Stuff Review – Spring & Summer 2018
Jaybird Run Headphones, Jaybird X3 headphones, TailWind Nutrition Rebuld Recovery, Hammer Nutrition Starter Kit, Squirrel’s nut butter, Three Sisters Herbal Bug Away and Hoka Challenger 3 Trail Shoes
Ok my friends I’m going to give you some feedback on a flurry of products that I have been using over the last couple months. The links to the websites for all these products are in this post on my site.
Full disclosure I was given for promotional purposes the JayBird headphones and the Tailwind Recovery. The rest I bought with my own hard-earned shekels.
First let me tell you about my experience with the JayBird headphones. If you remember, I was given a set of JayBird X3 wireless Bluetooth headphones this time last year to test. I think I wrote a review late last summer. The X3 retails for about $100.
I have a checkered past with wireless headphones. I kill them. I think when they design ‘sports’ headphones they aren’t thinking about what I do. I think it’s like the difference between water proof and water resistant. My ears and my workouts are a hostile and toxic environment.
Bottom line, those original X3s lasted until April of 2018. That’s almost a year. And that is through several severely hot, severely cold and severely wet workout cycles. They synced well with both my iphone and my droid. They lasted for about 8 hours of charge. They, for the most part stayed in my ears. Two thumbs up.
When I wrote to tell them that I finally managed to kill their headphones they not only sent me new X3s, they also sent me the JayBird Run. The Run are two individual buds with no wire between them. Really minimalist profile. They have this cool little charging case. They retail for about $150.
Frankly, I like the X3s better for my purposes. The Run buds are persnickety in their syncing. They don’t seem to remember my droid well forcing me to re-pair and re-sync. The battery only lasts for 3 hours. Sometimes the left bud loses track of the right bud. Decent product, nice form factor, but I don’t really have time in my life to be fiddling with the technology before every work out.
Next up are a couple nutrition products.
TailWind Nutrition is a well-known company in the ultra-running and trail running world. They sent me a box of their recovery product. It comes in 2 oz sacks of 245 calories, chocolate and vanilla.
I really wanted to like this product. It is gluten free, vegan and had all sorts of aminos and electrolytes and protein. Based on the description it seemed like a great product to mix with a bottle of water for after those super long runs I’ve been suffering through.
When I tried it, I found it to be super sweet. Sugary-sweet. Make your teeth ache sweet. When I looked at the ingredients, sure enough the first two ingredients are dextrose and sucrose. I don’t need that much sugar in my life, especially after a long run. I can’t drink it stand alone. The only thing I can think of doing with it is adding it to smoothies.
Next up is a company I’m more familiar with. Hammer Nutrition. These guys grew out of the long distance cycling world. I have been using their Endurolyte capsules for electrolyte replenishment for years. So much so that I was running out and had to reorder from their site.
I guess they forgot I was already a customer and sent me the new customer starter kit. This is a pretty good deal. You get the stuff you ordered, in my case a bottle of Endurolytes, plus a couple gels, some Endurolyte fizz tablets, a sack of HEED, a sack of Perpetuem, a super yummy vegan energy bar, and a sack of Recoverite.
It turned out to be a good marketing tactic for them because I remembered how much I like the Hammer Gels and bought a jug of that. When I bought the jug of gel they are sending a flask and a water bottle along with those free – both of which I actually need.
I like the Hammer gels because they are a good source of portable energy to keep your blood sugar up on long outings. They also are not sucrose or dextrose based so you don’t get that sharp sugar rush. It’s more of a slow release type sugar. It’s a good compromise and something I’m comfortable with.
Next up is the amusingly named, ultra-runner recommended, cult favorite, Squirrel’s nut butter. I have been suffering from some awful chaffing in this training cycle. I asked my ultra friends what they use and Eric recommended Squirrel’s Nut Butter.
It’s a bit pricey and I’m not sure it does any better than the petroleum based products but I like it. I like it because it’s got a sense of humor. I like it because it’s all natural. It’s coconut oils and beeswax ( they have a version without beeswax now for the vegans). This stuff smells great. I mean if you get lost in the woods you can cook with it or eat it.
Next, with the time I’m spending in the woods I’m giving up a large quantity of my precious bodily fluids to biting insects. I have a mental problem with DEET based sprays. I’m just not comfortable with asking my liver to metabolize all those chemicals every time I go running.
I asked the crowd of loonies over at the Trail Animal Running Club for alternatives. They recommended 3-sisters organic bug away. The impression I get is that these are three actual sisters in a farm house some where actually cooking up individual bottles of this stuff. The stuff comes wrapped like a personal wedding present. Very boutique.
It’s a pricey 4 oz bottle of essential oils. Cedar, citronella, juniper berry, eucalyptus. I used it on my last run. I couldn’t tell how effective it was but It smells great and made me happy. So, I don’t care if it works or not. It smells great and makes me happy.
And really what are we living for if not happiness? As the summer progresses and we move into deer fly season I’ll let you know if hold up.
Lastly, I have been beating the crap out of a pair of Hoka Challenger 3 ATR running shoes. These are like a trail version of the road Cliftons that I like so much. Super comfy ride. Piles of mid-sole cushion. Soft aggressive tread. Responsive enough when you need it. Great shoes.
Since I bought these they came out with the Challenger ATR 4 version of the shoe. That’s good news and bad news. Good news is that you can get the 3’s for $80-$90 on the internet now that they are discontinued. Bad news is that new versions typically mess up good shoes.
The are 2 potential drawbacks I’ve found to these shoes, and I’ve probably got close to 800 miles on them at this point. First the toe-box is pretty tight. I’ve got narrow feet. I don’t need a really wide shoe. But, as you spend hours in the shoes what is an inconvenient rubbing up against the upper turns into foot potential foot care issues.
The second minor draw back is that the upper is a bit weak. I’m tearing holes in these uppers. My big toes are poking through on both sides and there are a number of rips. It’s really not a problem. You don’t really need the uppers anyhow. Eric actually cuts his uppers off his Hokas when he runs Leadville.
Up next I’ll review the gaters I’ve gotten to keep the trail detritus out of my shoes and maybe eve the new pair of Hoka Speedgoats I’m trying out.