Old school stairclimbing machine

Climbing stairs with a weight on your back seems like a great alternative for a stairclimbing machine. You are the only machine you need.

Petzl Core USB rechargeable and programmable headlamp battery

I bought a new Petzl Core Li-ion Polymer battery (3.7V 900 mAh) for my old Petzl Tikka XP2 headlamp.

Core is rechargeable via a USB-cable. It adds to the size and weight of the headlamp a little, but not ttoo much to notice really.

The normal battery compartment for three alkaline AAA-batteries remains usable, just in case you need it.

In many European trail ultras the competitors are required to carry two headlamps and extra batteries for both. That's why I want a headlamp that's not too heavy.

Tikka XP2 is bright enough for slow trail running with 60 lumens and it weighs 88 grams (including the Core battery or 3 x AAA-batteries). I believe it is the lightest rechargeable and programmable headlight available.

I downloaded the free OS by Petzl software and programmed and tested my Core with it. It worked well on my iMac and was easy to use.

I programmed the Max mode as Regulated (full power for 4.5 hours) and the Eco mode as Non-regulated (the standard mode with declining power as time goes by).

Finally here are a couple of videos by Petzl. Core really seems to work as advertised, although I haven't really tested it in tough conditions like a race yet. However I like it so far and would recommend it.

I think the price should be a bit lower. I paid 32€ for my Core battery alone. My Tikka XP2 cost about 45€. They are now also selling Tikka XP2 Core with everything in same package.


CORE [english] Rechargeable battery for TIKKA² headlamps from Petzl-sport on Vimeo.

The new rechargeable CORE battery is designed for the TIKKA² - ZIPKA² line of headlamps.

This battery is easily inserted into the headlamp in a few seconds instead of three regular batteries. It offers an advantage over standard batteries for frequent or intensive headlamp use. It is more economical to use - it pays for itself after four sets of alkaline batteries.

The Lithium Ion Polymer technology guarantees a lifetime that is equivalent to 900 regular batteries - the CORE battery makes an efficient contribution tolimiting toxic waste in the environment.

The CORE battery takes advantage of the high performance of Lithium Ion Polymer technology, particularly of its excellent functioning in lower temperatures.

The CORE battery has a USB connection, so it can be recharged from any standard USB charger: a cell phone charger, a multimedia device, a solar panel, a portable energy source, a computer, etc.

With "OS by Petzl" software, the CORE battery opens new doors: the "OS by Petzl" software can simply be installed in your computer and the headlamp connected to it. It then becomes possible to adjust, in a very intuitive way and with only a few clicks, the battery life of the headlamp or the lighting level (maximum or economic mode) according to your needs.

OS by Petzl software demo from Petzl-sport on Vimeo.

OS by Petzl software allows you to configure the CORE rechargeable battery and personalize the performance of your TIKKA2 - ZIPKA2 headlamp.

Ryan Sandes Antarctica experience

Ryan Sandes: My Antarctica Experience in Sports Illustrated Jan 2011.

It's about winning the Last Desert race. What's more, he has now won all four races in the 4Deserts series: Gobi, Sahara, Atacama and Antarctica.

My response to "Want to know what it's like to run in knee-deep snow, freezing temperature conditions..." is: that's easy, only knee-deep huh? That would be about 50 cm, but we have currently about 70 cm, and we are going to get a lot more before this winter is done.

But I guess it would be way cooler to run in Antarctica.

The Lost Coast Trail

The Lost Coast Trail from Ryan Commons on Vimeo.
Send me a message on Facebook if you have questions about the trail or about planning a trip.

Best Map: http://amzn.to/LostCoastMap

Best Book: http://amzn.to/NorCalParksBook

Transportation from Trail-head: http://bit.ly/LostCoastTransport

Q: Where is the Lost Coast Trail?
A: About 6 hours north of San Francisco and 1 hour south of the Oregon/California border.


Q: What should I expect if I hike the Lost Coast Trail?
A: The Lost Coast Trail offers backpackers 25 miles of rugged coastline, extreme coastal views, and timeless campsites. Mountains that shoot over 4,000 feet above the coast offer a dramatic scenery as a southward bound hiker sees the big waves of the Pacific Ocean to his right and the giants of the Kings Mountain Range to his left.


Q: Should I start in at Mattole Beach or at Shelter Cove?
A: Start in the north at Mattole Beach. There is a large parking space where you can self-issue a free backpacking permit. Starting in the north puts the wind on your back the whole hike. Hiking north with the wind in your face is unpleasant.


Q: Do I need a tide chart and a map if I'm just hiking the coast?
A: Yes! Before you head out, you will definitely want to get a tide chart and a map. There are sections of the trail that you cannot safely pass through during high tide and a tide chart will advise you as to when to hike these sections. Although it is nearly impossible to get lost on the trail, the map is critical for alerting you to areas that can only be passed at low tide and for giving you exit routes through the mountains if creek levels get too high.


Q: Do I need a bear can?
A: Yep, they are required and there are bears out there--I even saw bear paw prints on the coastline.


Q: How do I get back to my car?
A: You can either hire a driver to take you back from Shelter Cove to Mattole Beach or hike back via the Kings Mountain Range. If anyone has a recommendation for a driver or driving service, please let me know and I'll add the info here.


Q: What gear, clothing and food do you recommend for the trip?
A: Here is a summary of the gear, clothing and food we brought (four people):

Group Gear:
* 2 Tents
* Pot
* Pan
* 4 dishes
* 4 utensils
* Two White Gas Bottles
* 2 MSR compressed gas bottles
* Jet Boil Stove
* Dragon Fly Stove
* 2 Bear Cans
* Map
* Rope
* Big water bottle

Toiletries:
* Floss
* Toothbrush
* Toothpaste
* Deodorant

Clothing:
* Sunglasses
* Warm Layer - big down or fleece or ski jacket
* External Shell Jacket and Pants - stop rain
* Soft-Shell Pants
* 2 Long Sleeve Shirts
* Warm Hat
* Cap
* 4 Socks
* 1 Underwear
* Gloves (Liner and Shell)
* Boots
* Running shoes or sandals

Gear:
* Backpack
* Sleeping Pad
* Sleeping Bag - in garbage bag
* Rain cover or garbage bags to cover pack
* 3 Extra garbage bags
* Camera
* Knife & Hatchet
* Flashlight
* Headlamp
* 2 water bottles (1 liter each)

Food (95% complete):
* Cheetos - Crunchy - 2880 Calories
* M&M's - Peanut - 6160 Calories
* Red Vines - 3220 Calories
* Snickers - 1950 Calories
* Wheat Thins - Original - 2080 Calories
* Bagels - 1620 Calories
* Starburst - 4640 Calories
* Chips Ahoy - 1920 Calories
* Beef Summer Sausage - 1520 Calories
* Nature Valley - 2160 Calories
* Ramen Soup - 15 packs - 5700 Calories
* Nutter Butter - 2080 Calories
* Shells & Cheese - 6480 Calories
* Good Health Energy - 2250 Calories
* Oatmeal - 4980 Calories
* Poptarts - 6240 Calories
* Chicken Noodle Soup - 960 Calories
* Goldfish - Colors Cheddar - 840 Calories
* Mama Soup - 2 packs - 560 Calories
* Fruit Pack - 1200 Calories
* Peanut Butter - 3040 Calories
* Honey - 1320 Calories
* Popcorn - 980 Calories
* Chewy Bar - 1674 Calories
* Beef Jerky - Original - 480 Calories
* Trail Mix - 4200 Calories
* Drink Flavoring - - 300 Calories
* Tuna Meat - 360 Calories
* Cheez-it - 1950 Calories


Trip Report:
by David Bebb

We mapped out a loose, seven-day itinerary knowing that inclement weather would likely force us to change our plans. Early on a Thursday afternoon, our group of four left our car at the north end of the Lost Coast Trail (Mattole Beach) with the aim to head as far south on the trail as possible before an anticipated incoming storm flooded the creeks and cut off our coastal route. At that point (or at Shelter Cove, if we made it all the way to that end of the 25-mile trail), we would cut inland and return north along the ridge trails of the King Range.We had unexpectedly decent weather for two of the first four days, and we made the most of our good fortune by lingering on the coast's beautiful and desolate beaches.

On the first day, we made only three miles before finding an abandoned lighthouse whose roof deck proved too tempting as a potential campsite. After setting up tents atop the lighthouse, three of us spent the last two hours of daylight snapping photos and gathering a massive pile of driftwood, stacked carefully like Jenga blocks, for a bonfire on the beach. The fourth ran up a side-trail to enjoy the sunset from a bluff a thousand feet above the surf. When night came, we lit the driftwood pyre and watched, from a safe distance, the biggest bonfire any of us had ever made. The incoming tide doused and dispersed the embers before we retired.

Though we were alternately given sunshine and rain over the next two days, both days were similar to the first: leisurely mornings spent breaking down camp, unhurried afternoon hikes south along the beach and coastal bluffs, and evening fires to warm ourselves and dry our gear. In the afternoon on the fourth day, we encountered others on the coast for the first time -- surfers headed north to camp and surf near Big Flat. Later that afternoon, we arrived at Black Sands Beach, the southern terminus of the Lost Coast Trail.

On the fifth day, we set out on our return through the mountains, spending the first night at Horse Camp (approx. 3000 feet). We knew a storm was expected the next day, but we were surprised how wet the mountains already were: thick fog coated the conifers with moisture, which then rained down on us as nearly constant winds shook the tree branches above us. The difficulty of hiking the unexpectedly undulating ridge trails with our fully-loaded packs and the recollection of the relative warmth and dryness of the lower elevations coaxed us back to the beach. We decided to descend on Rattlesnake Trail the following day.

On the morning of the sixth day after a slight detour to summit King's Peak (4,088 feet, no view due to the fog, wicked winds that made the rain hitting our faces feel like hail), we headed down Rattlesnake Trail toward the beach. Because a storm was expected that day, we knew we were taking a chance by returning to the coast: flooded creeks might force us to backtrack through the mountains. After an afternoon of downhill switchbacks, we reached the creek at the bottom of a canyon two miles upstream from the beach (approx. 400 feet elevation). Sure enough, we found flows many times heavier than we had seen in the same stream three days prior. Navigating the canyon toward the beach required two crossings. The first we managed safely by shimmying across a thick tree trunk at a narrow point over the creek's roiling white water. After walking a mile toward the ocean, the daylight was fading and we could not find a safe way to make the second crossing.

We were exhausted, wet, cold, and discouraged, and we decided to make camp for the night. The only safe way to get home within our 7-night timeframe (as opposed to waiting indefinitely for flows in the coastal creeks to recede or attempting unsafe creek crossings) was to trek back over the King Range to the inland town of Honeydew the following day -- a prospect we did not relish.

The next morning we backtracked four miles and 3,500 feet up Rattlesnake Trail, then went north four miles along the ridge trails until we reached a jeep road. From there, we hiked 10 miles down the other side of the range, reaching Honeydew around 8 p.m. I was feeling very smug with this accomplishment and was ready to call it a day, but two in our party who are remarkably enthusiastic and obnoxiously fit decided, after a mere three hours of rest, to run/walk an additional eighteen miles down the road from Honeydew to pick up our car at the beach that night. They arrived around 4:45 a.m. with the car. Two hours later as we scarfed down omelets in a diner somewhere south of Garberville, I was not complaining.

The trip was a perfect mix of beauty, desolation, challenge, adventure and good company.

Extracting 3 useful ideas from The 4-Hour Body

Let's be clear that I'm not a fan of Tim Ferriss by a long shot. I don't idolize his lifestyle nor his writing style.

I don't adore his accomplishments in the field of body hacking either. He is not hiding the fact that he has never been much of an endurance athlete, although he seems quite proud for his recently acquired running and swimming techniques. I've heard he might be interested in trying to run a 50-mile race or something like that in the near future though.

I find some of his research methods quite questionable.Tracking personal data about some aspect of your physical progress doesn't really prove much at the end of the day. But I admit some of his experiments are fun to read about.



Having said that, most of his self-experimentation ideas in the new book 'The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman' (from now on, let's call it '4HB' for simplicity) seem too risky, common or useless to me. I remember Total Immersion swimming catching on about a decade ago, but I just can't get too excited about some dude swimming a mile in the ocean. Same goes for Pose method and running a 50K. Too easy!

When all this marketing hype settles eventually, I predict there won't be much real results left. The book itself boldly states that "Everything Popular Is Wrong", and 4HB being No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, I rest my case.

For example, I join factsaboutfitness in seriously doubting it's humanly and naturally possible to gain 19.5 kg of muscle in a month with his Slow Carb (aka Full Of Beans :-) diet and Minimum Effective Dose training concept. And to be honest, if it somehow were possible, as a runner I still wouldn't be interested in gaining that much muscle mass.

I guess he has to exaggerate just about everything he does in order to sell more books. 6-minute abs, give me a break! Just check out this  '3-minute Slow Carb breakfast video' and take notice how long it really takes, even with all that ready-made garbage food and microwave oven - LOL!



But hey, who wants to write a sardonic review - especially now when huntgatherlove already beat me to it. In all fairness, 4HB is one of the most interesting books ever written about body hacks and self-experimentation. Even if the experiments may not always suit your taste, they could give you new ideas.

So I decided to set myself a challenge of extracting three new ideas (new in the sense that I'm not already using them) from 4HB. These would have to be practical ideas that anyone could easily start applying right now, the first day of 2011, and keep on using daily throughout the year.

We tend to underestimate tiny ideas that could potentially have a huge effect if applied daily. I find it odd that small ideas are often perceived less valuable only because they are quick and easy to implement. For some weird reason we seem fond of big crazy ideas that are difficult to do (and almost impossible to keep on doing) and thus likely without any effect at all.



Without further ado, on the cover there is a well-balanced body figure holding healthy food and some sort of supplement, so I thought I'd try to extract my chosen ideas within these three categories.

1. Body idea: hire a qualified personal trainer to design a simple but effective strength/fitness program that can be performed daily at home or gym or anywhere (no excuses).
2. Food idea: eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt etc daily. Also try using brazil nuts as a healthy snack.
3. Supplement idea: take some green tea extract (or real green tea), garlic extract (or real garlic), and flax seed oil (I'm curious to see if it improves my sense of balance).

All of the above will be fully implemented by the end of next week, and I'm committed to following this through at least until April. I'll make a full assessment of benefits then. I'm not likely to transform into a Superhuman, but I certainly hope this will have a huge impact on my running performances next summer. Thanks in advance 4HB!