New Kicks, Tech & Tunes

Running is one of those great hobbies that really doesn't require too much money to get started, but there are always some great toys you can buy if you want to. I went on a mini-spending spree recently and bought some new stuff.

Kicks

Shoes are probably the only thing that are required, except maybe clothing, for running. I bought two pairs of shoes in March and the goal was to alternate them to make them last longer. I thought I would get 6-9 months out of them but my ramp up in weekly miles has basically ensured that I now need to buy 2 pairs of shoes every 3-4 months. Meet the first shoe in my new rotation, the Asics DS-Gel Trainer 16. I first started running in what the guy at the store called "clunkers" so when I bought shoes he didn't want to move me to something to much lighter in case I needed the extra support. Now I am moving down to a speed trainer which weight what feels like nothing. I am going to run in these for a little bit until I see if they provide enough support for longer distances and if they do get another pair of speed trainers, otherwise I will get a pair of GT-2160s which is what I was wearing previously for my longer runs.

Tech

I have been using my iPhone since October to track my runs and unfortunately the GPS on it is rather terrible, so I would have to go into MapMyRun.com figure out how far I actually ran and update the route. I have been in the market for a running watch for a while but I wanted something small and not too bulky. I found the Garmin Forerunner 610 but the reviews were terrible and they said the GPS was worse than the iPhone so I waited. About 2 weeks ago, Garmin issued a patch for the watch that improved the GPS to near 100% accuracy so I bought one. It is so much more comfortable than wearing an armband for the iPhone and I love seeing real-time paces so I can adjust prior to splits. Some of my favorite features:

• Vibrations Alerts @ Splits
  
• Designing custom workouts that can be sent to the watch
  
• Easy configuration of interval workouts.
  

Despite the hefty price tag, I'd recommend it to any serious runner and I haven't even started playing around with the heart rate monitor which is supposed to be awesome.

Tunes

Since I wasn't going to be lugging around my iPhone I could no longer use Pandora, which is probably the only drawback to this whole new configuration. I ended up opting for a cheap solution in the iPod Shuffle since it could just be clipped anywhere and has nearly no weight to it. I did end up buying some songs on iTunes to round out my library, which Tina likes to make fun of me for since it resembles a teenie bopper playlist. I like running to club/pop songs with really good beats so I gravitate towards Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Ke$ha, Jennifer Lopez, 3OH3 and the Cataracs.