I have hit a runner's rut

It is getting harder and harder to run every day now. I do not have that runner's high anymore. My alarm clock is still set for 5:50am. But, these days, I get up, walk over and then press the snooze button. As I hit the snooze button, my mind is thinking that I will run tomorrow. The thought of running on the weekend is also now becoming a bit of a chore.

On the internet, there are several topics that discuss these symptoms. My symptoms indicate a condition that some call a runner's rut. It turns out that every runner goes through this phase in their running. This is very common.

I have run a lot this year. At the time of writing this blog, I have already run 1039 miles or spent 270:33:34 hours running this year. I have also lost 196357 kilo-calories. This is a lot of running for a guy who just started running seriously late last year.

There are many reasons why a runner will eventually hit a runner's rut:

1. Burnout of the mind and the body with everyday or very frequent running

2. Not resting enough between runs

3. Not resting enough between work, life and runs. 

4. Running the same or similar routes frequently 

5. Not giving enough time for the body to recover from a strenuous run

My rut is due to a little bit of all of the above.

Now, if you google the words "runner's rut", you will come across several articles that describe this and provide recommendations. Essentially, the recommendations are consistently along the lines of:
- Rest
- Recover
- Refuel

This rut hit me at a good time. It hit me at a time, when I need to taper for my Honolulu Marathon. The next two weeks, I will be vacationing, relaxing, refueling and recovering from all the running this year. I am hoping that by the time I get to the starting line of Honolulu Marathon, I am well rested and ready for a good race.

Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro - Review

It took me a while to research and purchase my first headphones for running: Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro.

Purchasing headphones for running was not as easy as I had thought. Being new to running at the time (April 2013), I was still discovering this sport and its needs. I had just run my first marathon in February and had 4 more to go before the year-end. The Hyannis Marathon destroyed my old phillips headphones, which were never meant for running, but I still used it and paid the price. I needed new headphones. I wanted a reliable and an entertaining partner for my ear, for the long run.

As I was researching my options, I started to understand my requirements as a runner. Every runner is unique. My unique requirements were:

• Ambient noise must be heard. Any headphone that insulates external noise is too dangerous to wear for a runner. If I am going to run with headphones, I wanted to hear every dog bark, every pleasant remark by a bystander or every car that is anywhere close to me while I am running.
• Deliver rich and premium sound without giving me headaches during a long run, even during the most exhaustive of a run.
• Headphones that are tuned and made for runners and not audio-philes.
• Headphones should stick to the ears for as long as I am running. It is critical that I forget about the headphones in my ear when wearing them for a run. 
• They should not be very expensive. $50-$75 is a good range

I found a lot of headphones that met some of the above requirements, but not all. Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro met all of the above requirements.

Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro comes well packaged in a box. A Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro purchase includes a sport pouch for carrying your headphones in any weather, a clip, two neoprene adapters that twist and lock the headphones in your ear and the headphones.

I have now worn these Yurbuds for more than 600 miles. I have worn them during high heat, high sweat, long runs, short runs, tempo runs, cold runs and during many races including marathons (2 marathons as of the day of this writing) etc. So far, I love them. They are totally worth the price ($42.37) that I paid for them.

They are simple to operate. First find the adapter that fits your ear. Yurbuds provides two sizes. One of the adapter is smaller while the other is larger. Larger size works well for me. Once, the adapter is attached to the headphones, I put them in my ear. I twist to lock them in my ear. I click on the attached 3-button control with a mic and the music starts to play. If I want to forward to the next song, I double-click on this 3 button control. To move backwards, I triple-click. If I get a phone call, I simply click on the 3 button control once and pick up the phone call. It is very easy to operate.

The Yurbuds customer service is also excellent. After getting the headphones, I reached out to them with a simple question through email. They promptly wrote back to me and resolved the issue.

But, these headphones are not without issues. The Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro are made out of cloth-coated wires. Even though these cloth-coated wires help with the issue of tangled wires, it makes a constant noise when rubbing against anything. In my case, it rubs against my technical shirt. I would prefer not to hear this noise. But, it doesn't really bother me during my runs as it quickly becomes part of the ambient noise as soon as I start running and the music starts to play.

I would recommend the Yurbuds Ironman Inspire Pro to any runner that is looking to buy quality headphones that are not too expensive. Yurbuds sells really expensive ones as well, if price is not an issue.