Some New Gear for the New Year

Mmm...gear

I got nice presents this past Christmas but I went out to get a few for myself too. A runner's got to get his own gear right? For awhile there I had several pairs of Montrail's Leona Divides, bought a bunch after I found out they were discontinuing the line. But while I hoarded a few pairs I kept an eye out for a possible replacement and was quite happy with Vasque's Velocity. An even better shoe for my needs. These beauty's I picked up on a Christmas sale at REI. They only had one pair left and it was just my size. Coincidence? I think not. They run like a dream too. The only drawback is the weight. I don't mind though, I want the cushioning and support. Love the treads out on the trail and I appreciate the cushioning. I'm have to run 6.5 miles of road before I can taste the trails of Marin.

Then I sucked it up and bought Apple's new iShuffle. I buy all my music from iTunes and have to implement a tedious, time and hard drive space wasting work around to have the music available to my Rio player. No more, after two years I've had it. If you didn't know, iTunes music only plays in Apple players. It's quite nice, my headphones weigh more than this thing. The main drawback is the metal edges. Once I clipped it to the waistband of my shorts and the metal clip cut my side. The built in clip could have a stronger grip. Otherwise I've had no problems. Battery life is only 12 hours but that's only a factor at 100 mile races.

And lastly I got a Buff. Advertised as a multi-sport accessory. It's head wear that you can reconfigure; bandana, headband, backlava, beanie and few others. I wear bandanas/handkerchiefs in my long runs and this product seems like a step up.

Had to keep the shopping down this year but at least with the running, sport stuffthey get used and used well.