It’s time for Friday Five linkup with DC area bloggers Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC, Cynthia at You Signed Up for What?!, and Mar at Mar on the Run! Be sure to stop by their blogs and say hello! While you’re there, be sure to check out other bloggers who are participating in the linkup, too. This week, the DC Trifecta chose Five Ways To Organize Your Running/Fitness Gear as the theme…..

 

FiveIdeasOrganizingRunningGearPoster

 

“A place for everything, and everything in its place.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

 

My friends, who know me well, will say, “Of course you do” after each of my descriptions of how I keep my running gear organized.  Some may call it “being anal,” but I call it “always being able to quickly find what I need!”  Yes, just like Ben Franklin, my motto is, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.”

 

RunningDrawer

Circa 2013 – These days, Shot Bloks are replaced by Honey Stingers.

 

1.  Running Drawer – Bill and I share a divided running drawer in our laundry room which is conveniently located off of our kitchen, and only a few steps from the garage.  Each evening before a run, I get everything together that I’ll need and lay it on the washer.  As soon as I finish my run, everything goes back into the drawer unless it needs to get washed or get fumigated from me sweating on it.  Guess which side is Bill’s, and which is mine!

2.  Miscellaneous Laundry Room Storage – We keep gloves, hand-warmers, ear-warmers, hats, my headbands, and our shoes in one of the cabinets in our laundry room as well.  During the summer, everything is tucked away neatly, but during the winter we keep a couple of pairs of gloves, hats, etc on the counter top in the laundry room.  We also have a muddy shoe tray in the floor right next to the laundry sink for our shoes.  Bill has trained me to wash the bottoms of my shoes as soon as I come in from a muddy run so they can dry in the tray, and be ready to put on inside the house for our next run.

3.  Running Clothes Shelves – Bill and I each dedicate two of our shelves in our closet for our running clothes.  I keep my shorts, capris, and long pants on one shelf, and my tops on the other shelf, and I hang my jackets.  Since I work in workout clothes, many of my running clothes also serve as work clothes.  I know, I’m lucky!

4.  Running Socks and Sports Bras Drawers – I keep my running socks (Feetures, of course), compression socks, sports bras and singlets in two drawers with my closet.  When I need to get my clothes out for a run, everything is close by, and of course I do it the night before my run.  When I wake up in the morning I have a tidy little stack of running clothes ready to put on with no thinking required – unless there’s been a drastic change in the weather from the previous night’s forecast.

5.  Training Bag and Racing Bag – I keep a bag to take with me on my Saturday morning longer runs.  In it I keep a towel, Body Glide, chap-stick, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and most importantly, sunscreen.  I also have a separate racing bag.  I have Mylar body wraps saved from marathons, large Heafty garbage bags, throw-away pants and a long-sleeved shirt, Body Glide, safety pins, hand lotion, and lipstick (gotta look good for those post-race selfies).  When heading out to a race, I tuck my training bag inside my racing bag so I’ll have everything I could possibly need – except for my wallet which I forgot to take with me to the Fredrick Marathon one year…

 

  • Questions:
  • Are you an organized person?
  • Where do you keep your fitness equipment?
  • Are you racing this weekend?