Fitness

Get Out and Run for National Running Day on June 5th!

Tomorrow (June 5th) is the fifth annual National Running Day, but is the first one I have known about or participated in running. The purpose is to get people inspired to get out in run in as many different ways as there are runners. So whether it is a street run, pounding around a track, doing trails or relays or group runs or whatever, it is a great opportunity for distance runners to reaffirm our commitment and for new or occasional runners to get themselves started with a new training plan or goal. According to Running USA’s media director Ryan…


It is NOT All About the Gear – The Monday Mile

As I went out for a run last week, I was fresh off cashing in a gift card at my local Dick’s Sporting Goods (and loads of coupons), and I was flush with cool new stuff. It occurred to me that I was outfitted with HUNDREDS of dollars in gear – minimal shoes, high-tech socks, absurdly expensive Dri-Tech shorts, Dri-Tech compression shirt, SpiBelt, Garmin FR-10 GPS watch, and even a $25 high-tech running hat! The only thing that wasn’t exorbitant, was the $0.30 of band-aids to prevent ‘shirt front bleeds’, if you get my drift. Contrast this with what I…


Yurbuds Inspire Limited Edition Sport Earphones Offer Good Sound and Good Fit

The other day we reviewed yurbuds’ Focus Pro behind the ear sports headphones. I was impressed with the comfort of the headphones as well as the microphone and in-line controls on them. The audio from the headphones was good, but it wasn’t good enough to make the Focus Pros something I would want to listen to as my full-time pair of headphones. The Focus Pros are perfectly fine for a run or similar activity, but they simply don’t stand up to some of the other relatively high-end headphones we have reviewed. This time we are looking the yurbuds Limited Edition…


Yurbuds Focus Pro Review – They Stay Put and Keep the Music Going

In 2010 yurbuds came out with one of the silliest audio products ever- or so I thought. They offered custom-sized “earbud enhancers” that fit over the one-size-fits all earbuds Apple and others included with phones and media devices. The goal of these “enhancers” was to create a better, more comfortable fit. I wasn’t impressed. Fast forward to CES 2011, and the company showed off their revamped product. Now, instead of having a cover that fit over your existing earbuds, they offered a complete package — their own brand of earbuds with the yurbud special sauce,  the earbud enhancers already in place. We…


Lems Shoes Primal 2 Review

I love sneakers. Even before I became a runner, I vastly preferred sneakers over any other footwear. It still makes me sad that my office is business formal, and the first thing I do when I get home is shuck my work shoes and slip into sneakers. So I take my sneakers very seriously, and when I say that the Lems Primal 2’s I’ve been testing for the past week are some of the best sneakers I’ve ever worn, that’s praise I don’t give lightly. What makes these shoes so great isn’t any one thing, but a combination of things….


Make The Choice for Fitness – The Monday Mile

I love to run. Yesterday coming out from food shopping with my wife, I saw a lady lose a cucumber and a few tomatoes out of her cart. I left the second cart (I have two teen boys) with my wife, chased down the produce, and then ran to catch up to the woman to return the items, and then jogged back to my wife. She was talking to some other folks who remarking on how nice I was – and she noted that while I AM nice, and that is why I did it, I like to run around…


Why I Don’t Run First Thing in the Morning

Yesterday afternoon we had a surprise softball game for Kev’s youngest at 5:30. We made it to dinner at 7, and we were home by 8. Since I hadn’t yet had time to get my run in, I thought I would go ahead and do it before it got too dark. I was almost to our back gate, a little over two miles into the run, and it was getting pretty dark. I saw a rattlesnake about 15 feet away, stretched out across the middle of the crushed limestone road. There was just enough daylight left that I felt safe getting…


Live Score Tennis for iOS Ready for the 2013 French Open

For you tennis aficionados out there, the 2013 French Open is nearly upon us, and if you are gainfully employed (read: busy working away from the TV) you might have some difficulty keeping abreast of the latest match developments while at work. You know the routine: if you are an office type, IT (folks like me) are doing their darned best to keep employees from being distracted by fun and keeping their productive noses to the grindstone. If you are working on the go, it’s a bit of a herculean effort to find a place to sit down and keep…


Budd Coates Teaches ‘Running On Air’ – The Monday Mile

I remember being about 20 miles into my first marathon, and the pacer making a very big deal about breathing deeply and in general watching our breathing closely. Even then this was not news – after getting myself into ‘fuel trouble’ on my first half-marathon, I started to pay attention to a whole bunch of running-related things such as nutrition, hydration, tapering, and breathing. Someone had mentioned to me that one of the best ways to manage breathing was to pace it so you are breathing in and out in sync with steps, and that you should spend more time…


LifeProof fr? and Arm Band for iPhone 5 Review

When I began doing Couch to 5K again (something I need to do yet again tomorrow because I let too much time pass between runs) I needed a way to carry my iPhone. After all, during a run my phone is not only my music source but it is also my “trainer”… Walk 10 minutes, run half a mile, slow, fast etc. When I did the program the first time I had an iPhone 4S that fit into my iPhone 4 armband. Now that I’m using an iPhone 5 that armband no longer worked. So I went in search of…


Recovery Is Training, too – The Monday Mile

This is one of those things I fear saying out loud, but I have never been sidelines for more than a day or two with a running injury. I recognize that I am not normal – I have a good running posture and form, good joints, and a fast recovery. I tend to bounce back from ‘doing something stupid’ (my wife’s mantra) pretty quickly As a result I avoid giving much advice – because I am always on the edge of stupidity! So when Judie decided to use a RunKeeper 5K training plan – and quickly ended up with an…


Underwater Audio: Why is This Shuffle Different from All other Shuffles?

Here is a picture of two iPod shuffles. Yes, they are different colors but have the same shape, design, controls and capacity. If you look, touch or listen to these iPod shuffles, the ONLY difference you might notice is that the buttons on one are a tiny bit stiffer than the other. There’s no other difference. You would, however, only be willing to do this with one of those iPod shuffles… Put the wrong one in this ramekin of water, and you will be left with a tie clip (read: malfunctioning iPod shuffle) rather than an mp3 player. Put the…


R U A MILER? National Run a Mile Days – The Monday Mile

Today marks an important – though totally artificial – milestone: the day Roger Bannister first officially broke the 4 minute mile. It is important because it removed a mental obstacle – and it is artificial because it is an arbitrary round number. That mark remains a goal for all milers and a remarkable achievement for any runner. The American Running Association is using the anniversary to push fitness and running among young people with their ‘R U A MILER’ campaign. The American Running Association is hoping that by pushing the mile in schools they can get more kids involved with…


ContourROAM2 Action Camera Is Built for Life in Motion

Perry recently wrote up an awesome action camera that allows you to shoot video in two different directions at once. The Oregon Scientific ATC Chameleon is a neat idea that lets, for example, not only see where you are going but also shows you the slow-pokes behind you on the ski slope or in the bike race. (Check out the review here.) The camera Perry wrote about is only one of a growing number of action cameras that offer quality, durability and great features. We received word of another one yesterday and it looks quite interesting. The ContourROAM2 action camera gives you…


Early Morning Running Safety Tips – The Monday Mile

For all of the years I lived in Massachusetts and was a morning runner, which I count as 18 or 19 – Patriots Day would mark the time when people would come out of hibernation and either start exercising or take the exercise routines outdoors. As I have noted, I keep running outdoors in pretty much any weather, this winter contending with wind chills around -25. But for those who mark the Boston Marathon as ‘oh crap I made a resolution and we are four months into the year I better get my butt outdoors’ time, there is a bit…


The Right and Wrong Way to Do Post-Disaster Fundraising

Much has been written about all of the amazing people who stepped up after the Boston Marathon bombings, as well as companies in the area that opened their doors for stranded runners and other impacted individuals. We have since seen both good and bad examples of those who claim to want to help. The obvious bad example was the fake Twitter account looking for retweets claiming a donation would be made for each one, and the many fake charities looking to funnel off some of the generosity that has sprung up. One of the best things that happened was the…



What Every Athlete and Weekend Warrior Should Have

One of the aftershocks of the Boston Marathon bombings this week is that racing is going to drastically change. Competitor.com, the organizers of the wildly popular (and often sold-out) “Rock n Roll” marathons has already said they’re working on updated security procedures, and runners at New York Road Runners are being told they can only bag check items in official clear plastic bags, with absolutely no backpacks or other bags placed inside the clear ones for security reasons. Organizing yourself for a race is going to become more than just training and showing up, but there is one item every…


5 Ways to Honor the Boston Marathon Tragedy Victims – A Monday Mile Special Edition

As someone who was born and spent more than forty years in the Boston area, my heart is heavy today. Although I am glad that the numbers didn’t continue climbing through the night in terms of those hurt, I am still having trouble wrapping my head around the horrific events that occurred at yesterday’s Boston Marathon. As I went for my run this morning, my mind was constantly thinking about the situation, and I posted that on my Facebook page. Since then, I have also been thinking about how we can best deal with the feeling of loss that every runner…


My One-Year Runnerversary – The Monday Mile

I have posted several times about running as well as other fitness and health issues over the past year; I have also started a weekly ‘Monday Mile’ feature – and everyone has been amazing and supportive throughout, with loads of great discussions and tons of new stuff I have learned. At this point, I have no hesitation calling myself ‘a runner’ — something I would never have done before last fall. But when I look back to when the moment was that I turned the corner from being a ‘guy who jogged to control weight’ to ‘a runner’, it was Easter…


Tips for Your First 5K – The Monday Mile

Over the past week or so, several folks at Gear Diary have started (or re-started) running as part of training for a 5K road race. We’ve been having a number of discussions, and Carly and I have been recalling running our first races. Since spring has officially started and even in the northeast we’re starting to see temperatures climb to near 50ºF during the day – which means weekend runners! So I thought it would make sense to take a bit and offer up some tips for your First 5K! Here we go: Get an App: Dan & Judie are…