One of my biggest failure scenarios going into this race is forgetting to bring something critical on the day of the race. I have to travel to my parents’ house for the weekend, so if I forget anything, I won’t be able to go back for it, and since they live in the middle of nowhere, I may not be able to replace it. I keep imagining that I forget my body glide, and have to drop out of the race at mile 4 because of bleeding chafe wounds on my thighs. Or that I forget my Nuun and pass out from dehydration. This is a legitimate fear, because up until now, my fuel, Body Glide, Nuun, HRM etc have all been living scattered around my bedroom and closet. Whenever I needed to get ready for a run, I had to flit around like a drunken bumblebee trying to get all of my stuff together. But now I need not worry!
Danielle over at Live, Run, Grow recently posted an awesome picture of how organized her running stuff is, with a link to her method for organizing race-day essentials. What can I say, I’m an organizational nerd and I was totally inspired! I spent a decent chunk of time on the Target website, debating which makeup case to choose. I could have gotten a simple, black case a bit cheaper, but where’s the fun in that?
Isn’t this the cutest bag you’ve ever seen? It’s Orla Kiely Etc for Target, and I adore it. I feel like I’m in an episode of Portlandia…
Now everything I need is packed in one compact, easy to see space. I can throw this bag in my suitcase if I’m traveling, or throw it in my tote as I’m headed out the door on race day, and be confident that I have everything I need.
What’s Inside:
- Body Glide
- Nuun
- Gu packets
- Mini first aid kit (bandaids, anti-bac gel etc)
- Allergy Medicine
- Ibuprofen
- Pepto-to-go
- Bobby pins (in the Altoids tin)
- Safety Pins (in the Altoids tin)
- Chapstick
- Heart Rate Monitor strap and transmitter (I wear the watch most days so it lives with my jewelry)
As my hair grows out, I’ll probably add hair ties and headbands too.
Next up is organizing my drawers so all of my running/exercise clothes are together and easily accessible. I think they need their own drawer instead of sharing space with my pajamas…
How do you keep your running gear organized?
Any suggestions to add to my kit?
Darlin' Rae 
Fantastic idea! I forgot my GPS watch at my first half-marathon (ugh! just one of a list of things I did wrong!), and last year forgot my liter of G2 for pre-race guzzling – and chased hydration all day! It is SO important to have everything you need … and I really think by organizing it like this you will gain some peace of mind as well. Cool!
Thanks–I’m really glad Danielle posted hers, otherwise I never would have thought of it!
Use carabiners for organizing hair ties–I find it to be really helpful…especially since I can then clip the carabiner onto my bag and I can keep a tally of my hair ties so that I know when to replace them.
That’s an awesome tip! I can clip it right to the gear bag! Now if only my hair would grow enough that I actually NEED hair ties…
Come over here and organize my life. Seriously. I always try and I always fail. YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED MY FRIEND
Haha! There are areas in my life where I succeed, and areas where I fail… I wish you could see my basement–absolute fail! But there’s always time 🙂
I’ll come visit and help! 😉
I just laughed at this post title. I think your kit is perfect! I am not nearly as organized as you are and I’m thinking I might need to try something like this. (I’m always forgetting something.)
It will be effective as long as I remember to put everything back when I’m done/restock as I use things up–that’s the kicker! But so far, so good!
Glad you liked my running bag idea! I remember when I originally posted it I thought it was such a silly thing to write a post about, but people loved it! And I love the idea above about using a carabiner clip for hair ties! Definitely adding that to my bag!
You’re a trendsetter! So glad you posted that again 🙂
Nice! I’m in awe of your organized folks. I might add baby wipes to your list. Good stuff!
Oo baby wipes is a great call for on the go de-sweatifying!
That’s a great idea! All of my stuff like that lives in a drawer in the TV stand in our living room.
At least it’s all in one place, though- that’s better than I used to be!
How stinking cute!! What a great idea 🙂 also, I lol’d at the Portlandia reference, when I got my bird tattoo on top if my foot, my tattoo artist started dancing around the shop chanting “put a bird on it!” Hahaha 💛
Haha sounds like a great tattoo artist 🙂
What a great idea!! I’m totally stealing this… I’m usually all over the place before a race too, trying to find where I keep everything. Thanks for sharing the tip! 🙂
Thanks to Danielle for inspiring me, lol. Otherwise it probably would have taken an embarrassingly long time to do it, if I thought of it at all.