When I first decided to take my running up a gear, I went to the nearest sports shop and left with as many bags as a WAG on a post-match celebration shopping spree. For some bizarre reason, this hobby, which you first started because it is meant to be low cost, suddenly means kitting yourself out with the right trainers - cushioned, stability or motion-control, all costing north of £50 of course - the right clothing, and a whole array of accessories that the sales assistant, who is half your age, and probably doesn't run, has persuaded you that you need, but which will in fact languish in your spare room, or under the stairs.
On such a first trip, with my just as eager running pal, I ended up with very expensive socks, a Nike water belt, and some seriously disgusting energy gels, as well as trainers costing over £100. I soon added to this with a collection of caps and beanie hats, gloves, waterproof jacket, warm up jacket, thermal top, base layer, top layer, full tights, short tights, skins (!) etc etc. - I think you get the picture.
You soon figure out that there are various sources that are worth listening to when it comes to recommendations for stuff to make your running easier, faster, more comfortable etc. My bible is generally Runners World mag, but even better is the forum on http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/. This is where you get the absolute truth - good, bad, ugly on all sorts, but most importantly on products and services, to avoid making the classic mistakes I mention above.
Which leads me to my best running purchase to date. Last week I received, in environmentally friendly packaging - bonus - the Sennheiser PMX80 headphones. You see, when I run alone, I need music - radio, playlist, it doesn't matter. And I have been through at least 15 different headphones, which all either fall off/out, sound tinny/too quiet, or barely last 2 weeks without falling apart. These Sennheisers are, without exception, the indisputable, bomb-diggity of running headphones. I purchased them solely on the strength of the forum and Amazon customer rating and comments. Now, this is no new thing - the power of consumer reviews, e-pinionators, wide scale belief in the web as being the truth. But for me, this links to something about the buying patterns and behaviours of those engrossed in their hobbies or interests which I'm guessing must be relevant to the music industry. What makes people repeat buy? Why do people pay above the odds eg. for that perfect piece of kit, music memorabilia, or concert ticket? What drives loyalty, and what is it worth? What is the influence of other consumers - certainly Amazon, last.fm, Spotify, and others jumping on the social-networking-linked-to-product-placement seem to think there must be something in this. It's all rather interesting, but what does it mean for future business models? who wins, who loses...or is there a win-win
On such a first trip, with my just as eager running pal, I ended up with very expensive socks, a Nike water belt, and some seriously disgusting energy gels, as well as trainers costing over £100. I soon added to this with a collection of caps and beanie hats, gloves, waterproof jacket, warm up jacket, thermal top, base layer, top layer, full tights, short tights, skins (!) etc etc. - I think you get the picture.
You soon figure out that there are various sources that are worth listening to when it comes to recommendations for stuff to make your running easier, faster, more comfortable etc. My bible is generally Runners World mag, but even better is the forum on http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/. This is where you get the absolute truth - good, bad, ugly on all sorts, but most importantly on products and services, to avoid making the classic mistakes I mention above.
Which leads me to my best running purchase to date. Last week I received, in environmentally friendly packaging - bonus - the Sennheiser PMX80 headphones. You see, when I run alone, I need music - radio, playlist, it doesn't matter. And I have been through at least 15 different headphones, which all either fall off/out, sound tinny/too quiet, or barely last 2 weeks without falling apart. These Sennheisers are, without exception, the indisputable, bomb-diggity of running headphones. I purchased them solely on the strength of the forum and Amazon customer rating and comments. Now, this is no new thing - the power of consumer reviews, e-pinionators, wide scale belief in the web as being the truth. But for me, this links to something about the buying patterns and behaviours of those engrossed in their hobbies or interests which I'm guessing must be relevant to the music industry. What makes people repeat buy? Why do people pay above the odds eg. for that perfect piece of kit, music memorabilia, or concert ticket? What drives loyalty, and what is it worth? What is the influence of other consumers - certainly Amazon, last.fm, Spotify, and others jumping on the social-networking-linked-to-product-placement seem to think there must be something in this. It's all rather interesting, but what does it mean for future business models? who wins, who loses...or is there a win-win
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