Thursday, December 13, 2012

5 Gifts for Runners

Need a last minute holiday gift or an any time gift for the favorite runner in your life. Consider some of these gift ideas.

1. Calories - in the form of gels, bars, beans, or chews. I will eat just about anything while running, but if given the choice I prefer bars with texture, like a Clif Bar or Power Bar Harvest. For gels I prefer chocolate, vanilla, or berry flavors and will pass on anything citrus or tropical. A big canister of Gatorade powder or something similar is another good option. 

2. Compression socks or sleeves - I have used both and prefer the calf sleeves which give me the ability to wear regular running socks. 

3. Light - for winter runs a lightweight LED headlamp to illuminate the path and red and blue blinking LED lights are great for illuminating the runner. 

4. Head and Neck - for runs in the 25-35 F there is no better combination than a headsweats hat and the original buff (like they have on Survivor). For colder runs I keep the buff and wear a ski hat. 

5. Books - there are lots and lots of running books. Born to Run is really popular, as are the titles by Dean Karnazes. 

What are your runner gift ideas?

P.S. Click on the Road ID badge in the right side bar. There is no better gift than emergency ID. Plus Road ID sells my favorite LED lights to make me visible to drivers.

2 comments:

  1. 1) I have come to really not like the flavor of some of the gels (no names here). It is fake flavor and just doesn't go down very well. I've tried several different electrolyte and amino acid water mixes with similar results. Most people around here avoid Gatorade though as it is a poor nutritional choice.

    2) I love my calf sleeves following your advice and was hoping Santa would give me arm sleeves. Although I run in a warm climate compared to you, when it is 45-55 degrees and raining, the arm sleeves would really make things more comfortable.

    3) My NB hat with built-in High and Low beam LEDs has failed so now I only have low beams. I'm going to ask them to replace it but I have friends with night time sun quality headlights - around $65 price tag and you won't be sorry.

    4) I rarely get to run in freezing temps, so for me a running cap is ideal to get started when I don't sweat so much. Later when it is warmer, a Headsweats cap or band would be ideal.

    5) Agree, Born to Run is good and there are others... I have several on my iPad Kindle app but have been too busy running to actually read them :)

    I'd like to know what your favorite running videos are. One of my local guys posted his top 10 videos on his blog... there are some good ones in there! If you are interested in videos, check these out!

    http://dirtyrunning.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-10-favorite-trail-running-videos-of.html


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  2. Favorite running videos ... I haven't sought out and watching many running videos on YouTube.

    I have watched a few running movies. The Dean Karnazes 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days video is good. The story of Frank Lebau (sp?) the founder of the NYC marathon is also a good documentary. I feel like I also watched a documentary about the Badwater ultra marathon, but forget the title.

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