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It's 11p.m., and I'm packing for Sunday's race. I head the door tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. to catch the airporter; 15 hours later I should be in Richmond. I'm packing light this trip.

I've distilled my mental checklist down to two essentials: tri shorts and cycling shoes. Everything else, I figure, you could buy, beg, borrow, steal, or go without if you had to. The tri shorts are a must because most people aren't going to let you steal and heaven forbid if you went without! If you forget your bike and pedals, your cycling shoes are probably useless, but you might be able to use the velcro to fashion something else you might have forgotten.

Let's look other things you'll want to forget:

• Everyone's into barefoot running these days, so why need running shoes?
• You could borrow a helmet and even a bike from a spectating kid, though it wouldn't be as aerodynamic.
• Life is risky anyway, so do you really need an extra tube & co2 cartridge?
• In a pinch, a T-shirt could replace your tri top.
• The race is only 55k in total so even if you did bonk, you could probably finish. Who needs food?

What items are you forgetting on your way to Duathlon Nationals this year?

If you want to learn more about Bradley, check out his personal blog at http://doduathlon.com

Bradley Saul is a former professional cyclist who fell in love with duathlon last year. He competed at USAT Long Course Duathlon Nationals in Auburn, Calif., last year and he says he’s “been hooked ever since.”

The Sebastopol, Calif., resident is traveling to the East Coast this weekend to participate in Duathlon Nationals in Richmond, Va. We’ve asked him to give USAT daily updates for the rest of this week and through race weekend to provide an up close and personal perspective on the national championship experience.