Review : Nathan HPL #020 Hydration Vest

• Gear type : Hydration
• Use : Endurance running
• Price : 120$

Introduction

Nathan’s line of hydration vests are a frequent sight in ultra running events. Their clever design, lightweight build and versatility have made many adepts over the years. All vests use the same bladder type and patented bite-valve that is highly functional and, an important matter for its durability, easy to clean and maintain.

The HPL#020 is Nathan’s original vest. Now with a broader offering of hydration solutions, it sits between the Minimist, an ultralight stripped-down model, and the Endurance, a full-featured vest with plenty of additional storage.

Field test

I have been using an Endurance model for a number of seasons now and I’m very pleased with it. This is a very well-conceived piece of equipment, obviously made by runners. No matter what size you are, it will adjust to your torso and sit lightly on your shoulders, won’t swing around and offer minimal slushing (the effect seems to be more obvious when the bladder is really full).

The HPL #020 is similar in almost every point to the Endurance, save for an extra couple shoulder strap pockets that count for an ounce of added overall weight and the positioning of the back storage compartment, that sits on top of the vest rather than at the bottom.

Like its bigger brother, the HPL #020 offers a rubbery gizmo that might not look like much at first, but that is very useful to stash a lightweight extra layer you were wearing in the morning (say, a vest). Just squeeze it in between the gizmo and the bag, pull the shock cord and you’re done. I have used it several times while running in the Copper Canyons, as can be seen in this video (at 1:05, 2:26, 2:48) and it never failed me. 

Another noteworthy test, although involuntary, is a pretty bad spill I took while running the trails above Creel one morning, crashing on rocks and rolling over. My vest, its bladder and even the tube came out of it unscathed, which for me speaks volumes about their toughness. The bladder itself is surprisingly sturdy; you can flip it inside out to dry and the material stays floppy like new.

Conclusion

The HPL #020 is a very good hydration vest. Personally, I have to say that I prefer the Endurance model because it has more front pockets, but I’m known as a runner who brings a lot of “stuff” on the trails. Like all the other models, the HPL #020 offers very good balance, sturdiness, breathable fabric and ease of maintenance. Nathan vests are widespread among ultra runners, both on trail and road.

High points

• Lightweight and breathable material
• Very adjustable
• Front pockets on the shoulder straps
• Extra storage in the back compartment + shock cord
• Sturdy bladder system
• Easy cleaning and maintenance

Low points

• Not as many front compartments
• Higher back pocket raises the center of gravity
• Kinda sits in-between the Minimist and Endurance

The equipment for this personal review was supplied by Nathan Performance Gear, free of charge, without any conditions.

Experiencing the pacing smiles

As we seem to be sharing photo's of Running Smiles (just see Chris's grin at the end of his Bear Mountain Ultra), I thought I would share some photo's too.

These photo's aren't of me, but of friends that I know.

The first is my friend Tracey who ran her first 10K in over 3 years due to injury.  She just entered and went for it.  As you can see at the post-race drinks, she was jubilant and she had every right to be.  It was a fantastic performance -- on occasion I had a hard time keeping up with her.

The second photo is of my friend Ellie, who ran her first ever race on Sunday.  She has only been running  for a few months and this is a real achievement for her.  This race proved to her what she can accomplish.

My job at these races was as Tracey's and Ellie's pacer.  At both races I ran behind them just giving encouragement and making them laugh.  I was like annoying running fairy;  Just out of reach and making them giggle.

I was very honoured to be part of their races -- to share their joy and achievements.  I don't think I have ever had so much fun at a  race in a long time.  Seeing these wonderful, determined and frankly in my opinion awesome people push themselves and run with enthusiasm made me remember what running is all about.

It reminded me how it felt to reach that first running goal -- to realise that you can do this.  To have that feeling in your stomach, as if you are on top of the world; that you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

There is nothing more powerful than that feeling and I can't help but smile when I thank them for allowing me the pleasure of being a part of that.

Sometimes running at someone else's pace is all you need to Run :).

Moms

I've talked about my mom in previous posts and about how she told me running was like flying to her. She used to go out into our ghetto Chicago neighborhood and run all winter long while Chicanos hollered at her out of their hooptie windows. The only women on the street at 5am were selling something or other, and it made her jogs a bit of a toll to be grouped in with them. Despite this she always came home talking about flying. She always got back from those outings better off than when she left. One of the last things I said to her before she died was that when I came back from working out or running, the smell on me reminded me of those days.

Today when I went out to barefoot it, the first thought I had was that I was out to fly with the memory of mom, to do a little service to the memory of a person who spent much of her life fighting for rare moments of relief which should have been moments of pleasure. She was a tough broad my mom. She was sick most of my life but in the words of one of her friends: "She always had time to make others feel like they were the most important part of her day". Everyone felt like the most important part of her day.

While I was out running with another barefooter today (thanks for being out there Tom), we were witness to a pretty bad bike accident. A 12 or 13 year old kid went over the handle bars and got a face full of chip and seal, broke a wrist, went into shock and got carted off to the hospital after 20min of us sitting and talking him and his family through it while he screamed and bled. I've seen my fare share of such accidents but today it really made me feel grateful for my time with my family, my friends, and the soundness of my body and mind.

As we end this Mother's Day 2012, let's not forget that the flowers you're supposed to buy and the dinners you think you should cook are not the point. Mothers, you are the water and the soil on which we all grow and thrive. Thank you for your love, your patience, your inspiration, and your mighty examples.

Love you Moms!
Thank you for everything.

Ultra Smiley (Bear Mountain 50K)

I just posted a report of my first every ultra-marathon over at my blog, and I know some of the smileys might be interested.  It was long, it was hard, but I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face!

The runner in a 19th century factory

I've been thinking a lot about the training season, injuries and the conversations I have with my running buddies about training. My thoughts on the subject are as follows and this is essentially the lecture I would give my clients when I was a personal trainer. 

Running is a repetitive motion. Think about your image of a 19th century factory, or a modern cell phone factory for that matter, lots of people doing the same thing over and over until they get over-use injuries, carpal tunnel, broken down joints, or just get injured because they become so robotized that they stop paying attention and forget not to put their hand in the steel press.

The idea behind cross-training in a running program is to add stress to the muscles, tendons, ligaments, skeletal system etc. that you aren’t getting by just running. Your body is amazingly efficient at streamlining activity, reducing the amount of energy expended to complete a repetitive motion and building infrastructure to support it that basically restricts any motions your aren’t using. That is to say, if all you do is run in a straight line your body will tighten up to support that and become brittle to any other movements. Like a factory worker, your body will become very prone to injury the second you move in an unexpected direction.

The solutions to this are simple: cross-train, trail run. Trail running is less repetitive because you have to adapt to an unstable environment. When I’ve been road running (meep meep) for a while and I get out on a trail, I get pops and cracks in my knees for a bit but I start to loosen up quickly. Step on a root and almost sprain your ankle once or twice and you’ll quickly develop laser focus. More than that the terrain builds supporting and core musculature because you have to be more nimble in an unpredictable environment, your tendons and ligaments have to be loose enough to keep strains from happening when they must unexpectedly stretch, but tight enough to prevent over extension injuries. All of this is really good news for you.

The example I like to give is this: professional/competitive road cyclists are well known for having very low bone density and high risk for osteoporosis. How can this be, they’re athletes? The answer is Wolff’s Law. “Bonein a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone willremodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading.” I add to this that the same is true of muscle, ligament and tendon (it’s why weight lifting makes muscles bigger). The same is true in reverse as your body will reduce infrastructure on any structure that isn’t under load. Cycling is a very low impact sport, unlike running where there is always impact with the ground. Their bodies demineralize bones just like astronauts'.

Workers at the Maker’s Mark distillery are required to switch jobs every 30min to keep them alert and injury free. If all you do is run in a straight line you’re setting yourself up for an overuse failure. Cross training adds additional stresses and helps your body stay supple and trail running does the same.

Meep meep!

Oh, Go Fly A Kite!

We've been pounded with heavy winds for the past several days. Thankfully, we didn't have any tornadoes even though the potential was there.

Ironically, a month ago, one of our Cub Scout leaders had planned to fly kites on our regular meeting night this week. I was glued to the weather channel worried the winds would carry the boys off with the kites. All day the winds were 24 mph with gusts as high as 36 mph. The wind advisory was scheduled to end a half hour before the meeting.

More ironically, as soon as the advisory was over, the wind was so dead it could barely be considered a breeze. We had to run the whole length of the field to get the kites to fly at all.

"Hey, are you supposed to be running in that boot?" I was asked.

"No, but the doc didn't say anything about flying kites," I called back.

We sprinted up and down that field for an hour having a complete blast. Two hours earlier, I had to scream at the soccer team just to get them to jog. Now, I was looking at a field full of boys begging for me to untangle their lines so they could run some more. The kites soaring higher and, really, not high at all.

Need a little variety in your runs? Need to run speed intervals? Try flying kites on a no breeze day. Putting play back into running. A super smiley way to run.

Kuira Ba, Caballo Blanco