It seems like every day there is another package at our door. Of course, with Christmas rapidly approaching you might assume that these boxes contain presents for my dear family and friends. Or not. The ones I am looking for contain new headlamps, trail running socks, ginger candies (for stomach issues), Body Glide, and about 1000 other items I may or may not need during my 100 miles of Hope.
Idleness really does breed insanity. At one point this afternoon, I was running through the house with one headlamp facing forward and one facing rearward. And both of them were set on the strobe mode. Imagine the hallucinating ultra runners at 2 AM in the morning trying to figure out which way I was going! If I weren’t one of them, I would probably find it hilarious.
Because of the proven true adage of never trying anything new on race day, I am racking my brain searching for things I may need to carry or wear so I can test them. The weather can be anything from 15 degrees and snowing to 80 degrees and sunny to rainy to windy to 100% humidity to……well you get the point. It is the south in the winter. It can be anything.
I am pretty sure I have the attire for hot weather: shorts and a singlet. If it is hot and rainy, I may opt for a speedo (more water repellent). But once the temperature starts to drop, the clothing choices become infinitely more complicated. I have tights, pants, under armour, long sleeve, short sleeve, jackets, beanies, neck warmers, gloves, more gloves, etc. I am even working on a doomsday frozen earth scenario that looks like Ralphie’s little brother from A Christmas Story.
I guess this is why I always like vacations where we could plan. The build up is often better than the actual trip. Of course, I could easily see myself reaching the first aid station 3.5 miles into the race and muttering, “Are we there yet”?
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