LONG RUN CHECKLISTS
Prep the night before:
- Check the weather
- lay out appropriate running clothes
- charge devices (watch, phone)
- water bottles
- nutrition, gels/chews
- headphones
- hat and/or sunglasses
- sunscreen/bug spray
- flip belt or phone carrier
- For cool weather, make sure you keep your head, hands, and core warm with a running hat, gloves, and lightweight fleece vest.
Route planning:
Planning a route can be tricky. If you are comfortable running in your own neighborhood, then that is the easiest and quickest place to start. Otherwise, you might check out mapmyrun.com. You can search for routes in your neighborhood or area, or you can create a route with a starting point of your choice. You might also check with your local Running Specialty Store like RoadRunnerSports. The staff always has great suggestions on where to run, what’s safe, and maybe even have an organized group run you can join.
Mind games (how to distract yourself when you are sick of your podcasts/music/audiobook)
The alphabet game: Select a topic, i.e. Disney characters, movie titles, countries, cities, etc, and name one for each letter of the alphabet (in alpha order, of course).
To the next: pick a point within your field of view and run to that point. Then pick another point and run to that. Cars, trees, cracks in the sidewalk, whatever works.
What I bring on my runs (affiliate links noted):
- Saucony Guide 10 shoes
- RoadRunner lightweight run socks
- Garmin Forerunner 235 tracking device (affiliate link)
- Road ID
- Ultimate Direction 2 bottle waist pack
- Spi Bottle (affiliate link)
- iPhone 7, fully charged
- Standard iphone earbuds
- GU performance gels (favorites are salted caramel and salted watermelon)
Post-run:
When you finish your run, don’t forget to foam roll, stretch, and rehydrate. If you plan calls for a rest day the next day, DO IT! Also, don’t forget to take that long run selfie! Post on Instagram using #gofindyourawesome!
