My Favorite Items that Got Me Through Training

Okay panic and excitement and a little bit of everything in between is starting to set in!!

11 Days until I am standing at that starting line!

I feel like I have so much to do before then and not sure when to get it all in. For example, packing! Packing is stressing me out a bit, only because I am not sure what to wear. I am looking at the weather all the time, keep in mind. I will be dropping 20 degrees in temperature before the race. I don't have a lot of those clothing. So I think what I am going to do is literally pack my whole suitcase and I think, I will be hitting up the Thrift store this week to get another suit case to go along with me. We are flying Southwest, so James and I each get two a piece. One of mine alone will be just for running stuff. Which brings me to my next stress, what the heck am I going to wear the day of. Oh Jesus, I have had 5 months to think about this and I am waiting the week of.

Anywho, enough about my stressing. I thought I would do a post about my favorite items that got me through my marathon training. These items, I have used religiously throughout out my whole 5 months of training and will be using doing the marathon itself, not all but some.

I have always been a Headband girl, but with the heat and sweat this summer, even my headbands wouldn't work, despite what brand they were, but my hats and visors did. My Run Happy visor was a god send. It kept my head from overheating and was cool enough even when the sun beat down on it. I will be wearing a hat when I run the full marathon.

Even though I haven't been the best when it comes to Foam Rolling and The stick, I have been using them with tapering and after all my long runs, or when my legs just hurt. They work amazing and hurt like hell, but a good hurt. The Stick is a travel size one, that bad boy will be packed on the plane.

Okay, my hydration vest saved my life. Sure it gave me some serious chaffing and half the time killed my back after because of the weight of the water, but that thing was the only option for me while training in this heat. Having water with me all the time was the only way I could make it through, I needed it badly. I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on one because I really didn't have a lot of money to spend on one, so I found this one at Walmart for only 20.00! It worked just as great as an expensive one, it got the job done. It had pockets to hold my gels and chews and keys. It fit me well, I got used to it and it became my best friend. It made training a breeze. I was able to refill it along the way, I could mix NUUN and other enhancements with it too. I got much more out of it then I thought I would. I am still up in the air if I am going to bring it with me for the marathon. It did weigh me down a bit running, and sense there is water along the way, I will be fine. But it will be a decision I will make at the end. The waist belt was also a God send, because I could keep my phone in there, not have my cords get all tied up. It held a long of my GU and Gels too. I was able to access my phone easily and not have to take it off my arm. This will be running with me at the marathon, so I can access my phone to capture it all.

These water bottles I used for my smaller mileage runs. The Nathan one I used for anything 6 miles-9 miles and the little one for my 3-5 miles. They both held keys and gels if needed. The hand held one was great for small runs and the pink one was a waist wearer kind. I needed water a lot, but these helped me get through the smaller ones without the backpack.

Yurbuds are amazing. I have smaller ears and these fit perfectly. These are my second set, because after my last 20 miles, I ruined my others with sweat and pulling them out wrong. My Garmin goes with me for every run, unless I forget to charge it or it loses signal, we had some rough patches, but all in all it was great. My Gym Boss is my Second BFF, I wore it for about 85% of my runs, either small or long. I set it to go off for my 2:1's. I never had a problem the whole time with it. Even wearing my headphones I could hear the beep and it vibrated too for me. Fit perfectly on my bra strap. All three will be with me for the marathon.

My Brooks Ghost 7 shoes. These are my second pair, they will carry me across the finish line. I LOVE THESE shoes. It's crazy but I have an emotional attachment to them. The miles we have traveled together and the accomplishment we will face, *tear.

Hello Friend. I used this after A LOT of my long runs, especially anything after 17. Pains and aches set in, still do, but this helped a whole lot, especially with cross training and when I was working long days.

Run Guard or Body Glide are magic makers. I used that and lathered myself up for every long run. I put that stuff everywhere, and I AM EVERYWHERE, not wanting to get to graphic, you can imagine. I forgot to post Diaper Rash cream, yup, I went there, that was for after the run. It works and relieves in all places. The Thermacare heat wraps worked awesome for the days after or the days before. Especially when I had pain in my calf muscles. I also used ThermaCare ice therapy, which I will be bringing with me and picking up more tonight.

Now everyone runs, trains and does things differently, these are what worked best for me. Other items that helped were my Boyfriends golf balls, for my heel and plantars pain in the arch of my foot, resistant bands to stretch out my calves, my ice packs and coolers for after my runs. I would wrap a towel in my ice pack, to keep it nice and cool so I could wipe myself down with it after the run.

And this is what training was all about, finding the items that helped me remain, focused, determined and happy!

I will post what fueling items, I really loved during my training sometime this week too.