Product Review: Budstraps

My name is Joshua Pauley....and I have recently started wearing Budstraps.

Budstraps clip effortlessly to your buds

Budstraps to put simply; a budstrap is a strap that goes around your neck that has clips on both ends - which is used to clip to your earbuds (see photo). I run with music maybe once a week, twice if I am just feeling the tunes. The goal of Budstraps is to, "eliminate tangles, prevent the earbuds from getting accidentally yanked out of the ears, and being able to keep the earbuds nearby if they're removed temporarily."

After using this product for a few weeks I found that they accomplished this goal.  While using Budstraps I never had tangles or irritation. To be honest most of the time I forgot that I was even wearing them! Although, after many runs they needed a good washing which was quick and easy to do by just hand washing under warm water. Whether from sweat or washing they dry pretty quickly as well.

Budstraps wear pretty well and I did not experience any discomfort from rubbing or chafing. They offer two different products: Flex Sport and Free Flow Budstraps. Flex Sport are light and breathable. I am sometimes a sweater (as in I sweat buckets occasionally) but with the mesh fibers of the Flex Sport the sweat is wicked and the material stay light. Free Flow are a little bit thicker and are great for day to day use. I found that these were hand when doing the dishes or playing with the dogs.

For those who are fashion savvy Budstraps offer seven different color varieties!  But I find that all of them are pretty snazzy though. I'm not much of a selfie taker but this was worth at least one.

All in all I would most certainly reccomend this product for the runner, gym rat, or just the person doing work around the home or office.  With Christmas right around the corner these would make an excellent stocking stuffer!


~J. Pauley

Enjoying the Process: a year in review

My name is Joshua Pauley and I am enjoying the process.

I have just completed my first year of trail and ultra-racing. It has been a year of lows and highs, learning and patience, and some tears but mostly laughter. I really could not have asked more of this past year. I am truly blessed. Here are some high points from the year plus a short synopsis of my last few races.

•   I ran 10 races ranging from 50k-100k.
•   5 top 3 finishes (three of those being wins), 4 DNF’s (sucks to suck)
• My wife and I moved to Flagstaff to train
• Stayed generally healthy for the entire year
•  Became a member of Trail Racing Over Texas

JFK 50- This was my biggest race of the 2014 for me. A true learning experience above all else and also my first completed 50 miler. I finished 11^th over all in roughly 6:30.

Brazos Bend 100 (50 mile) – This race was just three weeks after JFK and I had quite a few issues here. Ranging from still being fatigued after JFK and battling the humidity. I decided to drop at 50k in hopes of leaving some in the tank for Bandera 100k just three weeks after. One day I’ll run well while Rob Goyen is around.

Bandera 100k (US Championship) – Here I was having the race of my life. Everything was clicking. I had moved up from 13^th all the way up to 7^th and showed no signs of stopping. It was really one of those days where everything just clicks. It was almost perfect. Then I took a small fall and was just planning on walking for three minutes. And long story short I got hypothermia. I don’t remember a lot about that portion of the race, I just remember “coming about” in a camper trailer with some awesome people trying to warm me up. This was the biggest bummer of the season I think. I couldn’t have asked for things to go any better up until then. But what do you do? The Lord was definitely looking out for me and it is so evident that people were praying for me that day and I’m glad that it was nothing more severe. His provision really is all I need.

So now what?

 

Now I look to ride out the winter here in Flagstaff and shift my focus to a spring marathon. I don’t think you can ever have to many tools in your arsenal of ultras so I hope to add a quick marathon time to that bag of tools. I’ll  be running under the guidance of long time mentor and coach Jacob Phillips. To learn more about some of his coaching options check him out here: Phillips Coaching . After the marathon I don’t really know what The Lord has in store from me. Maybe a quick turnaround to a 50k that summer. Or maybe another marathon. Who knows, only time will tell. Races always pop up.

A year ago I decided to set out on a journey of becoming an elite ultra-runner. But that is a long process. Let me say that again. It is a long process. It does not happen over night! I will continue to train and to learn. I have an amazing community and support around me so I know I cannot go wrong if I just keep plugging away. All in all I would say I had a decent year. It’s a step in the right direction. I just need to be patient (which is really what I struggle with most).

 

As I conclude this I do want to thank some people. My wife Mary, who always supports me and all my crazy ideas. She is so much braver than I am – and I really do admire and love that about her. If I raced as brave as she lives then anything would be possible. My family whether they were helping out financially or just through words of encouragement: my gratitude for them is insane! Rob Goyen (Rob's races), this guy just keeps believing in me and giving me opportunities. He’s like some sort of weird mix of brother/insightful uncle/old friend. It just works for us.

And all my running friends, from Texas to Flagstaff. There is really way too many to list and I would certainly leave someone out. Whether it was just lending an ear to hear my thoughts, write training, kick my butt on a run or give me insights about a race…it has just been great. Speaking of which, if you are interested in getting some great coaching check out Chris Vargo’s website (Vargo Running) – you cannot go wrong by trusting your next training block to this rad dude!

Thanks for keeping up with me. I know I have been a little inconsistent with my blog, but as I have more time this spring I hope to be a little bit better about writing. Whether I win every race or drop from every race all the glory to The Lord – only His love can sustain me.

~Keep Moving Forward,

J. Pauley.