Oh the bear necessities...

The simple bear necessities, forget about your worry and your strife, Yeeeeaaaa Man! I love the Jungle book and can just see Mogali singing that with Baloo. Anyways, sometimes the necessities of life are also those that are necessary to have a safe, productive and fun run. Here are some of my latest things that I think are cool, fun, or just plain cute.




Overton Fitness is selling this handy dandy little belt that is kind of like a new age fanny pack, with much better color selection I might add. Um, hot pink Spibelt anyone? By the way, Spibelt stands for Small Personal Items belt. Way to draw the right attention to yourself while running. The fabric looks super durable as well. This classy little pack is designed and claims not to bounce when you run, which is amazing, since us girls already have enough bouncing to worry about, don't we? What I love about it is that it holds more than just a key or an ipod, but you can also carry your phone, camera, up to 5 GU packets, and it's expandable as well. Talk about packing it all in, Overton fitness thought about all the necessities. This just seems too goo to be true, and I'm hoping to get one as soon as possible because they are inexpensive at only 20 dollars for a non-reflective spibelt and 30 for reflective spiblet. http://www.overtonfitness.com/spibelt.php

Stay tuned for a review of the spibelt.. does it stand up to it's not bouncing claim?



Another thing I love, and you would too, once you got past the wincing pain, is the foam roller. I finally bought one after using a dirty, old, sweaty one at the gym on occasion. Having one to call my own has allowed me to really develop my stretching habits, and helped me to become more flexible, especially loosening up my calfs and hamstrings after a long run. This tool is vastly underused, and is actually simple to use, you might just look a tad bit awkward using it the first few times, but hey awkward is what running is, right? You can find tons of pictures online on how to use it, but I usually use mine mostly for the hamstrings and calfs but rolling my body over it, kind of like a beached whale. Check it out at http://www.performbetter.com/ (hurry, right now they are having a end of season summer sale right now too! )



Though I normally go to Starbucks for a delicious cup of soy Chai to get me through my day, I have recently been chugging down their new Banana Chocolate Blend Vivanno Drink. It's freshly prepared with a whole banana, bittersweet cocoa, 2% milk and Starbuck's own whey protein & fiber powder, and is blended with a little ice. On the way to work in the morning after a workout is just delightful, and there are 21 grams of protein in it and 270 calories. It's a much more cute than sucking down some Muscle Milk (which by the way is the worst packaging ever, you can tell they are marketing to the male population)... or lugging that 42 oz. tub of protein off the top of the fridge. Learn more about the Vivanno drinks and flavors at http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_info.asp
Ask for it without whip cream, that adds a hefty amount of calories. :)

Lastly, I have two new songs that I am madly in love with. They are what I have been listening too lately to get me pumped up to run.

First off there is Rhianna's Disturbia. I don't know why I love this song, but I do, and it gets me started off on the right pace, and gets me in the mood to run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6zdhHLvT7k (Watch video at your own risk.)

Also, with summer coming to a close, there is a Jerry Mungo song that I like to listen to while running, even though it doesn't really pump me up too much it always puts a smile on my face. It's such a cute, bubbly song and it always makes me bob my head out on a run. I feel like I should be doing hopscotch while listening to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc9wIzi96_E (Watch video at your own risk.)

xoxo