Category: Reviews

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.

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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.

Jabra Sport Wireless Headphones

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I’m always happy to try out a sports gadget. Trouble is, this involves having to go out for a run, unless I test the gadget by running round the garden, but it’s February, not January, so that was out.

The Jabra Sport Wireless Headphones allow you to listen to music, take calls during workouts and comes with a free download of Endomondo Sports Tracker that has features designed specifically for these headphones, including the ability to get status updates on speed, distance and lap time by tapping the headset. When you finish your workout, it automatically uploads your data to the website, so you can see all those pretty stats and charts and maps.

jabra

Set up is easy. I charged the headphones, connected them to my iPhone via Bluetooth, tested them for music, then asked Shaun to phone me so I could test if calls came through but he took so long finding my number in his phone that it would have been quicker for him to write me a letter and post it, and then he said he had no signal anyway. But as no one phones me and even if they did, I wouldn’t answer it, I’m not fussed about the answering the phone option, let’s just assume it works.

This morning I had a look at the Endomondo app and was pleased to see that it has a countdown timer on it, so it doesn’t think you’re out running when actually you’re still standing in your front garden trying to get your phone into the armband and then the armband on your arm. I set the countdown timer for 15 seconds and a robot woman came through the headphones at 10 seconds, then again at 5 seconds, and then seemed to count down quickly to zero. I was still fussing about with my phone and the armband (supplied with the headphones and which must have been designed for Geoff Capes) when she got to zero and so Endomondo started without me but then realised I hadn’t gone anywhere and told me it had gone onto auto-pause.

To my un-audiophile ears, the sound quality was good. I would prefer in-ear headphones though to block out the sound of the traffic and the sound of my soles slapping cement.

I ran for a while and after a mile, the music faded out and the robot woman told me I’d run a mile and how long it had taken me (how she managed that without laughing, I don’t know), then the music faded back in and then The Polyphonic Spree came on and I wanted it LOUDER and so I stopped and went to use the controls on the earpiece for the first time and I pressed what I thought was the go louder button (which if held down is also a skip forward button) but it wasn’t the go louder button, it was the FM radio button and The Polyphonic Spree disappeared and I stood there pressing buttons on my ears and couldn’t get the music back, all I got was the robot woman telling me how far I’d gone and how long it had taken and how many calories I’d burnt and I still had half a mile to go and I didn’t want to do it without any music and I couldn’t be bothered to take my phone out of my armband and try and get the music back and so I walked down the hill but decided that was really lame and ran the last hundred yards.

I like the headphones. They’re comfy, don’t move about and sound quality is good. I just wish my iPod Shuffle had Bluetooth and I could use that instead as I don’t use my phone for music and even if I did, I wouldn’t want to run with it on my arm. Maybe I’ll use them down the gym, it’ll stop me getting my headphone wires caught up in the rowing machine seat.

Stats (Garmin)
Distance: 1.52 miles
Time: not very quick
Pace: not very fast
Calories: 145
Endomondo (bearing in mind it started without me)
Distance: 1.5 miles
Time: about 45 seconds longer than the Garmin
Pace: about 45 seconds slower m/m than the Garmin
Calories: 151
Music
Mansun
Sleeper
Morrissey
About ten seconds of The Polyphonic Spree before I fucked it up

Exclusive preview: Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon 2011 T-Shirt

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I ran the first ever Royal Parks Half in 2008 (read my report). Unfortunately, they thought I was a man called Kevin and sent me a men’s t-shirt. Luckily Kevin was a bit of a weed and so it wasn’t massive but it wasn’t the nicely fitting female t-shirts I saw other girls wear.

rph_2008

I only realised they thought I was a man called Kevin when my recorded time was half an hour quicker than my Garmin said. Although I would have been delighted with a time of 1:54, I’m not sure Kevin was so happy with his new time of 2:25 and so I emailed the organisers who said yes, they were aware of the error but instead of swapping our times round, they just took me off and gave Kevin his proper time. Bah.

The next year, 2009, I once again entered the Royal Parks Half and received the lilac monstrosity of that year’s t-shirt.

rph_2009

Eek.

I didn’t make the start line that year, and so spared myself the embarrassment of running through the streets and parks of London stating that I Red heart 2 RUN. It remains unworn in my kit drawer.

For the 2010 race, I was offered a free place, but due to having moved to Kent and my running motivation being at an all time low, turned it down. Had I known that year’s t-shirt was a lovely orange one, I might have taken up their kind offer.

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Thanks to fairweatherrunner for the pics.

This year, I was once again lucky enough to be offered a media place and also be one of the bloggers chosen to be sent the t-shirt ahead of the mainstream media.

Earlier this year, Royal Parks Half Marathon launched a competition in The Telegraph for a member of the public to design the back of this year’s shirt.

Richard Knight, from Chomp, was their winner with his fantastic Run the Royal Parks design and every participant will receive one of these shirts on the day of the event (9th October).

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Nice, innit?

As with all the previous years’ shirts, it’s made from eco-friendly bamboo charcoal and recycled polyester, which is made entirely from recycled plastic bottles. As well as being environmentally friendly and comfortable, they offer distinct performance properties for runners such as high absorbency, quick dry, deodorising and thermal regulation. To see the story behind the idea for the bamboo race shirts, have a look at the following link: http://royalparkshalf.com/about/sustainability/bamboo-shirts.

I wore my t-shirt out for this morning’s Juneathon run and although it was raining, the shirt kept me comfortable and dry and I’m looking forward to wearing it along with 12,000 other runners in October.

Stats
Distance: 1.55 miles
Time: 16:37
Pace: 10:44
Calories: 163
Royal Park Halfs t-shirts: 1

Three becomes six (point 3)

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I don’t usually lack energy. I’m not one of these people who go round clutching cans of Red Bull (the smell… bleurgh… god knows what it tastes like… bleurgh, I would imagine) so when I got sent some energy shots that said they would give me energy for five hours, I thought, well, I don’t really need any energy but as I was going for a run this morning, I thought I might as well give it a go.

voltz_energy_shotVoltz Energy Shots come in a 60ml bottle, that don’t look dissimilar to a big bottle of amyl nitrate (or poppers or whatever name you’re more familiar with [not that I know about these things, obviously]) but instead of shoving it up your nose and taking a big sniff, you drink it.

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t like to drink anything that contains calories unless it also contains alcohol, but these shots only contain 3 calories, so I’m not going to worry about that too much. If you’re wondering where the energy comes from if it only contains 3 calories, it comes from caffeine: it has about the amount of caffeine you’d find in a cup of coffee.

It has a pleasant berry taste and I wait for a big caffeine hit to, um, hit me, but it doesn’t. Never mind, undeterred, I head off for a three mile run.

After two miles I’m feeling energetic, whereas usually, I’d be wanting to give up by now and go home and so instead of turning off down the track and running the last mile back, I go up the side of the little park instead and up to the trail behind the houses, then up to the housing estate and then for a change I decide to go over the bridge and through the half-built housing estate and past the new shop and I get through the half-built housing estate and turn off where I think leads me to the traffic lights and the bridge and a builder man stops to let me go past his truck thing and I’m running up the road and I can’t see the oast houses and I wonder if I’m going the right way and I think I should be able to see them by now shouldn’t I? but there’s no sign of them and no sign of the traffic lights and I think oooooooooooooooooops, I’ve taken the wrong turning and added about three miles on to my run, as I don’t want to turn round and go back the way I came because a) I hate turning back; and b) I’ll have to go past the builder man again and he’ll wonder why I’ve turned back and maybe he’ll think it’s because I fancy him and then maybe he’ll offer me a bacon roll and then I’ll have to say I’m vegetarian and then he’ll think I’m weird and it will just get far too complicated and so I carry on and two miles later I get to the traffic lights I should have been at in the first place and I go over the bridge and down the road, then onto the trail and The The comes on my iPod and Matt Johnson is singing ‘pensioners get raped’ and I remember when I was a teenager I thought he was singing ‘pensioners are apes’ and I must have led a sheltered life and then I finally get home and I’ve done 6.3 miles in a not exactly fast but not exactly too shabby time considering it’s the furthest I’ve gone for a long time and maybe it was the Voltz Energy Shot or maybe it was the Trion:Z bracelet which I am now addicted to wearing or maybe it’s just because I am  hardcore.

Stats
Distance: 6.33 miles
Time: 1:19:40
Pace: 12:35m/m
Calories: 607
Energy shots looking like amyl nitrate bottles: 1
Builders who might offer me a bacon roll: 1
Pensioners who are apes: 0
Miles gone out of my way: 2
Mes being hardcore: 1
Music
The The
Hole
Toyah
Audiofuel
The Killers
The Smiths

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.

iPhone App: Runners’ Injuries

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runners_injuriesThis app has a load of high-definition videos featuring two of Washington, D.C.’s top physical therapists showing how to prevent and treat common runners’ injuries.

The videos are broken down into categories of:

Getting Started
Ankle Sprains
Achilles Tendonitis
Iliotibial Band Syndrome
Low Back Pain
Runner’s Knee
Plantar Fasciitis
Shin Splints

Within these categories are videos showing stretching and strengthening exercises and includes separate tabs for cause, prevention and treatment, making navigation quick and convenient.

Designed for the iPhone and the iPad, this app is available from the iTunes Store for $4.99.

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.

Review: PediRoller

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pedirollerThe PediRoller from Carnation Footcare is a ridged rubber cylinder which, according to the blurb, ‘can help keep your feet healthy and toned and reduce the pain associated with heel and arch problems such as plantar fasciitis’.

It comes with a leaflet showing some foot exercises and also a Fizzy Feet tablet that you dissolve in water to soothe your tootsies.  

I haven’t tried the Fizzy Feet tablet but I did try out the roller on my foot arch that’s been niggling me for what seems like forever and it felt great. In fact, I’m using it now while writing this post.

Recommended, and only £4.99 from Boots.

Bargain.

That’s the boobs sorted, all I need now is a belly bra

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As I don’t have one of those proper day job things that involve sitting in an office all day, I don’t get that Friday Feeling but I still feel the need to celebrate public holidays by drinking and eating too much and wasting time on Facebook and Twitter, but wasting time on Twitter can pay off. My last three web design clients have come from there (a charity in Devon and two authors) and the other day, I tweeted about my new sports bras that had come in the post (yes, my tweets are that exciting) that no, weren’t freebies but yes, I had paid for them.

Shortly after tweeting this mega-exciting update on my life, Boobydoo tweeted me and said oh, you should have got in touch with us, we’d have sent you something, and so I said I could always do with new sports bras and so they sent me a Shock Absorber Run Bra.

It looks highly technical with all its straps and clasps. My favourite sports bras have been the crop top type that you pull over your head and then struggle to get off after you’ve sweated all over it. This one has kind of polystyreney feeling adjustable straps going down the back (don’t let that put you off, I’m not sure ‘polystyrene’ is the right word but I can’t think what I mean; maybe more neopreney than polystyreney). They’re different to the usual bra straps where you have to lengthen the strap by tugging at it and adjusting it as these have little hooks that you pull out of a little sleeve and put in another sleeve, either higher or lower.

shock_absorber_run_bra

There’s also a clasp at the top and the usual hook and eye clasps at the bottom. As I’m lazy and used to my crop tops, I try to pull it on as a crop top and don’t undo the bottom clasps, but it gets stuck around my shoulders so I pull it off and undo the clasps and try to do it up like a normal person. It takes a while to do up as I’m not very good at doing up bras but I get there eventually and this must be the comfiest bra in the world ever. Being the most comfiest bra ever isn’t the most major factor in sports bra factors though: boobage movage is, so I tested this by jumping up and down. Nothing moved. Result. Another good thing about it is that it’s not padded like the Shock Absorber bra I got at the traumatic Mateivator workout that has removable pads that which, because they’re removable, get all twisted and folded up in their pockets when they’re being washed and then you have to faff about taking them out and untwisting them and putting them back in. So, comfort, support and lack of faff, splendid.

I put on the rest of my gear and decide to wear my Haile Gebrselassie world record breaking shoes and set off down the street.

My world record breaking shoes are really light and I feel like I’m gliding along (I’m well aware that any witnesses would probably not have used the word ‘gliding’ if asked to describe my running style) and my boobs are staying in place which is more than I can say for my belly which is wobbling about and I wonder why no one’s invented a belly bra and if any inventors are reading my blog, can you invent one please?

I decide just to do two miles and to do it without stopping but I get to two miles and I’m feeling good and so I decide to do three miles and whoop whoop, I do three miles at under 11 minute miles which must be some kind of miracle or maybe it was the new bra, which is by far the best sports bra I’ve ever worn (I’m never going back to cheap ones again) or maybe it was the Trion:Z bracelet or maybe it was the world record breaking shoes or maybe it was my athlete’s dinner last night of two slices of garlic bread and half a flapjack or maybe it was all the spin and body pump classes I’ve been going to?

And speaking of spin and body pump classes, I’ll be doing those at the gym tomorrow morning, where I’m going, not to avoid the Royal Wedding, but to avoid Twitter where my fellow human beings will dishearten me by directing a load of scorn, contempt, hatred and abuse at a young couple purely for having the nerve to get married. I mean, they’re hardly Jordan and Alex Reid, are they? Just because Prince William’s mum was a media-hungry attention-seeking strumpet, doesn’t mean he and his bride-to-be are. Good luck to them, I say.

Stats
Distance: 3.02 miles
Time: 32:48
Pace: 10:53
Calories: 317
Friday Feelings: 0
Boobage movage: 0
Belly movage: lots
Fantastic new sports bras: 1
Nasty mean people on twitter to be avoided tomorrow: hundreds
Music
Jamiroquai
The Wombats
Ladyhawke
The Jam
The Killers

Review: Trion:Z dual loop bracelet

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I was contacted recently to see if I wanted to try out the Trion:Z dual loop bracelet and the first thing I noticed on their website was “The most difficult decision you have to make is what colour to choose”.

They weren’t kidding. There’s flipping hundreds of colours to choose from (this may be a slight exaggeration). I almost opted for the Audiofuel colours of black and orange, but my inner goth won in the end and I picked the purple and black one.

When it arrived, I looked at the accompanying leaflet to find out what it was supposed to do. The accompanying leaflet didn’t tell me. Hmm. As Warriorwoman has also mentioned on her blog, there’s lots of quotes from athletes extolling the bracelet’s virtues and how they wouldn’t race without a Trion:Z necklace or wristband, but they don’t actually say why.

The blurb on the website says:

“Trion:Z’s original dual therapy bracelet combines Trion:Z’s patented Ionic AND Magnetic therapy into one unique and stylish wristband. With TWO identical loops of Negative Ion releasing “Mineon Health Fibre®” and twin patented ANSPO orientate therapeutic magnets, making it the most powerful ionic wristband on the market.”

I took my stylish loops of negative ions out for a bike ride and I don’t know if it did whatever it was supposed to do but I didn’t fall off, so all was good.

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