Grand 2 Grand Training/Gear Update

The Grand 2 Grand Ultra is one of those races that appeals to my sense of order and organization so I've been obsessing over what gear I'll be using ever since I signed up back in February. Additionally, the type and volume of training is historically quite different than my training plans of the past. I figured I'd capture some of it in case others are looking for insight or comparisons to what/how they're doing with their preparations.

Disclaimer - though I've done many multi-day hiking/camping trips and ultra-marathons, this is my first REAL self-supported stage race of any kind. I'd like to think I have the experience to plan for the basics but there are a couple blind spots that I'll talk about later. So basically, don't take any of this as gospel! I'm only sharing for the sake of sharing 😎

FWIW - none of the links below are affiliate links. Just sharing where I bought everything.

Training Summary

Philosophy

It's pretty simple.

1. Time on feet

2. Hike 75% and run/jog 25%

I am formally doing back-to-back training days on Saturday and Sunday with a few lower-mileage walks during the week. Now that it's hot as balls here in Arizona, my weekends include a 10-15 mile workout on Saturday and then a longer workout 20-30 miles somewhere farther north (where the temps are cooler).

In the coming weeks, I'll be heading up to the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and other places up north not only to beat the heat but to leverage both my pack, gear, clothing and food I intend to take for G2G. This includes long back-to-back workouts and relying only on what I expect to bring both for during the workout and after.

These weekend workouts are typically structured so that Saturday miles are at lower elevations but longer miles whereas Sunday's are typically shorter miles but at elevation (6000-9000 ft) with significant amounts of climbing (3000-5000 ft of climbing).

Gear

I realize this term is fairly general but in this case, it means non-food items that you would take in your pack. This includes the (primary) items Grand 2 Grand has on the required and recommended gear list.

Philosophy

Prior to signing up, I had invested in a fair amount of ultra-light articles for my everyday use (praise that REI rebate!) so I did not have to invest a lot to meet the gear list. The places where I did invest, I made sure that it was something I would use for future everyday camping/hiking trips. Generally, I went as light as I could afford but in some cases, ultra-light make make the item impractical. You'll find some examples of this in the 'Rejected' section.

Approved

The list below have been used and vetted extensively and are confirmed parts of my pack.

Required Gear	Selection
Backpack	Raidlight Ultralight 24L Trail Running Vest
Sleeping bag	REI Magma 30 (regular)
Sleeping pad	Therm-a-Rest NeoAir UberLite (regular)
Down jacket	Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket
Headlamps	Petzl Tikka Core
Red flasher(s)	StupidBright tail lights
Water container(s)	Racing The Planet Running Bottle (2)
Shoes	Hoka Speedgoats
Socks	Injinji ultra run mini-crew / ultra run crew

Testing

The following are still items I have either not tested or remain undecided about including in my pack.

Gear	Selection
Poles	Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z (110 cm)
Gaiters	Awksports gaiters
Toothpaste tablets	Tooth Tabs by Unpaste
Powdered soap	Summit Suds powdered soap
Camp sandals	Xero Shoes Aqua Cloud Sandals
Ear plugs	Matador travel earplug kit
Mug/cup	Sea to Summit X-series (16 oz)
Dry bags / compression sacks	Bonfus stuff sacks Bonfus dry bags Hyperlite stuff sacks Boxy bags by Pond's Edge

Rejected

The following items I've tested and decided not to use. I've tried to include insight to the item I replaced it with for perspective. I'm sure this will grow over the next 2.5 months.

Gear	Original Selection	Replaced With
Toothbrush	Ultralight toothbrush	Aurelle TOOB Brush

Nutrition

Philosophy

I have a detailed spreadsheet of food, calories and weight that helps me find the best calorie-to-weight ratio possible. The only problem here is that meeting the daily weight limit (1.1 lbs) means I'll generally will exceed the caloric minimums that are in place for the race (by quite a bit) - resulting in carrying more calories than I need for the duration of the race.

Additionally, I am fat-adapted when it comes to racing ultra-marathons so the idea of hiking and running at a slower pace means...well, I'm not sure what it means yet. See Blind Spot section below for more details here.

Here are some examples of high calorie-to-weight foods that I'll be bringing.

Food	Weight*	Calories	Cal/Ounce
Pinnacle foods (dinner, single serving, tuscan chx)	4.5 oz	850	189
Ultrafat almond butter	1.25 oz	247	198
Packaroons	1 oz	170	170
ProBar	3 oz	400	133
Sesame snaps	1.05 oz	160	152

*packaged. I plan to re-package and vacuum-pack larger portions to reduce weight

Blind Spots

Foot care

I really am that guy that 'never gets blisters'. I call this out because in all the lead-in calls for this race, the medical director and RD's consistently say, "don't be that guy that says...I never get blisters!" I've used Injinji toe socks for my entire running career (20+ years) and can probably count the number of blisters I've gotten on one hand.

On the recommendation of the RD's I went out and bought Fixing Your Feet. Apparently the Bible when it comes to this stuff but honestly, I'm just going to be buying a bunch of stuff and throwing it in a bag. I don't have much experience fixing my feet because nothing ever happens to my feet!

I'm not trying to will away any issues because I know there will be sand. This can be a game changer. I also never use gaiters either. I've read mixed reviews on races like this and how the fully enclosed gaiters may actually be the cause of blisters given all the moisture they keep from escaping.

Nutrition

As a fat-adapted athlete, I can typically get through endurance events (even training) with about 50%-60% fewer calories than most traditional athletes who rely on carbs and sugars. However, my previous experience with doing multi-day hikes is that fat adaptation only gets you so far when you're running/hiking 30+ miles a day. My theory is that my body will need more carbs and protein as the week progresses.

Here is a nutrition example from a recent training run/hike to highlight the point I'm trying to make.

Distance: 18 miles

Time on feet: ~4.5 hours

Calories burned: 2100

Calories consumed: 300 (3 VFuel gels @ 100 calories each)

I guess my blind spot here is figuring out how to best balance fat-adaption with longer, slower miles across multiple days. Previous experience tells me that longer days like G2G force the 'engine' to idle for more hours of the day. This translates to more calories throughout the days and nights so keeping a fat-focused nutrition plan may not be sustainable.

Closing

I am super-stoked to start putting all this together. Part of the fun is trying things out and seeing what works and what fails. The other headwind I face in the coming weeks is dealing with the unpredictability of the weather here in the Southwest. Most folks don't realize that monsoon season is just about to hit here in Arizona - so (typically) between the months of July through early October, we see a rise in humidity, combined with hot temps (110-115F / 43-46C) and late afternoon thunderstorms. It makes for some interesting training weekends and camping trips. Thanks goodness we just purchased a new treadmill!!

Happy training and stay safe out there!