High Desert Drop Bag Gear Review - Ditty Drop Bag

Update! The owner of High Desert Drop Bags recently contacted me to share this limited time discount code with all of my readers. Use code "BCTR-21" to receive 20% off of your order. Offer is valid 9/2/21 - 10/1/21.

I received a High Desert Drop Bag (Ditty Drop Bag) as a part of a swag package included with my entry to the inaugural Mines of Spain 100 mile trail race in October 2017. Since then it has become my “go to” and favorite drop bag I’ve used at any ultramarathon. It’s durable, keeps my gear dry, and cleans up easily after a day of getting tossed around and thrown in the dirt.

Some Quick Stats:

• Front Identification Panel
• Water resistant 400 denier nylon packcloth
• #8 nylon coil zipper for easy access as well as security
• 1/2" nylon webbing carry loop
• Available in four easy-to-see colors
• List price: $22.00 Plus shipping
• Weight: 3.7 oz
• Dimensions: 13.75 in × 16.75 in × 1 in

The Ditty Drop Bag is the smallest size drop bag offered by High Desert Drop Bags (Bishop, CA). They offer two larger size drop bags: The Dirt Bag (18.5 in x 19.5 in, 21 liters) and The Ultra (28.25 in x 19.5 in, 39 liters). Even though it is the smallest drop bag they offer, I have found the Ditty Drop Bag has plenty of room for everything I have wanted waiting for me at an aid station. I most recently used it at the Blackwell aid station (mile 80) of the 2019 Eastern States 100. For that race I easily fit all of the following in my Ditty Drop Bag.

• 1 Pair of Altra Timp 1.5s
• 1 Pair of CEP Knee High Compression Socks
• Small Towel
• 8 Science In Sport Energy Gels
• 2Toms SportShield - Anti-Chafe and Blister Prevention Roll-On
• 3 AAA Batteries
• Imodium

In addition to the Ditty Drop Bag’s tolerance for rough handling without showing any signs of wear after a couple years of use, the other feature that stands out to me about this drop bag is the identification panel. It’s an aspect of the bag that may seem like a big fat nothing burger. At first take that was my thought about it as well. After using it a few times though, I realized how handy it was and how much more convenient and dependable it was than my previous methods of labeling my drop bags. In the past, I had attached some type of paper tag with all of my pertinent information to my makeshift drop bag with safety pins. To waterproof my homemade tag, I would seal it in box tape. This worked fine, but was a bit cumbersome and I always worried about the tag getting caught on something and ripped off or being made unreadable from rain seeping through my waterproofing. My other drop bag method was to just use a large Ziploc bag. This was super easy and completely waterproof, but I always worried about the bag tearing and losing some of my goods. The High Desert Drop Bag identification panel resolves all of these concerns. Now I just slap some duct tape on the panel and write my info on with a sharpie. Quick, easy, and no worries!

For me, High Desert Drop Bags have set the standard for other drop bags. No other bag I’ve used has worked as well or as conveniently as a drop bag than the Ditty Drop Bag. If you’re frustrated or even just kinda irked about a few issues your drop bag has caused you, I would recommend at least looking at what High Desert Drop Bags has to offer.

Testing Nabee Compression Socks for Running...Errrr Recovery

"Disclaimer: I received Nabee compression knee high socks (15-20 MMHG) to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!"

Use Discount code “BIBRAVE20” for 20% off all socks (one time use)


I need to preface this product review by saying up front that the trial as a whole did not go as I had hoped. The reason is in no way a result of the quality or performance of the Nabee compression socks I received to test out, but entirely due to the quality and performance of the muscles in my left calf. Midway through the testing period (which was going swimmingly up to that point) I was forced to take an unwelcome hiatus from running due to a (self diagnosed) muscle strain in my left calf. As a result, my “test runs” with Nabee compression socks went from literal test runs to figurative “test runs” using Nabee compression socks as a means of recovery. 

My common recovery view.

Even though it was only about a month ago, it feels like a different world today compared to when I first opened the package that contained my Nabee compression socks. Let’s take a trip back to that world. The most notable feature that jumped out to me the first time I tried them on was how easily they slipped on compared to other compression socks I’ve used. Likewise, they have also been far easier to take off. It may not sound like a huge issue, but I’ve worn other compression socks that felt like I was fighting the tidal forces of a black hole to pull them on. Nabee compression socks slipped on with almost no effort. This is an even bigger factor in ultrarunning events long enough to make it beneficial to have a sock and shoe change. It’s hard to describe how frustrating it is to struggle through a compression sock change after 40-60 miles of running when you’re already completely exhausted. Yet there you are, expending energy and straining to pull those knee high socks over swollen calves in hopes of feeling rejuvenated. Yes, it usually helps, but at a cost. The ease with which Nabee compression socks slip on and are removed gets you the benefits of the sock change without the cost of the struggle.

Still in place after 21 miles of running. 

All of my runs wearing Nabee compression socks up until my injury were great! They were comfortable on my feet and allowed my toes to spread which I particularly look for in a sock. I can’t stand when a sock makes my toes feel like they are being forced to scrunch up together. The seamless toe of the sock made for extra comfort and zero blistering. The top cuff of the sock didn’t cause any irritation during my runs and always stayed in place without any readjustments. The longest test run I wore my Nabee compression socks for was my 21 mile birthday run (no, that’s not the run that I got injured during). They performed great and still not a single blister without any other preventative measures taken. The breathability of the fabric of the socks was especially appreciated during that long run. It was one of the warmer days of early spring, but having the extra coverage on my lower legs didn’t bother them or make them feel overheated at all.

After my 21 mile birthday one (preinjury).

I was loving the feel of my Nabee compression socks on my runs. Then during one fateful run I was sent on an unexpected detour. I wasn’t wearing my Nabee socks during this fateful run. It started off feeling fine. I found a one dollar bill on the ground about a half mile after leaving the house at which point I thought to myself “this is going to be a great run!” I was planning to hit some streets to add to my “Run Every Street” project. My legs felt a little sore to start but they started feeling good after about a mile. Then pretty suddenly I had a pain creep up on the back of my left calf. I figured it would just go away so I kept running. But it didn’t go away. It got worse. I walked a bit thinking it was just a cramp that needed to work itself out then I could run the rest of the way home. Unfortunately every time I tried to start running again the pain only got worse. I ended up hobbling about two miles home hoping that after a night of rest it would feel better.

Graph of my pace during the run that I incurred the injury during.

The next morning as I limped out of bed, I realized I was going to have a longer recovery period than one night. On a positive note, I had my Nabee compression socks to provide the “C” for my RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). As I write this review it’s been about two weeks since my injury. I haven’t gotten back to running yet for fear of reaggravating the injury, but I am able to walk without a limp again and pain free so that’s an improvement. The comfort of the Nabee compression socks has been very much appreciated as they provide compression to help with my recovery. My only regret is that I got the super plain, boring black/grey design rather than one of the many festive designs that Nabee offers to improve my spirits while I’m not running. 

Scott Snell
April 12, 2020

Every Single Street - Week 17 - 24% Complete

I was sure I was going to hit the 25% mark with my most recent run. It was my first long run of the year and my first long run to build towards my goal of running every single street of Egg Harbor Township (EHT), NJ. It was the longest distance run I had done since beginning to work towards this goal. I planned to do about a 20 mile run. The plan was to do about an eight mile out and back route and hit a few dead end roads off of that main out and back road to reach my mileage goal. I guess the out and backs on the dead ends added a bit more distance than I expected because after finishing my run it ended up being about 22.7 miles total. I was at 23.46% of streets of EHT complete on CityStrides before this run. I was certain that with this being my longest run since I had begun using CityStrides I would gain more than the slightly more than 1.5% I needed to pass the 25% milestone. What I was not certain of is what exactly CityStrides defines as “percentage complete”. Is it the percent of streets completed or is it the percent of total miles of streets within the city completed? After this long run increasing my percentage complete by only 0.57% (for a total of 24.03%) and previous shorter runs showing greater and unexpected percentage gains, I am guessing the percentage complete refers to percentage of streets completed and does not reflect mileage. A little digging on the CityStrides community page confirmed my guess:


https://community.citystrides.com/t/is-percentage-complete-based-on-number-of-streets-or-distance/18293

Was I disappointed to find that I hadn’t hit that milestone I was so sure I had surpassed? Maybe a bit, but in the bigger picture of this goal it’s not really relevant. After all, the goal is to get 100%. And with this experience I learned a bit more about and have a better understanding of the tool (CityStrides.com) I’m using to accomplish my goal. In addition, I haven’t yet made this project a high priority on my running agenda. I’ve been making small bits of progress on it as it is convenient and while the weather is pleasant. I still expect I’ll start making much greater progress as I get into some heavier training and as the bulk of my training returns to the outdoors.


Scott Snell
February 19, 2020

Other "Every Single Street" blog posts:
The beginning
Week 1


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Every Single Street - Week 1 - Egg Harbor Township, NJ

After one week of a dedicated effort to begin to take on the “Every Single Street” challenge, I have managed to increase the percentage of streets of Egg Harbor Township, NJ I’ve run from 1.94% to 7.63%. While this seems like a pretty substantial increase for a single week towards a goal that I have said is a long term goal, it’s important for me to keep in mind that this was likely one of the greatest gains I’ll make in a single week’s time, at least in the near future. Mainly because of the location of the streets I ran this past week and the weather.

I’m the first to admit that I am not a cold weather runner. Once the air temperature drops my running discomfort seems to always increase. The change in weather seems to induce a bit of asthma for me making outdoor running far less enjoyable. Given that and the fact that I bought myself a gym membership at the end of last year, I’ll likely be running many more treadmill miles this winter than actual road miles.

The second reason I probably won’t see this kind of increase again until next spring is because I started this project by basically running mostly streets all close to home for me. Obviously, this means as I run to streets farther from home I’ll be repeating mileage on streets I’ve already completed. That is of course unless I drive to location further from home to complete more streets while running less miles. While I may do that to complete some areas/neighborhoods, I want to try to complete as much of this project without driving at all. I’m not making this a hard rule for my project, but just want to see how far I can take it without resorting to any traveling other than running.



Scott Snell
November 7, 2019

Other "Every Single Street" blog posts:
The beginning
Week 17 - 24% Complete

2019 Eastern States 100

PA Triple Crown Finisher Award Display

It’s been a little over a week since Eastern States (ES) 100 as I begin to write this and now that my sodden, pungent clothing and gear has been cleaned and the wounds are for the most part healed I am beginning to have a greater appreciation for how my day there played out. I went in with a single goal that I thought was well within reach given the year I had thus far. The goal was simple, finish in less time than it took me in 2017 (27:17:24). This would also ensure a faster cumulative time for the 2019 Pennsylvania Triple Crown Series over my 2017 time for the series (47:47:36). Since I had finished both Worlds End 100k and Hyner 50k faster in 2019 than 2017, this goal seemed well within reach. However, the uncertainty of the 100 mile distance and how things can go south at any point was a constant concern for me. Excessive worrying about the potential for things to fall apart may be what ultimately led to me failing to reach my goal. 

Pretty early in the race. Photo credit:  Joseph Hess

For about two weeks leading up to the race I was feeling extremely anxious, more so and for a longer period before the race than I have ever experienced in any other lead up to a race. Adding to my trepidation was a work trip that I had scheduled for the week just before race weekend. I would be flying back to Philadelphia Friday around noon, then getting picked up by my wife to make the remainder of the drive to Little Pine State Park. I packed my two drop bags and everything I would need at the start the weekend before the race then worried all week hoping I hadn’t forgotten anything. By the time the work week was over and I was picking up my bib at registration the relief I was expecting didn’t wash over me. I had my stuff ready a week prior, managed to get there without any flight delays interfering with my travel plans, and now all I had to do was run 103 miles on the rugged trails of the PA Wilds. I guess there was still good reason to have a fair amount of nervous excitement.

Lower Pine Bottom AS, Mile 17.8

Thankfully, I managed to get a pretty solid night’s sleep before the 5am start, but at the starting line the jitters were still present. I did my best to deal with them in hopes that they would subside once I got on the trail and put a few miles behind me. Everything went well for the first 50k or so. I knew what pace I had to keep to meet my goal and I was staying ahead of that pace and feeling comfortable doing it. The climbs didn’t seem as bad as I had remembered and my quads were handling them well. It almost seemed like it was too easy this trip around Pine Creek. It was shortly after AS5 (Happy Dutchman) that I got hit with my first blow when I realized my watch had led me astray. The actual mileage at AS5 is 31.6. My watch, which has otherwise always been reliable and pretty accurate, was reporting that I had covered a little over 36 miles. I was focusing on only getting aid station to aid station so I was mostly just using my total mileage to see how much farther to the next aid station. When the signage at AS5 showed the mileage to the next AS as 6.9 and I used the inaccurate information on my watch that would put me at about 43 miles total. That was a significant mile marker as it is the second crewed AS, Hyner Run. I got excited that I would get to see my wife and boys again and it felt so soon since I had just seen them at the first crewed aid station. Mileage and the next aid station came up in conversation with a couple other runners and when their watches synced I realized mine was off and there was one more AS between us and the next crewed AS. It was a bit shocking at the time, but I tried to comfort myself by saying I was happy to find out early how far my watch was off rather than later. However, later in the race while talking to one of the other runners that helped me realize my error, he would tell me that my face showed a bit of a soul crushed reaction when I realized it was my watch that was off.

One of the early climbs. Photo Credit:  Tomas Castillo

With that minor mishap out of the way early, the rest of the daylight hours of the race rolled by pretty pleasantly for the most part. I don’t know if it was due to the low temperatures we had on race day or just my misconstrued recollection of the course, but my second time running ES I was shocked by how much of the course felt runnable. The majority of my memories of the ES course was super technical descents intermixed with steep, rocky climbs. This time though,outside of two big early climbs (just before AS1, Ramsey Rd. and just after AS3, Lower Pine Bottom) the bulk of the first half of the course was feeling runnable. And I was running the bulk of it and staying on my target pace even after I adjusted for my watch’s misinformation without feeling like I was pushing myself even near the point where I thought a blow up was a possibility.

Another AS stop.

A second mishap started emerging or at least giving indications of larger problems about the same time as when my watch mishap was discovered. This mishap began with some slight discomfort around the bottom elastic of my hydration vest. I was wearing the same vest and same shirt that I have worn for 100ks and 100 milers in the past with only minor chafing issues, but this time around those minor chafing issues became exasperated and caused major chafing that was never resolved no matter how much or what kind of lube I threw at it. Since the equipment and clothing was the same, the only explanation I can come up with is that I was carrying more weight in the vest than I had ever packed before. I had trained with Science in Sport (SIS) gels all season and wanted to use them for the race so I packed 10 in my vest at the start and had 10 replacements in each of my drop bags. Also, I wasn’t positive gels would be available at every AS. Ten gels may not sound like much additional weight, but SIS gels are roughly about twice the volume of standard energy gels making a bit bulkier to carry and nearly doubling the weight. The best guess I have at this point is that the extra weight/volume in the vest made it fit and move differently than any time I’ve worn it in the past. Ultimately leading to some terribly painful chafing. I like to think I’m not one to complain about the little stuff, but this turned into a steady distracting pain from about the halfway point to the finish. I also like to think I’m not one to blame equipment for my failures, but in this situation the equipment had a major impact on my focus and overall mindset. I never thought about quitting because my sides had been rubbed raw by my pack, but the pain constantly pulled my focus off of running and moving efficiently to just thinking about taking this pack off as soon as possible.

The worst of my chafing.

The watch incident and the chafing issue are the only two concrete items I can point to that led to me falling off of my target pace, neither of which I truly deem responsible. I was ahead of my intended pace for a 27 hour finish at AS9, Halfway House (54.7 miles), but somewhere between there and AS14, Blackwell (80.3 miles) where I was picking up a pacer and had my next time goal calculated I was well over an hour behind where I wanted to be. It was strange because I never felt completely exhausted, but had this strange feeling of never feeling like I was pushing myself to the limit and always running overly safe without getting out of my comfort zone. In retrospect, it seems like I was so concerned about blowing up that I never pushed to my full potential for the day. Usually with hundred milers I feel like I get into some kind of singular focus and survival mentality, only concentrating on getting to the finish as quickly as possible. For whatever reason, that switch never got flipped this time.

A power hug from my youngest!

Even with my time goal out of reach and twenty some miles to go, I was excited to pick up a pacer at Blackwell. It was my first time using a pacer. It wasn’t the situation I had envisioned of being on pace and having my pacer push me to the finish ahead of pace, but he was able to up my morale and that of the couple other runners I had spent the majority of the night with. I will admit, we had a bit of a pity party on the trail overnight and it likely would have continued the rest of dark early morning hours if we were not joined by a pacer. With a bit of fresh energy provided by our pacer, Kurt Foster, we picked our pace up for the respectable climb out of Blackwell. Kurt continued to push our pace for the remainder of the race, reminding us every time the trail was runnable. With my time goal a lost cause, he kept me from basically giving up and walking it in, pushing me to earn a finish time that I could be proud of.

At AS11, Slate Run, 63.8 miles.

We grinded our way in the dark to the next AS, Skytop. It was a little tough mentally to leave this one because the crew there was so accommodating and we knew the stretch to the next AS was one of the longer ones of the race. Without getting too comfortable, we ushered ourselves out and pushed on. Thanks to Kurt, our pass through the second to last AS, Barrens, was one of our fastest. We refilled bottles, grabbed food, and were out in probably 1-2 minutes. We were as fast if not fastest passing through Hacketts, the final AS. With only about four miles left, not much was needed and the excitement to finish was peaking, at least I thought.

At packet pick up.

Shortly after leaving Hacketts near the top of the final climb of the course we heard a runner coming up behind us quick. Kurt turned to me and said something along the lines of “you don’t wanna get passed just a couple miles from the finish.” I replied by saying that I wasn’t sure if I have anything left. Then Kurt said something that finally lit a spark at the time. He basically said even if I attempted to outrun him for the last two miles and still got passed, then I could just walk it in and still get the same result even if I hadn’t made the effort. For whatever reason, at the time that got me to dig and give it my best effort to stay in front of this other runner. That’s when things finally started to become fun again. I was moving and feeling good. Before I knew it, I caught sight of a runner ahead of me. We passed him. Now things were getting really exciting for the finish and the final gnarly descent of the course. In the last two miles or so, we passed four runners. It amazed me that we were so close to these other runners and without that little spark provided by Kurt, I would have contentedly shuffled in to the finish after them.

My 2019 finish!

I crossed the finish line at 28:46:52, a full hour and almost 47 minutes after when I had intended to finish. At the beginning of this report I wrote that I failed. I may come off sounding like a bit of a jerk or a real pessimist by saying that I wasn’t entirely pleased with this finish. It’s easy to say that any 100 miler finish, especially a tough 100 mile course like ES, is something you should be proud of. However, after assessing how my legs felt during that last steep downhill this year compared to two years ago, I knew I had more left in me at the finish this year. In 2017 I was desperately bouncing from tree to tree to keep from going into an out of control tumble down the incline. This time, although my quads were screaming, I was bombing the downhill mostly in control. The fact that the spark to push harder earlier never happened is what I was really disappointed about. The “what if”s were what bothered me. After a few weeks to digest it all, I still can’t say that I’m not a bit disappointed that this final piece of my PA Triple Crown Series goal didn’t fall into place like I had hoped, but I can say that I am proud of the finish and to have completed the full series for a second time.

Getting my chafing patched up at the finish!

August 24, 2019

Scott Snell

Fall Race Schedule, So Far

"Disclaimer: I received free entry to GAP Relay as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

With my summer racing season coming to a close after Eastern States 100 and the end of the PA Triple Crown series this past weekend, it’s time to start thinking and solidifying plans for fall races. So far, I haven’t given it a great deal of thought because I’ve been so focused on spring and summer running goals. I’ve got some ideas and there are plenty of options, but so far the only definite I have on my schedule is the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail Relay. The GAP relay race challenges teams of 8, 6, or 4 runners to complete the 150 mile GAP trail starting in Cumberland, MD then traversing through the Allegheny Mountains and finishing in Pittsburgh, PA.

When offered the opportunity to run the GAP I was excited for a number of reasons. The first being that I’ve never seen or traveled any of the Great Allegheny Passage Trail and I’m pretty much always a fan of exploring new trails. With a chance dropped in my lap to cover a large section of completely new to me trail on foot and other portions in a pacer vehicle, there was no way I wasn’t going to do my best to partake. After learning a little history about the trail and how it is basically a conglomeration of rail/trail conversions, I am even more pumped to explore it with the potential to see some of the surviving historical railroad artifacts (old railroad stations, telegraph poles, mileposts, and foundations for signals). Also, since the trail is built along former railroads, all of the grades are gentle never exceeding a 1.5% grade. Although I love the challenging and rugged trails PA offers, I would be lying if I did not admit that I’m looking forward to a less strenuous (and likely faster) trail run through PA that still includes the beautiful scenery of the Pennsylvania landscape. Tunnels and bridges will take me through the mountains and over the water crossings that at other trail races I would have to climb over and wade through.

A second reason that I am getting more pumped as the start of the GAP Relay nears is that this will be the first ever team relay race I have run. I like trying new race formats to keep running fun, interesting, and challenging. Working as a team of runners is something I have not experienced at a race yet, and I look forward to how the team dynamic will add an entirely new element to the journey. Additionally, the relay team I am running with is a group of other BibRave Pros, none of whom I have ever actually met before. Getting to know and run with a group of runners that I have only interacted with via Twitter and Instagram adds to the sense of adventure in this undertaking. Thus far, all the BibRave Pros I’ve met are passionate about running and having fun while doing it, so I envision this jaunt along the GAP Trail to basically be 150 miles of an ultrarunning trail party!

If you get a crew together to take on the GAP Relay, be sure to use code “BIBRAVE100” for $100 off the registration fee!

Photo Credit:  Allegheny Trail Alliance (ATA)

2019 Worlds End 100k

Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can't cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It's just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.

— Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

Going into Worlds End (WE) 100k this year my head was not in a good place for both personal life reasons and running related reasons. Advanced warning before you get too far into reading this report, as I begin to write it I fear it will sound like I’m whining and will get into some nonrunning related issues in my life. If you want a more Worlds End running focused report check out my 2017 and 2018 reports. Otherwise if you’re somewhat intrigued with a poor mental state leading up to a race and a lesson learned from it, by all means continue reading. For multiple reasons to be explained, I was battling a lack of motivation, questioning my abilities, and suffering from an overall rather pessimistic outlook in general.

The day before at registration.

I’ll start with the running issues that contributed to me having a bit of lack of motivation and confidence leading up to WE. I was feeling pumped based on my two most recent races before WE. I ran my best time after three attempts at Hyner 50k and a week later I ran a road marathon PR at the NJ Marathon. With basically just a month between the NJ Marathon and WE I planned to do an easy recovery week, ramp up with a decent training week, get in a quality 20ish mile long run, then ease into a taper. Things went as planned up until that quality 20ish mile long run. I got in my 20 mile long run, but it by no means felt like a quality run. My legs felt heavy from the start, I felt tired and sluggish for the entire run, and I struggled to maintain what I felt like should have been an easy pace for flat, nontechnical trails. So I did the only logical thing I could do, I did a 20 mile road run the following weekend expecting it to be much faster and to feel much better about myself going into WE. That follow up long run did not go as planned either. I felt better and was slightly faster (20.08 miles in 2:49:41 versus 20.0 miles in 2:59:27), but the small pace improvement and still not feeling strong while achieving it did very little to improve my confidence.

      

With back to back weekends of disappointing long runs behind me, the next weekend I followed the most logical course of action: I asked for advice from a retired Olympic trampolinist (aka my brother in law). After talking about training cycles, building, peaking, and my lack of all of those things much less a training plan, he said I should just rest the last week before WE. I took that advice and did not run at all for an entire week before WE. I had never tapered that hard before, so I was extremely nervous not even having a couple easy paced short runs the week leading into WE. It also didn’t help improve my confidence at all, but as my brother in law was suggesting, the training and endurance are already there, my body just needs a break to recuperate before being pushed again.

Now to go over the non running issues that were contributing to my less than ideal mental state for the start of WE. I shouldn’t say issues, as it was more so a singular work related issue. For the most part I’m usually pretty good about not letting work frustrations bother me outside of work, but given this situation I could not let it not bother me. In an attempt to not make this a long, drawn out complaining post, I will try to sum up the main points of the situation quickly. Basically, I was offered a temporary detail promotion because the manager of our office had been reassigned to a one year detail. Not long after accepting I was told the position didn’t exist and so I could not have the promotion but I could still do the additional duties that came along with the promotion. Not such a good deal. Not long after that development the temporary detail position was advertised and two other employees from other offices were selected for the three and four month temporary acting manager details. The motivating factors that went into the decision making are still unknown to me. Being passed over for a temporary promotion that I was told doesn’t exist after I had unofficially been doing the additional duties of that position for four months was enough to make me update my resume and start job searching, but not do anything crazy like quit on the spot. Anyway, that’s enough non running stuff to explain why my head was out of sorts.

The view from my cozy car camping.

To add to my disappointment just before the race, my family had a last minute change of plans for the race weekend. We had planned to make an extended camping trip out of this race weekend with our neighbors who have kids that are friends with ours coming along for the trip. I had been telling my family and theirs about how great Worlds End State Park is and how nice the camp sites are for two years. I had finally convinced them to come along for a camping trip and 100k trail run. Unfortunately, the weather reports for extended thunderstorms and rain for the entire weekend caused our neighbors to fear that it would be a miserable weekend for camping so they bailed on us. I got the news Thursday afternoon when I arrived home from work. Making the blow sting even worse, my family decided to back out as well since their friends wouldn’t be coming along. In a flash my weekend went from running an awesome, scenic 100k with my friends and family there to cheer me on and celebrate with afterwards to just me taking off for the weekend.

Between the poor long training runs, last minute plan changes, and the professional life disappointments I was feeling confused, cynical, and worthless which is not a good way to start an ultra. Regardless of the outcome, I showed up even if my attitude about it was pretty crappy. I tried to convince myself that I was excited for it and that even if things weren’t going well in my professional life I at least still had ultramarathons as an escape, but when I woke up the morning of the race after a night of camping the initial thought I had was “time to get this over with.” Not the best mindset to start a gueling 15ish hour endeavor, but I had faith that once I became immersed in the trail running things would start to feel right. 

Just before the finish!

Makes it all worthwhile!

For the most part, that’s exactly what happened. I tried to turn on autopilot and just run the course basically the same way I did in 2018, going out at a comfortable pace while taking in plenty of calories and not blowing up. Pretty much everything fell into place. The course didn’t completely cooperate, but it didn’t bother me. It had been wet leading up to the race and the course had long stretches of extremely sloppy, swampy areas. It reminded me of the conditions from my first time at WE in 2017. That year it really got to me because every stretch of trail that looked runnable ended up being a sloppy mess and I was not able to get into any kind of rhythm. This year was different. Even though the conditions were similar, I managed to still move in a way that felt efficient and consistent. I felt strong on the climbs, my stomach never felt upset, and I was never completely exhausted. It was almost a perfect repeat of last year based on performance, only slightly faster as I finished in 14:11:21 compared to my 14:18:47 finish last year. 

I mentioned at the beginning that there was a lesson learned for me from this whole experience. It wasn’t about how important thinking positively going into an ultra is because I was pretty negative going into this one and still executed better than last year. The lesson for me was that ultramarathons or running in general can’t always be used as an escape from other issues in my life. Or maybe more accurately, ultras and this silly hobby of mine will not resolve other life challenges. I went into this race with a bad attitude. Then the race was going well and I had a great time. I felt even better when the outcome was an improvement over last year. But afterwards all of the circumstances that had caused my mental anguish had not changed. I had just lowered the amount of attention I allowed them for a few days. This may be kind of a sour note to end a report of a positive race on, but that is how this chapter of this ultra season ended for me.

At the finish celebration!

Scott Snell
August 14, 2019

My First Time Streaking (Run Streaking That Is)!

Disclaimer: I received an annual Strava Summit subscription and Strava merchandise as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

After back to back weekends of racing at the Hyner View Trail Challenge 50k followed by the Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon, my May schedule is looking kinda lame and pretty empty without any races scheduled. I have nothing lined up until Worlds End (WE) 100k on June first. I had thought that I would be okay with this since I have a heavier race schedule planned for June and going into July, but now as the excitement of smashing my marathon PR wears off, I’m less certain. I feel the need to have something to train for and keep me focused between now and WE 100k, but nothing too big that will beat me up too bad. Thankfully, an opportunity knocked: The BibRave Run Streak.

BibRave is hosting a run streak for the month of May. All Strava users are invited to join many of the BibRavePros by running or walking at least one mile per day from May 1 - May 31. Want in? First things first, you have to join Strava. Believe me, if you’re a runner and you’re into maps you won’t regret it. Never heard of Strava or heard of it and not really sure what it is? Get a quick overview of it here and then join in the fun. Now that you’re a happy Strava user, join the BibRave Strava Club and get ready to streak for the month of May!

Why am I streaking for the month of May? Mainly because I have no races lined up and I want to stay motivated and focused on training to be ready for WE 100k. That and I feel a deep emptiness welling up inside of me as I come off of back to back race weekends and know I won’t get another fix until June. Kinda kidding, kinda serious. So I figured, if I’m not going to race in May, what better way to combat the post race blues but to try a new kind of running challenge like a run streak? Since it’s new to me, I’m not sure what to expect which will likely make it an interesting endeavor. Physically, I foresee no difficulties with doing a mile a day. However, mentally and logistically I expect it to be a bit more challenging. Just like pretty much all other runners, I have days where I just don’t feel like going out for a run (until I’m running) and have to practically force myself out the door. Those will be the mentally challenging days. Logistically, there are some days when I just don’t have an ideal block of time to run. This is where I feel like I’ll really benefit from this run streak. It will force me to find times and ways to work in a short run when I would otherwise opt not to run justifying it by saying that I wouldn’t have enough time for a “good” run. Even if it is just a one mile out and back on lunch at work, I intend to get that daily mile in for the month of May.


So if you’re interested and whatever your reason may be, I encourage you to learn more and join the BibRave Crew for their Run Streak this May!

Strava Swag!

Strava: A Safer, Happier, and Healthier Addiction

Disclaimer: I received an annual Strava Summit subscription and Strava merchandise as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

So far as a BibRave Pro (BRP), all of the products I’ve tested were brand new to me. I may have heard of some of them, but testing them as a BRP was my first direct experience with them. Until now, as I have been selected to tell my story of how I became a Strava user which will hopefully motivate you to become a Strava user as well or at least pique your interest enough to look into Strava and learn how it could benefit your running habit. As soon as the opportunity to work on this project presented itself I knew it was the perfect fit for me. Just in the past year I have turned two of my coworkers into Strava users (one of the two I converted over from using the IOS app, Health). 

I have been a regular Strava user for about 2-3 years now. I first heard of Strava after I fell in with a new crowd, the Facebook group “Trail and Ultrarunning”. I hooked up with this group of trail and ultrarunners around the same time I ran my first ultra (Blues Cruise 50k) in the fall of 2015. I kept seeing people posting in this group about Strava this and Strava that. “If it isn’t on Strava, it didn’t happen” was also a common refrain. I decided I should learn what the heck this whole Strava thing is.

At first glance, I didn’t see what the big deal was or why Strava was so popular. My initial impression of it was that it was just another online fitness tracker. I had used several others before and at the time was a Garmin connect user only because I used a Garmin GPS watch and all of my data was automatically uploaded, tracked, and stored there. It was simple and I questioned why I would have any need for a secondary online fitness tracker. In my mind, it would only complicate the system I was using which seemed to be working fine for me.

Then I learned what Strava brings to the table where many other online fitness trackers fall short: the social networking aspects it offers. Where Garmin Connect and Suunto Movescount (probably the two most broadly used online fitness tracker apps with 10,000,000+ and 500,000+ installs respectively) were limited to just users of their GPS devices, Strava provided a platform where users of all GPS devices could play and interact, including folks who tracked their activities with their phones. Strava also allows users of other third party fitness tracker apps to sync those accounts with their Strava account so that like minded fitness addicts have a common playground to interact with one another. Now other online fitness trackers may have taken note and followed suit with Strava’s lead, but I’m unaware if they have. Once I drank the Kool-Aid, I haven’t looked back at any other fitness trackers. I use Strava exclusively as my fitness tracker and it fulfills all of my needs and then some. 

Inclusivity isn’t the only benefit that makes Strava shine. Here is a short list of some of my favorite Strava features, all of which I will go into and explain in more detail in a future blog post:

• Group Activities and Events - A way to organize and get more social with other athletes.
• Clubs - Join up with other athletes by geographic region or specific interests. Find the BibRave club here.
• King Of the Mountains (KOMs) - Think of these as virtual races.
• Flybys - Probably the coolest way to relive a race. This one is probably my favorite. Check the boxes for “Scott” and “Rich” and watch!
• Segment Explorer - Traveling to a new area and want to find a great running route? Use segment explorer.
• Gear Statistics - Track the miles on all of your running shoes!
• Challenges - For when you need a little extra motivation.
• Achievements - Think of these as racing yourself.
• My Year In Sport - This is like a celebratory video of your past year’s activities. Here’s mine from 2018.

Stay tuned for a more in depth explanation of all of those Strava features. Until then, here is a short “how to” video about creating strava segments and just a general Strava overview.

If you're already a Strava junkie, you can now show your Strava pride with some Strava swag: 

Strava swag on Amazon.

2019 Rat Race 50K

My cool finisher mug!

A Cinderella Story Without The Cinderella Ending

Even though everyone had told me he wasn’t that far ahead and that I could catch him, I was not prepared for the kick at the finish. Honestly, what are the odds that in a four plus hour race it will come down to who has a faster kick for the last quarter mile. The chances are pretty slim, but it happened. It was the type of ultra finish I had dreamed of witnessing and to have been more than just a spectator to it and to have had the honor to share it with the caliber of athlete that I did left me downright giddy for weeks. This is my story of the inaugural Rat Race 50k!

The Rat Race trail runs have been an annual event for awhile; I only became aware of them last year. I ran it for the first time last year, opting for the longest distance offered, the 20k. This year the RD decided to offer a 50k option. I happily partook. In the past, both the 10k and 20k distances used the same 10k loop to reach their total distance. Until arriving at the race, I was expecting this to be the case with the newly offered 50k distance. To my surprise and satisfaction the RD had altered the course a bit for the 50k runners. Rather than five laps of the 10k loop, he added a longer 20k loop which was then followed up with three laps around the original 10k course. If you want a more in depth description of the 10k loop, go to my race report from last year on the 20k. As happy as I was to hear that I wouldn’t be running five laps of the 10k course, the added 20k loop to start was not 20k of completely fresh trail. In fact, about half of the large loop was the same trail as the 10k loop (see Strava map). And all of the added distance to the large loop was either fire road or powerline cuts, no new single track. I’m not trying to complain here, just making it clear that the 50k is for the most part achieved by running the 10k course five times.

With this being my first race of the year, my primary goals were to test out my fitness level, get adapted to those pre race jitters before my “A” races, and have some fun of course. If everything went well, I hoped to set a new 50k PR (4:54:29) for myself as well. Why did I have such high hopes for my first race of the year? I went about training over winter completely differently in this past offseason than I have since I started running ultramarathons. I got myself a gym membership and started building up my mileage and doing some speedwork on the treadmill in January after light mileage in November and December. I’ve found that I enjoy a couple months of lower mileage to allow the body to recover and to avoid burnout after heavy training and racing. This year I increased mileage and intensity more quickly with access to the treadmill. I wasn’t sure how well all of the treadmill miles would transfer to trail running, but I was excited to find out and hoped for the best results, a 50k PR. 

All set, ready to race!

The week before the race the timing company sent out an email with a link to the entrants list. I scanned it to see if anyone I knew would be running the 50k. I didn’t see any names I recognized except for Rich Riopel. If you’re not familiar with who Rich is, in short, he is one of the best ultrarunners to come out of NJ. He has qualified for and represented the USA multiple years on the 24 Hour National Team to compete at the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 24 Hour World Championship. If you want more evidence that he is an accomplished ultrarunner, just look at his Ultrasignup results. Why am I giving you all of this information about Rich? Well, he is a main character in my race report.

As we all took off from the start the course started off following the same unpaved road that the 10k loop starts on. I was following Rich and one other runner when early on, probably a quarter to half mile from the start, Rich hops of to the side and begins retying a shoelace. I passed him at that point and expected to see him passing me within a couple minutes. To my surprise, I ran with the other lead runner for a couple miles at what felt like a pace that I could maintain for the entire 50k and there was no sign of Rich. We were doing around eight minute miles and it was feeling good so I tried to maintain it knowing that the 10k loop was more technical than what I was running on this bigger loop. Other than some sandy sections, and even those were runnable, it was all easily runnable. I figured to meet my goal I only had to average 8:30 miles so I was trying to bank some time for the loops around the 10k course which I figured would be a bit slower paced. The 10k loop was a bit more wet than it had been last year and the wet spots were a bit sloppier and more treacherous than I recalled. Regardless, I made it around the large 20k loop and back to the start/finish at about 1:34 with only another 30k to run. 

A Strava Flyby screenshot of just before the final lead change of the race!

Starting my first of three loops around the 10k course, I began to wonder what the heck happened to Rich. Did he drop? Was he just here for a fun run and jiking this 50k? These questions were answered about two miles later when he passed me just a bit before hopping on to the start of the single track portion of the course. I tried to keep up with for him a bit and soon realized he was in no way jiking this thing. With the curvy, heavily vegetated trails it didn’t take too long before he was out of sight. I was shocked to see him again just a couple miles later making his way back onto the trail. I assume he must have made a pit stop and he hopped back on to the trail just behind me. Having him right behind me and knowing that we were in the first and second at about the halfway point of the race lit a bit of a fire under me and I pushed a bit harder than I probably otherwise would have. We ran within a couple paces of each other for about a mile until the course pops off from the single track to a short unpaved road section again. At that point Rich cranked it up a bit and pulled ahead. I tried to give chase and kept him from pulling out of sight on the unpaved road section, but shortly after being back on the single track he was gone again. 

Battle wounds.

Going out for my second to last lap and knowing he wasn’t that far ahead I tried to push harder and earlier than I had intended. I could see him in the distance on the long straight fire road sections that start the loop, but as soon as we reached the single track again there was no sign of him. I tried to maintain my pace hoping that he may slow down and I’d have a chance to run with him again, but my other motivation to keep a good pace during this lap was completely unrelated to my race goals. My wife was running the 10k and with the staggered timing of the start times of the multiple distances if I had any chance to see my wife on the course it was during this lap. I was pushing hard during this lap in hopes I would get to see her and give a few words of encouragement. It was the first race she had run in a long time, her first trail race ever, and the first race we had run together in an even looonger time. It was great motivation for me to push, even more than chasing after first place at the moment, but to no avail. I wouldn’t see her until passing through the start/finish area for the final time. 

As I passed through the last time I was surprised at how encouraging the few people hanging out were. They were excitedly telling me that first place wasn’t far ahead and that I could catch him. One person even said he was only ahead by maybe a couple minutes. With that information and knowing it was my final lap, I ate my last Honey Stinger gel (I believe my sixth of the day) and pushed as hard as I could for the last easily runnable section of the course before the single track. I thought to myself that maybe I’d catch a glimpse of him on the long straight road, but nope. I held on to a bit of hope running the single track, but by the halfway point with only about three miles to go I had pretty much lost hope and started comforting myself by focusing on the positives. I was going to be able to pretty much cruise into a second place finish. I was going to set a new 50k PR with a finish time of easily under 4:30. From then on, my main motivation to not totally just coast in was to improve my PR by as much as possible and hang on to second place. I had lost all hope of catching up to first. 

All I need for a 50k.

That is until about a half mile from the finish when I heard some grunting and heavy breathing from behind me. It was just before the little wetland section of the course around the lake where there’s a couple of single log pathways for water crossings. Basically a section that is unrunnable. I looked back initially thinking it was probably a 20k runner sprinting it in to the finish. I was shocked to see Rich behind me with a full head of steam sprinting to catch up to me. Shock quickly turned to a mixture of fear, confusion, and panic. I would have to run this unrunnable section and then sprint the last quarter mile or so if I wanted to have a shot at first which just a few seconds ago I had already thought a completely lost cause. I tried my best to get across the logs quickly without falling and then going into any kind of a sprint that I had left. It wasn’t long after that the wet section that the trail widens then a quick left up a little hill and about a 100 yard dash across a grass field to the finish line. It was just before the left turn that Rich passed me. At that point I knew that I would have to give it everything to have any chance of keeping up with him. I was mentally committed, but my body wasn’t. My tired legs showed themselves as I tried to sprint up the little hill only to catch a toe, go down and skid on one knee for a bit before pushing myself back up onto my feet with both hands. It felt like only a second, but by the time I was back on my feet I knew I didn’t have a chance of catching him. He only had a few paces on me but I was moving like I had just run a 50k and he was moving like he was finishing a 5k.

Video Credit:  Greg Lassik

I was proud enough to at least continue to run it in as hard as I could even when I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch him. And amazingly, from the point just after my fall to the finish line was all caught on video by a spectator. In the end I finished in 4:15:24 just 10 seconds behind Rich. After congratulating one another on a ridiculously exciting ultra finish, I had to find out how it came to be. As it turned out, Rich had missed a turn about a mile from the finish and did an extra half mile or so. Sometime during that extra out and back he did, I unknowingly passed him. In retrospect, I can’t be disappointed with how the day turned out. I improved my 50k PR by almost 40 minutes! I raced a world class ultrarunner for much of a 50k to finish only 10 seconds behind him after a sprint to the finish. I mean, I could be super disappointed that I didn’t manage to sneak in with first place, but that wouldn’t be as much fun so I’ll stick with what has worked best for me in the broader scope of ultrarunning and be happy about all the positives.

Photo at the finish.

Scott Snell
April 8, 2019