pressure I was able to chat with other runners, the cyclists who were riding back and forth checking on everyone, and the volunteers at intersections and aid stations.  I generally make it a policy to say thanks to those directing traffic anyways but on Sunday they got smiles and "how ya doing's?" too, lol.  What I didn't have to do thanks to me carrying my Amphipod water bottle of Heed mix was walk the aid stations in order to get fluid (unfortunately I don't get any money/endorsement from those links, it's just what works really well for me) so I was able to keep my steady pace going.  Even the long-arsed incline on the busy roadway at mile 5-6 didn't slow me down an extreme amount.  Not saying I didn't slow down quite a bit, it just didn't hit me near as hard as I expected it to. Was very glad to see it end though, whew.  

That steadiness and feeling surprisingly decent lasted right through to around mile 8 then we turned into a headwind that sapped the energy right out of me. I still hadn't walked a single step and didn't have to until just before mile 10 where I took a piece of candy from a kid to try and boost my flagging energy.  Could only get down a couple of bites of the twizzler though.  After that I played the game of I'll run to the next intersection, mile marker, person, etc then take a walk break if I need to.  I WANTED to take walk breaks but was able to convince my brain to keep going.  Yes, brain.  While my legs were fatigued and it was getting very warm, it's more a matter of my brain wanting to quit rather than my body saying it had enough. Surprisingly during those last 2 miles of sluggery I was still able to keep catching and passing people and no, there were not any further walk breaks.  

I knew that I was keeping a decent pace thanks to the teenagers volunteering who called out the time and sometimes pace at every mile marker.  Yes, EVERY mile marker! That's something a bit different than any other race I've done and I kind of like it.  However I was still surprised to see the finish line clock and realize that I was going to come in under 2:05.  Don't ask me how I managed to put in a somewhat decent half marathon time on a bum ankle and the day after a 25k trail race because I have absolutely no clue myself.  A good bit of it was probably due to the not putting any pressure on myself to "race" on either day.  

Click to enlarge--mileage splits

My garmin mileage splits were quite interesting to me.  While it's not a negative split race, they are fairly consistent and much better than I expected.  The mile 14 data is skewed because I forgot to turn it off and there is some walking about time on there.  Needless to say, I'm happy with the result and it shows me that if I hadn't have ran 25k the day prior I would probably have gone sub 2 hours and might have even come close to pr'ing. Final stats: Gun time 2:03:17, chip time 2:02:58, 231/447, 13/44 female 40-44 age group, and 75/213 gender.

I thoroughly enjoyed this race especially the portions that were on the trail, crowd support was great, fantastic volunteers, intersections were well policed, and a gorgeous medal with an interesting tech shirt.  There was ample food afterwards, fresh grilled hamburgers and chicken with lots of condiments available and free beer from Hopkins Ice House.  I didn't receive one of course but the age group awards were cool-looking too.  A nice touch was posting the results immediately and they had a monitor scrolling through the results, showing overall finishers and where you placed in your age category.  

Such a cute moment

Finish Line disassembly

If you know Julie be sure and give her a huge congrats on her sub 2 hour half marathon finish.  She killed it Sunday!!! And this is all before her first year anniversary of running!!!!! She's also a cancer survivor and quit smoking approximately four years ago so there's an inspiration to get out and move if there ever was one.  My only whinge? She's in my age group, lol!!!!!!!!!  All kidding aside, I feel very privileged to have gotten to know her this year and look forward to seeing her ahead of me in many more races.

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Seen during a bathroom pitstop

Quick ankle update, I took Monday thru Wednesday off from running. Monday there wasn't much choice since I was limping and hobbling about but by Wednesday there was only a little stiffness left so all is good.

Race bling