Products I Love

Here I go, shamelessly plugging away my favorite running related products. Don't worry, I'm not paid to endorse these companies, I am a genuine user and lover of these things.

Inspirational items:
Runners World Magazine - although articles tend to be more focused on very serious, competitive runners (training programs can be a bit intimidating), I still find inspiration in reading about people, races, products and even the training programs that require stopwatches, measured tracks and someone undoubtedly yelling at you from the sidelines. Not to mention that I take a certain egotistical pride in walking around with that magazine in hand..."yep..I'm a runner."

Nike+ - Now, there are flaws to everything and this is no exception. Yes, it may not be 100% accurate but I'm not training to win the Boston marathon so getting the general idea of how far, how fast and how long I'm running is all I need. This little chip and accompanying voice of reason is what keeps my feet pounding the pavement. Not to mention seeing the nice little charts of my progress, challenging my co-worker and creating personal goals. The Nike+ Mini is pretty great too since it will basically point it's finger at me and say "hey fat a$$...get out there and run!" if I haven't logged any runs in a few days.

Products:
Mission Products - I met the founder of this company who very kindly left me some products to try out. I have yet to try every one of them but so far, I'm very into the Foot Synergy Gel. I put this on before I log a long run and I don't know if it's just luck, but I like to credit the gel that right when I start feeling like my toes could blister, they magically don't...they seem to suddenly relax and continue cruising down the road. I'm also a big supporter of new companies, and they have a good philanthropic spin as well which I also back fully.

Nike Frees - These shoes cause quite a bit of debate in the running world. "They are too minimal for runs over 2 or 3 miles!" "They aren't good for beginning runners." I have used other shoes, more "serious" running shoes and I was left with horrible shin splints and sore feet. Then one work trip I magically ran out of room in my suitcase (big surprise...I'm a chronic over-packer) and I stumbled upon my Frees which squish down small enough to squeeze into any overstuffed suitcase. And much to my surprise, they were the answer. I ran with the air of a feather and the pep of a young child. Shin splints? Nope. Sore feet? Negative. It was a great feeling. I quickly bought a new pair and have been happy with them ever since. I like the lightness of them...other running shoes are too cumbersome for me, I'm a big fan of the barefoot feel, so these shoes are the ticket for me at least.

CWX Compression Shorts - These bad boys keep everything where it should be, and I'm not just talking about back-dominals (what my sister and I call back-fat). They keep your IT band snug in place, they pull your gluts in and help them work in your favor and more. Not to mention that keeping everything that snug does wonders for your figure as well. Enough said. Just beware that if you don't like spandex and/or small shorts you may not love these, but they do have capris and full length if you aren't feeling very South Beach.

That's it for now. I will try to update as I find new products that I love. I know that I am a big fan of reading other people's experience with products so I hope this helps!