I feel like I just got home, unpacked my bags, and got back into my routine.  I am 24 hours away from leaving again.  Not even 24 hours ago this is what our floor looked like.

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I unpacked it all, washed the laundry, and now 24 hours later I am packing it all back up again.

This pretty girl came home yesterday.

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It has been so quiet in the house without her.  We have to take her back to our friends tomorrow for another weekend away, but I’m so happy to know she is in good company and probably having the time of her life.

Of course, I am more than thrilled to be going to Chicago! This is my favorite time of year. There is something about marathon season that just makes me so giddy. I wish I could be there running of course, but at this point I know that it’s time to take on my roll as cheerleader.

This time around traveling will be a little different. We will be traveling over night.

We don’t have a hotel room for Friday, so instead we are traveling most of the night to make sure we can pick up my husband’s parents from the airport Saturday morning by 8:00 am. Going to be a long trip, but well worth it!

In honor of my husband’s first marathon of the season I thought I would share with you some of his “must have” race day items:

1. Body Glide

I really don’t think I need to write much about this.

Body Glide and Vasaline are a MUST have for race day for both of us.  I pretty much put it all over my body before running. There is nothing worse than getting 10 miles in and you already have a painful chafe mark.

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Just one of the joys that comes along with being a runner.

2. Caffeine Pills

I use these occasionally, but my husband swears by them.

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He takes them about 10-15 minutes before starting his long run and is going to be using them at his marathon this year too.

I actually first got these when I was still working full time and trying to cut out coffee.  I needed a way to still get my caffeine, and this seemed simple enough.  They got the job done.

I now have re-introduced coffee (I’m never quitting it again unless I am pregnant) into my diet and now the husband has taken over the pills.

3. Sports Beans

We typically pick these up at the race expo.  They are easy to stick in the pocket of your shorts, and give you that burst of energy you need.

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(source)

My husband and I (when I am running) take them before we leave the hotel, about 10 minutes before the gun goes off, and then a few more 6-7 miles in.

I also am a big fan of the Clif Shot Blocks. I don’t use them during training, just on marathon day.

4. Several different pairs of shoes

I have never been a fan of this simply because on marathon day I want as little to carry there as possible.

My husband on the other hand will bring several pairs of shoes in the car and will narrow it down to two for race day.  One pair of shoes will simply be used to walk to the runner’s village area and the other for the race itself.

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This year he hasn’t decided on his race day shoes they will either be the Nike Zoom Streak LT2 or the Nike Zoom Streak 4.

When he gets to the point of stripping off his layers he then switches to his much lighter race shoes.

I have done this for speed work and it does make you feel a lot lighter! It’s not a necessity, but it works for him and I know better than to mess with that!

5. Layers, Layers, Layers

The whole purpose of having marathons this time of year is the weather.

You get up so early and then freeze until the sun comes up. Layers are so handy!

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A lot of people go and get layers that they can throw off from Good Will or the Salvation Army.  My husband and I just tend to wait until the very last minute to take off our layers right before we are heading into the start corral.

I’ve found that once you start running you warm up pretty quickly.

Typically on race day Wes wears:

1. Shorts
2. Running singlet
3. Arm Sleeves
4. Gloves (he sometimes will throw these off as he gets into it)

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Fun fact – no matter what marathon he runs he wears the exact same thing. He is a little superstitious, but hey aren’t ally runners!?

What are your MUST have items on race day?

If you want more updates on the race and my travels while in Chicago try one of these social media outlets, as I update them much more frequently:

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