Mom in the Mtns

Disclaimer: I received the Eagle Creek Pack-It Sport Active Set to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

Happy belated Earth Day everyone!  I don’t think I really paid much attention to this holiday until I moved to Alaska and saw how much the glaciers were melting and the climate was changing in the arctic.  Alaskans take this day pretty seriously!  This year I actually had a pretty eventful Earth Day.  It started with an appearance at the March For Science in downtown Anchorage.  My job involves teaching in science and health classes around Alaska, so I definitely wanted to be out there to show my support!

After the march, I met up with some Girls on the Run friends for my longest bike ride ever!  I was really excited because it was going to be my first time riding my new mountain bike (more on that later!).  Our plan was to tackle the paved trail along the Glenn Highway from Anchorage to the nearby town of Eagle River – specifically, to a cute little coffee shop because I’ll bike anywhere where I can get coffee!  It was 10 miles one way, which made this 20 miler my longest ride ever.  And there were hills.  Real hills.  Even though this is probably a great ride for road bikes, we opted to use our mountain bikes because the roads and trails are still covered with a lot of leftover winter gravel right now.

Before the ride started I actually told a friend that I might have to call her at the coffee shop to come get me because I didn’t know if I would be able to bike home!  But I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived in Eagle River and realized that I wasn’t tired yet.  An iced mocha perked me up just enough for the uphill portions on the ride home.  Because it was earth day, we stopped along the highway in a spot where there was a lot of trash along the trail and spent some time filling 3 large bags with trash.  It was a great way to make the trail prettier and help others enjoy it more!

I’m only one person, and I feel like I’m always busy training for something, but it felt good to do something to help save our planet while I was enjoying the outdoors.  Speaking of doing my part to save the earth, I have to get real about something:  I waste so many plastic bags going to the gym.  I always carry my sneakers in a recycled plastic grocery bag so they won’t get my clothes dirty, and when I’m done swimming I put my suit into one of those clear plastic bags that they have at the gym.  It’s such a waste but I didn’t realize there was any other way to do it – until I was asked to test out Eagle Creek’s Pack-It Sport Active Set and I realized how wrong I’d been!  This set comes with a bag for your shoes and a bag for your wet stuff.  So basically, everything that I’d been storing in plastic bags for years could go in this reusable set instead!

Let’s start with the Wet Dry Fitness Locker first.  When I pulled this out of the package I literally jumped up and down because it’s the perfect way to store/carry all of my swim stuff!  The “wet” portion of the locker has a zipper that seals in your wet or damp gear, and it’s rated as water resistant.  The “dry” portion of the locker is great for keeping any clean clothes or gear away from your wet stuff after the gym.  Even though the pack is rated as just “water resistant”, I decided to try throwing my suit, cap, and goggles in there after a swim.  I live less than 10 minutes from the gym, but when I got home the outside of the pack was completely dry!  I’ve used it to bring my swim gear home ever since and I don’t think I’ll ever use a plastic bag again!  I use the dry side to store my underwear and sports bra for after my swim and it’s great to have an organized way of keeping track of that.  I also love that there’s a way to hang it in your locker if you need to.

The Shoe Locker has been amazing for those days when I bring my gym clothes to work.  I can store my shoes in there all day long without worrying that my office is going to smell like gym shoes.  There’s a way to zip the bag closed without letting any funk get out!  But if you need to air out your shoes, there’s ventilation for that too.  In Alaska there’s so much dirt and mud, so it’s nice to have a place to store my shoes that’s not near my clean clothes.

There’s so many reasons I love this set!  It helps me use less plastic, it’s lightweight, and the fucshia color is awesome.  Plus, it’s not just for the gym – you can use it for packing up for a camping trip or even in a suitcase for a trip out of town.  I can tell I’m going to be using these until they wear out and then buying another set!

How do you get your gross gear to and from the gym?  What’s the farthest you’ve ever run/biked/hiked for coffee?