I feel like I just got home, unpacked my bags, and got back into my routine. I am 24 hours away from leaving again. Not even 24 hours ago this is what our floor looked like.
I unpacked it all, washed the laundry, and now 24 hours later I am packing it all back up again.
This pretty girl came home yesterday.
It has been so quiet in the house without her. We have to take her back to our friends tomorrow for another weekend away, but I’m so happy to know she is in good company and probably having the time of her life.
Of course, I am more than thrilled to be going to Chicago! This is my favorite time of year. There is something about marathon season that just makes me so giddy. I wish I could be there running of course, but at this point I know that it’s time to take on my roll as cheerleader.
This time around traveling will be a little different. We will be traveling over night.
We don’t have a hotel room for Friday, so instead we are traveling most of the night to make sure we can pick up my husband’s parents from the airport Saturday morning by 8:00 am. Going to be a long trip, but well worth it!
In honor of my husband’s first marathon of the season I thought I would share with you some of his “must have” race day items:
1. Body Glide
I really don’t think I need to write much about this.
Body Glide and Vasaline are a MUST have for race day for both of us. I pretty much put it all over my body before running. There is nothing worse than getting 10 miles in and you already have a painful chafe mark.
Just one of the joys that comes along with being a runner.
I use these occasionally, but my husband swears by them.
He takes them about 10-15 minutes before starting his long run and is going to be using them at his marathon this year too.
I actually first got these when I was still working full time and trying to cut out coffee. I needed a way to still get my caffeine, and this seemed simple enough. They got the job done.
I now have re-introduced coffee (I’m never quitting it again unless I am pregnant) into my diet and now the husband has taken over the pills.
3. Sports Beans
We typically pick these up at the race expo. They are easy to stick in the pocket of your shorts, and give you that burst of energy you need.
(source)
My husband and I (when I am running) take them before we leave the hotel, about 10 minutes before the gun goes off, and then a few more 6-7 miles in.
I also am a big fan of the Clif Shot Blocks. I don’t use them during training, just on marathon day.
4. Several different pairs of shoes
I have never been a fan of this simply because on marathon day I want as little to carry there as possible.
My husband on the other hand will bring several pairs of shoes in the car and will narrow it down to two for race day. One pair of shoes will simply be used to walk to the runner’s village area and the other for the race itself.
This year he hasn’t decided on his race day shoes they will either be the Nike Zoom Streak LT2 or the Nike Zoom Streak 4.
When he gets to the point of stripping off his layers he then switches to his much lighter race shoes.
I have done this for speed work and it does make you feel a lot lighter! It’s not a necessity, but it works for him and I know better than to mess with that!
5. Layers, Layers, Layers
The whole purpose of having marathons this time of year is the weather.
You get up so early and then freeze until the sun comes up. Layers are so handy!
A lot of people go and get layers that they can throw off from Good Will or the Salvation Army. My husband and I just tend to wait until the very last minute to take off our layers right before we are heading into the start corral.
I’ve found that once you start running you warm up pretty quickly.
Typically on race day Wes wears:
1. Shorts
2. Running singlet
3. Arm Sleeves
4. Gloves (he sometimes will throw these off as he gets into it)
Fun fact – no matter what marathon he runs he wears the exact same thing. He is a little superstitious, but hey aren’t ally runners!?
What are your MUST have items on race day?
If you want more updates on the race and my travels while in Chicago try one of these social media outlets, as I update them much more frequently:
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In regards to coffee, although you are in charge of your own body and there are many disagreeing reports out there. I indulged in my regular daily coffee while pregnant – mind you I was never having the big venti at starbucks, either just one or two cups made by the Keurig each day. My thinkings were coffee is one of the oldest things in society and ladies have been having babies even longer. That was my experience, but like I said you can do whatever you want to do!
That is an interesting take! I hadn’t thought about that. Well, pregnancy is a year or two off for me so I am sure I will do much better research, but good to know there are people who kept drinking coffee while pregnant!
There are so many “you MUST do this while pregnant” and I am firm believer that everyone should do what is best for them. I know some people won’t agree, but it’s your body, your baby, and as long as it isn’t hurting either some people do things differently!
I do apologize, Sara, it was not my intentions to create a debate.
No reason to apologize Jade! 🙂 I respect everyone’s views!
Jade – not to be adversarial, but there are these things called ‘science’ and ‘research’, and they exist for a reason. People of my generation very often had parents who smoked and drank while pregnant (my mother gave up both) but ‘we all turned out fine’. Of course, those are things that are now clearly known to be very, very bad for fetal development.
The ‘we turned out fine’ argument is very dangerous – both because it is anti-scientific due to small sample size and non-specificity, and also because it is hard to understand what impact there might have been.
As for caffeine – there is pretty much NO disagreement: there is no upside or benefit to drinking coffee while pregnant. It is an indulgence, or a luxury – and if kept to a small quantity, less than 200mg (one 8oz cup) there is no detectable evidence of harm.
Recent studies have shown things that were not detectable before – that caffeine can inhibit development of certain brain neurons in the brain of a fetus at a statistically significant level. Again, whether this matters or is practically significant will depend upon many other factors that occur in the brain development.
That said – like you did yourself, limiting coffee to very moderate amounts still appears based on the body of knowledge to be a non-harmful thing. When we were having kids the advice given was ‘NONE’, not because of knowledge, but due to fear based on lab studies at much higher levels.
Also, be wary of using ancient history as supporting evidence – in the 1800s people still did bleedings to ‘balance the humours’ and people had large amounts of kids because there was a 50% infant mortality rate, and coffee intake was not even remotely a concern compared to the myriad other factors such as mixed water/waste streams and so on …
Sorry for the extended rant 🙂
I believe there is not much I can retort to this without sounding brash. I know pregnancy/rearing children is very highly debated topic of what one should and shouldn’t do, what one will get judged for doing or not doing. Believe me, I have had many people judge what I have done, something as simple as a work out in a gym while 37+weeks pregnant or indulging in my one cup of coffee. I do stand firmly by my decision to do what I did during and after pregnancy, and yes one can say that I am justifying what I did because I had one healthy child. I agree, modern medicine and the knowledge surrounding that has greatly decreased infant and mother mortality rate and therefore we are able to research a lot more.
Jade – I apologize … I know too well that as parents (and particularly women when pregnant) we are all subject to judgment and criticism and unwanted advice.
And quite honestly it is hard enough being pregnant, compared to the changes in the man’s life (i.e. none) … so I am glad that research has found nothing terrible about small amounts of coffee (because as I said, when we had our kids the advice was ‘none’).
I have been keeping an eye on the weather for Chicago and it looks *perfect* for race day!
You will definitely need layers – whereas I didn’t even get to wear my long-sleeved tech shirt for Wineglass! Each year we clean closets before back-to-school, so I had a couple of old sweatshirts in the back of my car I had saved for the race … but didn’t need them!
Interesting with the caffeine pills – never thought about that! But then again, not giving up coffee. My wife switched to decaf for a bit but lost the taste in general and gave it up during pregnancy … but came back with a vengeance!
I couldn’t imagine doing an on-the-fly call on running shoes – but I love having a full change of stuff for after the race, including shoes.
I have generally been pretty lucky about chafing in general – during the 20 miles of torrential downpours in the PA Grand Canyon Marathon I got some, but still not too bad. My struggle during Wineglass was … um … band-aid adhesion 🙂
He usually decides which running shoes he is going to use the night before. Then he only takes 2 pairs of shoes with him into runners village. He is pretty meticulous about his pre-race rituals 🙂
Yes chafing can be tough! I did a little because my shirt kept rubbing the inside of my arm in my second time running Chicago, and it was such a pain!
Keeping my fingers crossed for the good weather!
yay good luck to your husband! I miss Chicago so i’ll be visiting through your blog this week haha.
race necessity: chap stick. Just before the race I put a ton on.. i hate dry lips.
Oh that is a good one! I forgot about that 🙂
Thank you!!
Good list! I know the feeling of getting home and packing right back up, so I feel your pain! GOOD LUCK to Wes (feel like I was just saying this a few days ago – ha!). The weather during my 2 Chicago Marathons was SOOO hot, so I’m glad it looks to be a bit cooler!!
The first year I ran Chicago it was HOT last year it wasn’t quite as bad. So far so good on the weather!
I bet you know about packing up quickly much better than me! 🙂 I am just not used to it. HA
Great list! I’m kinda superstitious about what I wear for races as well. I like to wear the same running tights and the same t shirt. I just know what works and am afraid to change it up! Haha. Those beans look really tasty!
You sound like my husband 🙂 He won’t switch it up – at all!
I have a similar list (but coffee instead of caffeine pills) but also gels. I always feel stressed out before I travel, especially if I have to pack for a race! Good luck to your husband in his marathon!
I am the same way! for some reason no matter how prepared I try to be I am always stressed before leaving!
I always end up wearing the exact same thing to each race too. Although annoy my boyfriend a huge amount the week leading up to a race as I ‘narrow down my choices’. I know I’ll end up with the same thing each time though!
Haha this made me laugh 🙂 I know how that is! My husband right now is trying to decide between shorts – but lets be honest he is going to wear the SAME thing again!