Phantom Fit Resistance Loop Bands

Phantom Fit resistance loop bands are a great way to get in a warm up workout. Each resistance band measures about 9 1/2 inches before stretching. The pouch contains four bands each with a different strength. Besides being different colors, out of the four bands you get a Light, Medium, Heavy and X-Heavy band.  These are great for a portable workout for the arm, leg or even ankle. 

I received the Phantom Fit bands to review for an unbiased review. 

Xero Shoes , just beginning to wear them.

Amuri Z-Trek Sport Sandal by XeroShoes

I am not setting out to become a barefoot runner, but I have just begun to use XeroShoes sandals to help strengthen my feet.  First off, the feeling while wearing the Amuri Z-Trek sport sandal is incredible. Extremely comfortable even though there is almost nothing there. The outer sole is only 5.5 mm thick, or thin in this case, it is what XeroShoes calls a FeelTrue® sole. The sole is primarily there to protect the bottom of your foot from anything sharp or jagged. I also have a pair of Amuri Cloud which has 3mm Barefoam™ insert in the forefoot and is constructed on a 6 mm FeelTrue® outer sole. A huge difference right off the bat of the two is the Z-Trek has strap that pretty much goes across the top of the foot and eventually goes around the top of the ankle. The Amuri Cloud has a strap that starts off between the big toe and second toe and meets up with other cords across the top of the foot and is adjustable behind the ankle above the heel.  I have taken both sandals out for a mile run, a day apart.  I tightened them both up pretty well so they would not be floating around while wearing them. I wore the Amuri Z-Trek first.  Wearing it around, just as a regular piece of footwear, it is extremely comfortable. If I could I would wear these all day, but with work and all some type of foot protection is needed. When I started on my run, I did not set out to break any world records or anything. I just wanted to get a feel of these sandals and how it felt to wear them while running. With other minimalist footwear I have been wearing for awhile now, I am becoming more of a mid foot striker when it comes to running. The next day I set out and took the Amuri Cloud out for my mile trek.  About .10th of a mile into my run I had to stop and tighten up the cords as I could feel my feet slip around on them.  The run was once again nothing record breaking, yet I could feel some discomfort in-between my big toe and second toe. A blister was beginning to form just after I finished running. I’m not sure if I had the shoe too tight or my foot was too sweaty, it was over a 100 degrees by the way.  With both sandals the feeling of just walking around in them is incredible and allow my foot to flex around, sometimes on uneven surfaces.  I am mainly setting out on once again just helping strengthen my feet. 

Jökel stemless drinking glasses

 Around the pool it’s never a good idea to have drinks in glasses as they might get broken and what a dangerous mess that is to clean up.  For that exact purpose I have purchased a set of four Jökel stemless wine glasses that are made of unbreakable BPA free food grade silicone. I’m not a wine drinker, yet my wife is, and how nice is it to be able to relax around the pool knowing no breakable glass is around. A great feature about them also is they are dishwasher safe, so after use they get cleaned very easily. These highly durable, compact, squishy designed stemless silicone wine glasses will never break, chip or crack. 

#jokelwine

RockTape Roller

 I was sent the RockTape Foam Roller to review. First off, the roller is what it is, a foam roller. However the 18 inch long, foam roller is not very thick it sits outside a hard plastic inner tube. The roller has knobs on it, in which one might think would help dig down deep into muscle tissue and help roll out knots and lactic acid.  The knobs are pretty much just decoration on the foam roller and compress to nothing when any type of pressure of weight is put on them. The roller does have a convenient strap that attaches to both ends.  I myself, am not one to tote around a roller.  It pretty much stays in the home gym. I guess if one wanted to, they could store a towel or other small workout equipment inside.

Alpha Car Sunshade

In Arizona putting a sunshade in your window when you park your car outside in the summer is a must. The AlphaShades Windshield Sunshade fit my Pontiac G6 perfect.  To hold the shade in place, the visors are flipped down. The shade measures 27 inches across each side and my window is about 32 inches tall.  It rests on the dashboard not making it quite to the bottom of the window. Made of high quality nylon polyester is keeps out 99 percent of ultraviolet rays. The card it comes with says one year warranty, but that is crossed off and is switched to lifetime warranty which is great. 

I was provided this item at no cost in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. All of the opinions within this review are 100% my own and I was NOT compensated in any other way.

#AlphaShadeCarSunshade

FSL (Future Sound Lab) Decimate Ear Protection by iHeadphones

The FSL (Future Sound Lab) Decimate Ear Protection by iHeadphones.  Everyone can always benefit from protecting their hearing. Future Sound Lab full hearing protection and noise reduction do just that.  Adjustable to fit comfortably. Made of high quality materials and soft padding allow for them to be worn for extended periods. They conveniently fold for easy, space saving storage.  They are noise reduction rated at 34dB. 

What I have been up to

I am still plugging away at the "at least a mile a day if not more".  I have had to plan more of them now in the evening, even though it is still hot, the sun has gone down. Funny write that, as I just got back this afternoon from my 1.10 mile in 102 degree heat.  It wasn't bad but the head reflecting off of the asphalt is hot. For over the past year I have tried to change up my running, to be more of a mid-foot striker and more of a minimalist when it comes to shoes. I have been running wearing the XeroShoes, sandals. I will get more into this later this week, so check back.  I am enjoying the Sunday morning group rides I have been apart of over the past month and am looking to see about doing a group ride both weekend days.