Don’t get tiny in-ear pods. They have a habit of popping out during outdoor activities, and due to their size they are likely to get irretrievably lost when they do.
If you’re outdoors, being aware of your surroundings is very useful. Traffic, bicycle bells, dogs, other runners, etc.
I started out with some cheap Bluetooth buds with a linking cable between them. They served me well for about six months before I decided I was getting serious about running.
I have an older pair of Aftershokz Aeropex (the previous model to the OpenRun, before the rebranding to Shokz). I can’t fault them. I also wear spectacles and have no problems. The initial set I had a firmware bug which would mean they didn’t charge if you turned them off when they weren’t idling (ie. whilst they still had an active audio session with the phone).
About 20 months into owning them, my set developed a fault where they sounded like clashing cymbals on every movement (one of the transducers must have detached internally). The manufacturer sent out a brand new pair without argument. That has different firmware without the charging bug.
Note that many race events do not allow the use of earphones, but some will make an exception for bone conduction earphones which don’t block outside sounds.
On the other hand, if your routine solely consists of running on a treadmill in a gym, ignore all of the above.
The COROS PACE 3 could be worth a look at for that budget. I love COROS. All the fitness metrics without any of the pseudo-health over-medicalisation BS of most other manufacturers. The only downside is that they’re almost entirely focussed on running (although you can log other stuff).
1). Depending on where you are in the world it’s hot as fuck right now. For me, this morning was miserable. I kept my pace easy, I took a couple breaks, but I hit my miles. Sometimes the summer is something that you survive and then enjoy the endurance gains in the fall.
2). What’s your typical volume? Is a 7-mile run more than 25% of your weekly volume? If it is, you might scale that back. Overall, for a new runner, the most important thing is building your weekly volume. And it should all be easy. Try to get to 35 comfortable miles a week before you add in workouts or anything else. These will help, but not nearly as much as just running more. Specificity is a thing, after all.
3). Do you like running? I’m not going to try and talk you out of something that I really enjoy, but sometimes I take a brain break and swim, or ride my bike. I usually come back pretty refreshed. If you’re just beat, maybe give that a shot?
It’s long enough to be worth going. It’s enough distance to hold a warm-up, cool down, and whatever kind of tempo, fartleks, hills, or whatnot you’d like to toss in the middle. If you’re just taking it easy around town you can see some stuff. And I get done before I get bored.
Shockz are the best I’ve used, by far. I had a couple different kinds of non bone conducting in the past and the wind noise was always such a problem that I couldn’t use them on windy days, similar to what you mentioned.
If you haven’t tried Shockz lately, you might want to find a running store that carries them and give it another shot. I recently got the OpenRun, and was surprised that they sounded better than the 3 year old “Air by Aftershockz” they replaced. (My dog chewed up the old ones 🫠) The OpenRun Pro are supposed to sound even better, but are not cheap.
I started similarly and I think the simple answer is “run more”.
It was not long after I reached the point I think you are at when I reached the magical “I can run at an easy pace forever!” I started pushing greater distances instead of speed and I got a lot faster as a result.
There are specific programs for each distance to decrease your times and prepare for a race, but they all kind of assume you can run several miles at an easy pace already.
That's an amazing streak. Congrats on keeping it going!
Streak running was exactly what got me over my initial barrier back when I was struggling with recurring injuries in beginner-level marathon training plans. I think the consistency of those easy runs really built up a foundation for more focused training in a way that the on/off schedules couldn't. I dropped the initial streak just before finishing a full year, but I have a feeling I'll circle back eventually when I'm running just to stay active instead of training for specific events.
A fortnight ago I was doing about 60-80km/wk, but then I pushed a bit too hard at the end of a long run and strained a toe. Should be back up to 60 in a couple of weeks again though!
21 miles this week. I had to cut my 10 mile run short yesterday because it was just too hot. It was 85°F when I left for my run in the early afternoon sun. Not a real smart move, but I thought it wouldn’t be so bad based on the season.
Running a half in a few weeks and wishing I had run a bit more over the last month.
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