Many moons ago, when I started the Couch 2 5K program, I was doing some of my running on a treadmill at the gym. I was severely overweight and very self-conscious about how I looked among all the skinny beautiful people. After a few runs of just me and my own self-deprecating thoughts, I searched  the budget for an Mp3 player. The iPod nano had just been released (2005) and it was out of my price range, plus I didn’t know how itunes worked and all that stuff.

My first Mp3 was a SanDisk. And it was FANTASTIC!

I loaded up about 15 songs and started enjoying my treadmill workouts more. The only problem was the headphones. Those stick-in-your-ear kind didn’t fit my ears right. One ear is shaped differently than the other. Nothing will stay in it. So, I found some over-the-ear phones from Phillips. The sound wasn’t great, but they stayed close enough in my ear that I didn’t have to constantly readjust.

Now almost 7 years later, I’ve gone through about 4 pairs of these phones. My biggest complaint of these phones is the sound quality and the last pair developed a short connection and only the left side works.

And I’m now on the 7th generation of iPod Nano. I love it as much as the 2nd generations I had for a few years. But I don’t love the “new” ipod ear buds. The sound is great, but they refuse to stay in my ear.

When I had an opportunity to test the latest women’s’ specific ear clips and ear buds from Koss Corporation, I had a checklist ready! If I could have the perfect set of ear phones, I would expect these qualities:

• Good sound
• Secure fit
• Comfortable fit
• Sweat resistant

That is a tall order for performance phones because I have such small ear canals and they don’t even match. One is tilted or something. I often have one ear sore after a long run. But, I had high hopes for Koss. They designed these FOR women and they are designed BY women. Koss also reached to Olympian Dara Torres for help in the design details. Because she had difficulty finding phones to really fit her active lifestyle as a wife, mother, Olympic swimmer, model, and fitness enthusiast, Koss wanted to include Torres’ perspective in the design of these phones in the Fit Series.

I received 2 products to try.

These were sent to me from Koss Corporation through Fitfluential, LLC for review purposes. All opinions are my own

Fit Buds use a silicone cushion and they go in the ear to expand and create isolation so they can stay in your ear. These are not meant to hang around the entrance of the ear.

Do they work? YES! I was shocked they stayed in my ear during a long hot run, while cleaning around the house, and working in the yard. I don’t normally wear phones in the house, but I wanted to try them out in various situations. These really did stay in my ear. I had to use the smallest set of cushions, and changing them was as easy as pulling off and pushing on.

Fit Clips are used over the ear. The actual bud part follows the same method of use as the Fit Buds. The Clip goes over the ear and the bud part goes in the ear so the silicone cushion can create an isolation point. I used the smallest set of cushions for these, as well.

Did they work? I tested these on my trail half marathon this past weekend. We had rain, mist, mud, bugs, sweat, humidity, and more bugs. You know those irritating things that swarm around your ears? These Fit Clips kept them out. They DID NOT MOVE until I needed to take them out at aid stations or to hear directions. I could put them back on with one hand (the other had my Nathan bottle) even when sweat was running down my face and my hands were sticky from the mist.

After the race, they look good as new.

You can find these Koss Fit Series phones at Wal-Mart for around $30.00 each. If you wish to order directly from Koss, I have a coupon code for $5.00 off and FREE SHIPPING! Just use the code Fit4Life.

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