Karen writes: about lucky socks, and lucky handkerchiefs, and lucky shorts

I strongly relate to Kate's worries about catching things.  You can't help it when you work so hard towards your goal over such a long time.  So to me every sniffle or snuffle I develop suggests pneumonia (probably of the super-bug variety), and I am absolutely sure I will fall over a week out from an event while walking out to the letterbox and end up with a compound fracture of something important.  But does anyone else get a bit pathalogical about having favorite items of clothing or equipment?  I went into a spin because I could only find one of my lucky socks, and DONT get me started on not being able to find my favorite running bra, that brings the world to a crashing halt.   I loved Kerre Woodhams descriptions of trying to sort that particular problem out, finding the solution only in the hands of a french lingerie fitter before her Paris marathon.  Her books (Short fat chick to Marathon runner, Short fat chick in Paris) are worth a look at, she and her coach take an approach which is refreshingly different from some of the marathon tomes written by super athletes who tend to skim over the important topics such as chafing, recalcitrant underwear, and having a 'life'.


But I think there is a serious side to this topic, getting bugs, like getting equipment things wrong leads to real  misery...and the risk that things will go wrong on the day, if you can even (horror) turn up.  Bugs you don't have much control over, the equipment you do.  Take something as trivial as socks for example, to get that sorted that right you might need to explore fat socks, thin socks, water wicking socks, padded socks, socks with compression, anatomically accurate socks, sanitised and deoderised socks, socks which give you blisters, short socks, long socks, trail socks, socks which trap every bit of dirt and stone, branded socks, socks advertised to be miracle socks, socks for big shoes, cooling socks (?), socks with go-fast racing stripes...oh and I used to think a SOCK was a SOCK?    


Or running shorts ...get them wrong and there is a tiny problem for the non petite athlete when running for hours at a time which could be solved probably by thinner legs (ha ha...that's not going to happen in a hurry...), but for me, tri-shorts have to be the solution, even if not the most aesthetically pleasing.


Last but not least I need my lucky handkerchief, my favorite is so worn with washing it has holes in it, but it's an old friend which has reached almost talisman status.    There is a practical thing around this bit of idiocy,  tissues turn to a handful of damp fluff, and does anyone else get a case of the yuck with those runners or cyclists who block one nostril off and aim for the person behind them? GET A HANKIE!


So having the right gear is an all consuming interest for me right now, given it  can make all the difference when it comes to walking like a normal person (or sniffing annoyingly for hours).  Add a fixation with the peculiar nutrition unique in this territory (who would have thought swallowing almost unlimited chocolate flavoured sweet stuff could become a chore?), various biological aspects, and it does rather make me death on conversation at the moment with non-runners!

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