It happens every time I travel to run in a race. “What did I forget?” On the eve before I pack up the family to spend 5 well earned days in the California sun (and smoke), I know I’m going to leave something behind. I procrastinate and pack the night before (opposed to my wife whose been packed for 3 weeks). This always leads to me scrambling to get my running gear together.

[x] Shoes
[x] Socks (different kinds for different conditions and moods)
[x] Shirt and shorts (warm and cold options)
[x] Band-aids and Vaseline
[x] Garmin and sunglasses
[x] Clif shot gels and Tiger’s Milk energy bars

Yep, I’m ready…or am I? I’ll lose sleep over it tonight although I know that anything I forgot will be readily available at the expo. Feel free to comment if I forgot something obvious. I’ll be back on Wednesday with race reports of Mickey’s Main Street U.S.A. 5K and the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon.

You ever have one of those luxury items that you think you can’t live without but it’s priced high enough that you can never pull the trigger? I’ve been drooling and fantasizing about getting a Garmin watch for years – three to be exact. After visiting my first Expo at the Las Vegas Marathon in 1996, I sat thru a 15 minute demonstration followed by a 15 minute Q&A with one of the Garmin representatives. I was hooked from the minute I saw my reflection staring back at me thru the water resistant watch face.

Fast forward three years and I finally have my Garmin Forerunner 205 (thanks mom and dad). How DID I live without this modern miracle of the 21st century? I’m a statistics guy and I’ve found every way possible to analyze my runs (during my run and after). Has it improved my running? form? pace? endurance? Maybe.

When it comes down to it, I don’t care. I love to know that my last run had an ascent/descent of 688 ft. I love to see how high I can get my max speed and how long I was able to hold an 8:30 pace. The GPS watch isn’t the end-all-be-all…but to me, it’s close.