Wednesday Workout Update - Running WITH Earphones!

I'm trying to keep up with my running club training schedule, but it's not been easy, between my work schedule, the holidays, my kids (and uncle!) coming home, and of course my general laziness. The weekly runs have dropped down to once or so (from the scheduled three - ouch), but I've been determined to make my long runs on the weekend. So, since Christmas fell on a Saturday and the running club didn't meet, my half buddy Julia and I made plans to get together for our scheduled 9 mile run on Sunday. And we did - I am really proud of us for getting out there, considering:

1. It was 28 degrees, with a wind chill of 21 when we started at 8:00 am;
2. Being the day after Christmas, we both had *ahem* eaten all sorts of sweets and heavy foods the previous day, which lead to us feeling a bit bogged down;
3. It was windy and cold and our noses were running like crazy; and
4. It was the day after Christmas. Who in their right mind gets up the day after Christmas to go for a 9 mile run?!? Us, apparently.

Funny thing - when we run, we are facing traffic. There wasn't a lot that morning, but we generally wave at any oncoming cars as an acknowledgment, especially when they move over a bit. Most drivers wave back, but one man laughed and gave us the loopy "you're crazy" motion - hah! He was right.

Anyway, it wasn't easy to run in that extreme cold, and we did end up with a few walking breaks, but we did it - actually ended up running 9.14 miles thanks to my (not so) superb mapping skills. And afterward? I'd like to say that I got to rest, but nooooo...I had to work from 12 - 6, standing on my feet all day long. Now that was tiring! I definitely missed my post-run nap.

Oh! I wanted to tell you about my Christmas present from Jeff. You may or may not remember that I don't run with headphones - they don't stay in my ears, and although I've never tried Yurbuds, which apparently do, I really don't like the idea of not being able to hear traffic (or the bogey man coming up behind me). Luckily for me, my iPod has a speaker, so I've just been wearing that strapped around my arm - I can still hear my music AND everything around me. Win-win, right?

Well. Apparently Jeff was horrified a couple of weeks ago when he helped out on our benchmark 8 miler run - he thought my music was too loud (he sounds like an old fogey, right?) and that I was imposing on anyone who happened to be near me. Hey - who doesn't want to hear Barry Manilow, the Glee Cast and Earth, Wind and Fire? Geez, some people! Anywayyyy, he did some research and on Christmas morning, I opened up a package containing Fit Airdrives - they are earphones that fit around your ears, so you don't have to deal with them falling out OR blocking other sounds. He got me the kids version because "they were pink, the same size as the adult version, and $20 cheaper." I was skeptical. Then I opened up a cute little iPod Shuffle - also in pink! I admit, I was getting less skeptical - he knows how to sell me on something! After my technical crew (my sons, naturally) got me set up and schooled in how to work it, I clipped that tiny iPod to the back of my hat and tested it and the Airdrives out on Sunday's run.

My new tiny sound system!

My verdict? It worked - the Airdrives stayed on my ears (they have a wire that loops around your ears), I heard both my music AND Julia as we ran, and she did not have to hear my music! I had a couple of fidgety moments getting the earphones adjusted, but considering I'm not used to wearing them at all, I thought that they felt great. Plus I loved not having to have that gigantic iTouch strapped to my arm - woohoo, one less place to chafe!