Don’t Forget That!
How frustrating is it when you forget a key piece of clothing or equipment and, because you literally can’t workout without it, you CAN’T get your workout in.
UUUGGHH!!!
As triathletes, we have all kinds of equipment and things we use during training… swimsuits, bike shoes, run shoes, socks, sunglasses, etc. etc. etc. Depending on the workouts for a given day, the list of things we need for our workouts is constantly changing. Undoubtedly, at one time or another, we’ve all forgotten one or more of these things and it throws everything off! I mean, if you drive out to the lake for a swim and forget your goggles, it kind of ruins the swim.
Most of us have very intricate ways to avoid forgetting something on race day, but tend to be a little lax when we prepare for workouts. Here are a few ideas I use in order to limit the disruption of forgetting something important at home.
Carry extras in your car.
We all have old gear… it might not be the best, but having an old pair of running shoes is definitely better than not having shoes at all. So, put together a bag of extras… socks, shoes, run shirt/shorts, bike shorts/tops, swimsuit, goggles, water bottles, maybe some GUs or other fuel. Keep this bag in your car and just leave it there until you run into a situation where you need them. Sometimes this can come in handy when a friend shows up and realizes they forgot goggles for your open water swim. You can come to the rescue when you pull out your extra pair!
Organize the night before.
For those early morning workouts, it’s always easier to remember things when you’re not rushing around at the last minute. How many times have you woken up late or hit the snooze button one too many times only to find yourself running around trying to get your stuff together to make that early morning workout? Then, once you get there, you realize you forgot something and can’t workout at all! Why not just lay out all of your stuff right before you go to bed? Put everything together in your workout bag and lay out the clothes you need to wear to your workout. Then, even if you wake up late, you have all of your stuff ready to go.
Workout Gear Lists.
With every different type of workout, we have a separate list of things we need for each of those workouts. So, why not create a list of all of the things you need to use when you’re preparing to head to a workout? An open swim workout gear checklist might have a swimsuit, goggles, swim cap, wetsuit, flip flops, towel, body glide. A run workout gear checklist could have running shoes, socks, hat, run shorts, shirt, sunglasses, Ipod, water bottle, fuel, etc. Taking some time to create these lists and then using them when we are getting ready to head out the door to a workout will make it a lot less likely we get there missing something.
Do you have a good idea for staying organized and avoiding forgetting your gear? Add a comment below with your ideas!
