Product Review: Aftershokz Trekz Titanium Wireless Headphones

I'm really excited to say that I was picked as one of the weekly winners of Bibchat, and received a free pair of Aftershokz Trekz Titanium Wireless Headphones Click to go to Website. I really had fun during Bibchat that week so to win was very cool. So you definitely have to join us for Bibchat every week if you don't already! It's on Tuesday's 3:00pm Hawaii time (with the current daylight savings).

The topic of that week was running awareness and how headphones tend to lower our awareness of our surroundings. These headphones are the solution we have all been looking for: the ability to listen to music while we get our workout on, while still being able to know what's going on around us.

It's really easy to just plug in your headphones and tune out the rest of the world while we are running or biking.  But how safe is that really? One of my more infamous stories was the time I was running on my usual trail which is a retired golf course, very overgrown with tons of plant an animal life. Well I was plugged in as usual and heard a weird sound coming from my right. I figured that it was some kind of phone alert, but then I realized that the alert would have come through my headphones, duhh! That meant that the noise I heard was loud enough for me to hear over my music, so I stopped and looked to see what it was. I was face to face with a wild boar, like tusks on the nose Pumba status wild boar. But then the funniest thing happened, we both mirrored looks of utter terror, I screamed, and then we both ran in the opposite direction. So in the end nothing bad happened to me, I wasn't trampled, but the point was clear: I need to be more aware when running!
 
When I first got these in the mail, I dropped everything a got ready for a trial run, pun intended. Naturally I had to go to that same trail I saw the boar on just for that sake of proving a point to myself. At first I wasn't quite sure how to wear them or arrange them on my ears. Upon fidgeting with them I found what felt alright, then realized that there was an instruction sheet about how to place them. Silly me, but I had placed them properly on my ears.

During the run I noticed many different things than normal, sounds mainly but also animals too that I would have otherwise ignored. I was bombarded with the sounds of nature that are normally non-existent with my other headphones. Birds were chirping, crickets buzzing (it was close to sunset), the wind was howling, so many things that I had been deaf to, had been present. It was so relaxing to be so intimate with nature while running.

Next stop was to take them on the beach-path in Kaanapali. For some info on this area, the beach-path starts in front of Honua Kai Resort and continues south for 3 miles to Canoe Beach just past the Hyatt Regency with about 6 other resorts in between. Aka tons of pedestrian traffic of people on a morning walk, other runners, people heading to the beach. As I was approaching the first traffic jam as I call them, or couples taking up the whole path themselves *sigh*, I did my usual "Excuse me, on your left," and realized how much of an ass I sounded like, but could never hear. I felt horrible, then realized why I always got so many nasty looks from people, because I was the one who started off sounding hostile. So they were definitely a blessing for me.

My last test with them was race day, which is why this blog post has taken so long to write, I have been waiting to finish a race with them to give a perspective from that. Here is where they became my downfall, by no fault in the product mind you. The race I ran them in was all hills and the weather was very stagnant and humid. While trucking up those hill I was more aware of runners who were passing me, making sure to give them room. I think that was so helpful. But I could hear my breathing while running up the hills, more so than usual because of the dense humidity. So I was working harder than usual because of less oxygen in the air. Hearing my breathing I thought that it sounded different from normal, which it was, and tried to change my pattern to something forced and not my natural reflexive pattern. This caused some cramping and a lot of walking in my future. Even more reinforcement that they bring more awareness while running.

I don't consider that a negative aspect by any means, but as a reminder that your perception of things will be different with these headphones. I have found no issues with them whatsoever! They are very comfortable, I actually wear them while cleaning around the house, talking on the phone, and just listening to music while hanging out at home. I think they are a must have for any runner for a.) to be safer and more alert on the road or trail, b.) to open you eyes (and yes ears) to how you come across to others, and c.) to broaden your awareness to nature and enjoy the little things that we take for granted.

Mahalo nui for taking the time to read my blog, I hope you found this useful. Please feel free to leave any comments for me, I'd love to hear what you think!