I'm Racing Club Nationals This Saturday --> What The Hell Should I Bring?!

Hahahaha

Bring a nice warm pair of cotton sweat pants, a fuel belt, a stocking cap, mittens, and some of those Galen Rupp style arm warmers and you should be good to go.

The ground will be nice and frozen, like concrete, so it will be a perfect surface to run on for a cross country meet.

dress in layers. underwear, half tights and tights. Long sleeve spandex type of shirt that helps block the cold and wind. gloves with glove liners or mittens. hand warmers are good for the warm up. fleece hat. neck gator or simple bandana. good long warm up and change into dry clothes for the race. sunglasses are ok as long as they don't fog up. I usually only wear something over my face when it is below 10 degrees because my nose hairs freeze.

This is exactly why we call the winters up here the "California Filter"; yet you people still move up here in droves, go figure.

It will not be 6 degrees at anytime on Saturday, the real cold weather isn't expected until Sunday.

It will most likely be in the 20's late Saturday morning. The real question is when are the 9 to 12 mph winds going to change to 19 to 22 mph winds with gusts of up to 31 mph?

This course is probably one of the weakest possible courses in the greater Spokane area. I thank mother nature for hopefully making this race into a real XC effort.

You won't need all that.

Don't double up on socks- two pairs of wet socks are heavier than one.Wear light socks. Your feet are going to get cold no matter what you do, and thick socks are heavier when wet.

Don't wear more than one layer on your hands- you'll end up chucking it anyways, because your hands will get cold no matter what. One pair of light gloves will do fine, just enough to keep the wind off.

Don't need anything on your neck, it'll get annoying during the race and you'll wish you hadn't worn it.

Don't need more than 2 layers on bottom and 2 on top (3 on top during the warmup). Bottom: Full tights over half tights or wicking underwear. Top: Tight fitting long sleeve base layer(underarmour or something of the sort), then a long sleeve shirt, then your jersey. Keep it light, no heavy cotton. Heavy gets in the way. If you get Under Armour, don't buy the cold gear- once that stuff gets sweaty its useless. Get the thinner stuff.

Last thing- make sure to have a dry longsleeve and dry socks handy when you get done running. Change out of wet stuff as soon as is reasonable and get some warm fluids in you.

Bottom line, you're going to be racing; you don't want to overheat and have to shed clothes during the race. Your face and hands and feet WILL GET COLD. You have to accept that and move past it, it won't lead to any permanent damage. Your core and your legs will stay plenty warm because you're going to be running hard. Your nose is going to run, your eyes will probably start watering, and your lips and fingers are going to go numb. Again, nothing permanent. YOU WILL SURVIVE. Running in cold weather is much, much easier on the body than running in hot weather.

spokompton wrote:

This course is probably one of the weakest possible courses in the greater Spokane area. I thank mother nature for hopefully making this race into a real XC effort.

I don't get it. Do you mean this is an easy course compared to what they could have come up with if it was run somewhere else?

What is everyone wearing for shoes? Spikes? XC flats?

Sounds like there will be snow on the ground. Bring yer spikes.

Huh??? wrote:

spokompton wrote:

This course is probably one of the weakest possible courses in the greater Spokane area. I thank mother nature for hopefully making this race into a real XC effort.

I don't get it. Do you mean this is an easy course compared to what they could have come up with if it was run somewhere else?

What is everyone wearing for shoes? Spikes? XC flats?

That is exactly what I mean. The course is merely laps around a soccer field complex. It at least has some short, steep "down and up" type "bumps" along the way that break up your rythm. It also is fairly winding in places, but aside from that it is flat and all grass.

Spokane is a runner's paradise, with several great XC courses to choose from. I'm slightly dissapointed that a more rigorous course, highlighting Spokane's natural beauty, wasn't chosen.

Of course, looking at the weather forecast, there probably won't be much natural beauty to look at come Saturday morning anyway :) So, like I said, thank you mother nature for making this a somewhat challenging race.

Oh, and unless the cold spell arrives a day early, the course will definitely not be frozen at all come 1:30 pm. The community 6km might have solid footing if it is in the 20's, but that's about it.

The regional race on November 23rd was run in mild conditions, with an air temp around 28. There wasn't any precipitation for days leading up to that race, and the course was still spongy and wet by the men's open 10k at 11:40 am.

So yes, where the largest possible spikes you can.

The FIRST thing you should bring is snow chains for your rig. The road to the park is probably going to be a low priority for snow removal crews, and Spokane only has 20 something snowplows. 18 passenger vans don't handle too well in a foot of snow, and if there's freezing rain prior to the snow, good luck even getting to the meet.

your diaphram

Good point. Here's another little fun fact: Spokane County will no longer provide snow removal services for the city of Spokane Valley, per yesterday's news.

Good old Plantes Ferry is in the heart of Spokane Valley.

The good news is that the host hotel is right on I-90, which you can quickly take to Pines Rd, then over to Trent Ave., which borders the park. Both of these roads will not be nearly as bad as the backroads I plan on taking :)

Bring plenty of bail money in case you get tasered and arrested at the after party and need to get out of jail.

spokompton wrote:

Good point. Here's another little fun fact: Spokane County will no longer provide snow removal services for the city of Spokane Valley, per yesterday's news.

That particular point is not an issue because the contract is in effect for this winter; the county gave notice that it would not renew for next.

However, point remains that Spokane is one of those places subject to heavy snow that doesn't have the plow resources to deal with it effectively. That's one of the reasons it was a stupid choice for the second week of December. There are many sites in the Northwest that could have been selected where the predictable inclement weather would have been in the form of rain and not implicated 4wd or chains as recommended survival items.

A fur lined jocky strap will be a must...

condoms.

Chicks from far away...