5 Sporty Gifts for the Walker on Your List

Article posted in: Fitness

Walking is a great way to meet your body’s physical activity needs. So if you’ve been walking, give yourself a pat on the back. Then, give your holiday wishlist a boost with these sporty gifts, perfect for walkers:

Garmin vivoactive. A sleek watch that looks good at the gym or the office, the vivoactive tracks your steps or miles, and can connect with your mobile phone for a more complete activity and data experience. Like other Garmin tools, the vivoactive (240.99) works off GPS signals to ensure a super-accurate measurement of how far you’ve gone, and if you want, how fast. Lately, we’ve paired the vivoactive with an optional heart rate monitor to get even more data about our performance; heart rate monitors are a great bit of data for those just getting back to an exercise routine—the perfect pick for sporty gifts! Garmin.com

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SmartWool Socks. These aren’t the wool socks of long ago, all itchy and knotty and seemingly designed to make your feet sweat. No, SmartWool socks are made from merino wool, which helps your feet stay warm and dry, while wicking the water away from your tootsies. The socks are also reinforced at the usual pressure points to help eliminate hotspots. Also unlike old-school wool: SmartWool socks are completely machine launderable. So you’ll be walking instead of scrubbing clothes. We like the Women’s PhD Run Light Elite Low Cut Pattern socks, at $17.95 per pair. Smartwool.com

Hoka One One Shoes. For anybody who ever laced on a pair of running shoes and felt like they were stepping onto wooden planks, so stiff and unflexible were the alleged sneakers, so painfully unpadded were they, we present Hoka One One shoes. These shoes place a premium on comfort, and they deliver with extra-thick soles that make you feel as if you are running or walking on pillows. We’re big fans of the Challenger ATR shoes ($78), designed for running off road. We find them the perfect companion on walks on the rec trail or across grassy fields. Comfortable athletic shoes for the rest of us. HokaOneOne.com

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Hydroflask. We’ve yet to find a water bottle—plastic, metal or otherwise—that we like more than Hydroflask’s fine offerings. The unique metal bottles keep liquid colder much longer than anything we’ve tried, even in unusually warm conditions like outings to the beach. We love the 32-ounce flask, which can hold half your daily water intake. Hydroflask.com

Gimme! Coffee. Here’s what we love about coffee: everything. It works wonders before a walk to get the juices and brain cells working, and it’s wonderfully restorative when we come back, maybe a little tired and cold—nothing perks us up like a cup. Lately we’ve been enjoying Gimme!, a wonderful coffee roasted in Ithaca, NY, and available via mail order. We’re partial to the Holiday Blend, (from $16), but really, any coffee offering from Gimme! is worth your while. And as studies have shown, coffee may help you live longer. That, and walking. Gimmecoffee.com