Monday's Merchandise: FitBit

Y'all?!  I.AM.OBSESSED.

I have always been give or take about my Garmin.  I enjoy having the awareness when I train about pace and heart rate, but honestly, I prefer to just run with a stop watch during a race. 

Last week I bought myself a FitBit Charge HR with money I had been saving.  And I've got to tell you, I freakin' love it!  I love having all the stats: steps, heart rate, calories, sleep, water, food intake, etc.  I must check the app one million times a day!  I've even been pretty diligent at tracking my food so I know if calories in is less than calories out.  I have to get those six pounds off I gained this summer!  I also love that I can set a silent alarm (there is nothing more jarring than being startled by a loud alarm clock).  I used it for the first time on Saturday to get up for work and it was AWESOME!

The only "con" I've noticed is that the accuracy of the distance traveled is way different than my Garmin.  This morning I went out for a 50 minute run.  My Garmin said I traveled about 5-1/4 miles which is probably about right.  My FitBit said I had gone less than 5 miles.  Of course, it's basing it on steps and not GPS.  Either way, it probably doesn't matter since it uses your heart rate to determine calories burned.

Whatever.  I freakin' love it.  And I'm sure it's going to take no time to convince the husband he should have one too.  Gosh darn technology!  You're so cool!

Do you have a FitBit or a VivoFit or something like that?  Do you love it as much as I do?

Let's Talk About Socks, Baby

I've been running for 8 years and really haven't thought a whole lot about socks. As long as they didn't bunch in my toes or cause blisters, then they were okay in my book. And considering I don't have problems with bad toenails or blisters, then most socks worked for me. When I finished 2nd in my age group at the Crystal Coast 1/2 Marathon, I won a gift card to a local running store. I used that gift card for two new pairs of socks. And WOW! They were like the best socks I've ever worn.

The brand of the socks is Balega. They have a perfect amount of cushion and I love the extra fabric around the achilles tendon area. My racing flats really rip up my achilles area so these socks really make a difference. The same manufacture makes Zulu socks which are made out of bamboo. I haven't tried them yet, but I know they are cheaper.

Let's talk about compression socks. They seem to be all the rage right now, and yes I own two pairs. One pair I bought at Meijer and they fit really tight. The other pair are Sugoi. I like them both and think they are both effective. Now I don't wear them while running because that's now what they're for, but I do wear them after hard workouts to aid in recovery. I feel like I get less sore when I wear them for a few hours after hard workouts. I also wear them when I'm flying to keep from getting blood clots. Multi-use!!!

What sock brands do you swear by and why?

Monday's Merchandise

The Chic Runner finds great deals on the internet and puts them on her blog every week. Today I wanted to talk about the great deal I got so maybe you could go out and find one for yourself too. As all triathletes and swimmers know, your swimsuits wear out FAST! Dave has to get a new one every couple of months and I'm finding that I do too even if I'm not swimming as much.

But new swimsuits are so darn expensive!

I found swimoutlet.com. They provided me with a darn cute swimsuit for $25 including shipping and it's in Buckeye colors which I love. It arrived today and I LOVE IT! I can't wait to wear it at the gym tomorrow.

Monday's Merchandise

When I first started running marathons I trained with a fabulous group--Marathoner in Training. I learned tons from the coaches and experienced runners and I loved having people to run with. But maybe best of all, was the water and Gatorade set up along the path every weekend. :)

Okay that wasn't best of all, but if I didn't say that, how was I supposed to get to my Monday's Merchandise?

Now that I do all my training by myself I've had to resort to carrying my own water. I have a Fuel Belt water belt. Now it's great to have to carry water and/or Gatorade and my gel, chapstick, and a key. The truth is....I hate the thing. Maybe it's because I have no hips, but I tighten the belt under my hip bones and just a few steps later it's all the way up around my ribs.

What do the rest of you guys do? I'm not sure I could carry one of those hand-grip water bottles as I think it would get heavy. And I'm not sure about carrying a Camelbak as they look really uncomfortable. Any thoughts?

Monday's Merchandise

As I rapidly approach my 31st birthday, I continue to get the best compliment ever...I continue to hear that I look so young. YESSSSS!!! Thank goodness I'm blessed with good genes.

And those good genes include good hair. :)

Now granted, I'm not in the love with the haircut, but I do have good natural hair color, my hair grows REALLY fast, and I rarely have split ends or dead hair. I can go a good three to four months without a haircut even with all the activities that could do damage to my hair.

Where the hell am I going with this?!

Oh yeah, Goody Stayput products. Last year I had the privilege of being a sponsored athlete by Goody Stayput. Goody makes these genius products that are specifically made for athletes so that ponytails and whatnot stay in place during activity. They work. I have worn them in three marathons and a half Ironman without my hair moving an inch. They don't rip up my hair. The products are well made too. Sure, they stretch but I've only had one hair tie break. My favorite products are the hair ties and the headband elastics (you know, like the soccer players wear).

Stop ruining your hair, ladies. Goody Stayput works.

My tip for the day....to avoid split-ins while running, braid your ponytail or if your ponytail is too short to braid, put another rubberband at the bottom of it to act like a braid. It saves your hair from split ends. :)

Monday's Merchandise

It's been said that to be a runner all you need is a pair of shoes. And while that may have been the case, and really still should be, there's a lot more technical stuff now that may or may not be necessary.

But today we're talking the real necessity: SHOES!

My shoe I wear is the Saucony Omni 6 moderate. I have been wearing a version of this shoe for about 3 years.

Why Saucony, Meredith?

Well, here's the short answer. Only Saucony and New Balance make shoes specifically for women. All the other shoe companies make smaller versions of their men's shoes. Women have different issues than men. We have wider hips, which means our feet roll differently. And we have smaller heels and narrower feet. Personally I wear a AA width, which you just can't find in the other shoes. They're pretty long wearing. I can easily get between 350-400 miles before I can feel it on my legs.

I love these shoes and I hope Saucony never stops making them. I don't even go to the store anymore to get fitted. I either take in my shoes and say I want the same thing, or I order it online (totally cheaper).

And when you do get a new pair of shoes, make sure you recycle your old ones. :)

What's on your feet?

Monday's Merchandise

Today's merchandise is a very important one: RoadID.

A few years ago I bought one for everyone in my family. And I'm so glad I did. Earlier this year while running we came upon a woman who was passed out laying on the side of the trail. She did not have any form of identification on her. We didn't know her name, if she had medical problems, how to contact a loved one, etc. We called 911 and she came to shortly after they arrived. I sure hope she now carries identification with her. That was scary.

So, if you don't have a RoadID, it's time to get one. It's like a $20 investment that could save your life.

Monday's Merchandise

Today's merchandise I'm going to rave about is my heart rate monitor. I do, I would say, about 95% of my workouts using a HRM and not using pace. Yes, I own a Garmin, but I only use it if Coach gives me a workout that indicates I have to do a certain pace and if that certain pace couldn't be done on a track. Otherwise, I estimate the mileage and do everything in heart rate zones.

The heart rate monitor I use is this Timex. The reason I like this one is it allows me to set intervals within certain zones. The watch will beep at me if I go out of the zone and when I need to move on to another interval in the workout. The thing I can't figure out on the watch or maybe it's not possible is that I can't set all 5 zones using the zones Coach has established for me. The watch has five zones that somehow are set using your max HR and then you can customize 3 other zones, which are the ones I use as zones 1-3 as established by Coach. But, with the interval settings you can manually input your zones and that's usually how I do it.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not sure how heart rate training works, but it is highly effective and I am going to keep training with my HRM.