Thursday, February 5, 2009

A couple o’ answers

Lindsay here… trying to dispense what I know so that you have a better understanding of what’s to come…

Clothing: most of us who did the Texas run wore sweats during our ‘off’ times. I had two pair of pants and one sweatshirt. Also, I had 2 clean shirts (one short, one long). As for running clothes, we packed our ‘leg’ outfit in gallon sized bags with everything we’d need: sports bra, socks, shirt, shorts/skirt, print out of the leg, etc. That way you didn’t have to root through everything (and it gets super packed with 6 women) to find what you needed. I’d also suggest bringing an extra pair of shoes… just in case of rain. Also, bring Crocs or sandals that you can put on for in the car and post run. And, lastly, we changed in the car. Some were more modest than others, but your fellow runners will give you the privacy (or lack thereof) that you want.

Food: bring a few of your favorite snacks for the car, but know that you’ll have some time to shop for something more substantial during your off times. Our vans went to Walmart and Subway to stock up and get fed. We had coolers in back with ice to keep the drinks cold. We tried to get ‘good’ snacks for the car: string cheese, crackers, beef jerky, protein bars, etc. It helped balance the candy, Diet Coke (my post run option), and chocolate.

What to bring: we’ll definitely need to divide and conquer. We all brought individual packages of wipes, bandaids, sunscreen, etc and we had way too much and it took up way too much room. As it gets closer, I suggest we make a list (we can use and update the one from Texas) and divvy out assignments. We don’t all need to bring the Costco sized bottle of Aleve. Also, each car will have to have certain essentials: a reflective vest (we found it easiest to have 2 per car, better for exchanges), a GPS (iPhones count), 2 headlamps, etc…. again, we can divvy that out amongst ourselves.

Volunteers: volunteers are at the major exchange points (and maybe all exchanges with all the people running WB) and check teams in, answer questions, provide hot chocolate, etc. They also help keep traffic flowing and make sure that we are keeping in the Ragnar rules.

I can’t wait for the big race!

1 comment:

Kristyn said...

Cool---thanks for the suggestions. I'm glad you mentioned this now so I have time to save up for all the much needed gear I need.