Its now THREE DAYS until the
San Francisco Marathon! Eek! From my first marathon to my thirteenth, I've always been nervous before a race. Marathons remind me of
Bikram Yoga. You show up to do the same routine each time, but you never know for sure how the day will go. Part of that makes things fun, but it also makes things scary! Especially for a stress case like me. I've found the best thing I can do to keep myself from worrying about something too much is to plan, plan, plan. With that said, I have already planned out everything that I will be wearing and carrying for the race. Here's my gear review from head to toe.
On My Headpiece
I almost always run in a running hat or visor to keep the sun out of my eyes and to keep my hair out of my face. My favorite brand of running hat by far is
Headsweats! I have several of their hats and visors and LOVE THEM! The caps are floppy and soft and stretch to cover my big melon. I also have hats from
Brooks and
Sugoi, but after a couple of washes those hats and many others have shrunken, resulting in a collection of running yamakas. :o(
Aside from my hair the other important thing on my head is my face! I work in marketing at a medical aesthetics company (medical devices for cosmetic surgery) and spend a good portion of my day looking at pictures of people with wrinkles. Nothing will scare you into wearing sunscreen daily faster than starting at pictures of sun damage and wrinkles all day. SCARY! I'm lucky enough to get some great skincare freebies through connections in the industry and currently I'm using this incredible moisturizer with sunscreen by
Neocutis called Journee.
Being in the industry (or maybe because I'm just vain) I always wear light eye make-up during a race. I'm not so silly that I put on make-up before tumbling out of the door each morning for a run, but if I'm going to get ready for a race and want to do all I can to prevent horrible race pictures, I'm going to wear eyeliner and mascara. (Check out some of my horrible race pictures on my blog
Race Photos: the good, the bad, the ugly).
I discovered a mascara last year that is completely waterproof and incredible! It doesn't paint your lashes like most mascaras but coats them instead. This stuff is so waterproof that I've even worn it in triathlons. Check out
Blinc at Sephora if you're interested. It doesn't give you the volume that you can get from regular mascara, but its the only thing you should ever use if you are going to be getting your face wet.
(Super lashes brought to you by the letter L for Latisse!!)
On the Top
Thanks to the wonderful
San Francisco Marathon Ambassador program, I'll be running in my 2011 Ambassador
singlet from Brooks! I don't normally wear singlets because my shoulders tan really easily and I hate tan lines. I usually wear short sleeved technical shirts for races but do tend to heat up pretty quickly. I like the breezy feel of the singlet and hopefully because of the early start time for the race and the reliable San Francisco cloud cover my shoulders should be safe this Sunday. Fingers crossed.
Under the singlet I'll be wearing two sports bras. Yes, two. I'm not flat chested and one sports bra just doesn't do the job. I found out early on in my running career that two sports bras work perfectly! Sure the girls are smashed a bit, but they don't bounce too much which is what you want during a marathon. I've tried some of the bras meant for larger chested women before and really don't like them. Not only do they cost a fortune, they're hideous! Not like they're seen - but still, I know!
If its going to be cold at the start of the race I often wear my
Asics Arm Warmers which feel like heaven! Unlike most other arm warmers they aren't made from a slick technical fabric. Instead they are made from mostly polyester and nylon and feel like a fine-knit sweater. I love them! I usually heat up by the second mile of a race and these arm warmers are light enough to tuck into the waistband of my shorts.
On the Bottom
In all of my prior marathons I've worn the same type of shorts -
Race Ready V-Notch shorts. These shorts are the best distance shorts ever invented for marathons! They have two pockets with Velcro in the front which are great for keys or chapstick, and they have five mesh panels in the back which are perfect for energy gels, energy gummies, Kleenex, etc.
Although these shorts are my favorite marathon shorts in the world ... I will be running this race in
Skirt Sports
compression shorties instead. Why? Well, mainly because they look better under my tutu. Running is all about how I look, hello! jk. I started wearing these shorts during my triathlon training a few months ago and have fallen in love with them. I don't have to worry about the liner in a pair of shorts riding up, and even though these shorts don't have the awesome panel with five pockets in the back, there are still two pockets in the back which are perfect for holding gels. And hey, they're compression shorts, hopefully they're a bit slimming too. :o)
(Model's butt, not mine)
When I'm running on a regular training day there are several other types of shorts that I like. My
Zoot Energy Shorts are favorites of mine as well as my
Sugoi Verve Shorts. Unlike many other runners, I'm not in love with the
Nike Tempo Track Shorts. I have several pairs but don't think they are very flattering on me.
Speaking of my tutu .. I will also be wearing a
SF Marathon color themed
Glam Runner tutu! A friend and I have been fundraising for
Girls on the Run San Diego by selling tutus over the past few months. Through the support of friends, family, Girls on the Run girls, and various strangers who have found our website or who have heard of us by word of mouth ... Tara and I have both exceeded our fundraising goals! Whoo hoo! I was trying to raise $1000 by the SF Marathon as as of today
I'm 102% to my goal with a few additional tutu orders coming in this week.
On My Feet
When I started training for my first marathon back in 2005 I was fitted with the
Nike Structure Triax stability shoe ... and in the past six years that is all I have worn. I've considered getting fitted again to see if another shoe might work for me, but I figure if its not broken, don't fix it. I've never had problems with these shoes so I'm sticking with them!
Inside my shoes I have custom orthotics from a podiatrist, they are laced up with Yankz laces to make transitions easier when I'm doing triathlons, and to make sure I'm identifiable if something were ever to happen to me on the run, I have a
RoadID ShoeID.
For marathons and runs over 16 miles I almost always wear my
Injinji toe socks or my
Drymax socks. These are the only running socks I buy these days. They're great! While they don't completely prevent me from getting blisters (even with lubed up feet), the do the best that they can.
Misc Gear
If you looked inside my purse you'd see everything but the kitchen sink. The most recent additions to my Mary Poppins sack are Mace and a CPR kit from the Red Cross. Hey, a girl can never be too safe! With that said, I carry a lot of stuff when I run too.
I *always* run with music and currently I'm using an
iPod shuffle with
SnuggBuds earpieces. I recently received a
Sony Walkman W Series MP3 player as part of a new ambassadorship (details to come), but I'm too close to race day and don't want to make any changes to my gear. I'll take the Walkman out for a run starting next week.
After a MP3 player, the next most critical piece of gear I could be wearing is my
Garmin Forerunner 205 watch. I sometimes wonder if the watch helps propel me forward because without it I feel sad and draggy! I'm obsessed with data and this watch gives you more data than you could ever want! If you haven't run with a Garmin before you need to try one out .. and then prepare for your life to change!
Garmin is doing a promotion with Girls on the Run right now where you can get a $50 credit when you trade in your old watch! You get a deal and the watch is spruced up and donated to the Girls on the Run Solemates program. Win, win!
In addition to having energy gels tucked into my shorts, a big watch wrapped around my wrist, and an iPod clipped onto me ... I also need to carry my own water. I want water exactly when I want it in a race. I hate waiting for an aid station and losing time having to stop and refuel. For years I ran with a 2 or 4 bottle
Fuel Belt which always annoyed me as it bounced around or pinched my waist. I recently discovered the
Fuel Belt single-bottle hand held option which works much better for me.
Sure I have to refill it a few times and holding something is a bit annoying too, but its wayyyy better for me than having to wear the belt. One drawback of the handheld bottle over the belt though is that I don't have an extra pocket for more
Gus, my keys, Kleenex etc. I'm thinking that I might end up wearing a
Spibelt as well. If its sitting in the right place at the small of my back its not that noticeable and its way more comfortable for me than the Fuel Belt. I usually carry 4-6 gels with me during a marathon and I'll probably put two Gus, some Kleenex, and possibly my phone in the Spibelt.
Well, what's left? I'm all geared up and ready to go right? Well one last step is some preventative lubing. I usually use
Body Glide on areas that might chafe, but step up to the big guns for blister prone areas like my feet. I use a much thicker product called Sports Slick on my feet .. and I still sometimes get blisters. Argh! I heavily lube up my big toes with
Sports Slick, put on my moisture wicking socks, and then say a prayer that my feet won't be bleeding by the time I cross the finish line. Sexy right?
So there you have it - that's what I'll be wearing and using this weekend! My dogs have reviewed and approved of everything I've chosen ...
And even though they DO match my outfit, unfortunately they won't get to run with me. Wouldn't we all look cute together on the course though? :o)
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