There’s a lot of chatter on the group about gear and nutrition at the Beast – what worked and what didn’t work.
I thought I’d post what *I* used, and let people expand on it in the comments with their own variations.
Firstly – I ran the Beast race on Sunday. I’m not an elite runner, and didn’t podium. I also didn’t cramp, or get DNF’d due to hyperthermia. Take that for what you will.
Clothing:
I was wearing, from feet up:
- Icebug Spwider OLX shoes. AMAZING GRIP. I was rock steady and moving in portions of the course people were falling on their asses, and hard. I only slipped during really sloppy muddy descents when we had extra weight on our backs (carries).
- Darn Tough socks – kept me warm, didn’t blister, which was something I was SUPER worried about, as I did in NJ with Smart Wool socks.
- 2xu Compression calf sleeves – don’t leave home without them!
- 2xu Compression Shorts – my new favorites. Topped with some generic Nike running shorts with no pockets – mostly out of modesty and somewhere to pin the bib.
- Team drill shirt (short sleeved) – kept me warm, looked great.
- Team sleeves – protected my arms. My one problem was with the silicon liner on a cut/graze I gave myself the day before – the motion was iritating, so in many photos I have them rolled down.
- GoRuck Tac Hat – kept the water, rain and sweat out of my eyes. The bill did block my vision on the bucket/bag carries, and I reversed it during the rope climbs, otherwise it was awesome.
Gear:
- I took an Olympus Tough TG-610 camera in a spibelt – but dumped it with Beth at the memorization obstacle
- Loaded in a Camelbak Lobo, in various dry bags:
- Sports Beans – lots and lots, but ultimately I only ate four or five packs
- Salt Stick tabs – I was popping these every chance I had. Every hour or more. I was also popping them intermittently the night before and morning of. Made a HUGE difference, with zero cramping.
- Clif Bars – I brought two, ate them both in the first half of the race when I was STARVING. Picked a third up at the 1/2 way point, but didn’t need it until the Tyrolean, then I was good to the finish.
- iPod Nano and headphones – wore these during the really long climbs and for the entire end of the race (Tyrolean to the finish line) – kept me entertained and focussed on what I was doing – finished the race listening to Eminem 🙂 Definitely would do this again for a long race.
Bonking. Not honking. 🙂
I use a lot of the same products as Paul. I love Darn Tough socks (thank you Sean Meehan for the original suggestion last winter). I wore those with Solomon Speed Cross 3s. I wore 2xU compression tights which supported beautifully. The only muscle soreness post race was in my quads. On top was a long sleeved Helly Hanson poly/wool tech top and my drill shirt. I used the race headband alternately for hair control and as a sweat cloth. I used my Garmin f 920xt for time and elevation stats. I carried a camelbak Lobo with 3 liters of water mixed with Nuun and Aminolast. I took Saltstick capsules every hour and a half. I also had four six ounce flasks of endurance fuel system liquid, 3kind bars and one cliff bar. I ate everything on course and drank nearly 100 ounces. No cramps, honking or hypothermia. My only problem was from an injury in my right leg that I already had.