Packet Pickup Always a Pick-Me-Up

Remember when you would go to birthday parties as a child and come home clutching a goodie bag filled with new and exciting stuff? Even if the bag's contents weren't all that "good," there was still the thrill of discovery—pulling out each item one by one.

This, my friends, is what packet pickup is like.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of "packet pickup," allow me to explain: When you enter a race, you receive a bag of "stuff" a few days before the event. (And by "receive," I mean that you have to drag your two kids—in traffic—over to the running store to actually pick your stuff up, all the while trying to keep them off the store treadmill, away from the fascinating assortment of gels, and out of the path of other people trying to pick up their race stuff.)

There's actually no packet. It's just a bag. Inside the bag, you'll find your bib. That's the number you wear on race day. You'll also find an assortment of race announcments, free giveaways, and (best of all!) your race shirt. Ah, the "free" race shirt (it's not actually free since each race costs between $20 and $30 to enter). I have a drawer full of these shirts, and I love each and every one. I have a ritual with regard to the shirts. They can never, ever be worn BEFORE a race. And never ever during a race. The race shirt can only be worn once you successfully complete a race. So, on race day, it's the shirt I change into after I've finished the race—either for a dry change of clothes or after I've had a chance to shower.

In addition to a pretty cute shirt (may become my new favorite), yesterday's packet included the following:

• My bib (a cute, feminine one at that)
• A free trial pack of whole-grain rice
• A sample of aquaphor
• A small bag of coffee

In the past, I've received sunscreen, lotion, breakfast cereal, Luna bars, and bags of organic chips in race packets. You never know what you're going to get. And that's what makes packet pickup so exciting.