Principles and Gear

Summary

I wake up in our dark, quiet hotel room in Lijiang in China’s Yunnan province. My family is still asleep. I’ve already laid out my clothes the night before — a Nike Aeroswift singlet, shorts, arm sleeves, gloves, and a jacket — so I can get dressed without turning on any lights. I check the weather on my phone: 35°F now, climbing to around 40°F by the time I’m halfway through my run. Principle: dress for the second halfEarly in my running life, I overdressed. Now I check the forecast and dress for how it will feel midway through the run, not at the start. My rough guide: 55°F and above — singlet and shorts; 45–55°F — add arm sleeves and gloves; below 45°F — long sleeves; below freezing — add a jacket. I layer so I can remove layers and tie then around my waist if I overdressed. I grab my Nathan ExoDraw handheld bottle that I filled the night before with Skratch. I drop SIS gel into a pocket of my Nike Dri-FIT ADV shorts. They have four gel pockets in addition to a zipper phone pocket. In marathons, I wear 262 shorts with plenty of space for my 8 gels. I eat a Rice Krispie treat standing by the window, looking out at the rooftops of the old town in the dark. Then I pull on my CEP socks, which have just enough compression and thickness to work in this cold without extra layers. I lace up my New Balance shoes — wide feet mean I’ve been a New Balance runner for years, I can order them online without trying them on and they always fit. Then, I slip out the door. Principle: minimize what I carryI’ve experimented with phones, extra gear, various setups. Now I keep it simple: gels and hydration in my shorts or handheld bottle, and if I want audio, I use my Apple Watch and AirPods in transparency mode so I stay aware of my surroundings. Both of my wrists have watches on them. I’ve gotten a few raised eyebrows at this, but I’ve never found a single watch that does everything I need, so I stopped trying. The Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar is my running watch of choice. I’ve used ...