Last night I decided to got back to an old love who in the past provided me with great joy even, dare I say, euphoria. But over the years due to late nights and long hours we drifted apart creating a bit of a hole in my life. So with the help of my soon to be wife we designed and created a strap on device, which I took this morning in search of my old love! And what joy when we were once more united ~ alas, I could only last 31 Minutes and 35 seconds. In my defence I did get a bit dirty going cross country. To give me target for next time I included in my time the cool down walk.

So how did the iBra a.k.a the ‘over the shoulder iPhone holder’ + the RunnerKeeper.com app fare? BRILLIANTLY! The above screen shot (FTW!) shows the device had no problem transmitting from the neoprene pouch. For the 1st time in my cross country running life I have a proper visual log of my off-road exploration which is just the coolest thing. *Note to the developer: Being able to geotag the google map ‘on the run’ and share results would be decent upgrades well worthy of $.

The iBra’s simple 2 strap holster style across the chest was amazing to run with. Placing ear phones under the shoulder strap then behind the head eliminated any whipping action and at no time did it tug on the ear buds. Access to the device was easy while running and there was zero bounce or movement. There was however a tiny flaw in the design.

The ear phone jack is a hole under the seam, but in fact it needs to be a slit so the phone can be removed without pulling the cable through. I was futzing about with it while I was on the move, can see this totally frustrating someone if they wanted to skip a track, take a call, etc.

It’s good to be back with an old love with the help of my current one. I was told by a boxer years ago; “number one thing to remember when training always make sure your shoes are tied tight”. Seems a simple bit of advice but what he meant was your mind conspires against you when you push yourself. It looks for any reason to stop, give up etc. By limiting preventable distractions like shoe laces could be the difference between a great run and a trot around the block or injury. The idea behind the DIY iBra was to physically make something to generate excitement about running again while limiting the distractions I experienced in the past when running with an iPod i.e. Bulk, access, ear bud whippage, etc.

I hope this helps some one else out there lace them up again.

Comments? Suggestions? Want one? @ryantaylor on twitter [www.twitter.com/ryantaylor]