Well I have been running with a backpack now on longer runs for nearly a year and a half.. Basically since I knew I was taking part in the Marathon de Sables.. Up till now the most I'd put in it was around 6-7 kg but today I used 10kg...
after running - my video diary
I needed to test equipment to use on the Sahara run and make some notes about running with a heavy load.. In the desert my pack will start off anything between 12-15 kg - so it's important to test these things now rather than later.
Points:
1) Pack felt heavy at first but got used to this very quickly. Happy that back felt fine and shoulders too..
2) Although shoulders felt good - the straps on the OMM Backpack tended to cut in a little.. this could get painful with use in hot conditions.
3) Turning round while running - do this very slowly or when you turn back to face forward, the pack can roll round and knock you off balance.
4) Breathing: straps NEED to be pretty tight and therefore restrict breathing.. this needs to be done in long slow breaths rather than short little ones.
That was the OMM Backpack and next time i'll test the Raidlight one to see how that fairs.. The other thing to remember is that the weight will be better distributed throughout the pack - for testing I put two dumbbells in a towel which tended to stay at the bottom of the pack in one area... Maybe I will have to try out better weight distribution too.
Kudos for being able to do this, I once wanted to run up the south sisters mountains in Oregon and had to take a bag for snacks, sweatshirt, camera, phone, car keys etc... I couldnt do most of the run cause the bag drove me nuts! It wiggled around even when it was tight and its one of those camel pack type ones from REI go figure!
ReplyDeleteNow this might sound dumb, but regarding the straps, you might want to try blagging a couple of bar mats from a pub, you know the toweling ones that sit on the bar. You could wrap those round your strapes and secure them with a bit of velcro, might help the cutting in?
ReplyDeletegood idea Amanda - will look into that.
ReplyDelete