Everyday we are seeing more and more people taking up the age old sport of running—shoes are being laced up and endless miles of pavement and dirt are torn up at an exponential rate. We know it’s not possible for everyone to get out and run anywhere right now, but we’re still seeing people getting out—hitting their empty trails, running around their block (keeping a safe distance from their neighbors), or even looping their house 30+ times to hit 6 miles.

As long-time runners ourselves, we wanted to share some of the essential running gear that will help you hurdle that daunting barrier to entry. Whether or not you are aiming for a marathon, or just trying to get outside for a change, leave those excuses at the door, and jump into one of the oldest, and best (in our opinion), lifestyles out there.

These are just some of our favorites, and certainly not an exhaustive list. Running is truly a life changing sport, and hopefully these recommendations help get your rolling. Have fun, and good luck with your new lifestyle!

About the author: When he isn’t logging miles, skiing lines or drinking beers in Utah’s Wasatch mountains, Nash is part of the Jaybird community experience team here in Park City. The mountains are his home, and having the right gear is essential to getting out and enjoying the backyard.

Let’s face it – things are weird right now. Difficult times lead to fear — an adjacent contagion that left unchecked infects us with a different type of toxicity – anxiety, dread and uncertainty.

To experience these emotions is to be human. But this is our moment to choose hope over despair. Let us face this juncture not as a crisis, but rather as an unprecedented opportunity for humanity. To connect. Cultivate community. And grow.

Let us flip the script. Shift our perspective. And approach our changing world through a different lens — a pandemic of viral possibility.

To begin, take comfort in what we can control — our thoughts and words. Our physical well-being. And our connection to self and others.

As individuals we have little domain over the gestalt of global affairs. But how we respond to our environments — mentally, emotionally and spiritually – is well within our command. Rather than reacting impulsively to a world spinning out of control, let us seize the opportunity to take a step back.

Some of us are alone, holed up in small apartments. Others ensconced with family members, cohabitating in close proximity. And yet, because humanity demands connection, I see community celebrated everywhere. People united in song from their balconies in Spain. Participatory fitness challenges hosted live on Instagram. And families congregated around the dinner table.

Irrespective of circumstance, we are truly in this together. So heed the call. And take advantage of the occasion to deepen our connection to loved ones; to ourselves; and the communities to which we are bonded.

But care for others can’t replace looking after ourselves. Now is not the time to sink into the couch but rather a moment to be vigilant about our physical health. To eat the good foods. Move our bodies. And get proper sleep.

On a personal note, audio has played a crucial role in maintaining my positive outlook throughout this moment of physical distancing — a time for more conscious choices about the quality of my content consumption. Rather than Netflix, expand your mind with an audiobook. Replace 24-hour cable news with an inspirational podcast. And swap social media scrolling for a Spotify playlist.

To create a solid foundation for the day, I begin with a pre-dawn guided meditation, courtesy of one of my favorite apps like Calm or Waking Up, followed by 30 minutes of journaling — and a gratitude list — set to soothing music. Using earbuds (Jaybird Vistas, always of course) blocks out the world, immersing me in sound, facilitating focus and deepening my connection with self.

Then it’s out the door for a long solo run or bike ride, my only companion the breath, and an uplifting podcast conversation or audiobook in the earbuds.

Sequestered with seven total (my family plus one), we make daily FaceTime calls to extended family members. Mealtime has become a big communal event, followed by evenings learning how to play Majong or Go – all hidden blessings that have brought us closer.

Unlike many, I am healthy – with a roof overhead and food in the pantry. I recognize my privilege. And offer these words not to minimize the extreme hardship so many currently face. But only in the spirit of service.

Amidst the challenge, may you consciously choose a regimen of self-care that serves you — and quells the complicated emotions we are all experiencing right now. Because this difficult time demands our full attention to self and others.

May you be safe and well in this most interesting time. Because now — more than ever — the world needs all of us to be our best, most fully actualized selves.

This too shall pass. My hope is that it leaves us better than before. And when that time comes, may I meet you on the trail — when the era of social distancing is but a distant memory.

To keep the motivation flowing during these difficult times where you may be feeling cooped up at home, Workouts From Home offers advice and workout ideas from our athletes and ambassadors. Have your own tips? Share your ideas and workouts with us on social.

We caught up with Jaybird Ambassador and fitness fanatic Abhish Desai (@thedesailifestyle) to get his tips for staying fit, healthy, and motivated while you’re confined to the great indoors.

How are you keeping up with staying healthy and training/working out in the midst of social distancing and working from home?

The first thing I do when I wake up is eat and do any chores. This way not only do I not get a chance to be lazy, I also get some time in between my first meal and my workout to get my blood flowing. Once I feel like I am ready, I do a long bodyweight-only workout. I choose 20-30 different exercises and do 1-2 sets each. This way I don’t get bored and my body is exposed to a large variety of movements every day. This comes in handy especially as we don’t move around too much being at home all day. I also plan my meals out and I make sure to only eat that much. I try not to eat or snack just out of boredom. If I feel the urge of snacking coming, I go and drink a glass or two of water, which helps control my appetite.

How important is it to you to continue pushing yourself physically (and mentally) through these current challenges?

Once this is all over, I want to hit the ground running. This is a time when a lot of people will take for granted the time at home and use it to be lazy and sit around not doing much. This takes a toll coming out of it because you are less motivated when you have to start working and pushing yourself again. So going into every day we are stuck at home with the mentality that I need to maintain my level of work ethic as much as possible is vital. This allows me to mentally be ready for whatever may happen next, and once I’m able to get back out there, I am ready to keep progressing.

Even with all of the social distancing, how are you making sure you’re still connecting with people?

I’m an extrovert and am very outgoing so if I don’t connect with people and share ideas and knowledge and so on, I don’t feel like myself. And even though I keep my circle small, I make sure I talk to each and every single person through the week, make sure they are ok, motivate them or be motivated by them to keep moving, and just have fun. A great way to stay connected is to create challenges with friends and family that keep all of you engaged with each other. So my friends and I have created a group where we pass around exercises everyday and keep each other accountable. This allows us to stay in touch, have fun, and keep the tension light.

ABHISH’S INTERMEDIATE WORKOUT OF THE DAY:

DO EACH EXERCISE FOR 40 SECONDS, WITH 20 SECONDS OFF BETWEEN. DO FIVE ROUNDS.

In honor of International Women’s Day, we caught up with Kayla Nolan, Executive Director of Girls Gotta Run Foundation, to hear about all that this great organization accomplished this year with the support of Jaybird.

Girls Gotta Run Foundation is the first and only organization investing in girl changemakers through running and education in Ethiopia. The Girls Gotta Run program integrates education, athletics, life skills, and savings and entrepreneurship to support girls and women in designing a future of their choosing. GGRF was founded in 2007 as an all-volunteer organization, and we now work with 275 girls and women, impacting over 1,000 community members.

Around 1.6 million primary and secondary school-aged girls are currently not attending school in Ethiopia—that’s nearly 2 out of every 10 girls. As girls enter adolescence, they are more likely to drop out of school due to early marriage, early pregnancy, increased responsibilities at home, increased cost of school, food insecurity, and more.

Supporting girls’ education is the smartest investment one can make for community development. Each year of education a girl completes catalyzes change for her future, her family, and her community. Education for girls means income, health, and agency for them and their communities. GGRF works to provide opportunities for girls to complete their education and achieve their goals on and off the track.

GGRF takes a holistic approach in addressing the many challenges girls need to overcome in order to reach their goals and design a future of their choosing. Each aspect of our program compliments the other. Running and life skills help to provide a safe space for girls to feel seen and heard. Financial support for the girls education and entrepreneurship programming for their mothers ensures that families can build sustainable ways out of poverty and keep their children in school. Building on Ethiopia’s internationally renowned legacy of distance running, our participating families take pride in the Athletic Scholarship Program and are hopeful for the prosperous future of their own creation.

Last year, through an International Women’s Day fundraising effort, Jaybird Sport raised enough money to outfit every GGRF Athletic Scholar with running clothes. We were proud to provide quality training gear to all of our Scholars thanks to the generous support of Jaybird, and we were also proud to elevate the stories of GGRF Athletic Scholars through the RUN WILD global film series.

Over the past year we saw 100% of our graduating class go on to university. We’re really excited about these results, as only 10% of women enter university across Ethiopia. Thanks to Jaybird Sport, the GGRF Athletic Scholars have the tools they need to thrive in the classroom, track, and community.

– Kayla Nolan, Executive Director of Girls Gotta Run Foundation

If you are looking to help support and empower women and girls in developing communities, please consider donating to this incredible foundation.

For this Weekly Fourcast, we tracked down Chamonix-based ski mountaineer and Jaybird Ambassador Joel Evans. Born in the rolling green hills of Wales, Joel wasn’t much of an athlete as a child. But when he moved to the Alps for “just a season” nine years ago, he realized the unlimited potential for mountain adventures, and he never returned home, immersing himself in ski mountaineering and sky running.

“I like to challenge myself in the mountains to see what my physical limits are, this enables me to aim for bigger objectives in the future. I love trying to see if I can go further or higher than I have before.”

In 2019, Joel set a goal to ascend 100,000 vertical meters on skis. By April, he had accomplished his goal, often waking up and putting in 1,000 meters on the skin track with his dog before work. By the end of the year, he had climbed more than 225,000 vertical meters.

“I really didn’t think I would be able to accomplish it,” he says. “Spending a lot of time going uphill and grinding, I love music’s ability to enable you to ‘switch off’, forget the world of pain you are in and just enjoy the mountains.”

Joel’s Recommended Podcasts:

Stuff You Should Know, Episode 999: The Simpsons Spectacular Part 1

If, like me, you grew up in the ‘90s, the Simpsons may have been a big part of your life. Josh and Charles have a great sense of humour and dig into the history and importance of The Simpsons and its effect on kids and adults the world over.

The Rich Roll Podcast, Kilian Jornet: Summiting the Mind of the World’s Greatest Mountain Runner

Rich Roll is a great endurance athlete and down to earth guy, and for this episode is joined by one of my idols and greatest mountain athlete of all time, Kilian Jornet. They talk about all things mountain and how Kilian trains towards his project, Summits of my Life.

Alastair Humphreys: Living Adventurously, #6, Adventure is Being Open to the Possibility of Something Changing Your Life in Ways You Can’t Predict

Alastair Humphreys is an English adventurer and motivational speaker, and in this episode he looks into what makes an adventure. Most people will think of the cliché of climbing a mountain or canoeing down a river but this podcast re-thinks the idea and shows that adventure is really just doing something outside of your comfort zone.

Freakonomics, The Future of Meat

Being a vegan, I am always interested in the new foods that are available to me. When it comes to meat substitutes, some people can think that it’s strange for vegans to want a ‘meat-like’ food, but for me it comes down to the nostalgia and that comforting feeling when you eat certain foods.

With brands such as Beyond and Impossible producing foods that are almost identical to the real thing, and with the environmental impact of animal agriculture a very hot topic, this is a great listen if you want to learn more about the way food will be produced in the years to come.

The Weekly Fourcast is a series of curated podcast recommendations from our athletes, ambassadors and employees. Every week, we’ll drop a new list of four shows and episodes that you need to hear, direct from the Jaybird crew—the perfect audio fuel for the week ahead.

For this Weekly Fourcast we caught up with Jaybird Ambassador Susan Oyler—a mom, military wife, civil engineer, and tri-athlete. Susan found triathalons in her early 30’s—for years Susan struggled with self-esteem and body image issues, and limited herself and the activities she would do because of it.

“But, after becoming a mother, I wanted to change,” she says. “I didn’t want my daughter to learn a life of fear and limitations. So, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and do something I had always been interested in, but too scared to try—triathlon! I found the sport and the community to be, literally, life-changing.”

Since then, Susan has gone on to compete in three Ironman events, and will compete in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships this year.

“The confidence you gain from testing your limits in sports will transcend all aspects of your life.”
Learn more about Susan at her website, www.essentialoyl.com.

Susan’s Recommended Podcasts:

Sparta Chicks, Episode: 99 – Dr. Stacy Sims on How to Work With Your Body, Not Fight Against It

Dr. Stacy Sims is the pioneer in the research of female physiology and educating female athletes (and coaches!) that women are not just small men, which means our training strategies and fueling needs are different.

Fresh Air, Howard Stern/Joan Rivers

This episode is a condensed version of the two-part interview that Terri Gross did in early 2019. I am a huge Howard Stern fan. What I really love about him is his willingness to talk about psychotherapy and how he has benefited from it. He has really done so much to remove the stigma regarding mental health and seeking help. Also, I think he shows how a person can evolve over a lifetime and use personal setback as a springboard to growth and improvement.

30 for 30, Six Who Sat

As a female athlete, I am the beneficiary of so many brave women before me who blazed the trail for acceptance and equality in sports. This story is about six female competitors who protested at the 1972 NYC Marathon.

How I Built This, Spanx: Sara Blakely

I love learning about the people and the inspiration behind huge brands we all know. I loved this episode because I respect how persistent Sara was in making her vision a reality and how she kept pushing in the face of rejection.

The Weekly Fourcast is a series of curated podcast recommendations from our athletes, ambassadors and employees. Every week, we’ll drop a new list of four shows and episodes that you need to hear, direct from the Jaybird crew—the perfect audio fuel for the week ahead.

For this Weekly Fourcast, we caught up with Jaybird Ambassador Brooke Bowen. Brooke and her family live in Sandy, Utah, and not only is she a mother of three with a full-time job, she’s also the Spartan Race World Champion in her age group.

“I love that obstacle course races give me a lot of variety in my training, from being up in the mountains to weight lifting at the gym or playing with my kids at the playground,” she says. “I’ve always loved fitness and love training for a special event.”

Brooke’s Recommended Podcasts:

Rise Podcast with Rachel Hollis, Episode 64: Scott Harrison- You have the ability to become something beautiful.

Scott’s incredible transformation is a story that would touch anyone. Going from the lowest of lows to dedicating his life to giving really inspired me. Rachel Hollis always uplifts me with her powerful words and interviews.

Ali on the Run Show, Episode 128: Ali & the Experts Week with Dr. Nicole Detling, Sports Psychologist

This is one episode I listen to over and over again. Dr. Nicole Detling’s words have been a complete game changer for me in improving my mental game during competition and training.

Obstacle Dominator, Season 3, episode 2- The Kempson Brothers

As an obstacle course racer I love hearing a break down of races. There are so many components to obstacle course racing and these guys usually have a fun conversation that is fun to listen in on. This episode in particular has some great nuggets of wisdom from Ryan Kempson about racing that can be applied to any athlete.

Song Exploder, Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way

It’s really cool to hear the story behind songs. I might like a song just for the sound but knowing what made it come to be makes it so much better. It’s really interesting to hear from the actual artists.

The Weekly Fourcast is a series of curated podcast recommendations from our athletes, ambassadors and employees. Every week, we’ll drop a new list of four shows and episodes that you need to hear, direct from the Jaybird crew—the perfect audio fuel for the week ahead.

For this Weekly Fourcast, we tracked down Colorado-based photographer, podcaster, and influencer Nathan Lee Allen. Nathan has a passion for creating bold, beautiful and beneficial content that inspires others to “get busy living” everyday.

“I am constantly in the outdoors—I love hiking, backpacking/camping, skiing, mountain climbing, and anything that allows me to go deeper and experience our beautiful wild places.”

For Nathan, “music is the bridge between the outdoors and the creative energy and flow I constantly have. When I put music on, it drowns everything and makes me focus. I feel connected and empowered.”

Outside of his photography, Nathan also hosts A Story Worth Telling, a podcast focused on telling the world’s most interesting and inspiring stories.

Nathan’s Recommended Podcasts:

How I Built This, Patagonia: Yvon Chouinard

This podcast interviews some of the best minds and entrepreneurs in the world, and dives into their story, successes/failures, and what it took to get to where they are today.

My Favorite Murder

Honestly, every episode is great. It’s a super funny, entertaining podcast that breaks down a murder or serial killer each episode. So good.

Stuff You Should Know, NYC Water: An Engineering Marvel

They discuss some amazing topics we all think and wonder about, and they’re super informative.

The Golden Hour Podcast, Episode 20: Garrett King (Photographer & Expert Colorist)

Why Your Recommend This Podcast: It interviews amazing creatives and entrepreneurs around the world—inspiring to listen to everyone’s journey!

The Weekly Fourcast is a series of curated podcast recommendations from our athletes, ambassadors and employees. Every week, we’ll drop a new list of four shows and episodes that you need to hear, direct from the Jaybird crew—the perfect audio fuel for the week ahead.