Tag: safety

Safety Sunday- Sidekick

Disclaimer: I received a Sidekick ID from Road iD to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews.

I’ve been a fan of Road ID for years. I’ve had the Sport ID and one of the silicone Stretch ones. I loved the changeablity of the Sport ID but it’s no longer offered. And that’s ok. I’ve bought ones for both of my parents and recently upgraded Zoey’s dog tags.

What is Road iD? Road ID offers a variety of ways to carry ID outside of your actual license. Wrist ID’s, shoe ID’s, dog tags, kid’s ID, medical ID’s, etc. They offer a variety of band types for the wrist ID’s as well as decorative tags. As runners, it is important that we carry ID as we never know when we might need. We all hope that we never will but it is better to be prepared.

from the website

There was a time when I never ran without my RoadID. And I have proven that it does work, like the time I accidently dropped it getting into my car post run. A nice stranger found it and called my mother with the number on it. Which as you can imagine had her very alarmed until we worked it out.

Then came the last 6 months. Things I never forgot I was leaving behind. I forgot my hat numerous times. Water bottles were an afterthought, forgot my headphones numerous times, and my Sport Road iD? I started forgetting it so much I don’t even know where it is.

I started looking at the Sidekick ID a few months ago. I even went so far as filling in all my information and putting in the cart but never checking out. I should just look for mine right? Then the possibility opened with BibRave and I jumped on it.

The Sidekick ID is designed to slip right on the watch band of your Garmin, Fitbit or Apple Watch. I chose the 19mm size and was able to fit 6 lines of information on it. Name, Location, Emergency Contact 1, Emergency Contact 2, health info, and a motto.

It arrived and I eagerly opened the package. The Sidekick slides over a piece of industrial fabric with 2 bands to loop around your watch band. It also came with a secondary fabric piece for the just in case moments. It was super easy to slide onto my watch. Then I could just forget about it.

From then on I always had my Road iD on. At work, around town and on the run. Once it was on my watch, I never even noticed it- it didn’t add to the weight at all. I no longer had to worry about forgetting it, yay! I also no longer had to worry about dropping it when my hands swelled on hot runs. Like the above mentioned incident. My only wish is that I had purchased the Rose Gold faceplate instead of the black but I figured I was already pushing the limits on the professionalism of my watch, ha! So I made Zoey’s new tag Rose Gold. It all works out.

Want your own? Use this link to save 20%!  https://road.id/BibRave
How do you carry ID on the run?

For other thoughts, checkout Corey – Jessica – Christine

Running Buddy

Disclaimer: I received a Go Dog Glo Harness from Stunt Puppy  as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews.

I love getting toys and things for my dog. Seriously, she has way too many toys. And I love buying her new collars.

But she does not get walked enough. And we are both getting a little fluffy. Most of it is my bad but part of it is that finding a harness that doesn’t drive her crazy. She doesn’t play well with the just the leash- ok, well she’s not the best behaved on the leash.

I’m not sure about this…

Put a harness on her and she looks like she is being tortured. Seriously, the woe is me look is priceless. She’s tried on numerous harness’s at Petco- yeah, sorry about that- but no luck. And the one she does have? She runs when she sees it in your hands.

So, when the opportunity came up to test the Go Dog Glo harness from Stunt Puppy, I figured it couldn’t hurt.

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All the specs from the website

When it arrived, she was super excited like she is anytime I tell her I got her something. Then she saw it was a harness. Then I put it on her. Cue not happy face.

It was a few days before I got her outside with the harness- thanks 108 heatwave- and at first she was her usual sour puss self, Then it was like she realized she didn’t find it annoying and looked at me like “let’s go!”. So we went.

The next time I brought the harness out she actually looked excited and ran towards me and stood still while I put it on her. Say what???

Now, I am not saying it’s all sunshine and roses now. She still comes to a dead halt to sniff something and I have to literally drag her away. But she no longer reacts like she choking when I muscle her away from whatever “awesome” scent she is smelling.

Now, it’s been hot hot hot here, so full disclosure we haven’t been on that many walks in the short time we’ve had it. However I am looking forward to more. I really need to work on getting up in the morning and taking her, but well, me and mornings are not the best of friends. She actually came running into the room one morning last week and I think she wanted to go for a walk but I told her no. I’m sorry!

For reference- Zoey is around 65 pounds and wears the large.

I am looking forward to more walks with Zoey- maybe I’ll turn her into a runner someday.

Does your dog run?

Never Really Alone

Disclaimer: I received Sabre products to try as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

If you run alone, you’ve likely thought about your safety on the run. If not, how?

I’ve run with pepper spray since I was attacked by a dog 9 years ago. I still have the scars on my butt to prove it. Before then my biggest concern running was how stupid I looked doing it. Nothing slams me a halt now quite like a dog off leash.

Then I started running the lake path. Which seems to be home to all of my creepiest encounters. From cars that follow too close around the path or men who just stop and stare.

There’s also the random but not so infrequent wild life occurrences in town. From roaming mountain lions to bears in cul-de-sacs and let’s not forget the time a wolf hybrid escaped from the rehab facility. It’s a riot out here.

I started carrying pepper spray way back when and am ost never without it. I’ve gone through a variety of different styles and brands. Partly because of the expiration dates and partly because I have a tendency to break them. How? If I am carrying it in my hand, it will get thrown at some point. It’s one of the reasons I don’t carry a handheld all that often.

So now I carry Sabre. Small, compact and complete with a strap! No more throwing it! Although in a worst case throwing it might not be a bad idea.

Never gonna let you go

Ok, so I don’t toss it around anymore but really makes Sabre rock?

How about- (from the Sabre website)

  • MAXIMUM STOPPING POWER: Maximum strength formula is backed by in-house high performance liquid chromatography laboratory which guarantees maximum stopping power, eliminating the 30% failure rate experienced with other pepper spray brands (University of Utah study); plus UV marking dye aids in suspect identification
  • #1 PEPPER SPRAY BRAND TRUSTED BY POLICE AND CONSUMERS WORLDWIDE: Including New York, Chicago PD, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s & U.S. Marshals; made in the U.S.A. and ISO 9001:2008 certified with a 4-year shelf life from the date of manufacture
  • ENHANCED SAFETY: Pepper gel virtually eliminates wind blow-back and only affects what it directly contacts, plus it offers a 20% greater range (12 feet/4 m) for protection at a safer distance
  • EASILY ACCESSIBLE WITH PROTECTION AGAINST MULTIPLE THREATS: Adjustable hand strap provides police-strength protection at your fingertips; contains 35 bursts (up to 5x other brands) plus a locking top safety mechanism to prevent accidental discharge
  • FREE TRAINING: Packaging includes link to free training video in addition to publicly available safety tips on blog
All the essentials- Gatorade and an alarm

Along with the pepper spray which I already felt comfortable with, Sabre offers personal alarms. Yes, there are a few apps that offer runner tracking and location information, however those seem less than productive to me. They tell someone where you were when there might have been a problem. Those people are usually never near you at the time and likely can’t get to you quickly. How safe is that? It’s not. It’s a road map for a worst case scenario. The Sabre personal alarm is there to alert those actually nearby that you need help. And/or maybe be a loud enough deterrent for whatever man or beast may be in front of you.

And it clips on anywhere. Seriously, I’ve it clipped to my pack, my pocket, a tank top strap, and my purse. I recently bought my first Coach purse and yes- I clipped the bright pink alarm to the outside pocket. Safety is always stylish, right?

Sabre is extremely low priced in my opinion for my peace of mind. But if you need more convincing- how about a discount? Use code SABRERUN to save 20%.

Everything’s safe until it isn’t and for that I have my Sabre. I can only hope I don’t have to use it.

Want to read more?

Meridith – Taushah –

Get Your Shine On

Disclaimer: I received Brilliant Reflective to try as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

With Fall coming, runners often rejoice in the much better running temps.  However we also creep ever closer to the end of Daylight Savings time and the sun sets so much more quickly.  For an evening runner like me, that is not great.

A road running runner’s number 1 priority is being seen by traffic.  I have lights so I can see but how do I ensure that driver’s see me?  As a local safety add espouses “pedestrians don’t wear armor” and I would lose in a battle with a car.

I have a one of those basic “Hi-viz” running vests but it never seems very bright to me.  Some of that fancy running gears goes for more money than I would spend on a race.  I see those light up, fancy flashing ones online but let’s be real- that’s just one more thing I would need to remember to charge and I know sooner than later I would forget.

Brilliant Reflective to the rescue!!  Brilliant Reflective offers Iron on and Stick On strips by the pack that you can add to your regular clothing, running gear, cycling gear, dog leashes, etc to let drivers know that you are there.  Brilliant Reflective is super bright and works via retroreflection.  Which means it returns more reflection back to the driver than standard gear so they can better identify you as a person.

BR Info

Not only does Brilliant Reflective help keep you safer, it super easy to use.

Pick out the running clothes you want to apply Brilliant Reflective to, get your iron, iron on.  Done!  It’s that easy.  Now your standard running gear, which if you’re like me you wear the top 4-5 shirts in the drawer over and over, is safer and visibility friendly.   You can wash and dry like normal.  This is not my first time using Brilliant Reflective, I have the iron on strips on a couple of pairs of crops and tanks from over a year ago and it’s still going strong.    In fact the crops just ripped but the reflection was just as strong as when I first ironed it on.

Still shining a year later

I rarely run without my pack or trucker hat, so I took the stick on strips and went to town on them.   Now you see me- every time I run.  And what’s super cool is that when I want to wash the hats, I just remove the strips, let them hang from my hamper and then put them back in place later.

 

That might not work with my pack (haven’t tested it yet) but that’s where the price point comes in handy.  A pack of Brilliant Reflective strips is only $14.95… and they have colors and fun shapes!  I just could just change up my color scheme every time I wash it.  Which I need to do more often but that is not the point here.

I love this product because it easy, it’s affordable and it helps keep me safe. I’m still on alert when I run but at least I know drivers have a better chance of seeing me now.

Want your own Brilliant Reflective?  Use code BRP30 for 30% off your entire purchase!  I think I need to go buy myself the shapes pack.  😛

How do you stay safe and visible when running?

Light as Air

Disclaimer: I received a pair of Aftershokz Trekz Air to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I love listening to music on the run.  Partly because it covers the sounds of my own huffing and puffing and partly because music helps gives me that extra kick in the pants I need some times.   Plus it’s fun to randomly throw in a horribly offbeat dance move while running.  😛

That said, I never felt comfortable with regular earphones.   Completely blocking both ears from outside noises just never worked for me.  I always ran with one in and one out… and would usually end up tangled in the cords.  So when I first discovered Aftershokz last year with the Trekz Titanium, I was in love.   Wireless and safe- where have you been all my life???

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hen I heard about the Trekz Air and wondered- can something that was already awesome be better?  Spoiler alert- yes.

The concept is the same- same bone conduction technology. So instead of shoving an earbud uncomfortably into your ear, the Trekz Air rests just outside the ears on your cheekbones.   This way you can safely enjoy your music or your podcast but still be aware of the sounds and environment around you.  Actually, the tech is still mind boggling to me but I know it works from personal experience and I love it.  I can have my music cranked up but still hear the leaves scratching the pavement as they blow across the path.

From the website-

  • Bone conduction technology delivers music through your cheekbones, ensuring ears remain completely open to hear ambient sounds
  • A 20% lighter build than its counterpart
  • A new organic design delivers increased comfort
  • Complete wraparound titanium design provides a flexible fit for unnoticeable all-day comfort and stability
  • OpenFit™ design ensures maximum situational awareness and comfort during long-term wear
  • PremiumPitch+™ guarantees a premium audio experience, including wide dynamic range and rich bass
  • Bluetooth® v4.2 connectivity and convenient multipoint pairing
  • LeakSlayer™ technology significantly reduces natural sound leakage
  • IP55 certified to repel sweat, dust and moisture, from workouts to wicked weather
  • Enjoy six hours of continuous music + calls on a single charge
  • EQ presets boost bass and reduce vibration on the go
  • Dual noise canceling microphones exclude surrounding noise, effectively enhancing speech
  • Audrey Says™ voice prompts guide users through power, pair, play and talk
  • Hassle-free 2-year warranty

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So why am I totally in love with the Trekz Air?  Like love so much, they are always with me- kept charged and in my purse at all times.   They are so much lighter.  I know that spec wise, it says they are 20% lighter but I feel like that number should be much higher.   I’ve mentioned before that I am prone to headaches and those headaches often turn into migraines.  It doesn’t take much to set them off and sadly sometimes my previous pair would aggravate my head on long runs.   Not the case with the Trekz Air!!  Even after a 2 hour, sweaty mess run, I could barely feel them.  If I hadn’t had the music playing in my ears I would have completely forgotten they were on.  That made me want to jump up and down for joy.   Which is why I now carry them everywhere with me.  😎  I can listen to music on my lunch breaks without worrying about anyone else hearing it, which is great because my music is not always break room appropriate.  😛

Want your own? Get a bonus BibRave trucker hat with your AfterShokz Trekz Air purchase with code “TRUCKER” at http://bibrave.aftershokz.com/

How do you listen to music on the run?