May 20, 2013

Runnin', Rockin', and Rantin' Double Giveaway

As Crabby and the Lobster prepare to jet off to Provincetown, is anyone up for a blog giveaway of two unrelated prizes, plus a product review and a foul-mouthed rant? 
Gots To Be Cranky

What if it were a pair of Koss Fit Series earbuds designed for women, and endorsed by Dara Torres?

Plus TWO spots in an awesome Up and Running online running course worth 49-99 pounds each? Which in American money is about 9 million dollars, if I'm correctly recalling the exchange rates from our visit to the UK last summer? Or, um, we could have perhaps been consuming a few too many pints.

First up:

Get Up and Running!




One of the masterminds behind this enterprise is Shauna Reid, whom you may know as "DietGirl" from her inspiring book and blogs.

I am a big fan of Shauna's!


Since part of the appeal of the course is the supportive community involved, it's great to know that it's being led by someone who is wickedly funny, down to earth, warm, and brilliant, and not some addle-headed misanthropic crankbucket.

Up and Running is also the creation of renowned running coach Julia Jones (below in pink) whom I have not met but I bet she's awesome too.


In their words:

We run e-courses for super-new to seasoned runners from 5K to half marathon, all with expert coaching, unlimited support and a wild cheer squad to make it happen.

You'll be part of an awesome community of fellow runners - your own international running club! So you'll never run alone, no matter where you are in the world.

Running is hard, we don't deny it! But hard is where the magic happens. You'll take your mind and body places that you never thought you could go... just give us 8 weeks!
If you win, you can sign up for the course of your choice, but if not, there will still be time to grab a spot now for the June 5K, 10K or half marathon courses - you can find out more at: http://www.upandrunningonline.org/course.

Note:  Thanks to the generosity of the Up and Running Gals, the Lobster is going to be signing on for a course too and she's psyched!

And here's a testimonial:
"I can't praise Up and Running highly enough. Being a part of the community has been one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had... I go out running now for the sheer enjoyment of it and every single time I have to chuckle a bit to myself at what I've accomplished. Me, a runner." - Svava, UK

Now for the Rockin'and Rantin' Part:


When I am exercising, I need music.  And until recently, I went old school in terms of earphones:


However, I lost my headphones a few months ago. Over time, the old-fashioned cover-the-ear buying options have dwindled to almost nothing, and I could barely hear out of the ones I had they were so crappy. So it seemed to try those earbud thingies that everyone else seems to do fine with.

They felt creepy jammed in my ears, but at least I could hear out of them.  For about two minutes.  Then, if I were moving around at all, they'd start falling out.  My elliptical workouts are apparently especially provocative, because I would spend most of the time retrieving, smooshing, twisting, cursing, and othewise attempting to keep the damn things in my ears. I had a pair with three different earbuds, but even the smallest size was too big.

The reason?  Well, like so many products that are theoretically gender-neutral, they were designed FOR MEN.  Because everyone knows to be human is to be male, and women are this other thing that is smaller than "normal" and whom you don't think about when designing things.  Remember when they first came out with air bags in cars but designed them for male-sized occupants so they were killing women and children?  Or ever get tired of taking medications with no real idea of the side effects because all the studies were done on men?  I F--CKING HATE THAT!

The good news?

I got a pair of free review pair of earbuds designed for women. They have a clip thing to keep them secure, and I love em!


Quick Review of Koss Fitclips Earbuds For Women



What I Love about the Koss Fitclips: the clip thing looked like it might be uncomfortable, and if you are sensitive or allergic to everything, they might be, but to me they feel soft and pliable and are surprisingly easy to forget I have on. You don't have to wedge the buds in your ears because they are naturally held in place, so the earbud size becomes much less relevant. In fact, I was too lazy to switch from the medium size to the small size which is probably the correct size for me, because I didn't need to.

Also, the sound is great!

I will let Dara be the SpokesModel here, as the picture I took of the side of my head was hideously unflattering. When did my face get so freakin' huge?  Anyway, pretend this is Crabby:



However, the BAD NEWS is:

Sorry, The Giveaway HeadPhones Do Not Have the Clips.

I was sent two pair of headphones, and the second giveaway pair is still Designed for Women with Smaller Earbuds, but without the clips.

They are like these pictured above but are BRIGHT YELLOW.

If you have really small ears like mine, I'm not entirely convinced the earbuds are gonna stay in, but the only way to know would be to open the package and get my earwax all over them and I'll spare you that.

My previous earbuds that kept falling out also came in three sizes.  They are in  black below; do the white Dara-approved ones look any smaller to you?  They actually look bigger to me, but they are a bit squishier, so perhaps they'd stay in better.



But if you don't have freakishly small earholes, or you're dealing with a larger pair of earbuds to start with, or if the clip thing sounds scary, these still might be great. Plus, they are high quality headphones with good sound.  And, because they sent them directly to me, the giveaway is not limited to U.S. addresses as I'll fork over for international postage.

To Enter the Giveaway:

Leave a comment below, check back later to find out if you won and claim your prize by end of day Friday May 31st.  Winners will be chosen by a mysterious combination of random and nonrandom methods. (For example, if you say: "I would not wear a pair of earbuds or go running if you paid me a million bucks!" Or, "Everyone please go visit my golden retriever/hoodia/dentistry website," you are probably not going to be a winner.)

Good luck!

So, got any thoughts on running or earbuds or products designed for men or anything else?


42 comments:

  1. I would love a wireless earbud! I have pulled them out several times while running. REally annoying!!

    styleezta@gmail.com

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    1. Actually styleezta, these aren't wireless, sorry! But still pretty nifty.

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    2. I am testing a Sony wireless MP# Walkman right now & love it so far! :)

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  2. Agree with your rant on everything being designed for men!

    And running is just the best drug ever! The side effects are all good, too! :-)

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  3. For as useful as these would be I don't need them. Please leave me out of the draw. Agree with the irksomeness of everything being designed for men.

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  4. I am also a fan of Shauna. I love her blog! Exercise is really fun with music. I always save some upbeat songs especially when I do Cardio. It keeps my energy up, which is really good. I want to buy those earbuds too! It looks comfortable.

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  5. I admit I'm not an ear bud person - but add those clips and I might give them a try. Although for the last 8 years I have been in love with my wireless headphones. They were behind-the-head with clip style, and a little black dongle receiver. Of course I've used them so much the clips are long gone (so now they're over your head style) and the dongle is broken so the sound only comes out one ear. *sigh* Probably time to replace them, but it seems the wireless technology became MORE expensive instead of cheaper. What is up with that?

    Any who - I'm sure my kid would love a pair of yellow ear buds, and I'd love some more motivation to get my butt running longer than 3 miles! Thanks for the chance!

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    1. I didn't even know that wireless headphones (that actually WORKED) existed. What kind do you have?

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  6. Earbuds, man. That's why I don't often run with them, because either I'm worrying/fussing with them to stay in, or the frickin' cord is bouncing around, or working it's way around my torso (when I thread it underneath my shirt) and then, I JUST CAN'T ENJOY THINGS.

    Did you try the ones with clips while wearing glasses? I wear glasses 100% of the time, and I'm always worried that those over the ear jobbies will get in the way of the arm of my glasses (I have utterly spaced at what you'd call the part of the glasses that bend around the back of the ear - there must be a special term for that).

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    1. They seem to work fine with my sunglasses OtF! Don't know if it would be universally true but for me, no problem with glasses.

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    2. I have problems with phone clip thingies interfering with my glasses. (On the other hand, lucky me, standard earbuds are comfortable and stay in place. Yet more evidence that I'm secretly a man.)

      Mary Anne in Kentucky

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  7. Oooohhhh, that running course would be AWESOME! I ran my first 5K last summer & now this year, somehow, for some as-yet-unknown reason, I convinced myself that I should run a 10K this year! What?! Any & all help is not only appreciated but needed! ;) The earbuds would also be awesome cause I need that tempo music to keep my feet going! (oh, & thanks for keeping me laughing & helping me to not always take everything soooo seriously)

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  8. I am so excited to check out those ear buds! I have really sensitive ears and most feel like I'm trying to shove a square peg into my ear! Not okay, way to go Koss on thinking about us ladies!

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  9. I would love to try ear bud designed specifically for women. I constantly have the problem of my ear buds falling out of my ears in the middle of a workout.

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  10. I'm like you - I hate the way earbuds feel in my ears - painful!!
    I really like the idea of the clips but even the earbuds seem better than the normal unisex ones!!

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  11. You couldn't pay me to run, so a free running course is not for me. I am not a prime candidate for the earbuds, since I'm comfortable with the ones I've had, but on the other hand the ones I have now are getting rather ratty.

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

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  12. In my early years I ran with a headset, but it fell apart. Best thing that ever happened. I feel that running aware in the world is the way to go. Running activates the brain and listening to music prevents that expanded free thinking.

    I don't want to be sedated while running :-)

    I don't express this opinion to upset anyone, I just believe we lose something by always needing to be doing something away from being present in the moment.

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  13. I'd love to try the Koss earbuds!!

    No thank you on the running package :) I am embracing my non-running self these days and will stick to biking and walking.

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  14. i would love the running course. i did a half marathon last june with 'half effort' training. i told my self 'next year i will train' well, its the next year and still not doing a training program, i'll just wing it. i would love to try this training program, i have read great reviews.
    as for the ear buds, i don't mind the feel of them. i do have small ears so i would hope the 'female prototype' are made for small ears.

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  15. Not interested in running, but i do hate being given doses of medication meant for men who weigh twice what i do. Dang it, women's livers process the stuff differently, and if we weigh half what the men did, the dose that works for them is probably way more than we need!

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  16. I would love to have these earbuds, as the ones I use now really make the inner knob part on my ears hurt. I could use them on my daily walk/run to work and in the long car rides with my husband when he insists on listening to sports talk radio for the entire trip!
    Also, I wish that pink was not the default color when things are made for women.

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  17. I would love to try these - wondering if my little clips from my blacktooth could be multi-use with them...

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  18. Our own wrongdoings have seemingly brought on
    by Mother Nature that can retaliate.

    Feel free to visit my web-site; szamba betonowe

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  19. I have the buds so no need to enter me.. just wanted to say HI!

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  20. I haven't been into listening to music lately when I run, so don't enter me in the giveaway, but I just wanted to pop in and say how much I love it when you rant (and rightfully so) about how things are not designed for women...SING IT, sister!

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  21. Don't enter me either - just wanted to say welcome back east to you and the Lobster - or as they say around here - the Lobstah.

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  22. I don't need any head phones, so don't enter me. Just wanted to say that I do have a pair of ear bud with the over the ear thingies - won them in a give away here at crankyfitness a few years back - and I love them. I have never liked ear buds, I find them uncomfortable in the ear, but the little hook thingy that goes over your ear and holds them in place is very comfortable to wear.

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  23. Coincidentally, my ear buds are currently M.I.A. so winning a new pair would be fantastic! Also, I'm not a runner but trying to incorporate it into my cardio because all the healthy, weight-loss kind-of blogs I read everyone IS a runner and successfully lost weight by running. So, I guess I need to learn how to become a runner and the program seems like a good place to start.
    ~ Janet

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  24. Death Ride GrandmaMay 21, 2013 at 4:33 PM

    Not entering for stuff, either - just had to say I love that kitty's expression. There are moments when I wish I could imitate it.

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  25. I used to have a pair with the over the ear thing, and they really did stay on much better. I lost mine. I don't think they were the same brand as the one you're showing. Mine were just boring white. Yours are snazzy!
    Gaye
    Oh, have fun in Provincetown!

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  26. I have literally just started going to the gym this week and me stupid huge ear buds keep falling out and getting tangled up! I would love to win a pair of these and I LOVE bright yellow!

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  27. I think it is really challenging to go to the gym or exercise without any music. Most of us require good earbuds and a nice playlist every time we workout. My friends have this earbud and as soon as mine retire, I will get this one. It is really more comfortable because it stays in place even if you perform rigorous exercises.

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  28. I do not wish to be included in the giveaways, but do email me once you & Lobster are settled in your MA location!

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  29. Great info to have since I've got tiny earholes and it's been incredibly hard to find earphones that fit!

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  30. I would love to win either give-away. I have never had any earbuds, and was thinking of trying some. I tried a 1/2 marathon once a couple of years ago and it was fun, so some training would be great, too.

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  31. I share your irritation at things being designed/tested for MEN and not women! UGH! Don't even get me started on the bathroom disparity. Grr. I, too, found the earbuds that are stuffed in my ears creepy. I know this sounds crazy, but when they're in there, I feel like I can't breathe! :)

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  32. That cat is me in the mornings!

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  33. Hey my ears are oh-so-feminine and petite, I could sure use a pair of earbuds designed specifically for my little auditory-stimulation receptor skull holes!

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  34. Ooohh. Both those giveaways sound great. Even better that I'm across the pond & allowed to enter. Struggling with getting back into running despite the long summer days. Wonder if it's related to the May snow we're having? Also love experimenting with ear phones & like the idea of ones made specifically for women.

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  35. Wow - that is something I wasn't aware of The difference between men and women's ears. Men have the same problem with these earbuds. There is a company the molds to your ear , but who want to pay like $500

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  36. This sounds great - I bought myself some fancy new headphones that constantly give me static shocks in my ears when I use them on the treadmill. Bit scary! But they do have a clicky switch on them that means I can shuffle songs without having to run holding my ipod.

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