Shot Blok Holder

I'm stilling fighting this stupid cold but managed to get out for a great 15 miler with Coach Jack yesterday. It's nice running with Coach because I get to vent about the things that have me nervous for race day and he usually has a fix for them all. Case in point...

I've mentioned before that I don't know if I want to wear my waist belt with water bottle or carry my hand held. I have to keep my hands dry and warm due to my Raynauds (click here for a picture) so I'll be wearing gloves under a pair of mittens. Last year, I lost all feeling in my hands and arms and was unable to open my Gus, grab water, etc. Not only is it annoying, but it's really painful so I need to keep my digits warm this year!! Since I'll be wearing mittens, I'm limited with what I can do without my fingers free. If I wear my waist belt, I'm worried I'll fumble to get my water bottle in and out of the holder (there's a little elastic strap that has to be put around the bottle after you put it in the sleeve to keep it from popping out). I think I'd rather use my hand held, but how will I get to my shot bloks and where will I put them? This may seem silly, but it's had me stressed out over the past few weeks. I have to be prepared to have limited movement/feeling in my hands and have to make sure I can get to my water and bloks easily. So, after mentioning all this to Coach, he of course had a solution. He suggested putting the shot bloks under a wrist band and then pushing out a blok one at a time, as needed. Totally doable with the new shot blok packaging (which between you and me, it took me FOREVER to figure out the point of the new packaging). Anyway, it just so happens that John at MarathonPaceBand.com sent me this pace band with my BQ splits on it to use on race day.

Oh, and they added a little motivational saying to the other side...

So, I when I got home I immediately tested out the bloks under the band and I think this might work!

I will, of course, practice this on one of my runs this week to make sure it's comfortable. If it works, it's one less thing to be stressed about!

Here's my schedule for the week:

Mon - 5 mi, with 3 miles at 8:20

Tues - off

Wed - 3 mi

Thurs - 5 mi, with 4x100 strides

Fri - 3 mi

Sat - 9 mi with last mile at 8:20

Sun - off

Man, look at the low mileage! What am I going to do with all this free time? I better find something or else the taper madness will be sure to get me! Two weeks to go...