Help Me Help An Athlete

July 9, 2009 9:53 PM

My wife is a serious long-distance runner and her birthday is coming up. She is already outfitted with shoes & shirts, a Garmin 305, a camel back, and a subscription to the relevant magazines. Is there any item that you, as a fellow long-distance runner, would recommend as a great gift? Thanks!
posted by rumsey monument to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (19 answers total)

Best answer: a trip to an exotic marathon/ultramarathon. like guam or siberia. my chums do these all the time...
posted by holdenjordahl at 9:59 PM on July 9, 2009

Best answer: She doesn't listen to music? ipod/headphones seems like the glaring obvious here.

Other ideas:
- massage - not just a fluffy hot-stone massage but a deep-tissue sports massage (you'll know the difference from the website)
- gait analysis if she'd be interested
- cold weather running outfit
posted by barnone at 10:09 PM on July 9, 2009

Best answer: Blender/juicer. For smoothies. I love goddamn smoothies after distance (10m+) runs. Not all runners do, admittedly.
posted by Damn That Television at 10:19 PM on July 9, 2009

Response by poster: great suggestions so far.

Barnone - she does listen to music, I just neglected to mention it. The massage is great idea!
posted by rumsey monument at 10:31 PM on July 9, 2009

Best answer: cheaper running shoes? Since the article mentions that more than half of all runners suffer an injury each year, maybe first-aid/rehab gear or a good bike/elliptical machine so she can stay in shape without high-impact stress on injured legs...
posted by Chris4d at 11:59 PM on July 9, 2009

Best answer: Haruki Murakami's book "What I talk about when I talk about running".
posted by rongorongo at 1:34 AM on July 10, 2009

I'm personally a fan of The Stick.
posted by mcroft at 3:32 AM on July 10, 2009

Best answer: A running cruise. Many to choose from.
You get to go too (bonus!) and don't need to be a runner to enjoy...
posted by nineRED at 4:53 AM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best answer: When you say relevant magazines, I just want to be sure that you are including Marathon and Beyond and Ultrarunning in those subscriptions. I think the former is by far the better magazine, it's meaty and engaging. The latter is popular with ultrarunners, and much looked forward to each month, although I canceled my subscription because I found the long lists of race results tedious.
posted by OmieWise at 5:25 AM on July 10, 2009

Best answer: Learn how to give a good, no-bullshit, trigger point foot massage. Let her know this is a newfound skill that needs honing and she is your first and most important student.

Also: epsom salts and hot water to loosen things up before you work on the feet.
posted by 8dot3 at 6:53 AM on July 10, 2009

Best answer: If she ever runs on a treadmill, maybe she'd like a Garmin Footpod. It works with the 305 to track your mileage when you're running in place.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Indoor-Foot-Accessory-Forerunner/dp/B000HZDNZ2

We're also big fans of the RoadID. It's dorky, but it's nice to know that we have an ID on us when we run or bike and that's no big deal to carry and unlikely to be stolen.
posted by advicepig at 7:02 AM on July 10, 2009

Best answer: Has she read Born to Run? I am also a fan of The Stick.
posted by yeti at 8:25 AM on July 10, 2009

Best answer: Foam roller or the mack-daddy Trigger Point. I dumped my Foam Roller for my Trigger Point. It's awesome.

Mostly, I love when Mr 26.2 offers to meet me on a training run to do a sag stop for me - nothing big just ice, water, electrolyte and something to nibble on. There's few things better at mile 18 than seeing someone who's cheering just for you. Everyone shows up when you're in a race, but the person who gives up their Saturday to support my training run is gold.
posted by 26.2 at 8:52 AM on July 10, 2009

Response by poster: y'all rock! thanks
posted by rumsey monument at 9:31 AM on July 10, 2009

i know that you said she listens to music. if its on an ipod i would recommended the nike+

but then, im a geek and i love information and statistics.

also, the fitbit would be great, but that's looking like its going to be vaporware. it was supposed to be available in january and we're still waiting.
posted by phritosan at 10:49 AM on July 10, 2009

Seconding gait analysis, or more generally, a trip to some sort of performance testing clinic (where she can get her VO2max and lactate threshold tested). I went to this and found it helpful. (They weren't doing the VO2max/LT testing when I was there, but were planning on adding it.) Maybe there's a similar clinic in your area.
posted by epugachev at 10:57 AM on July 10, 2009

And phritosan's suggestion of a nike+ would be good, except you said she already has a Garmin 305, which is more accurate, though the later does not work indoors. (advicepig's suggestion of the Garmin Footpod would be the natural answer there.)
posted by epugachev at 11:00 AM on July 10, 2009

There's a lot more to it than just the running, but the book Barefoot Runner about Abebe Bikila (first African Olympic gold, marathon, 1960) is awesome. Really, unbelieveable.
I heard some good things about the Karnazes movie too, but I haven't been able to see it yet.
posted by mjg123 at 12:22 PM on July 10, 2009

If she runs far already... Why not get her interested in triathlon? Depending on your budget you could get her a basic race bike, or some masters swimming lessons, a couple of books about triathlon, a triathlon induction bootcamp...

I don't see how an ultrarunner wouldn't enjoy 3x his/her efforts. And rewards!
posted by madeinitaly at 8:22 AM on July 11, 2009