I know one should spend wast amounts of money on almost any sport one is taking on.
But I'm not, instead, I follow one simple rule - to supply only minimum need to get it going. So, I have only two pairs of running shoes - one for dry weather, mostly summer, and one for wet and cold weather, also winter with icy roads.
Same goes for clothing, I have just enough of each layer and type of clothing needed, starting from couple breathing tees for running, long and short sleeve, a bit more thicker one's for cold weather and thermo-base layer for winter. One runner hat for each season and one raincoat/jacket for when it's really windy and/or rainy.
I've also tried handful of earphones to use, a step tracker and one heartrate tracker.
So I decided it might be helpful for someone to have my review, my insight on the stuff I've found usefull and working for me, in "good enough" section. Once I get new stuff, I'll update this post with latest stuff and make the list current.
I will also provide amazon links of all the products for your convenience.
So, here goes:
SHOES
Summer - Nike Zoom Pegasus 32 - very light, very well fitting, not loosening during somewhat long runs, 10-15km. Very breathable, never gets sweaty. Also feels very comfortable running on tarmac, as that's my main running surface. Disadvantage might be the water-irresistance, if you happen to step into a puddle, it's like a sponge, you instantly get all the water down to your toe, and it's there to stay. :) But, hey, it's a dry shoe and it's meant to have holes in it, working for your comfort, so it's totally ok.
Winter - Asics Cumulus 19 GTX - a bit too wide for my size(47-48), but it's managable with laces. Otherwise - fantastic wet shoe keeping accidental puddle water out, yet not making your feet sweat. Perfect winter shoe - never ever have I felt cold feet in winter, not even below -10C! It is quite good with grip on snow and ice, although it's not a native ice shoe with studs, but it's all-season one with good enough grip on dry, wet, snowy and icy tarmac, and that's exactly the reason I got myself a pair! It forgives foolish mistakes on total ice and keeps you vertical but additional workout is guaranteed for lower body, as you still have to double your cadence and think about balance instantly! :)
You can buy those here: http://amzn.to/2H1svcb
TRACKERS
Activity - MoovNow - a simple yet very smart, again - good enough tracker of everyday activities including sleep and swim(water resistant to extent of swimming, bathing, showering). It specializes on tracking gyroscopes, so it has additional lace to put it on leading leg to track cadence, impact and other stuff, that is used during run and afterwards. It's got dedicated app to tell you if impact is too high or cadence is too low, and it even gives you voiced suggestions on how to improve instantly! It truly feels at times that a real person is training you, and it's quite reasonable training too, not just repeated, unrelated stuff as you might think.
Yes, it doesn't have display so you don't have excuse to stop and look into its display, yes it doesn't have GPS built in so you need to carry your phone with you(and you have all your music and also possibility to do an emergency call if needed) but seriously, I'm talking about running and reasonable, good-enough tracker and this one surely is the one.
Heartrate - Jarv Run BT - seriously, the real heartrate device that works and works correctly, according to almost all the heartrate tracker reviews out there - no smartwatch is a match for these, the dedicated ones to put around your chest. And they are no match in price range also, you can get these for as low as 30EUR/USD.
Not that you actually need one to use in each run - because to my experience, I use it wen I feel I want to track and compare to my inner feeling, my wellbeing during the run, and it usually matches how I feel during each section of a run, the anaerobic, the warmup, all those zones, healthy and unhealthy, it matches for most the tracked heartrate. Still, it might differ from person to person and it is very important to have such a device at hand and be aware of your body, the load it takes on, the suffer score it gets.
SHIRTS, TROUSERS, SHORTS
Just you any somewhat affordable running clothing you can get, all of them are good enough to get you going, no need to get the latest and greatest. I use British brand Karimore, the lower end sports clothing and it's totally ok. You're here to work, not to show off.
APPS
Last but not least - apps. I've tried a lot of those and as experienced IT software developer and system analyst I have my professional "eye" on UX and overall functionality, I immediately see failed UI, failing architecture and execution.
Strava - my favourite in every way - it gives main thing a runner(there are a lot of other sports, of course) needs - flawless tracking of your activity, it just works, gives you main things, never fails, and always, ALWAYS saves your run - never have I experienced with this app that I might lose just tracked but not yet saved/synchronized run!
But I'm not, instead, I follow one simple rule - to supply only minimum need to get it going. So, I have only two pairs of running shoes - one for dry weather, mostly summer, and one for wet and cold weather, also winter with icy roads.
Same goes for clothing, I have just enough of each layer and type of clothing needed, starting from couple breathing tees for running, long and short sleeve, a bit more thicker one's for cold weather and thermo-base layer for winter. One runner hat for each season and one raincoat/jacket for when it's really windy and/or rainy.
I've also tried handful of earphones to use, a step tracker and one heartrate tracker.
So I decided it might be helpful for someone to have my review, my insight on the stuff I've found usefull and working for me, in "good enough" section. Once I get new stuff, I'll update this post with latest stuff and make the list current.
I will also provide amazon links of all the products for your convenience.
So, here goes:
SHOES
Summer - Nike Zoom Pegasus 32 - very light, very well fitting, not loosening during somewhat long runs, 10-15km. Very breathable, never gets sweaty. Also feels very comfortable running on tarmac, as that's my main running surface. Disadvantage might be the water-irresistance, if you happen to step into a puddle, it's like a sponge, you instantly get all the water down to your toe, and it's there to stay. :) But, hey, it's a dry shoe and it's meant to have holes in it, working for your comfort, so it's totally ok.
Winter - Asics Cumulus 19 GTX - a bit too wide for my size(47-48), but it's managable with laces. Otherwise - fantastic wet shoe keeping accidental puddle water out, yet not making your feet sweat. Perfect winter shoe - never ever have I felt cold feet in winter, not even below -10C! It is quite good with grip on snow and ice, although it's not a native ice shoe with studs, but it's all-season one with good enough grip on dry, wet, snowy and icy tarmac, and that's exactly the reason I got myself a pair! It forgives foolish mistakes on total ice and keeps you vertical but additional workout is guaranteed for lower body, as you still have to double your cadence and think about balance instantly! :)
You can buy those here: http://amzn.to/2H1svcb
TRACKERS
Activity - MoovNow - a simple yet very smart, again - good enough tracker of everyday activities including sleep and swim(water resistant to extent of swimming, bathing, showering). It specializes on tracking gyroscopes, so it has additional lace to put it on leading leg to track cadence, impact and other stuff, that is used during run and afterwards. It's got dedicated app to tell you if impact is too high or cadence is too low, and it even gives you voiced suggestions on how to improve instantly! It truly feels at times that a real person is training you, and it's quite reasonable training too, not just repeated, unrelated stuff as you might think.
Yes, it doesn't have display so you don't have excuse to stop and look into its display, yes it doesn't have GPS built in so you need to carry your phone with you(and you have all your music and also possibility to do an emergency call if needed) but seriously, I'm talking about running and reasonable, good-enough tracker and this one surely is the one.
Heartrate - Jarv Run BT - seriously, the real heartrate device that works and works correctly, according to almost all the heartrate tracker reviews out there - no smartwatch is a match for these, the dedicated ones to put around your chest. And they are no match in price range also, you can get these for as low as 30EUR/USD.
Not that you actually need one to use in each run - because to my experience, I use it wen I feel I want to track and compare to my inner feeling, my wellbeing during the run, and it usually matches how I feel during each section of a run, the anaerobic, the warmup, all those zones, healthy and unhealthy, it matches for most the tracked heartrate. Still, it might differ from person to person and it is very important to have such a device at hand and be aware of your body, the load it takes on, the suffer score it gets.
SHIRTS, TROUSERS, SHORTS
Just you any somewhat affordable running clothing you can get, all of them are good enough to get you going, no need to get the latest and greatest. I use British brand Karimore, the lower end sports clothing and it's totally ok. You're here to work, not to show off.
APPS
Last but not least - apps. I've tried a lot of those and as experienced IT software developer and system analyst I have my professional "eye" on UX and overall functionality, I immediately see failed UI, failing architecture and execution.
Strava - my favourite in every way - it gives main thing a runner(there are a lot of other sports, of course) needs - flawless tracking of your activity, it just works, gives you main things, never fails, and always, ALWAYS saves your run - never have I experienced with this app that I might lose just tracked but not yet saved/synchronized run!
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