Thursday, January 24, 2013

Runners Survival list




  I often think back to my first days of running. I was out at the LA River Bike path in baggy shorts and an oversize cotton t-shirt trying to run a 1/2 mile without collapsing. I had no water in my hand, no tech wear, no music and I ran with a  tight  fist. I look back and laugh at how I couldn't look up at the road and ran with my head down looking at the ground. I was a fat kid growing up and up till the beginning of last year I had never ran more than  1/4 mile my entire life.



   It was so many hundreds of miles ago that it seems like a lifetime ago. I still run that same bike path 4 times a week and I am always in awe at the beauty I see every time I reach the end of the bike path. At that point you can see the Queen Mary and the shoreline begins.


Running all these miles have taught me a few things about survival out on the road. So I have put together a little list of what I think is essential to running.

1. Good comfortable running shoes. Always get your running shoes atleast  1/2 size larger than your normal size. Your feet will swell when running and shoes beging to hurt after a long run if they are too small. I actually had to walk home barefoot several times before I learned about this.

2. Good music ! I bought an iPod touch off Craigslist for $80.00 and it was one of the best investments I have ever made. It is only 8 gigs so I house most of my music in iTunes and just add playlists  as I go.
If you are worried about the cost of music try not too. Simply use an YouTube to MP3 converter and convert all your favorite music from YouTube into MP3 for free !



3. A water bottle with a strap just fro running. I actually found that the neoprene strap helps to keep my hands from swelling. I am not sure why it does that but I like it.

3. Body Glide is a must. Its good for Summer to keep your legs from chaffing and especially helpful during long runs. Use Body Glide on your feet to prevent blister and runner toe.

4. Compression pants or shorts. I fought this for a long time and swore they were not a necessity but I was wrong. All you have to do is run in them once to feel the dramatic difference. Trust me your body parts will thank you., Price is always an issue so I buy a lot of them from Target they have a good selection and a good price. I have found all my Nike Compression pants on the clearance rack at Sports Chalet. 

5. A tech shirt. As I said I ran in a cotton shirt for several hundred miles and would always end up with the chills. The kind of sweaty you get form a cotton shirt is 100 times different from the kind of sweaty you get in a tech shirt. Both Walmart and Target both have good prices on tech shirts. So make the investment early on. 


6. Road I.D. I have almost been hit by cars several times so I finally invested in Road I.D. It was than $20.00 and I feel safer having it. Do not get the shoe ID.  Usually when people get hit by cars there shoes fly off. So I suggest getting an ankle or wrist ID. 

7. Money and chap stick. I like to buy Vegan lip balm off of Etsy and use that. It goes on easier and always comes in fun flavors that last forever. I never leave without at least $5.00 in my running pack. I can't tell you how many times it has come in handy when I needed more water than normal. 

The best advice I have to offer about running is just go out and enjoy yourself. Don't get upset about bad run days. Every bad run day leads to 5 awesome run days.



Stop and enjoy the view once in awhile and take photos. I love looking back oat run photos especially when the sun is coming up or going down., Both are absolutely magical times of the day to run.



No comments: