Getting closer!

What do I pack?!

This is the point where the ladies reading my blog will say "oh yeah, girlfriend, I got you!" and the guys will be wondering why this is even a consideration.  :-)

How do you pack for a trip of this nature?  Keys attire is usually flip-flops, a bathing suit, some shorts, and a tank top or two.  But the Keys100 is not your run-of-the-mill trip!  You've got to have your "getting there" outfit: something comfortable, but still nice enough.  (Hey, I haven't met my teammates yet, remember?!  Don't think for a second that I'm going to be walking into a Coast Guard facility in cut-off shorts and flip flops!)  Then you need your "runners meeting" outfit.  (Hmmmm, something nice or something "racy" in the running sense?)  Next, you've got your race day attire.  Here's where it gets easy to go crazy.  The good news is that it looks like it's a very low chance of rain for Saturday.  Woo hoo!!!  But, it's the Keys, it's mid-May, it's all day, and, oh, by the way, it's freakin' 17.1 miles!  I'm thinking that I should have 3 full sets of running gear: shorts, tops, socks, and sneakers.  Don't know if I'll need or want to change after each run, but if I do, I'll be glad to have fresh everything!

Runners who wear hats and sunglasses still boggle my mind.  Don't the hats hold in heat?  It always feels like that to me!  Don't the sunglasses bounce or get sweaty/slippery/foggy?  Honestly, I don't run often (if at all) while wearing sunglasses, so I don't know how that works.  (Maybe I'm missing out on something!)

I don't particularly like wearing a visor when I run, but I've been practicing with one for a good 2+ weeks now.  Here are my (non-scientific) findings: the visor is useless early in the morning and if it's too windy, you have to look down to keep it from being blown off.  But it is nice to not have the sun in your face during afternoon runs!  That all leads me to my plan: no visor (headband only - but should it be black or white?!) for the first run of the day and a visor for the second and third runs.  I have a really cute pink Adidas visor, but don't know if it'll be sweaty & icky after the first run with it where I don't want to wear it later on.  Guess I should bring another...just in case! Have no fear, I've got another cute Hawaiian-print one to use!  Or should I go with the pink & white camo Pelagic visor?  Decisions, decisions...

Let's talk sweatbands.  No, not the big headband ones that John McEnroe used to rock, but wrist ones.  Wait, did he wear them too????  In theory, they're great because it's like having a towel if you need to wipe your face, but the ones I bought feel a bit too tight.  In reality, maybe they're not "tight" but it's just that I'm not used to wearing one.  In my practice runs, I don't think I've gotten more than 2 miles in before I'm taking the darn thing off & just holding it in my hand.  (Like that's something I want to do for 5 or 6 miles!  Sheesh!)  Maybe I'll bring the wrist bands and decide at the last minute to wear (or not wear) them.

Over the past few weeks, I've also experimented with those hand-held water bottles, the belts that hold two of the water bottles, and smart phone arm bands.  On the Kimmie scale of wonderfulness, the hand-held water bottle gets a vote of "it's ok," the belt gets a huge "no way," and the arm band is a "not for me."  Again, maybe I'm missing something, but these seem to be more trouble than they're worth.  (Funny story regarding the hand-held water bottle: I came up with this semi-brilliant idea to fill it 2/3 of the way full with fruit punch Powerade and freeze it.  Then, I'd fill it the rest of the way up with more fruit punch Powerade.  As I would run, the frozen part would begin the melt, and it would serve as one big ice cube, keeping the rest nice & cool.  Maybe I filled it too full with liquid, maybe I was shaking it too much while running, but it was a disaster!  For about 2 miles, I kept having random drops of fruit punch Powerade shoot out.  Of course, this would go all over.  Eventually, I ditched it in front of a tree at a neighbor's house and finished my run w/o it.  Yes, in case you're wondering, I did go back & pick it up.  Anyway, that run was around 1pm, so I figured there was still enough good sun to lay out by the pool.  Little did I know that my right leg had been stained by the fruit punch Powerade spills!  Red streaks were going down my leg, and the part that got on my Spandex was red too, but with white creases where the Powerade never got through to my skin.  When I showed it to Dave, his first response was "What the heck happened to you?!"  Luckily, it scrubbed off in the shower.  (Yes, I know you were worried that I was still walking around with my Powerade red-stained leg!))

Socks!  Who thinks about 'em?  I mean, really, do you?!  I never used to, but a friend got me Thorlo socks for my birthday because she knew I'd be doing my first 5k not long after that.  (Thanks, Lourdes!!!!)  Dave tried to get me to buy them back in December, but they were $15.  Who spends $15 on one pair of socks?!  You know who does that now?  Me!!!  Yup - I'm one of those!  They are my official race-day sock and have been since the 5k in February.  Think I'm up to 3 (or maybe even 4) pairs in white, one with the royal blue, and one with the light pink.  Sports Authority had the hot pink ones last weekend, but not in my size!  :-(  Race day, though, will be white Thorlos.  It's sort of tradition/superstition at this point.  My 5ks, my 10k, the half marathon, the 7 Mile Bridge run...they've all been done in white Thorlos.  Not changin' now!

But what about the Zensa calf compression sleeves?  They're super cute (pink tie-dye!) and are functional too.  The heat, my God, the heat!  (Seinfeld reference - don't tell me that you didn't get it!)  That might have to be like the headband: worn for the first leg and then removed for the hotter, sunnier legs later on.

Picture this: tan lines from my visor, running top, Spandex, wrist band (maybe), calf compression sleeves, and socks.  Yeah, there's going to be quite a bit of "work" to be done to get rid of that!!!  Ladies, I know you get me!  :-)