I wound up doing about 10.5 miles on Sunday, not taking my Garmin along because I just wanted to do a nice, slow easy run 6 days before my 4th marathon in 12 months. I wanted to do it without perseverating on my pace and such.For nutrition, I took along some Kroger "In an instant" sugar-free performance drink, which is sugar free and has electrolytes, and some gels, which I took about every 1/2 hour or so. The reason I drink sugar-free drinks is because of a situation with my tooth enamel, but they aren't for everyone.
Clothing: My new Brooks Vapor Dry running hoodie, which has a nice little pocket for my ipod in the upper left front, and built-in mitties that cover my hands if I want them or fold up into cuffs if I don't. I also wore my Cw-x insulated running tights, which I LLOOVVe because they keep my junk from jiggling as well as keep me warm, my sexy Injinji toe socks (pink) and my new Nike hatphones.
I was probably one of the last people on earth to know about hatphones, but now I know there are headbands and earmuffs with music headphones in them. The hat phones are AWESOME. The hat sits loosely on my head and keeps me warm. I found out I can wear less when my head is warm. The hat came with an
extension cord that connected the ipod in my pocket to the back of my hat.I've gotten beyond using music for pacing now, I use it for upbeat background music on my long runs. I mostly run out in the desert, and the only noise there is out there is dogs barking and engine brakes in the distance.
But, sometimes when I'm running I will get distracted by every little thing, especially my headphones. I slow down or stop to fiddle with the cord, put them back in my ear, what have you. The earphones in this hat are not in my ear, leaving me free to hear what's going on around me if I need to, and just have the music as what it should be, kind of a background
soundtrack for my mood.
Since the hat is hand-wash only, I wore a sweat band underneath, and then took off, and was never once distracted by a cord or earphones. I've since found that there is another hat with built-in headphones that is about half the price, but I don't know how good it is.
The hat phones are a great option for being able to have some tunes and still hear what's going on around you. (It won't, you know, save you from the guy in the hockey mask with the sythe coming up behind you, but then nothing ever does. )
The Vapor Dry pullover is my new best friend now. I wore it over a l/s technial running shirt, and temps were in the 40's. I was very comfy, but the hood on this thing is rediculous. It's incredibly tight for my great big head, so I never use it. I'd recommend just getting the half zip and supplying your own hat. Other than that, perfect. If I could change just one thing it would be for it to zip all the way down the front.
On a lesser note, the Ironman heartstrap is now, for some reason, wearing a hole in my flesh each and every time I use it. What's up with that? It didn't use to do that. Gonna have to put a bandaid there, I guess.
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