Gearing Up

As mentioned before, I've been running a lot lately.  I have a marathon this fall, as well as various other races this spring, but the race I'm most excited about is American Odyssey.  I know it sounds crazy, but I can't wait to run 200 miles with my relay team, spending 48 hours alternating between being on my feet running and in a van full of sweaty runners.  In preparation, I've been stocking up on running gear (like I need something else to shop for!) and thought it would be fun to share some of the items I've acquired... y'all are going to think I'm nuts.

First off, this is the item I fought the hardest against getting, but I realized that if I want my feet to last for 48 hours and an undetermined but sure-to-be-brutal distance covered running I am going to need Crocs (hangs head in shame).  I have pretty narrow feet, so regular Crocs look like clown shoes on me.  Finally, I decided on these:

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Because the relay is run through two consecutive days - no breaking at night - I am going to need some reflective gear for night running, as well as a head lamp, which I have yet to acquire.  Yesterday I picked up an AWESOME reflective vest.  When I put it on I feel like I'm back in elementary school serving as a crossing guard (sidenote: do elementary schools today still have those, or did someone finally decide that having 8 year olds direct traffic around crosswalks in a school zone is a bad idea?).  Unfortunately, I can't find my exact vest, but it looks very similar to this one:

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Running long distances without super-structured course support means lugging your own provisions around.  Unfortunately, warm-weather running gear doesn't have many pockets, which means I can either run with a Camelback  (not my personal preference) or a fuel belt.  Before I throw a photo of one up here, let's just get one thing out of the way - giving something a cool, technical-sounding name like "fuel belt" does not detract from the fact that it's a glorified fanny pack.  An expensive one.  I'm partial to iFitness belts because they don't bounce around on your hips as you run, which may not sound like a big deal now, but when you're running for a few hours chafing can be a major concern.

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Speaking of chafing, one thing I absolutely cannot run without is my BodyGlide.  Anyone who has ever experienced or even seen chafing on a race course knows it's no laughing matter (well, ok, maybe it is a lauging matter sometimes), so as much as I have to laugh at my pre-race lubing-up ritual, it saves me from a world of pain.

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One thing I don't own, but am seriously debating, is a pair of compresion sleeves.  Supposedly, they help aid circulation to prevent soreness, which is important if you don't have a long recovery time (i.e. 7 or so hours to rest in between long relay legs).  They look like legwarmers, but are a bit more technical.  Between these and the fuel belt I could bring back the 80's (or early 90's) with a running twist!

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Last, but not least, I'll leave you with a photo of a running headlamp, which I am REQUIRED to wear when running between dusk and dawn.

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So do you think I'm totally crazy yet?  Are you wondering why you ever thought I might have some sense of style?  Don't worry - I promise not to wear these sorts of things off the race course!