Category Archives: gear

01.14.14
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These Headphones Rock

bose_sie2iEvery once in a while we come across a product that performs far beyond our expectations. Last week I had just one of those experiences.

I had tried numerous headphones over the last couple of years, never finding ones that really suited me. The over-ear type don’t give a good sound and the in-ear type make me very uncomfortable. And then I found these beauties from Bose. I really like the semi in-ear design, which allows users to hear ambient noise such as car horns, along with the Stay Hear tips that hold the headphone in the ear while running and working out.

The other day I realized that I had left them in the small pocked on the side of my running shorts after the previous days gym session. A mild moment of panic set in when it dawned on me that my shorts were midway through the spin cycle. Jess managed to intercept the shorts before they landed in the dryer and rescue the headphones. Imagine my surprise when, after plugging them into my phone, they were still working!

That’s not all. A couple of days later I dropped the very same headphones into a pint glass of water. And yet again, they survived the ordeal and continue to provide me acoustic entertainment. Most modern products are not made to last, companies opting to trade in some level quality to shorten lifespan in the hope of driving up recurring sales. Clearly that’s not a practice that Bose engage in.

If you’re in the market for some new headphones, I would highly recommend the SIE2i’s. Do you have any favorite products that exceeded your expectations?

03.22.12
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Retiring Old Shoes

old_shoes_001Does every runner remembers their first pair of shoes? For me it was the Brooks Defyance 4 – a pair I picked up last October after a visit to a local Jack Rabbit store. I had struggled for a few months with a couple of different pairs of shoes, but never felt as though I was getting the right level of support from them. I had passed the store one day and read on their website that they gave consultations to runners by looking at gait and pronation to determine the best set of shoes. In my case, my over-pronation and slightly excessive motion meant that I needed something with plenty of support. The sales associate recommended these shoes and after only a couple of runs I began to feel a significant difference in my legs and knees.From October through March, these shoes clocked up a total of 380 miles culminating in the New York City Half-Marathon last weekend.

I was so happy with these shoes that, a couple of weeks ago I went to Brooks web site and purchased two more pairs. Unfortunately, Brooks are no longer making these shoes having recently launched a new version of the shoe. I realize at some point I’ll have to find a new shoe but for now, at least, I have two new pairs that should last me through the summer and my marathon preparations.