“What’s Inside The Coach’s Magical Backpack?” .
I am not an organized person. My office is in chaos, my car is my closet, and I leave so many clothes by the side of my bed that I sometimes long for a valet, as if I were Lord Grantham — if only to help me fold and put away clothes.
When I coach, however, I don’t have that option. I’m standing alongside the track or somewhere up in the stands, far from that extra hoodie in the Rover or a couple bucks for a water at the snack bar. Thus, the Coach’s Backpack.
Before listing what’s inside, let me tell you about the backpack itself:
It is made by Adidas. Black. Many zippers and compartments.
It was given to me as a gift for speaking to a group dedicated to college football several years past, so the embroidery on the bottom pocket shows a football player. I toyed with taking it off a long time ago but left it. Call it my homage to counterculture thinking.
There is a mesh side pocket and an insulated zip side pocket. I put my phone in one and a cold water bottle with a couple Clif Bars in the other. The outer front pocket with that football player stitched in maroon zips. Inside is a lacrosse ball (for rolling out the plantar fascia), SPF 50 sunscreen, a small exercise band, and two rolls of athletic tape.
I stuff an extra hoodie in the more forward of the two main compartments. There is also a smaller inner compartment here, where I store a backup stopwatch, a twenty-dollar bill, two pens, a sharpened number two pencil with an eraser, and notecards in case I have a book idea mid-meet.
Oh, and a spike wrench.
I was at a professional meet one time, standing next to the track. One of the runners dropped down and fiddled with her shoe just before her race. “Do you happen to have a spike wrench in that backpack?” she called over to me.
Yes, I did. Threw it to her. She tightened her spikes. Race saved.
The second of the two main compartments is for the morning LA Times, which I’ll read before the first event of the day and then throw away.
I also print out thirty to forty pages of my most recent manuscript and stuff them in here. During that long break between the 1600s and the 800s (I’m a distance guy; the sprints are my down time), I’ll find a spot alone in the stands and edit. Even in a crowded stadium, I have no problem shutting out the noise. I wrote my first three books when our boys were very young. If I could shut out Lion King videos and Dexter’s Laboratory, I can shut out the sounds of a track meet.
I think the season ended yesterday. Maybe not. A couple kids ran fast but only qualified for the State Prelims as alternates. The backpack will stay in my car until cross country starts, where I will restock.
Oh. I forgot the batons. I carry two in that front pocket. For some reason I cannot explain, the world is a better place when a relay baton is within reach.
Martin Dugard is a best-selling author, a board member of the USA Track & Field Foundation and a high school cross country and track coach.
