Gear to Help You RunForToday

If you plan to start running and join NBC Connecticut in our Run for Today campaign, you might find yourself asking where to start.

When it comes to running, start from the ground up.

"When you come in, we'll take you through a full gate and biomechanical analysis where we'll discuss the type of running you're doing, the amount of running, the surfaces, any preexisting injuries you might have,” Chaz Koch, manager of Sound Runner in Glastonbury, said.

What you wear underneath your shoe is also important.

"We always recommend a synthetic or a wool sock,” Koch said. “That's going to stay in place on the foot enough to pull the moisture away and keep the foot relatively dry."

And don't forget to keep track of your run.

"We carry anything from a basic Timex watch, where it just has a stop watch on it," Koch said.

"Technical watches, which would be a GPS focused watch that does real-time pacing, distance, calories, they've actually gone so far as to have heart rate straps build into the wrist. They can do vertical oscillation, cadence, any cool features based on what you're looking for during your workout," he said.

If you plan on running along outdoors without a cell phone, don't forget your ID.

"Road ID is a company that makes basically small emergency contact into pieces that can be worn on an individual on their wrist on their shoe,” Koch said. “I personally have the dog tag version of it. (It) just lists my name, my address, my emergency contact and then any allergies you might have."

Before and after your run, it's important to take care of your body and stretch it out.

"We have some great tools that you can use to kind of enhance the stretching process. The orb, which is good to get into the muscles and get some release -- the stick to really get in there and sort of to work the kinks out,” Koch said. “And in order to keep running efficiently and healthy, you want to make sure that you're trying to stay as loose as possible."

And we want to have as much fun as possible at our Run for Babies 5K and walk on May 1. No matter what you’re running ability is, sign up today to join the NBC Connecticut team by clicking here.

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