Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful and safe ushering out of the old decade and in with the new! I meant to post this yesterday, well a couple weeks ago actually, but hey that’s life right! So here we go a few of my favorite things that have helped me along the way last year.
I should probably preface the post by saying, I’m pretty cheap. I HATE, and will not pay full price the vast majority of the time. With that said ff you know me then you probably already know I’m a HUGE fan of gear that helps to get you to where you want to be. I’m all for spending the money on quality. My first lesson in this was shoes. I cannot say it loud enough. DON’T CHEAP OUT ON SHOES!!!! <— this would be in red if I could figure out how to change the font color. Whether you are running or cross training it all can start and end with the feet. The feet could be the most underappreciated body part, most people don’t like them, yet they’re pretty important. You have to have a good base of support. You need to be in the right shoes to run. Don’t just head outside without having being armed with some sort of information about yourself and your shoes. Set yourself up for success, running is tedious at first. If you’ve done this already have you experienced any of these? Shin splints, lower back pain, knee pain? These are pretty common when you’re in the wrong shoe. I’m a mess, bad everything, but my shoes save me and help allow me to continue doing what I love. I have several pairs I rotate through to keep things fresh for my body. My running shoes are for running. My retired running shoes, end up as my cross trainers or around towners. So with allll that said (sorry bit of a tangent I know) this year my shoe of choice has been Mizuno. The waveknit R2 has been my go to. Worth noting I’m a level 5 neutral. If you run and you don’t know what that means, pop into a running store and get yourself checked. It takes maybe 10 min. and could save you body a lot of pain. If you’re local big peach or road runner sports are good for this. I did have to size up a half in these which is not the norm. for me. I have two pairs of these and have run 3 or 4 half’s this year right out of the box. Neither of them needed a breaking in period, which I have noticed to be the case when you find something that actually does fit right and is of good quality. I recently tried on the newest generation of these, and they did feel a bit different. I will likely scour the internet and stock up on this version since I know they’re ahhhhmmmaaazzzginnngg.
In the garment department there are a few things I could def. not live without as a runner. This year I finally bit the bullet and purchased some Born primitive shorts I’d been eyeing for several years but again am super cheap. Actually Robert got the ball rolling for mother’s day with these. Under armor was my starting point and my go to for a long time and as my distances increased the shorts started giving me issues. My husband was sweet enough to pull that trigger and I’m sooooo thankful he did. They have several versions of their shorts. The renewed vigor booty shorts are what have worked the best for me. The material is a little bit heavier than your typical spandex shorts, and I think that is part of what help them to not ride up. I’ve put several hundred miles on the pairs I have since May, and never once had an issue with any of them. I even soaked a pair and went for a run in them in preparation for the Spartan, and they were still great! They have worn well so far, with no issues or defects. The only thing that’s rubbing off is the inside label with the size, which is no big deal to me, just means I’ve been working hard in them. The rise and grind are a little bit longer, and have a pocket on each side. I have just started with these, so I don’t have a ton to report on them yet, other than they seem to be good. The other pair I’ve just started with are the double take. These are INCREDIBLY soft and comfortable but do ride up some. They also have really great sports bras, which are super cute and comfy too! Best part is they’re owned by a military family, and made in the U.S.
Next up on the list are my headphones. 2 summers ago my husband and I got the Bose Soundsport. They are bluetooth and “wireless” but are tethered together. They do have a fully wireless pair, but I had concerns about losing one, so I went with these instead. Full disclosure I did have to have them replaced, but they took care of them well after the guarantee period. The sound quality is great; the fit is nice and snug once you learn how to put them in. It’s opposite of what you’d think they twist back as opposed to forward. Once I got that through my noggin the worked like a dream. My sister has a pair of the untethered wireless ones and loves them, and has had no issues. I’m all about promoting a company who stands behind their product. Best deals I’ve found on them is in the Outlet shoppes of Atlanta, Bose store.
My shirts and pants vote goes to Nike this year. They have a great run tight in capris and full length that have a drawstring, zip pocket on the back, and a phone pocket on the leg. I picked these up when I was pregnant for the first time. I needed something with a draw string to help with my ever changing body. The draw string has been a saving grace post baby too, as I’m a square….for real I am square. No 36, 25, 34 here like sir mix a lot raps about. I’m super hard to fit, and stuck between sizes. It’s nice to be able to ties those puppies down tight at the beginning of the run. Full disclosure the phone in the leg pocket pulls down a bit when running, but I feel as though that’s probably the case with any of them (if you’re square). Again, this is where the drawstring is so effective. It’s actually more difficult to find workout pants with a draw string than you’d think. The one’s I picked up were at the outlets and are usually $30-50 depending on the sale they’re having. They are the Epic Run tight similar to this link. The train tanks have been really great too, also found at the outlets.
In the equipment world I am totally 100% in love with this bar! The Bodyrock Bodybar is so functional for at home use. I did however learn the hard way that it does not fit 1″ plates. The plates they sell with it are just slightly larger. Thankfully my husband was able to bring it to work and a co-worker fix it for me. If you do purchase it, I’d advise getting the plates with it. They’re squared off which keeps the bar from rolling when you set it down. They’ve really thought of everything it seems on this one. The circular handles on this lil’ fella rotate, making it’s uses quick and easy. A couple clicks and it switches up your move. I’m finding it to be helpful in navigating an injury. If what I’m doing hurts, I can usually adjust a click or two and work around it more easily. I also have the sandbag, and the weighted vest. This is another company that did right by me this busy shopping season. I was sent the weighted vest on accident instead of the sandbag, and they told me to keep the vest. You don’t have to tell me twice to keep an extra piece of workout gear! Ok, maybe she did because I felt bad keeping it. We all make mistakes after all, and it was no big deal on my end.
Another game changer in the run game this year has been the Koala clip. Honestly I think it could be helpful in many areas of life. I picked this up for the spartan. I was running it solo and had one kid at a meet and another at a tournament. I was over an hour away and needed to be accessible in case of emergency. Was one of those weekends where everything overlapped, spread way out across the state and not many were around. This thing handled beautifully for the Spartan. I think with a couple tweaks it could be adapted to be even better for the OCR world. In any event it’s just a great concept. If you’re over the running belts, arm bands, or phone pulling down your pants, give this a whirl. I got the basic one, and even though it doesn’t claim to be waterproof, it did an amazing job, when I came off a mud mound and ended up unintentionally fully submerged. I had my phone in a Ziploc inside of the koala clip, and the baggie was not wet when I frantically opened it to check for water. I’m guessing it’s probably made to be sweat resistant, but that’s just an assumption on my part.
Last up my most favorite piece of gear is my Garmin 645. There is a music and a non-music version. I opted for the non-music version after doing some research on it. The music version seemed to have some kinks needing to be worked out based on reviews post release. The tech has since then been put into the 245 as well. I personally was not as impressed with the 245 when I trialed it, but if you’re looking for a decent running watch, it’ll def. get you there. You can get the 645 for under $300 on Amazon currently. My favorite feature on this is that it shows you your current mileage on the face. This helps me to keep on track for my weekly mileage goals. It also tracks several different type of workouts, rowing, indoor/outdoor biking, strength training, cardio, etc. You can also add things like trail runs, and yoga.
