Full disclosure: I don’t workout consistently.

I go through phases, sometimes it’s week to week, sometimes it’s month to month. And this doesn’t bother me at all. People are often quick to assume that I’m a Type-A personality and live a life of routine because I’m a dietitian (it’s a weird assumption, but I’ve heard it a lot). But I’m actually not at all. I’m Type-B with maybe a few Type-A traits here and there. Routine does not make me a happy person.

But one thing is for sure, when I am working out, I prefer running over all things. It’s really the easiest thing for me to do - all I need is a decent pair of shoes and I’m out the door. A few years ago I would never imagine those words coming out of my mouth - I loathed running. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to run more than a mile at a time.

With that said, lately in my ins-and-outs of working out, the only thing I’ve really been doing is running, and I’ve started to pick up on some quirks or habits that I have when it comes to running.

• I don’t listen to music when running. Another fun fact about me? My earholes are really small and most earbuds either a) don’t fit/fall out or b) hurt really bad. Is that weird? Either way, it doesn’t matter because I prefer to be in my thoughts and surroundings when I’m running both for enjoyment and for safety.

• I never untie my running shoes. Let’s just keep going with the fun facts shall we? I have really fat feet. Ok so maybe not fat but they are flat, wide, and I basically have no arch. So when it comes to getting a shoe that doesn’t cut off circulation to my toes, it takes me a few times running in a pair to get that perfect “tied tight but not too tight” thing right. And once I find the sweet spot, I have zero patience when it comes to figuring it out every time I put my shoes on, so I just leave them tied and slip them on and off.

• I usually run with my thumbs tucked under my pointer and middle-finger, like I’m holding onto them. When I was on the rowing team in high school, during pre-season training one of my coaches told us that if you run holding onto your thumbs, you won’t get side cramps. I’m pretty sure that was a crock of $h!t but I believed her at the time. Ever since then, it’s an subconscious thing that I do.

• I never used to bring my phone with me. I hate hate hate those armband things - they’re just so bulky. And not to mention I have one of those OtterBox cases for my phone because, well, I’m a clumsy mess and if it wasn’t for that case I would have shattered my screen ten times over by now. So with that case, my phone wouldn’t fit into a typical arm band unless I took the time to take off the case and no, I don’t have patience for that either.

While running without my phone was a great excuse for me to disconnect from the world, it’s also not the smartest thing for a girl to do. Not that I live in a bad area or anything, but you just never know when you might need to call someone. Maybe halfway through the run you realize “oh my gosh I have to poop”.. or maybe it starts thundering and lightening and you’re two miles from home.. or maybe something else happens, but we won’t think of those bad scenarios because we don’t need that kind of negativity here. Either way, it was something I started thinking about more and more and realized that I really needed to be able to bring at least my phone with me on my runs, and maybe some money or my ID.

Since arm bands were out of the question for me, I started thinking of the next logical spot to keep things - a fannypack. Yea, that was my next logical thought. Upon doing some research, I found that many companies made not-so-fannypack-fannypacks for running. But the one that I kept coming across was the FlipBelt.

I like to describe it as the waist band of a pair of yoga pants, with a few openings where you can stuff things inside. For added security, you can then flip the belt (get it? FlipBelt?) so the openings are pressed against your body and nothing can fall out. Although my giant, brick-like OtterBox covered iPhone sometimes struggles to go in, it does fit and I’ve heard if you have this issues that putting your phone in a plastic bag makes it slide right in. I’m just stubborn and don’t care that much.

The one thing I had the most trouble with was deciding what size to order. I scoured the internet for other people’s reviews for a little help on this matter. Apparently, when everyone else does reviews they say what size they ordered but aren’t kind enough to share how big their hips are or anything like that. So I’m about to change that. I have wide hips and quite a booty. More often than not, I’m a size 6, but sometimes a size 8 and sometimes, rarely, a size 4… it just depends where I’m shopping.. also usually a Medium. The FlipBelt, according to reviews, is most comfortable when sitting down around your hips, so I really debated between sizes. I ended up ordering my normal size, Medium, and I’m glad I did. It sits right above my hips un-stretched but when I stretch it down more onto my hipbones/butt, it stays right in place.

When it’s stretched into place, nothing bounces around, even if you have a bulky phone like me. The only time I’ve had issues with the FlipBelt staying in place is when I wear my running shorts, like the Nike Tempo shorts. I think it’s the glossy type of material, but I did have to adjust the belt a few times during a 3 mile run - not bad but still slightly annoying. Since the band is made out of spandex material, it sits much better on spandex running shorts/tights, and yoga pants/leggings. It blends right in, too.

So would I recommend the FlipBelt? Of course! It’s an easy way to hold onto your phone and a few other things if needed, and it’s pretty discrete too - that is, if you order it in a neutral color.. they offer it in neon yellow and pink which might not be a bad idea if you like to run in the dark.

P.S. This is an honest review of a product I bought with my own money.. I am not in affiliation with FlipBelt in any way.

 

What running quirks do you have?