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What Worked for Me at Badwater 135

After some of my races, I like to do a summary post describing what worked for me (and what didn’t) during the race. After Bear 100, I did a separate blog post about it. After Run Rabbit Run, I included it in my race report. After Brazil 135, I formalized it in a separate post called “What Worked for Me at Brazil 135”. I like that format and think it could be helpful to me for future race planning and hopefully to other people contemplating the same or a similar race.

Even though Badwater 135 and Brazil 135 are very different races and were very different race experiences (more on that in a future post), a lot of what “worked for me” at Brazil worked well at Badwater too. I’m a creature of habit and routine and take “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” pretty seriously.

I expected and hoped nutrition and electrolytes to be easy – Tailwind supplemented by Vespa and some “real” food like crackers, cookies, soup, avocado and almond butter sandwiches. As you’ll see below, the Tailwind and Vespa part hooked me up, but real food didn’t go down as expected.

I also expected clothing to be simple and it was. I wore the same pair of Salomon shorts the entire race, changed my shirt just two or three times and changed my socks just a few times. I had a whole bin of clothing with me and I love the fact that I barely needed any of it. Here was my “uniform” for most of the race:

(photo: Andre Blumberg)

As another note, some of the companies/products listed below did hook me up with some free products. But I assure you that this is not just a post shilling for companies that give me product. I only use things that I like and that work for me – in most cases, after using their products for a long time (years in most cases), I approached these companies to see if they wanted to help me out rather than them approaching me. If you have any questions about any of the below, please let me know!

Here’s what worked well during the race:

• Tailwind. Just like at Brazil, I relied very heavily on Tailwind for my nutrition and electrolytes during the race. I’ve been training and racing with Tailwind for over a year now and it just plain works. I haven’t had any cramping or stomach distress when using it. There was a stretch of time at Badwater (between about miles 42-60) when my stomach was off. It wasn’t “upset” in the traditional sense, but I could not bear the thought of putting any “real” food into my stomach. But the good thing – and probably the thing that saved me – was that I never stopped being able to drink Tailwind. So, even when I wasn’t able to take in the amount of calories that I had planned, I was still getting 200+ calories per hour from Tailwind. (A similar thing happened at Brazil, but at Brazil I was able to eat real food throughout the entire race.) The other great thing that happened at both Badwater and Brazil was that, even 30+ hours into the race, I was able to keep drinking Tailwind. With every other product I’ve tried, there comes a point where I can no longer even consider taking another bite or sip. Not so with Tailwind. I prefer the Naked/Unflavored “flavor”, especially when I know that I’ll be drinking it forever. Finally, I barely had to take any salt during the race. The electrolytes in Tailwind are plenty.
• Trail Toes.This is a relatively new product for me. After seeing the blisters I got at Brazil, Vince, the owner of Trail Toes, offered to send me some Trail Toes cream to try out. I’ve been using it ever since and have begun to think the stuff is magic. Now, to be fair, the conditions at Brazil made my feet way more wet and at Badwater, I was much more conscious of and careful about, my feet, but still, my feet were pretty much issue free at Badwater. I slathered Trail Toes all over my toes and feet every time I changed socks or shoes. Near the end of the race, I developed one small blister on a toe, but that’s nothing compared to the destruction my feet suffered at Brazil. Trail Toes + DryMax Socks (see below) is a combination I’ll be using in all future races for sure.
• Rudy Project sunglasses. After Brazil, Rudy Project also contacted me and sent me some new sunglasses, including the slick pair of white Rydons with “Laser Blue” lenses that I wore pretty much the entire time the sun was up during the race. The glasses are light and comfortable and I barely noticed having them on. Rudy Project also hooked up my crew with sunglasses and they all looked great wearing them!
• drymax socks. I ran most of the race in drymax Lite Trail Running socks. They were the right thickness and weight for me and as mentioned above, I didn’t get any blisters. To me, that equals success.
• Vespa. I still don’t follow the Vespa-recommended diet, but I definitely believe in this stuff. I took a packet every 2.5-4 hours during the race and nearly every time I took it, I noticed some degree of a renewed sense of alertness and clarity. Vespa’s expensive, but I believe in it.
• Patagonia shirts. The Patagonia Capilene 1 Silkweight T-Shirt is my new favorite running shirt. They’re lightweight, dry quickly (important for a super heavy sweater like me) and fit nicely. I did apply anti-chafe stuff on my nipples and armpits pretty regularly, but I didn’t chafe even the tiniest bit. I wore the long-sleeve shirt during the hottest part of the day on the second day of the race and it did a great job keeping the sun off my arms without getting too warm. Patagonia also has a relationship with a really great screen-printing company (EFX Designs) and they helped me hook up the awesome “Team Josh” shirts we wore throughout the race.
• Salomon S-Lab shorts. Before the race, I put on a pair of Exo S-Lab Twin Skin Shorts and never once took them off. I didn’t chafe at all. I’ve worn Salomon shorts in every race I’ve done for the last few years. I don’t think anything more about the shorts needs to be said.
• Headsweats hats. These are pretty much the only hats I wear during training and races. (Other than the “JOSH” hat, that is!) And I almost always wear them backwards, of course. they’re comfortable, keep the sweat out of my eyes and equally important, they look good. 🙂
• 5 hour energy. I don’t do a lot of caffeine or energy drinks and generally don’t like the way they make me feel. On the other hand, after about 26 hours of moving, I needed something. 5 hour energy hooked me up. I drank a half bottle at a time every couple hours and never worried about being sleepy.
• My crew. Of course. I couldn’t possible say enough here about how great they were. Aaron, Billy, Colin, Elizabeth and Sally. They made the race and my finish happen. I can’t imagine having done the race without them. Aaron and Natan did a great job at Brazil with fewer resources or guidance, but two people is no match for the 4+1 I had at Badwater. They did a kick-ass job making sure everything I needed was taken care of and troubleshooting problems even before they actually became problems.  They also looked like they were having fun during the race All of that eased my mind and allowed me to focus just on running. Thank you all again!

And here’s what didn’t work:

• Shoes. The only thing that didn’t really work very well were my shoes. I trained all year in Skechers GOrun 3‘s and really like the shoe. They are lightweight, flexible and fit my feet well. I’d worn them on many 20-30 mile runs without any issues. The problem with them at Badwater was that – for me at least – they are just too minimal for that kind of distance. I had planned on wearing them for the initial 23 mile climb, swapping them out for Hokas for the next 50 miles (including the descent from Horseshoe Meadows and the Cerro Gordo climb and descent) and then finishing the last 60ish miles of race in the Skechers. As it turned out, I didn’t want to put the Skechers back on until the final 13 mile section from Lone Pine to the finish line. Next time I run that far on road, I will definitely need to find a shoe with something more to them – either more cushioning or more support or both. In preparation for the race, I also bought a pair of the Skechers GOrun Ultra. Just like the GOrun 3, they fit my feet well. But I never got comfortable in them. Maybe this is more appropriate for a separate post, but they felt heavy and bulky and stiff; even after 60+ miles, they never felt like they broke in. As for the Hoka Bondi B‘s, I wore them for nearly 100 miles – from mile 23 until 122. And they were fine. I didn’t have any problems with them so I can’t say they “didn’t work” but I still don’t love wearing them. I’m used to lighter, lower profile shoes and I always notice the Bondi’s on my feet. I’ve never felt like I’m running naturally in them. Hoka came out with a couple new models in the week before Badwater – too late for me to try for the race – but I might check them out this fall to see if I like them better than the Bondi.
• “Real” food. As I mentioned above, I was hoping to supplement the Tailwind with a fair amount of real food, starting at around mile 45. That’s what I did at Brazil. But I wasn’t able to eat nearly as much food as I’d planned. I think I ate one quarter of one almond butter sandwich. I had about three pringles. I didn’t have a single wrap. Some food did work for me – the Trader Joe’s noodle bowls were easy to eat and digest. I had a lot of pickles and drank my fair share of pickle juice, but that almost doesn’t count as calories. I also ate some apple slices, a couple avocados, some roasted seaweed and a little beef jerky (oh no!). Even though I didn’t eat it at Badwater, I would still bring it all with me again. Next time though, I would bring some more cut up fruit, like watermelon and mango or papaya.