Saturday I ran without my ipod. 45 minutes of quiet, serenity. Nothing but my breath and steps to keep me company, and of course other early morning runners.
Then I met up with my lemon-ladies and we ran another 5 giving me a total of 9.25 – a little short of the 10 i wanted but still a long run. The first four + miles were in about 40ish minutes or so, the next five and a half were
I thought about this long and hard though, about things I absolutely require when I run.
Go to Gear…
Garmin 305 $129
I love my garmin for tracking my distance and my speed. Training for the first 3 marathons was not nearly as easy as it was after Garmin came into my life.
Foam Roller $17
If you don’t have a foam roller, get one. Especially if you have any knee or IT band issues. Don’t know what the benefits of a foam roller are? Read all about them in an awesome article from Runners World!
Fuel Belt $25
I learned early on that bringing fuel with me for my long runs is a necessity. This lil pack often fits an ID, my phone, aspirin, and some shot blocks. And of course water. Because one thing I didn’t learn til recently, was bring water unless you strategically place it somewhere ahead of time. Which I don’t really do. Although this past weekend, it was convenient meeting pals at my car for round 2 around the park!
lululemon ultimate running sock $14
2007-2009 I ran with regular socks. Run of the mill, think I got them at Target (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but I never wanted to really spend money on good socks. I mean, really, what difference do socks make right? Ha ha. Ha. Ohh if I had only known…you know, before I had a blister break on me at mile 22.5 of the Hartford Marathon or mile 20 of the VT City marathon in 2009. In 2010, when I ran…no blisters. Why? I was wearing QUALITY socks. I don’t care what brand socks you wear, but make sure they’re wicking. Even better if they’re anatomically structured with a little extra cushioning in the toes and on the top of the foot. Seriously. Your feet can thank me later.
Usually I run with an ipod shuffle or my iPhone so I have tunes but I might start doing that less and less since it was so nice and refreshing the other day to not have music. Granted I think it’ll be a necessity for when I have treadmill workouts but in general, I’m pretty stoked to try out something different for a change!
Other necessities…
I wear Brooks Adrenaline sneakers. I made the mistake back when I was a rookie in 2007 getting ready for the Marine Corps Marathon of picking shoes based on their color. I wore a Nike shoe that had the nike plus capability and hurt my knees pretty badly. Needless to say, in 2008 when I ran Hartford I got the right type of shoes for my feet and life was good again!
As for clothing? I’m a HUGE fan of the lululemon run line. Not just because I worked there for a year but because I really do think it’s much better quality than many other lines. I’ve ran in Nike, Adidas and Under Armour and just…this stuff is way more comfortable than anything else I’ve ever ran in.
My go to outfit is…
The cool racerback
The groovy run shorts
Run: Resolution LS
Run: team spirit crop (which is in desperate need to be replaced. I bought them last year, have gone down a size since then, but need a new pair of knee length crops because the calf length ones at lulu are too long on me – damn short legs! Both a blessing and a curse 😉 )
What are your workout essentials?
{note: these are my personal views, I was not paid nor compensated for my opinions nor did anyone ask me to write this post. also, images via amazon.com and lululemon.com}