Under Armour ColdBlack T-Shirt

I had an email a while ago asking if I'd like to review a new t-shirt from Under Armour. Yes, yup, absolutely was my response. The only condition was I had to review it by the 18th May. No problem at all... I failed. Mind you, this was due to a couple of things. Firstly, I forgot I'd said yes to it as it didn't arrive for over 3 weeks and left me with a week and a half and secondly, IT HASN'T STOPPED RAINING FOR MONTHS!


Eventually, I did manage to get out and test the ColdBlack T-Shirt one Sunday morning (not today) when the sun was shining bright. This was important you see as they claim, even though it's dark, (mine's a lovely navy blue) it still reflects the heat. Hold up... was everything (the only thing) I ever learnt in science class a load of rubbish? Well no. But yes.


See Under Armour have worked their voodoo magic on the material (they call it revolutionary technology but mine sounds better) to make dark colours act like light colours and reflect the sun's rays and all those other nasty rays from the sun therefore, not making you really, really hot. So... then question on everyone's* lips... does it work?


Tough one that. See to know the answer, I'd have to do the same run in identical conditions wearing a light and dark top and remember every detail (Sorry, I ain't that intelligent). So I can only go on what I felt on the day and I have to say that it was good. I didn't feel overly hot (and I make a fat man in a sauna look like he's comfortable) so that's a bonus. It was lightweight, looks great, is a lovely fit and not too expensive.

I AM A SLIGHTLY" OVERWEIGHT WHITE MAN WITH A BIG GINGER BEARD, THIS MAY NOT BE ME

I certainly need to go out and use it a bit more (which I will as my marathon training starts in 3 weeks... FAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRK) and if it continues to feel as good as it did on it's first outing, I may actually have to consider buying another. Overall, I loved it and once I have a clear out of some of the old smelly tops in my drawer, it'll be near the top.


* OK, maybe not everyone as some people might have got here by Googling^ 'voodoo magic' but at least a few
" Ahhmm, yes slightly alright!
^ other search engines are available~
~ just seeing what other symbols are on my keyboard now....

Golf balls and barefoot

8:47am on Monday morning and I'm sitting at my desk rolling a golf ball under my arch to stretch the tendons/muscles/stuff (I don't actually know what's down there) as I've heard it's the right thing to do. Calves and arches. Thems the things to stretch too make sure they're in good condition when you start running 'barefoot'. Or minimalist as I'll call it.

I blame 2 people for this foray into minimalist running, eatingtrees and New Balance. eatingtrees as he's been doing it a couple of years, raves about it and I've seen the improvements in his times and New Balance as the replacement for the faithful 1063's and 1064's that I've worn since day dot, was the the 1080 and quite frankly, it feels like you're running on pillows and last time I checked, running on pillows wasn't very efficient!

Not very efficient

Efficiency... I guess that's what I'm looking for with this new direction. Less wasted energy. A way of running that gives me the ability to run the same distance with less energy used and less impact on the legs and knees.

Slightly more efficient

Now the science of 'minimalist' running is a bit woolly to stay the least. It seems there are as many advocates as there are detractors and the old saying that you can prove anything with stats seems to apply. I've kind of gone with the logic that I can comprehend which is that forefoot runners have a softer impact with the ground than that of heel strikers and because of the springy nature of a persons arch, we don't put as much weight and impact through the knees and hips. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

So Saturday was my first trip out in the brand new BRIGHT RED beauties! Knowing how my feet swell when I run, I thought I should go out first in the cushioned shoes to warm up so I went for a lovely run with @MrsSophieHMC. As I run slower when I'm with Mrs HMC, I did a few extra bits, like pushing myself round the lake twice at a quicker pace and then catching her back up but it was a very pleasant 7 ish km which at the end of, I changed into the new shoes and went back out around the block. With all the advice being don't overdo it, I planned to run just a kilometre at a 5 min/km pace but it was feeling good and torn between turning home early or going that little bit extra, I pushed on and ended up doing 1.5km in which the shoes felt fine and I had no awkward aches or pains. Result! 2 days later and still the calves, arches and achilles are all fine. Tomorrow has run number 2 written all over it.

Running away from work

Part of my Berlin Marathon training plan (which I'm NOT currently doing) means that once a week, I'll be running some or all of the way home from work. As I'm yet to attempt this yet, I decided that yesterday would be the day. What a horrible, crappy route that is!

The route undulates constantly and also zig-zags through estates so it means you just can't get into a rhythm. (Why does that word have no vowels, it's why I always spell it wrong I'm sure.) Just as you hit your stride, you have a long steep hill that pushes you harder. Then the downhill follows where you speed up but while crossing roads and jumping over tree roots etc which again doesn't feel comfortable.
It was horrible and surprise, surprise, my pace was all over the show. In 11km, my km times were between 4:54 and 5:57. That's not right.

Maybe it's because I've increased the exercise too much, too quickly. In the last 7 days, I've run 43km and cycled 33km. It contrasts to the combined total over the previous 3 weeks which was a grand total of 15km running! Hmmmm.

Anyway, I've decided that this weekend I'm going to go back to concentrating on short and fast runs of between 3-5km so at least my pace will be more consistent as well as faster. I hope. The theory is that I can then build up a consistent base pace from there. Watch this space.

Final bit of randomness from me. Mrs HMC (@MrsSophieHMC on twitter) who is blatantly becoming addicted to this running lark has signed up for another 10k after her successful sub hour run a couple of weeks ago. The irony of the situation is that after 3/4 years of cheering me on from the sidelines and the last 18 months looking after HMC Boy while I run around a bit, I'll be on HMC Boy duty while we cheer mummy on around the course and over the line. What better way to spend a bank holiday Monday! 

Lo(s)ts of ups and downs

After eating my own body weight in cake, crumble and roast dinner yesterday (notice no chocolate, couldn't fit it in) I knew that my planned quick run of 8/10km would have to be increased somewhat. I also knew it was time for some hills if I was to burn it off properly.

I planned for around 13/14km which would take in a brand new, never run by me, path through the countryside and would include my least favourite route in my area. Chalk Lane. It's not an evil hill but has just the right mix of evil and length. 60/65m gain which takes around 1.5km. Its just doesn't seem to end. My reward for getting to the top of this mountain* (AUTHOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EXAGGERATE A TINY, TINY BIT) a biting wind throwing the so far pleasant rain, into a horizontal angle into my face. Joy. 

Hey ho, there's then a lovely downhill that follows just moments before another uphill that is on a muddy, uneven and horse trodden bridle path. More joy! At the top of that hill was the never run before path. Time for some 'I don't really know where I'm going but I know where I'll end up' running.

Only I didn't. I ran straight making no big detours but as I crossed the M25, I realised that half of my 'never run before' path was still never run. At no point was I meant to cross the M25. Decision time, carry on or go back... Sod it, carry on it was. It felt like a bit of adventure. I then found a road with no paths that I plodded down hoping I was heading in vaguely the right direction and by shear chance, came upon the A24. A-ha. Not where I was meant to be but at least I knew where I was now.

Once I was back on my planned route, I worked out that my run was more likely to be a tad over 15km. Then the thoughts were, if it's only a couple of extra to pass the 16.7km or 10mile mark, it would be rude not to. An extra couple of turns were thrown in to add a little to the distance and back home I was, soggy, aching and grinning like a cheshire cat. I love the rain!!

REALLY NEED TO GET BACK MY CONSISTENCY! ALL OVER THE PLACE ALTHOUGH YOU CAN GUESS WHERE THE HILLS WERE!

Trying something new

After speaking to eatingtrees not long ago and him telling me how, up to recently, a lot of his runs were along exactly the same route, I realised that although I varied my routes and distances, I never just went out and turned left, then right, just for the sake of it in case i didn't know my pace or distance. I just have to know these things so my runs were always pre planned.


It took me a while to get into the whole GPS thing but as my marathon training is coming up and I really want to know my pace on my long runs, I recently invested in a Garmin Forerunner 410. The added benefit of this is I have worked out, I can just go out and see what takes my fancy so that's exactly what I decided to do this morning. Telling Mrs HMC that I was off for a run and would probably do somewhere between 10 and 15km, I hit the road with Test Match Special in my ears knowing only which way I was going to turn out of the driveway.


Through some parks, along some country roads and up and down some hills meant I covered 14.7km in 1:18:05 which although not fast, was a perfect start to a long weekend. Bank Holiday Monday has another run written all over it!