Dress for Success

Clothes make the man.  Naked people have little or no influence on society.

                                                            Mark Twain

As triathletes we constantly are trying to simulate race conditions.  One thing that I feel sometimes gets lost in the gear, the nutrition, and training boils down to simply being dressed for the right racing conditions.  You’re spending a considerable amount of time in this clothing and if you’re miserable due to not preparing correctly it will make for a very bad race that will more than likely affect your time, and perhaps even your health.

This past weekend I had the chance to run in Portland.  I felt that this would be perfect preparation for a half-marathon I have coming up in Salem, about 45 minutes south of Portland.  It isn’t a given, but a race in the Willamette Valley during January usually means cool, rainy, and potentially blustery conditions.  The weather report for Portland was pretty straightforward for the weekend – rain with wind, followed by more rain, with a chance of wind and rain, oh yes, and more rain.  The conditions were perfect!  This would help me prepare for the worst-case race weather scenario and allow me to see if I had the proper clothing for the upcoming race.

Saturday morning dawned and as I looked out my hotel room window (through the streaks of water from the falling rain) I could see it was wet, cold, and blustery.  Had I been in my old home of Albuquerque, this would have been a day to crawl back in bed and get warm under the covers with my wife.  In Portland, this was just another day.  Heart monitor, tights, long sleeve base layer, race singlet, wind jacket, gloves, skullcap, wood socks, and shoes were all enlisted in the attempt to stave off the elements for an hour and half without needing medical or psychological attention. 

I set out on a path along the Willamette River that would take me through the city and into the fringes of Forest Park.  I was immediately struck by the sheer number of people that were out who were running, riding their bikes, or walking along the path.  Two weeks earlier I had run along the Bosque Trail on a sunny day in Albuquerque and the numbers didn’t even come close to what I was seeing in Portland.  Clearly, if you wait for a sunny day in the winter to go for a run or a ride in Portland you might never get out the door.

The wind and rain added a certain element to my run.  At first it was a concern, but eventually I simply forgot about the elements.  My team wind jacket (thank you Champion Systems) functioned perfectly.  It fended off the wind and rain and allowed me to run in comfort.  Interestingly enough, I have recently found that running in the elements can actually seem pleasant.  Don’t ask me why, but it seems to heighten my senses.  I truly feel alive – maybe it’s the endorphans, maybe it’s becoming an Oregonian.  My run felt great and it was fun greeting the runners I passed.  We would give each other a knowing smile or a pleasant “good morning”.  I even had a bike rider go by during a particularly blustery part, flash a smile, and give me a thumbs up.  Too quickly it seemed my run was done and I was shedding my wet clothes and warming up in a hot shower.   It was a confidence boost for me because I knew that with the clothes I had and the training I had done I was going to be able to complete the half marathon in any type of weather.

After several months of doing this triathlon thing I have come to the conclusion that I truly feel better when I have the chance to ‘experience’ something first so to speak.  Part of that may be due to the fact that I’m new to the sport.  Frankly, for me, a lot of it is just plain psychological.  I just know that when I was doing the Leadman I had to bike up Sparks Hill to give me the mental boost, same with the swim and the run.  Once I knew I can do something it immediately sets my mind at ease.  So too, was my weekend in Portland.  I knew that I had what I needed clothes-wise in order to run a successful race.

It’s important to practice racing in what you’ll be wearing.  I’ve already related the story about what happened when I jumped into the pool wearing a tri top that no longer fit.  Just last month I got a complete kit that I ordered through my coach.  In the past couple of weeks I’ve tried to find opportunities to wear everything.  The last thing I want to discover is that my race suit starts rubbing me the wrong way and makes me tender in certain places I don’t even want to describe after only a couple of hours on the trail or in the saddle. 

Just as important as comfort is making sure you’re prepared for every condition.  Growing up in the Rockies taught me about how quickly the weather can change.  The Cascades are no different.  Case in point, in 2012 the swim portion of the Pac Crest was shortened due to snow.  In 2013 temperatures soared into the mid 90’s.  Just this year I swam and biked a portion of the Leadman the day before the race in sunny and warm temperatures.  The next morning the swim began in temperatures below freezing.  Make sure you have everything you can possibility need.  It’s easy to discard something, much more difficult to create something out of thin air.

Another benefit of practicing in the clothes you’ll be racing in is to begin to understand what I call the ’20 minutes out effect’.  I began to appreciate this when I began to Nordic ski and snowshoe.  Invariably I would overdress due to the cold outside temperatures and within twenty minutes I would be sweating worse than Ned Beatty in Deliverance.  If you have the chance practice in different combinations and see what works best.  Certain things help retain the heat better and other wick the moisture away.  It’s all a matter of comfort and each of us determines that in very different ways.  Once you find a combination that works for a certain type of conditions stick with it. 

My past weekend in Portland boosted my confidence for my upcoming race but it was not without it’s own issues.  When I packed for the weekend I packed my rainy race stuff but I forgot to pack the Woollite.  After I got done with my first rainy training session I stripped down and piled my soggy clothes in the corner.  After my shower I went looking for a laundry room.  It was then I discovered the place where we were staying did not have a laundry room and there wasn’t a place nearby to purchase any Woollite.  Having no way to quickly wash everything like I do at home I simply hung everything up to dry and hoped for the best.  I realized that one of the parts of being prepared clothes-wise also means having enough training clothes for each day of training.

The next day I awoke to more rain.  It was just another winter’s day in Portland. I was confident that I was sufficiently ready for the elements and got everything back on for another wet run.  For the most part everything was dry.  My only concern that day had nothing to do with being comfortable.  It had more to do with my concern for those folks that were downwind of me as I ran by.