Friday Favorites #16 – winter running gift guide

Brr, it’s cold outside. It’s in the teens in the NYC area today and wind chill makes it feel like the single digits. My alarm went off this morning a little after 4AM and I decided I was too cold and tired to wake up. With the weather and missed workout, this day is getting off to a great start… but it’s Friday and a week away from the holidays, so I can’t complain.

In case you’re looking for some last-minute presents or something for yourself, here are some of my favorites that I know will be staples in getting me through another season of the cold.

Plantronics BackBeat Fit Bluetooth Headphones – I’ve been on the market for a pair for a while but with all the treadmill running I’ve been doing recently and my epic clumsiness of dragging my phone off the treadmill, it was time to make the investment. After some research and reading the Wirecutter reviews, I decided on these. I will do a full review in a later blog post but so far so good.

I’ll Have Another with Lindsey Hein Podcast – A good playlist or podcast is essential to help me get through the treadmill miles. I’ll Have Another is light-hearted and easy for me to follow along on early morning treadmill runs.

Feetures Elite Merino+ Light Cushion Socks – Wool socks are my go to for winter outdoor running. I am a big fan of Feetures socks and especially like the merino wool ones for winter use. They keep my toes toasty even when I’m outside waiting for a race to start.

HotHands Hand Warmers – Okay, these are not a lot of fun as a present but they are a necessity!

Oiselle Softshell Gloves – My fingers and toes hate the winter. I usually opt a double layer of gloves and mittens but love these gloves from Oiselle. They are super warm!

L’Occitane Shea Butter Body Cream – This is without a doubt my favorite lotion especially when my hands are super dry from weather. My hands feel so soft afterwards!

Lululemon Runderland Neck Warmer – I love me a soft neck warmer with adjustable sizing. I usually want the neck warmer higher on my neck and even sometimes covering my mouth initially but as I warm up, I adjust the sizing so it falls lower along my neck.

Lululemon Kick The Cold Funnel Neck and Athleta Techie Sweat Jogger – I don’t use these for running but I love lounging around in this sweatshirt (and it keeps my neck toasty, I’m extremely wimpy in my old age) and jogger pant. These are especially great for post long run relaxing or in my case like today, pure laziness relaxing.

Have a happy Friday and stay warm this weekend!

**This is not a sponsored post, rather just a collection of some of my favorite winter running essentials. Some items contain an affiliate link.

Happy Thanksgiving and updates!

Hello! It’s been a little while I blogged so here is a quick update from my end —

img_6248I ran the Race to Deliver 4 Miler in Central Park with my friend, Toni last weekend. It was nice to run in Central Park again and the fall trees looked amazing. I really miss running in Central Park. I also really miss running in races.

I have also been experimenting with different running and cross training schedules as I have been building my Los Angeles marathon training plan. Training starts tomorrow – 16 weeks to go! Ahh! More to come on my training strategy as I finalize the details. I enjoyed an early morning 5:45AM spin class at Prime Cycle last week. I miss spin classes and how bad I am at them! But it’s definitely a great workout. I also attended a couple of Wet Barre (Cardio!) classes. Planks, burpees, and mountain climbers, how I love to hate you. And in attempting to break into the routine of running in the morning, I ran on the treadmill a couple of mornings and did a hill workout with the Elysianettes running group one day. I am hoping to attend a couple of runs a week with the group. This coming week will certainly be an experiment with getting up early consistently to get the workouts in and I will be sure to update you on how it all goes.

img_6271This year I started Black Friday shopping even earlier. I love going to the stores on Black Friday but didn’t make it out. However, I did start shopping since the Monday before the holiday – I love me a good sale. My favorites this year include Gap’s 50% off, Athleta’s 20%, J. Crew’s 40%, Madewell’s 25%, Nordstrom’s 20% off sale, Brooks free socks and sale on the Launch 3 and Amazon’s select sale items. Many of these sales end tonight, so hurry and take advantage!

img_6281And finally, we had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed an amazing holiday weekend with family and friends and a lot of yummy food. For Thanksgiving dinner, my contribution was stuffing (Josh’s family recipe), cranberry sauce, and apple dumpling cake. And if you wanted to try the recipes, I half the amount of sugar used in both. There is a lot to be thankful for this year and it was fun celebrating Charlotte’s first Thanksgiving. I know there will be even more fun to come in future years.

Hope everyone had a great holiday and weekend!