Goody Bag
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Why use a running goody bag? Well you are going to be spending 10 hours plus out on the road on Comrades day and remember what I said about needed to be self sufficient (the every man for himself page!) The running goody bag is the perfect solution! I bought my running goody bag at
the Comrades expo
quite a few years ago. It’s a real simple one with only one
zipped pouch of about 20x10cm attached to a belt strap which clips
together in the front. This works fine for me and I’m not
going
to change something that works! There are however, many running goody bag
variations
out there. A popular one is the “Inchanga” belt which has 3
small zipped pouches attached to a strap.
OK, so what exactly do I carry in my running goody bag? Here is a list:
The loo paper: I
believe the loo paper is self explanatory! I always keep
about 5
tissues in a bank bag (which will keep it dry) should it be raining and
your running goody bag
gets wet. You can usually get loo paper from the spectators
but don’t count on it!
The squeezies: Aka
energy supplements. I work on one squeezie every 8km so that equates to
11 squeezies
at least. This does add bulk to the running goody bag.
The money: Otherwise
know as “donkey money” or “taxi fare”! No really, you never
know
what the day will bring and you just may need to have some cash on
you. My husband, Andy calls it “beer money” for the finish!
The pacing chart: I keep my pacing chart
in my running goody bag.
Many runners just pin it to their vest or shorts but I have seen many
pacing charts lying on the road having become detatched, so I prefer to
keep mine safe.
The ENOs: The
best kept SECRET!!!! I usually carry about 5 sachets of
ENOs. This works great for nausea and light
headedness. The
answer to salt loss through sweating! Take with a little
water in
a cup at a water table. This works very quickly.
The medical goodies: Aka
“drugs”! I know, I know! We’re not supposed to take
any
drugs out on the road but I would rather have them on my person than be
without them! They are also useful for taking at the
finish. “Drugs” I keep in my running goody bag
include Imodium (for bad guts), Grand Pa headache powders (I sometimes
get a headache!), Myprodol (for pain), Norflex or similar (muscle
relaxant), Citro-soda (for ‘bladder’ pain – ie. the urge to ‘wee’
frequently) and usually some lip ice (which can double as ‘vaseline’ in
an emergency - ask my friend Serena about this one!)
My "reality check": For the 'wobbly' when it
happens. It is at this point that I need something 'real' to
hold on to. Something I can use to gauge the truth between what I am
feeling at that very moment and something that I know is real.
When I first ran Comrades I carried both my daughters little
"birth bands" (the 'braclets the hospital put around their wrists when
they were born). I had a wobbly
just after the handicapped
children at the bottom of Inchanga (up
run). I sobbed along
feeling like I was losing it and totally out of control, until I
reached
into my running goody bag
and held onto the birth bands of my girls.
This was my reality check telling me I was still in touch and
that what I was experiencing was real and it was ok. Hey it
worked for me and I wiped my eyes, blew my nose and carried on
running, feeling like I had things under control again. Can
you believe it, a few years later my backpack with running goody bag
inside was
stolen at the end of a race and with it went my girls birth bands!
That's another story I will tell! I now keep a
little bank bag with little notes or pictures my girls have given me in
my running goody bag.
If you have never run with a running goody bag it
is a
good idea to start using one on your long training runs.
It can take some getting used to!
Key words: goody bag, Comrades Marathon, self sufficient Internal links: Comrades, Comrades Expo, pacing chart, long training runs, wobbly, up run, squeezies External links: Official Comrades Marathon website |
Copyright
Nikki
Campbell 2008