My favourite 2015 running gear. Best gifts for runners

2014 was a breakthrough year for me, at least talking about sports, and more concretely about running. I have spent many hours running mainly trails and mountain, of course at my humble pace, but as my legs get more hours of running the pace is getting more and more serious.

This recommendation list of my favorite products that I have been using during this last year can also be seen as a good inspiration for buying a good gift to your runner beloved one if you are not an experienced runner.

All these recommendations are not sponsored, so all these items where bought with my money and of course are used frequently. Also mention that many of these items where chosen for the good price, maybe an offer or maybe a good priced item, and taken into account its functionality and quality.

• Running shoes:New Balance MT610v2 Trail Running Shoes, currently newer revisions are available, check for offers on old ones.
• Top: On hot weather any technical t-shirt would work of your preferred brand for less than $10 you can have a good wicking one on offer, lately I have been alternating between a Craft Tee and a New Balance Tee
• Shorts: Recently I started running in tights, I overcome the shyness attached to tights but if you find a good pair, for example a pair of Nike short tights, they are way more comfortable than most shorts, also a good pair of shorts can be used if you don't like the tight look on you.
• Socks: With a cycling background I tend to like coolmax socks, also as someone that tends to sweat a lot, even on winter, and keeping your feet dry to avoid fungus infections is a must. I love the Endura socks which come in a fairly priced pack of 3 pairs. The only inconvenient of these socks is not having much cushion if you prefer comfort above wicking you can find many packs of running socks at good prices.
• GPS: Since I bought my Garmin Edge 500 bike GPS to follow courses and save my routes for analysis and improve my training, I can't make sport without some kind of tracking device, and so for my running I bought, maybe a little over my running level, a Garmin Forerunner 620 which I can't keep loving it enough and I can't stop to recommend. If you don't want to spend much I recommend you any of the Garmin Forerunner watches.

This is the basic kit for a runner in pretty good weather, next are a few other extras that may be necessary depending on the weather and length of your course.

• Hydration Pack: For long routes you will need some kind of hydration system, I love hydration backpacks over belt bottles, my small one, preferred on good weather, for its small space and great insulation, is the Deuter Hydro Lite 2.0 with a 2L streamer. On winter I love my biking pack Osprey Viper 9 with larger capacity, available also in bigger capacities if you want to use it on long runs or even for hiking.
• Base Layer: Recommended on winter to evacuate the innermost sweat, the use of a good jacket will make you sweat pretty good and keeping you dry is a must to avoid getting cold, I recommend a good wicking base layer and for me a autumn/spring is good for when you need a second layer, I use a Craft base layer but any good brand would work well. Also if you want to spend more money it is always a good idea to have base layers for all seasons, even for summer.
• Jacket: I love softshell from my biking experience, they work good on windy and cold weather and gives you some protection on rain, I use a Trespass softshell bought on offer. Softshells are usually expensive if you can't find any on a discounted price you can for a windstopper jacket that should be enough for an average cold day.
• Gloves: Recently bought a pair of Nike Storm Fit gloves and they are great, they keep your hands warm on any condition, but don't wear them on a warm day, also you will probably don't need them.
• Long tights: On winter I wear a recently bought a pair of New Balance Go 2 Long tights, maybe not for the coldest of weathers but good enough for an average sunny winter day. If you live in a really cold place you will probably need a pair of thermal running tights.

That's all, I think that for an average runner this is probably more than enough equipment, and most of it can be used if you practice other sports, biking or hiking for example. Some may think that a couple of trainers are enough but going well equipped will make your run more comfortable and also make your training more effective, whichever is the motive you are running.

All my recommendations link to #WhereToBuy, a site that compares prices between amazon and ebay for finding the best prices online for your online shopping.

New Balance MT610 Review
Reviewed by Fernando Mateoon Jan 19 2015
Rating: 5