Getting on all of my battle rattle

My husband is in the Army. And with each move we make, we have to store all of his Army gear. Our closet upstairs in the office has his uniforms (dress, ACUs, and PTs); a dresser in the bedroom has a zillion pairs of socks (white for PT, brown boot socks for work), and the storage closet in the garage has all of his battle rattle. You military wives know what I am talking about. For you others, here is what we have: helmet; goggles; various sizes of "back packs" ranging from small (assault pack) to full size (think two small children could fit into); hydration packs; boots; and other odds and ends that I cannot even begin to name or even describe.

I tell you this because as I was getting dressed the other day for a five mile run, I noticed just how much stuff I had to gather up from around the house to put in. Usually I store it all together, I cannot remember why it was scattered around the house. But the point being, running for me has turned into more than just a pair of shoes and some running clothes.

 My full outfit from head to toe.

Yeah, it might be a little too accessorized. Haha! Who am I kidding? The more the better, right? I promise there is a reason for everything on there, so here is the break down.

 Hat

I wear something on my head every day. No exceptions. I sweat WAY too much to not have something there. On super hot days I will wear a visor instead of a baseball cap. But I have not found a pair of sunglasses that fit me well, or that won't keep from fogging up. Or maybe I'm just too cheap and have not ventured any further than the Wal-Mart shopping rack for them.

 Sports bra, shirt, and ipod

This goes under the "well, DUH" file. A good sports bra is a must, and with my body so is a t-shirt. I recently had to make another shopping trip out for more bras. While the two I have are just awesome, I am sweating so much that I needed more bras in the rotation mix. (Sorry if that was TMI). And I have at least six different shirts, most of them freebies from races. Bonus! Shirt is another "DUH!" and my ipod is a "never leave home without it" item. I've tried running without, and listening to my breathing gasping for air is horrible. Let's drown that out and get motivated to move with a little Ozzy Osbourne.

 Handkerchief, Gymboss timer, Nathan belt, Sparkle Skirt

I know what you are thinking---HOW CUTE IS THAT SKIRT?? I know, it is super cute, comfortable to wear, and totally awesome pockets all over the place. There is a zipper pocket in the front, and one pocket on each of the shorts under the skirt. This is an awesome piece of clothing and the company makes all of their things in the USA. Even better is that my husband purchased it for me, after drooling over this skirt for two years. 

     The handkerchief is to supplement the hat. While I can catch some sweat that runs off my head, it also runs down the sides, drips down my noes, and the worse it when it gets into my eyes. Man that stings like a @#@@$%!!! So the handkerchief is an extra supplement.

     The Gymboss timer is like of like an ipad---it is not something you need, but once you have one you think "how did I live without this before?!?!" I used to use my Nike+ system, and do run/walk intervals based on mileage. So I was run .30 miles, walk for .05. But this is nice because it beeps and you can keep focusing on the road in front of you instead of looking down at your watch.  I currently have it set on 4 minutes run/1 minute walk, but I normally go with the 3/1 group on our Saturday morning runs. We'll see how long the 4/1 lasts. 

    The belt is great for days when I wear shorts, which have zero pockets. I have to carry this handkerchief, phone, and snacks (see below) and where am I to put all of that?

 

 Shoes and socks (tucked inside the shoe)

The essentials for running: a good pair of shoes and non-cotton socks. Because in the running world "cotton is rotten". Eww, my feet heat up and pulling cotton socks off is just horrible! Spend the few extra $$$$ on a nicer pair of socks.  And not pictured is the Nike+ sensor that connects to the sports bracelet. This lets me have a lot of information after my run, including how far I ran, the pace, how long (time), and total calories burned. I never run without it!

Snacks, Road ID, and Nike+ Sportsband

I usually only take the snacks on long runs, meaning six miles or longer. Since this is my first half-marathon, I went to Fleet Feet and bought a little of everything. I bought some GUs, a package of these Honey Strings, some sports Jelly Beans, and another package of gummy type snacks. (Obviously I was unimpressed with that last once since I cannot remember the name). These Honey Stingers are my favorite! This particular flavor is Cherry Blossom, which tastes similar to cherry cough medicine, and for some twisted reason, I really, really like it. But it is a nice, portable snack to keep me energized on my run.
   The yellow bracelet is a LiveStrong bracelet, but the silver piece on there is a RoadID.  I have never run with a piece of identification before, never really thought it was that important. But the more I thought of it, the more sense it made. So I ordered one with my name, spouse's cell number, mom's home number, and the name of my insurance company. Pretty inexpensive for such an important piece to be wearing. The bracelet that originally came with it was a little too small for my taste, I like the bracelet to be a little looser, which is why I switched it over to the LS bracelet.
   And my FINAL piece of battle rattle is my Nike+ sportsband. With the hidden sensor in my shoes, this piece of equipment tracks all the stats of my run: distance, pace, total time run, and calories. Since I am such a Type A person, I **love** this! And I especially love it when things pop up in the program like "longest run ever". Go me!

So there you go. When I go for a run, I don't dress for a run. I dress to attack the road in front of me.