Michael: Race Gear

Green fingers glisten
In the early morning sun.
This is their moment.


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

A race is different than a training run even over the same course because of the access to services at aid stations. And because of that it makes sense to jettison as much weight as reasonable.

The first to go is my training partner, the Osprey 1.5 vest pack. I love it, but like to race with a bottle. They carry less water and are easier to fill at aid stations. It’s also easier to track your water usage with a bottle. I prefer my hands to be free when I run so I use the Hydraquiver pack. It carries my bottle comfortably and has a small pocket where I’ll stash a collapsible bottle in case I feel I need more water between certain aid stations.

I carry a flask with gel as opposed to going with just the gel packets for a couple of reasons. One, it’s just more responsible. During the heat of a race it’s easy to rush through and lose the top of a gel packet inadvertently while trying to stash trash in a pocket. A flask avoids that and it’s also easier to use.

I wear a simple Timex sports watch with the countdown timer set to go off every 15 minutes to remind me to drink and/ or eat.

Recently, I’ve also decided to go back to wearing sunglasses. I use to run with them but stopped after losing a few pairs. But as I’m getting older I’m becoming more acutely aware of just how precious my eye sight is and am now donning sunglasses again.

For a race, to save weight, I’ll also jettison my first aid kit, though I should bring along a small square of moleskin and some toilet paper. I haven’t had to use these in a race yet, but I’ve seen others suffer from making the mistake of not having these along for the ride.

The Ziploc with the I-phone, extra cash, credit card and car keys also are removed from the pack.

I know this is all getting a bit picayune, and may not really make much of a difference outside of a being a healthy dose of placebo. But it’s a race and I’m looking for every little bit of an edge I can get.