Category: Gear

Workplay Gymwise II Backpack

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gymwise-backpackI’ve been through a lot of backpacks. Every time I buy a pretty one, it falls apart. Even the expensive Sweaty Betty one I bought thinking ‘they are a sports specialist shop, this won’t fall apart’ did. My current rucksack was bought at Walthamstow Market for about £5 and it’s lasted a few years. Which is great, but it’s not very pretty.

The Workplay Gymwise II Backpack is very pretty. It looks a lot like my old Sweaty Betty one so I’m hoping this one stands up to me shoving my uni books and gym kit in it.

According to the website, it’s an ideal "run to work and go to the gym later" bag but although it has got a sternum strap, there’s no waist strap, so if you did try a running commute with it, it’d be bouncing around all over the place and you’d probably cut your run short and jump on the bus instead.

Still, it is a brilliantly functional bag. It’s got LOADS of pockets, a washbag for putting your toiletries in, a detachable laundry bag for putting your sweaty gym kit in and a separate compartment for trainers.

The front pocket is only the depth of a hand and I found it perfect for putting my Kindle in. The two side pockets are big enough for water bottles and there are other smaller pockets for your phone, washbag and MP3 player. The main space is plenty big enough for my uni books and gym kit.

I tried the bag out cycling to the station and it was light and comfortable, although it didn’t feel very secure without using the sternum strap.

For a demonstration of all the features of this rucksack, watch this video and if pink’s not your bag, it’s also available in black.

I’ve got a new hoody and well nice it is too

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As I feel a bit of a dick sometimes, riding my bike with my parka on when it’s not quite parka weather (although, seeing as it doesn’t take much for me to get cold, that’s only about two days a year), I bought a lightweight outdoorsy type jacket from Sports Direct. I liked it in the shop but when I went to wear it a few days later, decided I hated it and it was far too anoraky for me.

So, when Go Outdoors emailed me and said would I like to choose something from their website, I thought yay, I can get a new fleece or something instead of my minging anoraky thing.

My first choice wasn’t available for home delivery but then I saw a black softshell hoody with a pink zip.

softshell_hoody

Pretty hoody.

This turned up a couple of days after ordering it and today – as it certainly wasn’t parka weather – wore my new hoody on my cycle up to the gym for my spin class.

I am well pleased with my hoody. It’s beautifully light, fits well, looks cool and is comfy. My only criticism of it is that the arms are slightly too short for me – they don’t quite reach my wrists. Apart from that though, I think I’m going to be wearing this hoody a lot when I’m out on my bike.

Not quite marathon training yet

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Alcohol-free Friday: yep

Good night’s sleep: yep-ish

Up early: yep-ish

Nagged by Cassie on Twitter to go for a run: hell yeah!

The above are the basic requirements for me to go for a run. Having a marathon to train for is also a pretty basic requirement for getting me to go for a run. And although my marathon training schedule doesn’t officially start until 19 December (or ‘flapjack day’ as I’m calling it, due to Cassie refusing to send me any of her gorgeous flapjacks until I officially start training), my training schedule starts off with a 3 mile run, a 5 mile run and a long run of 8 miles and seeing as I haven’t run for over two weeks and even then that was only a pitiful 1.67 miles and the only running I did before that was a half marathon two weeks earlier which I strolled round in a ridiculously slow time.

That’s a bit of a ramble, but what I’m trying to say is that I’ve got a lot of catching up to do to be marathon-training fit.

I did want to wear my new Adidas Solution running shoes

adidas 008

but because it was raining heavily and I want to keep them for the gym and I don’t want to wear muddy trainers to the gym, I wore my usual Asics, which was a good idea because when I got to the trail that finishes at a ditch, the ditch was full of water and I had to do a mini-Grim to get to the other side (when I say a mini-Grim, I mean I had to splash through a small puddle).

After completing my mini-Grim, I ran the last mile down the track where I usually see a couple of dog-walkers and runners. Today’s dog-walker was a miserable old boot of a woman who gave me a dirty look, or at least, she looked like a miserable old boot of a woman, she may well have plenty to be miserable about for all I know, or maybe she was just miserable because she had a stupid small dog with her and not a proper size dog like an Irish Wolfhound or a Dalmation.

Next to pass me was the man I see quite often out running who never smiles or says hello. He’s usually wearing normal running gear but today he was wearing long camouflage combat trousers and a thick sweatshirt and I wondered if maybe he was training for some hardcore race or something or maybe he’s just a wuss and then I saw a girl running towards me wearing shoes and a skirt and carrying a handbag and then she got nearer and I saw that she wasn’t wearing shoes, she was wearing running shoes and then I saw that she wasn’t wearing a skirt, she was wearing shorts and then I saw that she wasn’t carrying a handbag, she was carrying two Tesco carrier bags and then I saw that it wasn’t a she after all, but a man with long hair and he must be fitting in a run with doing his shopping and I thought that maybe I should wear my glasses when I’m out running.

Stats
Distance: 3.01 miles
Time: 33:47
Pace: 11:15 m/m
Calories: 316
Basic requirements for me to go for a run: 4
Basic requirements achieved today: 4
Flapjack days: not yet, meh
Pairs of new running shoes: 1
Pairs of new running shoes worn today: 0
Mini-Grims: 1
Miserable old boots with stupid size dogs: 1
Runners wearing camouflage combats and sweatshirts: 1
Girls turning into boys: 1
Pairs of glasses worn while out running: 0
Music
Philip Glass
Mansun

The Colour of Autumn

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Although it doesn’t take much for me to reach for the central heating controls, I don’t usually reach for the long running tights, long sleeve tops and gloves until it’s proper cold. Like minus-something cold. But, if it had been minus-something cold today and I wanted to wear some gloves, I would have worn these eGlove Running Gloves.

These gloves aren’t just gloves, they’re gadgety gloves. And they’re not just gadgety gloves, they’re gadgety gloves for a gadget.

They’ve got stuff (yes, that’s a technical term) on the fingers so you can use your iPod or iPhone or iPad or iTouch (or any touch screen device) while you’re out on a run or out cycling without taking your gloves off (although, why you’d take an iPad out with you on a run, I don’t know).

I’ve tried them indoors on my touch-screen Shuffle and they work brilliantly.

Like I said, I didn’t wear my eGloves today but I did go out for a run. I don’t know if I don’t go past many trees on the way into town, or maybe they’re the wrong type of trees, but my running route today was mostly on a carpet of gold and amber and I’d forgotten that the only bearable thing about the end of summer is the colour of autumn.

Stats
Distance: 1.67 miles
Time: 17:39
Pace: 10:33
Calories: 176
Pairs of super-cool gadgety gloves for a gadget: 1
Bearable things about the end of summer: 1

Cram Alert Sport ID Giveaway

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The review

I run with no ID on me. None at all. All I have on me (apart from my clothes of course) is my iPod, my Garmin and my house keys. I suppose the emergency services could find out my identification by plugging my Garmin into a computer and seeing on Google Earth where I started my run and knocking on the doors of the houses in the vicinity to see if any of them had lost a female runner, or taking the Tesco Clubcard key-fob to Tesco to ask them who it belongs to, but that still doesn’t give them access to the phone number of someone to phone in an emergency.

Cram Alert Sport ID is a wristband carrying contact information and finder instructions (they also do travel tags, key fobs and mobile property ID) that you register on the website, so if you do have an accident while out running, cycling, walking, etc. as soon as you are found your next of kin will be informed and the emergency services made aware of any necessary medical information that would assist in caring for you.

cram_alert_wristband

I decided to register my wristband this morning before going out for a run. I would have registered my travel tag, key fob and mobile property ID too, but didn’t realise at first that they all have different ID numbers on them (it explains why on the FAQ page) and so couldn’t be bothered to do all of them then, but you can go back and add other devices later.

It took me a long time to find out where to register on the website. Eventually, I found a link under the ‘Cram Alert In Action’ menu, which told me to go to the log-in page. I would have liked a nice big ‘register here’ sign on the home page.

Registering your devices is straightforward. You enter the ID number and then add your family members who you’d like to be contacted in an emergency. They give a helpful list of definitions of ‘family’.

1) Husband, wife and children.

2) All blood relations.

3) All who live in the same household including servants and relatives, with some person or persons directing this economic and social unit.

4) Civil partnerships.

5) Common law relationships.

6) Stepchildren and foster children.

So, that means that Shaun is lower than a servant. Excellent.

The rest of the registration process is simple (well, it is if, like me, you have no allergies or special medical needs the emergency services need to be aware of and all you need to do is give them the phone number of your servant boyfriend).

While I don’t really need anything else on my wrists while I’m out running, it’s a good-looking band and is comfortably rubbery. It was a bit of a struggle getting it on the first time, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. The wristband is adjustable and once you know how long you need it to be, you can cut the overlap off with a pair of scissors (if this really is beyond you, you can see step-by-step photographs, or even watch a youtube video of how to do this on their FAQ page).

Without being run over by a tractor, I can’t say whether the Cram Alert works or not and my dedication in the name of research doesn’t really stretch that far. Plus, if I did get run over by a tractor, the emergency services wouldn’t be much help; a man with a big shovel to scrape me off the road would be of more use.

The Cram Alert wristband costs £9.97 and if you buy any other items, they will be discounted by 40%. The first year’s family registration is free, thereafter a £15 per annum administration fee applies.

Unless you have a long list of medical requirements and/or want to register a number of family members, I can’t really see that this has many benefits over a cheaper ID band with no yearly registration fee.

The giveaway

I’ve got 5 Cram Alert packs (worth £15.95 each) to give away. Each pack contains 2 devices:  1 x Cram Alert wristband and 1 x either a travel tag, key fob or mobile property ID. Also included is a year’s free registration.

cramalert 004

 

I mentioned on Twitter that I was going to try out the Cram Alert wristband and runningokintheuk asked if it had superpowers. I said not unless the number goes through to Superman’s hotline and he comes to rescue me, which gave me the inspiration for today’s giveaway.

For a chance to win one of 5 packs of Cram Alert ID, leave a comment here letting me know which superhero you’d like to come and rescue you (it doesn’t have to be a superhero: if you want The Hoff to come and rescue you in Kit, that’s fine with me. Or maybe Daisy Duke is more your thing. Maybe I should stop showing my age).

Terms and conditions
Closing date midnight Friday 12 August
5 winners will be chosen by an internet random number picker
UK entries only
Superhero not included

Adrenaline Junkie

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After seeing Audiofuel Sean mention on Facebook that Adrenaline Junkie 2 would be out soon, I thought to myself ‘I don’t remember trying out the old Adrenaline Junkie’ and so I looked in iTunes and lo! Adrenaline Junkie wasn’t there. I thought to myself ‘this must be rectified immediately’ and like someone who cares about her friend’s business and livelihood should, I bought it off the Audiofuel website emailed Sean and said ‘oi, I haven’t got the old Adrenaline Junkie, can you send me a link to it please?’ and Sean being the nice guy he is, said fuck off freeloader ‘of course you can, here you go’ and so, hurrah, I had some new old Audiofuel to try out.

As if turned out, I did have most of the tracks on Adrenaline Junkie in my collection but having all the tracks run on to each other with coaching from Howie telling you how long each track will last for and at what intensity was great. (Except for the two tracks where he said I’ll be running at 190bpm when I promptly told Howie in my head to fuck right off.)

It’s just as well I don’t see many people out and about round here, as today’s sartorial decisions in all things running made me look like I’d got dressed in the dark. I had on a blue sports bra, orange and black capris, a pink top and my new blue Run Breeze socks which apparently are anti-blister and ergonomically designed and left and right-footed and breathable and moisture managed and have mid foot grip for anti-slipping.

run_breeze_socks

Whatever.

They look nice and were very comfy and didn’t give me blisters and that’s all you need to know really.

Today’s schedule called for four miles and as I got to 3.95 miles, it looked like I was going to make it in under 11 minute miles and so I ran and ran until I got to the titchy terraced house two doors away whose owners had decided to hire a digger to dig their front garden which is all of about two square feet big which meant that only the spadey bit of the digger was in their garden and the rest of the digger was taking up the whole of the pavement and so I had to stop and walk in the road around it and that is my excuse for doing over 11 minute miles.

Stats
Distance: 4.01 miles
Time: 44:24
Pace: 11:04
Calories: 422
Adrenaline Junkies I didn’t have: 1
Adrenaline Junkies nice Sean gave me: 1
Number of colours worn at once: about 8
New pairs of running socks: 1
Diggers on postage stamp sized gardens: 1
Under 11 minute average miles: 0

p.s. You can get Adrenaline Junkie at half price on the Audiofuel website by using the discount code Juneathon

p.p.s. Talking of Juneathon, don’t forget to sign up for it. Slacking is not an option

p.p.s.s. There’s still time to enter my limerick competition to win a copy of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

New shoes, and they’re pink, too

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My current running shoes – a pair of Brooks and a pair of Asics – have been giving me a blister for a while now and although they haven’t done a huge amount of mileage, they have been through a lot of mud and water and I decided that was the reason they’ve been hurting me and so I decided I needed new shoes.

Shaun also wanted to get new shoes and so, when I said that Sweatshop in Maidstone was open until 8pm, we went there yesterday evening when he got back from work.

We stood around looking gormless for a while until a young pretty girl came over and asked if we needed help and so I said I’d like some new shoes please and I told her about my Brooks and my Asics (I was wearing the Brooks as they were slightly cleaner than my Asics) and said I didn’t really want Brooks again as I only got them because the shop didn’t have any Asics and she said she’d get me some Asics to try on.

Shaun said he fancied a change from Asics and so she said she’d bring him some Nikes and she came back with a box of Asics for me and I opened the box, hoping they weren’t blue as I don’t like blue and, hooray, they were a nice pinky-purpley-cerise colour

asics_cumulus_12

and Shaun opened his box and took out THE MOST DISGUSTING SHOES IN THE WORLD EVER

nike

(they don’t look too bad in the photo but believe me, these were the ugliest shoes I’ve ever seen) and I start to laugh and feel smug as I have pretty shoes that, as well as being pretty, are as comfy as fuck, and Shaun asks the girl if she has any nicer looking shoes and she says she’ll get some Adidas for him to try but he tries the Nikes on anyway and the girl gets him to run on the treadmill and says he has a beautiful gait… but… but I can’t remember what the but was for and she said a load of other technical stuff which I’m sure Shaun will blog about and then I got on the treadmill and she said that I run with a nice neutral gait but that I have big hips and… and I can’t remember what the and was for but she said I should practice walking straight and I’m wondering if I should punch her for saying I’m wonky with a big bum but I decide not to punch her in case I get thrown out of the shop and I don’t want to get thrown out as I want to buy the nice comfy pretty Asics and then Shaun tries on the Adidas and gets on the treadmill again and he decides to buy the Adidas and while I’m waiting for him a load of people turn up for the running club they have there and on the board it says that Monday nights are for run/walk beginners but the people who have turned up don’t look like noobs as they’re all wearing proper technical vests and short shorts and proper shoes and noobs wear cotton t-shirts and tracksuits and shoes that cost £10 from the cheapy shoe shop and wear two bras at once instead of a proper sports bra, don’t they, or is that just me?

Anyway, after we’ve both finished on the treadmill and getting lots of good advice from the sales assistant, we go to pay for our new shoes and she says mine are £60, which is less than I’ve ever paid for proper running shoes. Bargain.

And so I took them out for a three mile run this morning and they were bouncy and cushiony and comfy and didn’t give me a blister. Hurrah.

Stats
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 35:21
Pace: 11:47
Calories: 315
Pairs of nice new pinky-purpley-cerise Asics: 1
Ugly pairs of Nike shoes that stayed in the shop: 1
Sales assistants telling me I’m wonky and have a big bum: 1
Noobs at the running club: 0
Blisters: 0

Return of the slacker

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I didn’t do any exercise last week. Obviously, I have excuses.

Monday, I was too tired after going out on Sunday night to see a Sex Pistols cover band; an evening that can only be described – owing to the venue and the audience (who looked like they’d escaped from the set of Shameless) – as a really bad, cheap wedding reception.

Tuesday, I wanted to spend finishing a website I’d been working on, as I was to be out all day Wednesday.

Wednesday, I was out all day. Up at a bright and early 6am, I had to be in Folkestone at 9am for an  interview at Canterbury Christ Church University where I am hoping to study Creative and Professional Writing (I got a conditional offer; conditional on the successful completion of my current course), then I hopped on the hi-speed to London to meet up with my long-lost relatives (they weren’t actually lost; I knew where they were), i.e. my eldest brother who I hadn’t seen in twelve years, my sister-in-law that I hadn’t seen in 25 years and my nephews (who are about 20 years old) that I hadn’t met ever (and now that I have, I have realised that nephews are the best thing ever and if you haven’t got any, then I suggest you go and get some).

Thursday, I was tired after a long, but brilliant, day on Wednesday, and Friday… um, I can’t remember but I think I just decided to have a lazy day.

The weekend? Although Saturday used to be my never-miss-a-long-run day at home, here I just haven’t got into it. Something that will need to be remedied if I’m going to do the Folkestone Half in September. Or the Ashford 5k series. Or the Staplehurst 10k.

Sunday, we did go for a 7 mile round bike ride to buy some eggs, so a bit of exercise there.

Today, Monday, I wasn’t going to go for a run but then a novel about running came through the door that I’d been sent to review and I thought I can’t keep reviewing stuff, people will get fed up of all the product placement and will stop reading my blog and I must do some more running and then I remembered my new More Mile running socks (NOT freebies, keep reading) that I bought from eBay

more_mile_socks

and so I thought ooh, I can wear my new socks if I go for a run and I put on my world record breaking shoes although recently my ankles have been aching and also my knee has been hurting and Shaun wondered if it was the shoes as they’re flat, but my Brooks and Asics have been hurting my feet and my Adidas Adizero are sooooooooooo comfy, so I put those on and I did a slow 1.5 miles but I reckoned it was better than nothing.

Stats
Distance: 1.55 miles
Time: 17:27
Pace: 11:16m/m
Calories: 162
Sex Pistols cover bands: 1
Websites finished: 1
University interviews had: 1
University places offered: 1
Long lost relatives seen: 4
Best nephews in the world ever: 2
Free novels: 1
Unfree socks: 6
Music
Hole
Nirvana
Them Crooked Vultures
Rolling Stones

Review: Polaroid Air Sunglasses

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polaroid

I had tried these Polaroid Polarized Sunglasses out a while back on a rare sunny day but didn’t get round to blogging about it. Then when we had that gorgeous weather a couple of weeks back, I wore them in the garden while I was reading and they were great and really cut down the glare and stopped me squinting. I suppose that’s what sunglasses are supposed to do though, aren’t they? I don’t have much experience of these things, being in the ‘I don’t wear sunglasses as I look like a twat in them’ camp.

I would have thought though, apart from stopping you squinting in the sun when you’re out cycling or running, what you want from a pair of sunglasses is ones that don’t slide around your face all the time. Well, these ones certainly don’t. They’re very close fitting without being too close or tight and they don’t move at all, unlike my normal glasses that slid down my nose so often, I had to buy some little plastic arm things that slide on to secure them behind your ears (which work really well by the way).

These are a bit larger in the frame than I’d like as I’m not really in the chavvy-oversized-Deidre-Barlow-frame brigade but they’re not quite that bad.

I put them on in the house and everything went black. Obviously though, unless you’re a complete poser or have just had a cataract operation, sunglasses are meant for outside. So outside I went.

Outside everything went bright again and I could see clearly through them and, on looking up directly at the sun (yes, I know you’re not supposed to do that but I wanted to test them thoroughly), there was no glare.

As comfortable as they were, I didn’t exactly forget they were there as I was aware of the shiny metallic blue frame and the black plastic bridge. That could be because I need to get used to them but I think I’d probably have noticed them less if they were black, not blue.

Overall though, if you like a larger frame and are a fan of metallic blue, these are a really good pair of sports sunglasses.

Everstride: High performance skin care for athletes

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everstrideEverstride’s Pro Therapy Foot Treatment is a high performance conditioning foot cream for men and women.

It:

helps prevent blisters and chafing

helps restore dry, cracked, chafed skin

helps reduce calluses and callus build-up; and

has a non greasy formula

It’s in a nice big tube but what I like best about it is that it states on the back that EverstrideTM is against animal testing.

Yay.

Unfortunately, it’s not yet available in the UK, but their US website is currently offering free delivery for a limited time.

What is available in the UK, however, is their chafing stick which will will help guard against chafing of feet, chest, inner thighs and other areas. I haven’t tried this, as I gave it to Helen (who I’m sure will blog about it when she tries it), but you can buy it from Carter and Bond.

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