Quick Bytes Holiday Gift Guide Series: Stride into Self-Care - Recovery & Relaxation Gifts

Ever wondered what the perfect gift might be for the runner or self-care enthusiast in your life? Or maybe you're a fan of mindfulness and meditation and you're on the hunt for a new app to incorporate into your daily routine?

Get ready to join us, Coach Shelby and Coach Christine, as we jingle all the way into the world of creative and thoughtful gift ideas perfect for the holiday season. Starting with our personal favorites - compression calf sleeves and compression socks – we guarantee they are a game-changer for everyday wear, especially under running clothes.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll also guide you through the benefits of gifting a meditation app subscription, exploring top picks like Calm, Headspace, and 10% Happier.

Each one is packed with activities ranging from general wellness knowledge to performance-focused meditations. And just when you thought we were done, we'll share our love for runners' essential items like recovery sandals, Epsom salts, and bath bombs, and self-care goodies like gift cards to grocery stores and cooking classes and more.

So, lace up those shoes and let us lead you on a journey of unforgettable gift ideas - fill your miles with a side of smiles with us!

Wanna find all the links we mention here? Check out the accompanying blog post here. 

Chapters

• 0:02 Brunch, Holiday Gift Guide Edition
• 10:04 Gift Ideas for Runners and Self-Care
• 22:56 Gifts for Recovery and Self-Care

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey friends, Coach Shelby and Coach Christine, welcoming you in and letting you know it's time for Brunch, Holiday Gift Guide Edition, where we invite you to grab your miles with a side of smiles. Take them on the run midday in the afternoon or maybe a late night snack attack. Let's have some fun and get you moving and grooving. Lace up those shoes, put a smile on your face and let's log some miles as we stride into episode two of our Gift Guide series with our stride into self-care or, as we've been saying, in our challenge, Elfcare. So, whichever you prefer to say, we're not here to judge. We're just here to give you some ideas for that relaxation and recovery gifts that we need. We need to give people and I mean, who doesn't want a little extra like USAW.

Speaker 2: 0:50

Yeah, I mean we do. We're all about 365 where you love your elf and having some good, good relaxation and recovery, because you know we're on the go. We have so many things that are going on, so it's great to have little items that help us bring a bit more of like elevation to our recovery and our self-care and relaxation. So, coach, I'm super excited about this one and I will say right out of the gate that I feel like this may be one of the most poignant episodes that if you guys are really, really, really called to any of the items that we highlight, that you don't necessarily wait for somebody to get it for you, because these really can help in so many different ways of your life and in your performance and your recovery. So let's get right to it, coach. What would you say is your number one go to recovery self-care item that you would want somebody to give you because you already own it, you love it or you've been really wanting it for some time?

Speaker 1: 1:53

I love not compression socks but compression calf sleeves. I'm not a big fan of compression socks it's an honorable mention but I am giving the calf sleeves some love because I feel like everybody goes to the sock portion and then they don't realize that they do just the calf portion and they are a game changer. You can wear them under your pants, you can wear them under your pajamas, you can easily wear them with running and then put on your favorite socks, like we talked about in the last episode. But my favorite brand is Zenza, which I hope I pronounced that correctly. I found it at my rotting mom and pop shop and fell in love. They do have a lower level of compression than some other brands but I personally like it. I like something that I can wear it and forget it. I don't want to feel like 10 pounds of sausage and a five pound casing. That's too much compression for my soul. So definitely at the top of my list. I would want these in my stocking.

Speaker 2: 2:55

So I love compression socks and I'm going to tell you why. It's not what you think. The reason why I like socks versus sleeves is because I feel like it counts as cross training and mobility and flexibility to get those on and keep them on, because there's no doubt that it requires a little bit more tugging to get them all in the right places. But actually I just like that really snug feeling and I like also the snug feeling on the soles of my feet. So this is another one where, as coach mentioned in the first episode, sometimes running gear is very difficult to gift to others or to be given, because we do have our preferences. So you're not. This is going to be a great example of self care, kind of advocate for yourself. Let folks know what you're into. Hey, I love compression socks or hey, I don't love. I love compression sleeves, whatever the case may be, because people are looking for you to help them figure it out. Because there are so many, I don't know how often folks sit around talking about their preferences between socks and sleeves.

Speaker 1: 3:51

So I think it makes me a lot in my household.

Speaker 2: 3:54

So, yes, but we're going to include a couple of different options, because runner's role did put together a really wonderful list with some pros and cons and some price points difference, and even some of these are great to also incorporate for travel, especially if you're doing some rancations for the new year. So I think that's a great one out of the gate. Coach. I will tell you that you know, this one speaks to my heart. I feel like I'm going out strong and I feel like maybe I should have pulled back and like worked out to it. I can't help it, but I think this is so out of the box again and they run a lot of specials this time of year but a meditation app subscription. Now hear me out. I know there's lots of meditations on YouTube for free, right, so I know you don't have to spend money on it. So I'm not advocating for spending money on stuff when we can potentially get that content out there in different ways. However, with the meditation apps, they usually do actually have curated collections for you. So we're including three calm, headspace and 10% happier.

Speaker 2: 4:58

I've used calm, love it. It's probably my favorite. One of my best friends loves headspace. It's her. Go to 10% happier. If you haven't been listening to that podcast, you guys should also check that out. And that app. It's absolutely phenomenal, has some really great like general wellness knowledge and I love the fact that they curate these collections. They have like a meditation of the day or they'll have some breathing techniques or they'll have even like with calm. They'll bring in folks like professional athletes that'll do more of like performance focused meditation. So I really feel like all the way around from recovery, resetting a mindset, helping us to have a little bit of self care throughout the year. This is where I think I'd be super stoked to receive something like this.

Speaker 1: 5:41

I actually really like that. I hadn't heard about 10% happier, but checking them out I really do. Again, I feel like calm and headspace you hear more of, but I love having that third option in there and I've not done a subscription to any of these, but I could see this being something that, again, like you said, the treat yourself on what could make it a little better, especially if you're a big commuter, this could be a good thing. I mean, obviously probably not going to be doing it while you're driving and closing your eyes, but maybe you ride the train, maybe you carpool.

Speaker 2: 6:15

Or even if you are driving and you're not necessarily doing like a full meditation, but maybe you're doing breath work and you're like learning how to like really engage that diaphragm when you're breathing to help translate to your running all the way around, this does become a really great way. Again, if you work with us with one-on-one athletes, you tend to. Most of our one-on-one athletes already get lots of meditations curated for them, because that's part of what we do, but that's not the case for everybody. So this is a great way of kind of taking that guesswork out of it and just opening up the app and having that meditation of the day already provided for you.

Speaker 1: 6:47

I really like that. Another one I'm going to highlight is a runner's recovery tea blend which is by the People's Apothecary. Again, you'll have all the links and everything, but they have a runner's recovery tea that has hibiscus flower, lemongrass, chamomile, alfalfa and horsetail no, not actual horsetail, which I really did have to look that up. Second, guess my life decisions, because it took a really took a really dark turn. Anyway, bringing it back to the light. I think this is a really great option, especially for a non coffee drinker, even though we did highlight coffee. We love coffee. I think you do like tea as well.

Speaker 2: 7:26

I love tea. Yeah, I generally do coffee in the morning and switch to tea, and I've been very focused on cutting off the coffee. So tea is my go-to in the afternoons. And I have to be honest, I don't think I've ever heard of horse tail, so I'm very curious what it's supposed to do. But again, I think for me it's more about just having a Cozy-ness. That's what I think of with tea. It creates like a coziness. So recovery day, sitting around with my warm mug of recovery tea, and hibiscus and lemongrass smell amazing, so I can only imagine how great this does smell. And then I think like, as you've mentioned, coach, like having other ways of adding to it, making it like a cute little set. What else would you recommend that folks add to it?

Speaker 1: 8:15

There's a bunch of cute little tea diffusers. There's one on Amazon that looks like somebody just chilling in your hot mug. But I feel like this is one of those gifts that you can also kind of add on to. Maybe you get a cute mug that we featured in our last episode Again, maybe you make it a little bit of a spa package for an at-home recovery day. Maybe you go ahead and do a gift card with that to rent some movies or maybe order in some food. This is one I think you can really have a lot of fun customizing. And, again, just for buying everybody, it's okay to take a sip, take a beat and make sure that you're not going ahead and Overdoing it. And for the record, yes, horse tail is a plant. It's actually supposed to help like antioxidants and all that stuff. So just clearly putting it out there.

Speaker 2: 9:07

I was not called to name it plants that day, because you guys know that I would have called it a Unicorn tail. Absolutely that's what would be in your recovery tea, but alas, nobody has called me to help name any of the plants or herbs. But it will say a lot. What I love too about this is that I could see this becoming almost a family project. So if you guys have little's and you want the little to feel included in the gift-giving process, I would love to see like maybe getting a recovery tea blend with a little cute diffuser, and maybe even like a little coupon book of like some fun things that every, every runner wants, like feet massage, right, or maybe like two hours of silence. No, but just those are some things that maybe you can. You can make it more of a family affair as well.

Speaker 2: 9:55

Now I do know when we're thinking about this, we also hear a lot from our runners, and we recommend a lot of our runners to take epsom salt baths. Well, friends, while there are some beautifully scented epsom salts from lavender to more of like the minty Energizing blends you could also get a runners recovery bath bomb. So really helping to hide in and indulge your runner, as they are relaxing and needing a little bit of extra Recovery time. So popping on in into a nice warm tub Especially this time of year where it's a little chillier getting in those recovery bath salts, knowing exactly how much you have to throw in, because it's just a cube that you pop in, maybe even some candles, pop in your calm meditation and it's like a at-home spa day.

Speaker 1: 10:42

Now I don't have a bath, but don't sleep on them. Even if we don't have a bath, you can easily get a really big tupperware or a really big I mean. I've seen people even use coolers and go ahead and make that your own little foot bath up to your legs.

Speaker 2: 10:57

It's a great way to do it.

Speaker 1: 10:59

And again, because I add to everything, this also could be a really fun gift to do with the tea. Or maybe, if you're Giving it to somebody who likes painting their nails, maybe do a little, a little basket with the bath bomb, with the Nail files and nail polishes. There's a, there's great ways to just kind of again Juge it up a little bit more make it an at-home like DIY spa day for the individual.

Speaker 1: 11:24

I love and if you're looking for a good nail polish, revlon lasting stay is a great one. It's the brand I swear by. It lasts truly for about a week and I'm pretty hard on my nails. I.

Speaker 2: 11:37

Love that we have. I love that all of these are non-sponsored. Give us a call, give us your tagline and we can drop that on in Anyway. So, yes, there's some really great gifts here. Now, coach, I feel like I could not create this, um, what we can't necessarily have a gift guide, I should say without us talking about a little bit of runner's cookbook. Now, I know you enjoy cooking more than I do.

Speaker 1: 12:09

I do.

Speaker 2: 12:09

So I feel like this is definitely like if you know your runner, as you're gifting that things for this individual. This is something that I could see very easily being an awesome gift for you, along with maybe a little bit of um items that go along with it for that cookbook and kitchen to kind of maybe help speed up the process of some of these items and ingredients on here. So the runner's cookbook for refueling you guys know it, we say it all the time around here that to start your recovery, of course you do those stretches, then you go into refueling and rehydrating. So here we go. You have a book that kind of helps take out the guesswork for you. And has I actually have this book as well? It's just got some wonderful recipes. I love that. It has very vibrant recipes that include a lot of delicious and nutritious ingredients.

Speaker 1: 12:55

And again, this is a great one if you want to add a little something, maybe a gift card to your local grocery store Whole Foods, Kroger's, Publix, what have you? And again, maybe, if you're giving this to somebody special or wanting to receive it for somebody special, maybe there's even cooking classes in your area.

Speaker 1: 13:13

Again, don't insult anybody that they can't cook. But maybe a fun little date night or a friend night out is a great option for these as well. And I do love Emma Coburn's book and I know we've actually used this as a giveaway for a challenge and nothing but great things out of these recipes. And you know I do love my Shalane fan again and at least Kopecky's books. But this is a really, really strong contender.

Speaker 2: 13:39

I think it's a great book just because I think a lot of runners at this point do have the Run Fast, eat Slow or the Run Fast, cook Fast, eat Slow book. So this kind of adds to like the trifecta of the options. So between the three, it definitely helps to create, because I think we all have the well clearly, we even had an entire workshop this past year about it, which is like what do I make for dinner? And it's even worse when you are running all the miles and super, super hungry. So this really does help to kind of take a little bit of guesswork or create some inspiration for you.

Speaker 1: 14:12

Absolutely. And another one again, minding all parts of us, but especially giving a little love to the feet. We all at this point have heard about recovery sandals and recovery shoes. The most prevalent are Ufos, but there are a lot of other brands that are getting on the recovery train and some are vegan friendly, some are natural leather. There's a whole bunch of different ones sandals, closed-toed, open-toes. They have crocs, they have Adidas.

Speaker 1: 14:42

There was one that I did find that I've heard good things about, and it's Topo Athletic. I honestly haven't heard of it, Coach. They look a lot more like regular shoes than a recovery sandal. To where Ufos do tend to look like a orthopedic shoe, these are a little bit more pleasing. I could see somebody being able to get away with these at the office, so definitely check out that. And again, who doesn't need more shoes? We have a lot of running shoes. Maybe get some non-running related. I actually did have an athlete who was having foot problems and we brought it down to the fact we believed it was their shoes that they were wearing on a non-running mile that were helping to exasperate the problem. So again, just some food for thought that we're recovering all the time, yes, and again looking into it.

Speaker 2: 15:34

Or maybe this is something where you create one of the gift baskets and add a little gift card for your runner to get their own recovery sandals, after they check out what works best for them. Because, yes, I think what makes these specific the Topo that you're talking about so different from the rest is that they're like the only ones that I know of or that I was able to see, that are closed toad. Now I guess there are a couple more closed toad, and I think that's what really makes it look more like a regular shoe that you can wear in multiple different aspects of your life.

Speaker 1: 16:01

Absolutely. And again, not everybody wants to scream. I'm a runner 24 seven. I mean I might literally scream it, but it's not everybody's cup of tea, it's okay.

Speaker 2: 16:10

Well, I do want to scream that I'm a runner every single day, maybe not angrily, cause that might scare folks, but I do wanna definitely let folks know that I am recovering as a runner and I think that the recovery mode, switched on, hoodie, is again talk about cozy and fun and you're able to kind of have an official response to why you're not going out for a run or why you're not getting in your work at that day. You just throw in your little recovery mode hoodie, you get your cup of recovery tea and you put on one of your favorite documentaries or sports movies on the on TV and you are good to go. So again, highlighting another Etsy seller who is currently as one recording this, running a sale. But again, as we've mentioned in the first episode, with Etsy sellers, or even most of these small businesses, they do have a little bit of a longer turnaround time, so please take that into consideration as you make these purchases.

Speaker 1: 17:07

I really do love wearing hoodies. I prefer crew neck pullovers more than hoodies themselves, cause it's something about the hood laying on the back of my self. I feel like it's pulling me back, but maybe it's just helping me with my posture, so maybe I've been looking at wrong this entire time. You don't put the hoodie over your head Not usually I don't really like things over my head, you know. It messes with my peripheral vision, so my safety queen mantra would just completely be out of the game.

Speaker 2: 17:35

Okay, I think that in the safety of your home you could probably put on the hoodie, but I don't see you haven't met my dog.

Speaker 1: 17:41

She attacks without a moment's notice and just starts licking ya.

Speaker 2: 17:45

She's coming in for you, no matter what what you're wearing, my friend. So there's no way that you can really see her coming. I think that she's. She's pretty speedy, that's for sure. All right, so we're continuing to rock and roll through our recovery and self-care. What else would you have on your to-do list that you would? You would want folks to get you.

Speaker 1: 18:02

Now, as I'm saying that I'm the safety queen, if I know that I'm in my own home, the kids in bed, I can relax a little bit. This would be really cool. This is definitely a splurge that I don't know if I would consider for myself. I'd probably be more likely to do it for somebody else because that's just my Achilles heel. But they have a Manta sleep, has a sleep mask with headphones and talk about an immersible experience of being able to have it dark, have that noise. It could actually pair really well with one of the meditative apps. Yes, especially going to sleep at night, especially if you have a hard time winding down. I would be really interested in trying these.

Speaker 2: 18:46

I want them too. I do, so I do not own them, but I have over the years, tried a myriad of noise canceling like earbuds. Bose tried to come up with some kind of a sleeping earbud. That didn't work out for them so that was null and void, so I'd love to try these. They have great reviews.

Speaker 2: 19:03

I am an incredibly light sleeper I mean, probably one of the lightest sleepers ever known to mankind so I usually do use and we talked about it before a white noise or a brown noise sleep noise machine. So this, I feel like, would help with actually shutting off the extra light, shutting off the noises that I tend to listen to or hear over the course of the night. And I also live in a busy part of the world, like we've got trains, planes and automobiles, so being able to kind of tune those out and tune into a meditation or even just some little white noise would be absolutely amazing. So yeah, I think these are a bit of a squirge, but I betcha they'll be running some sales. So sign up for their newsletter, friends. And they've got several different models, all with different reviews and different options, but I like the fact that these have headphones in them.

Speaker 1: 19:51

I really do like that because I like being able to listen stuff, but my partner doesn't necessarily want to listen to it. I don't want to play it loud. One of the things that sold me, though, is that they specifically put it in the description no audible battery notifications. So if your battery is going down and you are asleep, you're not going to get that.

Speaker 2: 20:12

Woken up from it. Yeah, I love that and I mean again there's timers and everything.

Speaker 1: 20:16

but this is pretty cool and I don't usually go for stuff like this, but this sparked my fancy.

Speaker 2: 20:23

Yeah, I love even how it has a bit of a, the C-shaped components so that your eyes actually so it doesn't rest against your eyes, so you can have a natural close. I think all the way around it seems like they did their research of what would be comfortable for folks to wear. I do agree with you, I might wear them traveling, but you would have to probably be a bit more cautious if you're traveling and don't feel quite so safe, because I do think that becomes super immersive and you're likely not going to be able to hear all those noises that I don't want to hear.

Speaker 1: 20:52

But anyway, I'd wake up and ninja chop.

Speaker 2: 20:54

You would yeah, oh, yeah. Well, you've got your dog to help you, ninja chop, so you're good friend, oh Lord.

Speaker 1: 21:00

What's next on your list of something that you think that needs to be on here?

Speaker 2: 21:05

So I have dropped this hint, my straight up, saying that this is what I want and it is. I have a massage therapist that I work with. I generally only work with this massage therapist when I am in marathon training. I don't tend to work with them on when lower distances or when I'm on my off season, but a massage gift certificate is something that I would love and honor and see that being such a great tool for my recovery. But also the massage gun the only thing that I have with a massage gun and we're going to include an actual review by the experts on this, because there's so many different options and there's so many different tools now and the market's almost kind of been flooded. The only issue that I have with the massage guns personally is, like most of where I have aches and pains, I can't really reach it easily with a massage gun, can you?

Speaker 1: 21:55

Mostly, yeah, I don't know. The only part that I think I have more of is, like my lower back. Okay, but in all honesty, I have a massage gun. I love my massage gun. My husband has taken it from me. He uses it now more than I do, and it's become his, so I think I might have to get a custody agreement just for the massage gun.

Speaker 2: 22:19

You guys are going to have to sit down and figure out like a time share of this Exactly, or you could just ask him to buy you. The number one on the list with the best, most reviews and highly voted is EDA4. However, it is not available on. Amazon Does also appear to have several sales throughout the year because it's a bit pricier, but honestly it's still about the cost of a massage there. I like a visit to your massage therapist, so I think, definitely something to look into and ask for that extra little splurge gift for recovery underneath the Christmas tree.

Speaker 1: 22:56

And just as a little bit of warning, again read the directions. Be careful when you are using these, since maybe most of us are not licensed massage therapists. It's a good idea just to be mindful that the heart of the pressure is not always better. So again, please, please, please, massage responsibly.

Speaker 2: 23:15

So, with that said, friend, I think that we have wrapped up some really great gifts for recovery and for self-care. If you guys have some other things you would like to see on this maybe you feel like we didn't we kind of put our sleep mask on with those noise-canceling headphones and we slept on your favorite recovery items Feel free to share with us inside of our Facebook group. You can find us at Time for Brunch. You can also see it in episode notes. We wanna give you a really big high five as you work through the holidays and we're gonna again remind you because if you have those cookbooks, rehydrate and refuel we are going to ask you to join us again for Time for Brunch long run edition on Friday, or come back for episode three, where we're gonna do a little bit of stride and seek for our gifts. Mm curious, I am With that said, friends, regardless of when or where, we're gonna keep serving up more miles with a side of holiday smiles.