Packing for an away game

What do you bring with you for a race in another place?

I have been running a lot of races recently that I have to travel for.  What do you need to think about when packing for a travel race?

I travel for a living and in some ways that makes it easier for me and in other ways harder.

I have my travel kit and my travel habits that I don’t have to think about.  I know how to get to and navigate airports efficiently.  I know all about hotel rooms and rental cars.  I have my standard travel kit of toiletries, technology and reading material.  I’m self-sufficient on the road and use my time proactively to get things done.

But, that’s all business travel.  When I’m confronted with a travel race I have to blend in an element of leisure travel that puts me out of my habit zone.  It means I have to think about packing instead of just following my standard routine.

Sometimes I end up having a business trip combined with a race and that means I have to pack in consideration of both events.

What do you pack?

First, remember that you get one carry-on bag and one personal item.  This means that one of these bags has to fit under the seat in front of you and the other has to fit in the overhead.

Why do you care?

First, because you don’t want to check a bag.  The airline will lose it or break it.  The probability of them breaking it or losing it is directly proportional to how critically you need it to arrive at the destination in one piece and on-time.

Second, you don’t want to be just another A-hole, clueless tourist dragging your life’s accumulated, odd-shaped belongings onto the plane and trying to stuff them into the overhead.  You don’t want to drag all that stuff around with you.  If you’re not a frequent flyer you won’t get on the plane until the overheads are already full.

You need to pack small and flexible for all situations.

For me my personal item is always my laptop bag with my computer, my books, my work, some headphones, some snacks, some ibuprofen, some gum, etc.  Basically my laptop bag is the equivalent of a lady’s handbag.  It fits under the seat in front of me and I always have it with me slung over my shoulder.

My second bag is a small duffel bag.  That’s right; I don’t carry the ubiquitous black roller-board bag.  I find that those are too big to fit in many overheads and when the plane starts running out of space they take up too much room.  The manufacturers cheat on the dimensions of these bags so that when you actually pack them they don’t fit anymore – especially if you use the expansion pockets.

My small duffel always fits.  It has a main compartment and two zippered pouch-ends on each end.  It has a side zippered pocket as well.  When I buy the bags I remove the factory supplied stiffener that goes in the bottom.  I use my running shoes to provide the ‘bones’ of the bag.  These little bags are flexible enough to fit and squish into any overhead on any plane.  If you pack them correctly your stuff won’t get wrinkled.

In the main pouch I put my running shoes on the bottom in a plastic bag.  I layer undergarments and socks on top of those for stability.  On top of this platform I lay my folded shirts and pants and ties.  In one end pouch I put my toiletries and shaving kit for easy access in security.  In the other end-pouch I put my running kit which is usually just tech shorts and shirt that rolls up quite small.

Maybe you think you can’t possibly pack everything you need in a bag that small?  I would tell you that you can and furthermore it will force you to make the necessary triage decisions to pack effectively.  You don’t need all that crap and in the end you’ll be sorry you brought it.

If I’m traveling for business I will be wearing my dress shoes and a suit coat.  That’s it.  That’s all I travel with.  I can go 5 days with my duffel and the clothes on my back without wearing any of the same clothes twice (except maybe my running stuff).

Here are some tips on how to prepare for a trip so you won’t forget stuff.

Tip one – visualize your checklist.

One of my travel habits when packing is to start from the bottom and work up.  Shoes, socks, pants, under-garments, shirts, ties, coat.  Bottom up. This will give you a logical way to sequence and visualize what you need to wear so you don’t forget anything.

Tip two – lay it all out so you can see it and touch it.

Before you pack, when you go through your visualized checklist.  Otherwise your brain might mis-remember having packed socks.

Tip three – business or not, pre-pack all your stuff the day before your trip.

You are guaranteed to forget something if you try to throw it all together morning of.  You don’t have to physically pack things that will wrinkle, but sort them out into a ‘pile’ on the closet pole, grouped or pre-staged, so you can pack them without thinking.

Tip four –Pre-stage your travel clothes too.

I stage the stuff I’m going to wear for the day of travel as well.  I’ll put my shoes on the floor with a pair of socks in one and a pair of undies in the other.  I’ll have a hanger with my pants, undershirt, shirt, tie, belt and coat on it.  Again, you don’t want to have to think about it as you are stepping out of the shower to run to the airport.  Make it grab ‘n go.

Tip five – do you really need a winter coat and a pair of boots?

Unless I’m going to Montreal in February I’m not packing big, bulky winter stuff.  It takes up too much room.  You just don’t spend that much time outside on most trips.  I can get by with a fuzzy hat that covers the ears, a pair of gloves and a scarf.  You’re not going to die of exposure walking from the terminal to the taxi.

What about packing for a race?

Use the same tips above with your race stuff.

Think about race clothes first.  Bottom to top.

Shoes – If you’re traveling to a race you probably can’t carry more than one pair of shoes so make the call while you’re packing.  For all your worrying it won’t make that big a difference if you have to navigate a trail section in your road shoes or whatever.

Socks – Pack that one pair of high-quality tech racing socks that you love.  Ball them up and stick them in your shoes.

Calf Sleeves – Do you wear them? If so; ball them up and bring them.

Underwear – garb your favorite tech race undies.

Pants – tights – shorts – Make a choice, pick one.  If you can’t quite decide between shorts and tights pick one of both.

Shirts – I usually race in a racing singlet but you can pick up to three tech shirts if the weather is questionable.  Singlet, short sleeve and long sleeve.  If things get dicey you can layer them.

Gloves – definitely pack gloves.  Most races will be colder at the start and instead of over-dressing you can wear gloves.  Then you can either discard them as it warms up or tuck them in your shorts/pocket.

Arm sleeves – I don’t use them but you might.  You can always cannablize a tech shirt to make some throw away arm warmers.

Hats – This is another place you can pick a couple flavors.  One standard tech racing hat and another fuzzy hat in case it’s cold.

Coats, rain jackets, outerwear – Sorry, unless it’s a winter race I’m not wasting bag space on extra outerwear.  I might toss in a throw-away sweatshirt, but you never need them unless there’s a bizarre weather event and you should see that coming.

Next pack your accessories, bottom up.

Bandaids, blister pads, inserts, orthotics, ankle braces, wraps and/or tape.  Pack any of theses that you used on your last long run.

Leg braces – If you wear a strap or knee brace make sure you have it.

Belts, packs and vests – Whatever the current hydration pack you are using.  Make sure all the bottles are empty and clean – no fluids can go through security.

Reflective stuff? – Only if it’s a night race like a relay, then you want all your clothes to be reflective.  Include one of those cheap orange reflective vests.

Sunglasses – I usually bring a pair that I’m used to racing with.

A small throw-away towel.  Towels are cheap. Get a small one.  I use one that is maybe one foot by 3 feet.  Roll it up and stick it in your race kit.  Remember the hitchhiker always needs a towel.  Trust me.

Next pack your technology, bottom up.

Sports Watch – Put everything that needs to be charged on the charger the night before.  Bring all the cables and plugs and cords that you will need.  I charge everything off of the USB port in my laptop to minimize the number of power supplies I have to carry.

Foot pod? – I don’t use one.

Heart rate strap – pack it.

Arm-band or whatever you hold you tunes with – I typically don’t race with these either but you may want to pack an extra pair of headphones if this is important to you.  Get your playlists sorted out and queued up ahead of time.

Flashlights, head lights – Again, only if it’s a night time race.

Nutrients and other goop.

Remember two things.  First; no liquids are allowed through security.  Second, only 3 oz containers or less.  This may mean that you have to procure some smaller containers to transfer some of your goop into so you can fit it in with your toiletries.  Most of this stuff is available at the race venue but not always.

Lube – I procure small ½ oz containers of lube that will fit into the key pocket of my shorts.  This way I can carry it with me if problems arise with chaffing during the race.

Gels – pack what you need I’ve never been stopped in security for gels.

Powdered nutrition – If you need that special stuff you have been training with load up a small container with the powdered version so you can mix it into your bottles when you get to the race venue.  Pre-measure it.  For example: if you have a 4 bottle belt and each bottle takes one scoop put 4 scoops in a baggie or other container.

Tape – I use your standard cloth hockey tape, not the shiny medical stuff.  Tape is very versatile.  Throw a couple rolls into your kit.  You can stabilize an ankle or a knee with it.  You can fix blisters with it.  You can fix equipment with it and you can seal a cheap race check-bag with it.

Plastic bags for wet laundry – You don’t want to have to put that stinky race stuff back in your duffel without appropriate isolation mitigation.  You can also use these to organize all your little things so they don’t get all mixed up in your race bag.

Giant plastic trash bag – Like the humble hockey tape the giant plastic trash bag is a jack of all trades.  You can use it as protection against the elements at the start.  You can use it as a tarp to sit on.  You can use it as a seat cover in your rental car.  Take one 55 gallon trash bag and roll it up tight.  Put a rubber band around it and you have it.

Summary:

There are an infinite number of other things that you can bring but usually that’s all I have.  Of course remember to print out your bib number pickup information and maybe even throw some extra safety pins in your bag.

You can’t bring everything.  Most stuff can be done without or procured on site.  You have to be flexible.  If you’ve forgotten something chances are someone else will have some if you ask around.  Don’t freak out.  All you really need to race is your body and your mind.  Everything else is optional.

I’ll close with a story.  One Boston Marathon I was in a hurry and left my handful of carefully selected Hammer Gels in my race check bag.  I found myself walking to the corral in an ‘oh shit’ attitude wondering what to do.  Looking around on the sidewalk and ground I found that people who had brought too many gels were leaving them and I was able to collect 4 or five miscellaneous gels on my way to the start.

Optimal? No.  But all part of the adventure.