Running Gear

My Marathon Week series of running posts would not be complete without some sort of discussion of my current running gear. While not as expensive as my photography gear, one can still manage to spend some bucks on all this stuff. But hey, I justify it all because I use it. Sounds like how I justify my photography purchases....

Shoes:
Brooks Pure Cadence 3

After my ACL surgery, I switched to a "minimalistic" shoe - one with a low heel drop, and transitioned my running form from a heel strike to a mid foot strike. This has reduced the pain in my knee while I run. This particular shoe provides additional arch support and aids with mild pronation. I currently alternate between two pairs.


Inov-8 Roclite 275 Gore-tex Trail Shoe

These shoes were recommended by my friend, Andy, specifically because of the Gore-tex membrane. The Gore-tex keeps snow and water from permeating the shoe and I attest it works. I've run in deep, slushy snow, in pouring rain and they've kept my feet dry. In super cold temperatures, my feet stay warm in these shoes (not so much in the Brooks shoes above). See the treads on these shoes? Perfect for trail running.

So that's it, right? All you need to run are shoes! Well, not exactly..... we're just getting started....

Socks:
Just as important as the shoes are the socks. I've learned this the hard way through blistered feet, through cold winter runs. I will pay $15-$20 for a good pair of socks....
Winter running: Smart Wool PhD Run Micro Socks. Nothing beats these - my feet stay warm and dry. I now buy their crew sock version for casual wear because they are nice and warm
All purpose running: Feetures Elite Socks
These socks provide me with great arch support and they encase my foot so that I don't get blisters.

Clothes:
Yes, running means you get to buy more clothes! Or call it "running apparel" .... I could go on and list each article, but then you would realize that I have a serious addiction buying clothing to run in....so I'll just stick to the basic categories.

• Brightly colored, reflective outer shell - neon yellow, neon pink or similar - because being seen while running is very important to your safety. If you run in broad daylight, it's not as important, but for nighttime, early morning or evening runs outside, you need to be visible.
• I have numerous polyester base shirts - long sleeve and short sleeve, mainly from Under Armour, Brooks and Lululemon
• I own numerous long sleeved half zip tops - these are from Nike and Lululemon.
• I have various running tights - from Nike, Under Armour and Lululemon.
• Shorts - I buy shorts with real hand pockets. Believe me, shorts with pockets are a scarce item, so when I find them, I buy them. I've had recent purchases from Nike and Lululemon.
• I own a couple of skorts. My favorites are from Brooks and Lululemon because they have pockets.
• A Flip Belt - the solution when you don't have pockets. It secures my phone, gels, keys and doesn't bounce (really!)
• White running hat - my current ones are from Nike. I need a light colored hat during summer runs to keep the hot sun from baking into my black hair.

Tech devices / fitness apps. In my 20's I was interested in how many miles and my pace, so I got in my car, marked off the miles along my normal running route, then used a watch that had a lap feature (that was high tech back in the 90's) to track my progress. After I had children, I didn't care about those details anymore, and for years I ran untethered to any timing or tracking devices. (those were the years I didn't care about sweat-wicking, wind-proof, fashion forward running apparel either, I guess those were my running "dark ages", LOL)
Years later, with the advent of the smart phone integrated GPS and running apps, I started tracking things again. I used the RunKeeper App on my phone for many years and put off the purchase of a stand alone GPS watch. While marathon training during the cold winter months, I realized my phone's battery would not last the 4+ hours required to track my longer runs, and I would be without a working phone. I finally invested in a GPS watch.
GPS Watch: Garmin Forerunner 220. I love that this watch connects to my phone via Bluetooth and syncs my run details seamlessly. At one point, I had (minor) issues with the Bluetooth syncing and opted to use the USB/special software to sync and that was a royal pain. Garmin has recently updated this watch to the Forerunner 225 and incorporated a heart rate monitor right on the wrist.
Running / Fitness Apps: RunKeeper and Garmin Connect. I continue to manually update RunKeeper since I have three + years of history and it is really interesting to see all the charts and graphs. RunKeeper will accept a .GPX file (which I download from Garmin Connect), so the process isn't too time consuming.

Other:
Foam Roller - because I now have a tight IT band and some sore calf muscles, I foam roll every day and it definitely helps.
Thera Bands - used to strengthen my hips and glutes.

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