Equipment Update: Headphones, Future Water Needs and more

Music

In my previous post, I wrote about how I've been running more with music/ipod. This has created two new equipment dilemmas, both of them minor:

First of all, I need someplace to "stash" my ipod when I'm running. I DID buy an arm strap like this.

Honestly, I haven't even tried it yet. I WILL try it but my hesitation is that I feel like such a "tech" geek out there already with all of my gear strapped on and adding one more thing to my arm might just be too much. I DO have one running shirt that is sleeveless and has kind of a built in "shelf" which, in addition to my sport's bra which serves as the inner layer, this shelf is the outer layer, and I can tuck the ipod between the two layers. It doesn't make for easy access to my ipod, but I don't generally need to mess with it that much, so maybe it's no big deal. When I'm not wearing said sleeveless shirt, I've sometimes just tucked the ipod against my skin, which is admittedly gross, hence, my search for a better option. Yes, you can borrow my ipod anytime you'd like.

I'll try out the arm strap sometime too.

Second, finding comfortable headphones has been a big struggle for me. I started with a pair that look something like this.

Rick gave them to me as a gift more than 5 years ago. Let's just say that I haven't consistently exercised with them enough to REALLY put them to the test. Because of their design, by the end of my run, they were extremely painful on my ears. They just pushed in the wrong spot. (Best I can tell, they are called Nike Flight Sport Headphones).

The next type I tried are very popular right now called "ear-buds." These specific buds came highly recommended to me by a co-worker, and while they were light and comfortable, I absolutely couldn't tolerate the feeling of them being "suction-cupped" to the inside of my ears. Also, I like retaining the ability to hear a little bit of outside noise because I just think it's safer with traffic, Bella, etc., and the "suction" effect eliminated my ability to hear this outside noise. The other big problem was that I felt like they created a huge "pounding" sound every time I took a step, almost like a pounding headache would feel. Needless, to say, I've been exploring other options. Don't worry, thanks to the wonders of Big Lots, they only cost me $4.

As I considered my options, Rick suggested I try his old pair that look similar to those shown below. They are Sony brand, but they are old enough that I couldn't find an identical picture.
The aren't connected by a rigid connector like the Nike ones were and they are light and don't fit into my ear like the buds so I can still hear other noises. So far, they have been wonderful.

**Farris, which type are the worst for my ears?**

Water

On my 3 mile run last Sunday, it was the first day that I ran out of water right as I was completing my run. It got me to thinking about, especially with my long runs, with as long as it is taking me to complete the mileage, I'm really going to have to start looking into supplemental water supplies, whether it be another way to carry more water or to begin worrying about stashing water along my planned path prior to beginning my run. It seems like a lot of runners that I see out on the canal trail use this:






It would probably be lighter and more balanced than the larger one I tried using in the beginning, but . . . ugh, that would be ONE MORE THING to strap to my body. Seriously, that it makes me giggle to even think about how I'd be looking at that point.