Gift Ideas For Runners

A friend from med school asked me the other day for Christmas gift ideas for her husband. Apparently, her husband had just recently started running and she thought it’s best to seek help from me. 🙂

What gifts did you get for the fitness fanatics in your life?

To those who have not shopped yet for the runners in your life, here’s a list of my favorites. I thought of sharing this because it may benefit someone and make their last-minute shopping easy. 🙂

1.) Socks Socks Socks! – In my opinion, runners can never have enough socks! 🙂 I love this brand Icebreaker for socks, but the Champion socks at Target are good too. They’re really good athletic socks for a cheap price.

2.) Ipod Shuffle – If the runner on your gift list loves listening to music while running he or she will love this itsy bitsy tiny iPod shuffle. It so small but has enough storage space for lots of songs. Available in fun colors too.

I ordered mine at Apple.com. I love it because it’s not bulky and it features a clip on the back, so you can clip it anywhere on your clothing and not have to worry about holding it in your hand or carrying the big ones in an armband or running belt. I also had it personalized for free! 🙂 It’s reasonably priced that will make you want to add iTunes Gift Card with it. 🙂

3.) Garmin Watch – You can go from the basic Forerunner 10 – for any runner who just wants to press a button and run or, for the most expensive Forerunner 910 – more advanced and errrr complicated (that’s just me! lol!) watch. I have the Forerunner 210 and I love it! As long as it gives me final time, mile splits, pace, and distance – that’s it! I’m good to go! 🙂

4.) Visor/Cap – In hot summer days, I like visors more (more than caps) because they allow your head to breath. You can go for the more common black or white color or you can ask your runner what colors of running clothes they have to give you an idea of what color to get.5.) Medal Hangers – You can order them from here – www.medalhangers.com/. You can customize and personalize them too. This is something you can give to those who have done many races.  I don’t have that much medal yet but I plan on getting this for myself soon! 🙂 This is a nice way to display my hard-earned bling!

6.) A  good headband for the runner girls in your life – Sweaty Bands – my favorite company. Not only they have super cute designs, they don’t slide from my head. They’re the only headband I wear. I actually bought one again just recently to wear for snowboarding! 🙂

I suggest finding out what your runner’s favorite color is. Throw in some hair ties too! They will definitely love you for that. Every girl, runner or not, loves cute hair accessories!

Click this link to get 5% off from SweatyBands.com! 🙂

7.) Jewelry – Speaking of accessories, you can give them something from this website too – Inspiredendurance.com. They have a lot of cute jewelry that you can customize according to what kind of race they do. It’s so cool! 🙂 The running necklaces, charms and earrings are so cute.

8.) Running Store Gift Cards or Gift Certificates – You can never go wrong with this. This shows your support for their passion to run. It also gives them the opportunity to shop for what they need along the way. Oh, trust me! Every runner wants something in a running store. Just ask for their favorite running store and for sure, you will make any runner smile with any amount you give! They can get anything from gu gels, energy bars, clothing, to the most expensive running shoes! They’re choice and they’re happy! 🙂

So, there you have it – a breakdown of my gift ideas for runners. I hope that helps generate some gift ideas for the runners in your life.

To the runners out there, what are in your wish list? Let’s keep the ideas flowing and share them in comments below!

I Ran in the Rain Today!

Yep, I ran 3 miles in the rain today. When I woke up this morning, I heard rain. I peeped through our window and it was foggy, wet and rainy. I didn’t think twice. I changed into my running outfit, wore my cap, went out and did my (scheduled) run today… in the rain 🙂

It was trash day today. I had to hurdle on some trash bins along the way.

Who knows, maybe someday I’ll have to run a race in the rain. I just kept thinking, “this is way better than snow!” – which I have yet to experience. Yikes!

I love this running quote. So true.
(source: http://fitbie.msn.com/)

I had this picture as my iPad cover photo. So that every time my iPad alarm goes off in the morning, I would see it. This photo is my motivation to get up and get moving. 🙂

My iPad’s cover photo.

My run today was really exciting! It wasn’t raining too hard, just enough to keep me cool. I loved every minute of it! I love the feeling of the cool mist on my face. It was so refreshing. It made me feel like a kid splashing through the puddles. My shoes were soaked. It was definitely a new experience for me, since I never ran, danced or played in the rain before. My husband would sometimes joke about how fun-deprived I was growing up. Lol! But seriously, running in the rain today felt good. 🙂

I didn’t take any pictures during my run. I didn’t bring my camera because it is not waterproof. I am not sure about my watch though.

Are Garmin Forerunner watches waterproof?

For my post-running meal/breakfast, I had overnight oats topped with fresh cherries, cinnamon powder and sliced almonds. Yum! 🙂

How about you? Do you like running in the rain? Feel free to share your experiences below. 🙂

Rainy Morning

Today, I woke up 7:00 am to a dreary, cloudy and rainy morning.

I was supposed to go out and run this morning but there was a steady pouring rain. I immediately decided to do my run in the afternoon instead. So, I crawled back in bed and went back to sleep 🙂

Just want to share this clever snack that I have been munching on lately. I love this tamarind candies from the Philippines that my mom brought for me when she visited last May.

It’s sweet, chewy and a little bit spicy. I was intrigued at first, but taking one would lead you to take another and another and another…it’s quite addicting really. To justify my addiction to this – tamarind is a fruit and I think it’s a better alternative that snacking on some potato chips. I saw this at the international store last Friday, so I’m guessing you can find this at any Asian Stores :).

Finally, the rain stopped by mid afternoon so; I went out and did my run. According to my watch, I finished 3 miles in 32 minutes.

I have been doing interval training the past few weeks to improve my pace from 11 minute/mile to 10 minute/mile. I made a goal to be able to run 3 miles in 30 minutes.  To many of you fast runners, that is nothing, but for someone like me who just started serious running this year, 3 miles in 32 minutes is a fantastic goal!

I would love to improve even more. How do you train to improve your pace? Does anyone have any suggestions what I can do to improve my speed? Any advice would be much appreciated!

While running around the neighborhood, I noticed a lot of mosquitoes flying around. This is usually my issue when I run in the trails, but not in my neighborhood. It’s probably not a good idea to run after a rainstorm. They were bumping into my sunglasses and bouncing off my face. I’ve swallowed a bug in the course of my run. YUCK! Does anyone have a problem of getting mauled by bugs during their runs too?

As my husband and I watched the TV while having our dinner, the news today said that mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus are increasing in Ohio. So far, the virus has been found in 213 samples across Ohio this summer. Last year at this time, Ohio had only 38 positive. Of course I got worried and swore to never leave the house without my insect repellent.

What can be used to repel mosquitoes when running? Does anyone know of any good products that will work? I tried OFF before but never worked for me. Bug spray would sweat off right away. I don’t want to avoid the trail and I am willing to try everything, especially with the skeeters carrying the West Nile Virus on the way.

Thanks and have a good and insect-free day! 🙂

Trail Running Tuesday

I still have to get used to waking up early in the morning. I am sleeping late this summer because it’s tough to start feeling sleepy when you still have the sun so bright & shining at 9:00 pm! Yes, I’m blaming it on the sun :). Then, I’ll get to feel really sleepy around 12:00 to 1:00 am. Apparently, my supposed target time to wake up at 6:00 am today to avoid the heat for my morning run did not happen. I woke up late today at around 8:00 am and there was the sun, up and hot already. So, I decided to hit a nearby trail for my run instead.

It’s definitely nice to run in the shade in a hot, hot day and getting out there with nature. I’m happy to finish a 3-mile run despite the hot & muggy weather.

I love my Brooks top that I wore for my run today. I love how it kept me cool and held up to the heat and humidity. It is very thin and lightweight and has become my favorite top to wear for my runs in these summer days.

Women’s Epiphany Short Sleeve
source: http://www.brooksrunning.com

After my run, I made a bowl of oats for breakfast, with a dash of cinnamon powder, top with blueberries and splash of 2% fat milk, plus my coffee, of course. 🙂

A delicious and healthy breakfast gives me just the right start for my day. I really hope I can be out of bed really early and make great days ahead. I will definitely try harder next time.

I also want to share what I had for snacks earlier today. I love to snack on Wheat Thins with hummus…ohhh it is so delicious. I became obsessed with Wheat Thins when I tried it before with Laughing Cow cheese. Good stuff!

For lunch, when my husband and I crave for some southern style barbecue, we go to our favorite restaurant just minutes away from us. We love their smoked barbecue ribs. We usually eat it with spicy sauce, mac n’ cheese, and baked beans. Yum!

The owners of the restaurant are very friendly and really know how to cook southern style barbecue. They are originally from Arkansas – true authentic southerners. That explains why they make their barbecue so good.

I served an easy and quick to prepare steamed fish fillet & asparagus for dinner tonight.

I seasoned the fillets with:

• Olive oil
• Cilantro
• Lemon pepper
• Garlic salt
• Cayenne pepper
• Lime juice to taste

And steamed them with the asparagus for about 17 minutes.

I love our Black & Decker Food Steamer. I think it’s the best purchase we had from Macy’s. We had it for over a year now and use it almost everyday. It not only steams vegetables and fish to perfection but also chicken and shrimp as well. We love to steam our rice in this too. The rice actually comes out perfect and fluffy unlike with the typical rice cooker that uses direct type of heat, it burns the rice at the bottom.

Once cooked, I drizzle the asparagus with

• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper

There is a lot of good TV shows every night. Our fave shows on Tuesdays are Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef.  I’m going to take it easy and relax in front of the television tonight until bedtime.

Have a good night everyone!

Beautiful Friday Morning

Every runner has a preference on what time of the day to run. For this summer, I usually do my runs at night. I normally wait until about 8pm when the sun is setting to get out and run. Last night, my husband and I checked the weather for today. The temps are cooling down, and it will be fabulous for running.

It was indeed a beautiful morning today. My husband & I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to start our day and workout. He did indoor cycling with his Travel Trac bike trainer and,

I geared into my running outfit and headed out running around the neighborhood at 6:30am.

I now find it fun to run in the morning and I think I’m sticking to this routine. I love the feel of the gentle cool breeze touching my face. It’s so quiet and so peaceful

I finished an easy 3-mile run. I’m proud of myself for waking up early and starting  the day right.

For my post-workout meal/breakfast:

2 eggs, sprinkled with cayenne pepper, parsley & dash of salt.  Ever since I moved here, I rarely eat rice for breakfast. But this time, I ate my eggs with a small serving of rice. There goes the Filipino in me. =P

Yum! Definitely satisfied & happy! =)

Welcome To My Little Blog World!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my first day of blogging. Please bear with me as I navigate this new endeavor.

I am just an ordinary girl who got off track and slowly trying to rebuild myself. I was never one for healthy eating or exercise, but I have lately developed a passion for those things. I just want this to be a well rounded blog. I plan to share anything about my life & my thoughts as I go through my journey of staying healthy & active. I’ll incorporate recipes, some of my favorite things and little bit of girly stuff (sorry guys!). I think even runner girls should still look cute, right?! 🙂 Just a reminder again that I am not an expert in any way. What worked for me might not work for you. I didn’t start out with any specific method – I JUST RAN! 🙂 I think I’m a living proof that anyone can become a runner. =)

So, stay tuned this is going to be exciting!