Sports Bras…CONT – Moving Comfort Review

Alright fellas, this is another post for the ladies as I continue on my quest to find the best sports bras. Finding ones that are comfortable, supportive, yet not constricting can be somewhat of a challenge. For the record I am a 36B – so I definitely need support, but I don’t want (or need) a really heavy duty bra. Trying to find that happy medium has been really tough.  It seems that bras either have minimal support or they are just way more than I need and are really comfortable.  I’ve also had a tough time finding bras where my heart rate monitor strap will tuck up underneath the band and stay in place through a tough workout.

Some of you may or may not remember that I put five different bras to the test earlier this year to determine which bras would be well suited to a triathlon.  I was recently contacted by Moving Comfort as they were wondering if I would be interested in doing a sports bra review for them. I jumped at the chance, and since I’ve now tried out three of their bras I thought I would let you know my thoughts on all of them.

Diana (A/B)

One of my favourite bras from my triathlon bra experiment was Moving Comfort’s Diana bra. I was really impressed with how it fared as it absorbed the least amount of water and seemed to dry well. I field tested it at the Wine Capital of Canada Olympic triathlon and it was a winner. Super comfortable, zero chaffing, and everything was well supported. This bra is built for high impact activities. The hook and eye closure in the back can be a little challenging for me to close, but that just has to do with my lack of flexibility. The Diana is only available for gals with an A/B chest.

 

 

Phoebe (A/B)

I was impressed with the quality of the Diana bra but keen to try a different style, so I purchased the Phoebe bra over the summer. This one is a pullover without the hook and eye closure and is rated for high impact activities. This is probably one of my favourite bras of all time. I’ve worn it for both of my half Iron triathlons this year. The fabric is lightweight and is a single layer in construction. The support is phenomenal. A lot of compression style bras rely on just smooshing the girls into your chest to eliminate bounce. The support does not feel that way in this bra. There is also no constricting around the band, which also tends to be a problem for me. Once again, I had no chaffing issues at all. There is both an A/B style and a C/D one. The main style difference between the A/B and C/D is that the C/D has a hook and eye at the back.  My heart rate monitor strap tucks in underneath the band with enough room and stays in place…the entire way through a half Iron distance triathlon.

Cameo Racer Back

When I was asked if I wanted to review a bra I picked the Moving Comfort Cameo Racer Back Bra. I wanted to try one that was quite a bit different from my other two Moving Comfort bras. It comes in two styles – a racer and a scoop back. Both styles are pullover and do not have a hook and eye closure in the back.  The Cameo is ideal for gals with an A to C cup, and this one is sized by bra size, as opposed to the other two that run in a small, medium or large. The Cameo bra is for high impact activities. This bra not only supports the girls, but it shapes them as well thanks to a bit of lining.  I wouldn’t wear it in a tri because of the lining…but it is great to run in. I tested it out on runs and found it to be really comfortable, supportive, with minimal bounce, and no tightness around the band.  The fit is terrific with no gaping at all.  There was enough room to fit my heart rate monitor underneath and above the band.  The monitor strap stayed in place and I practically forgot I was wearing it.

Overall Impressions of Moving Comfort Sports Bras

Their website is great – you can either take a quiz to determine the best styles for you, or shop via cup size or style of bra. I have been so impressed with the construction of these bras – well made and no chaffing issues from seams. I love that the high impact bras they have are actually cute and functional – terrific support without looking like your scariest sports bra nightmare. So peruse their website and shop online, or check out their retail locator.

For my Canadian friends, I’ve purchased mine online from Team Estrogen, but I’ve also seen Moving Comfort at Sport Check and several good quality local running stores.

Happy supportive running ladies, and thanks Moving Comfort!

To Infinit-y and Beyond..??

The alarm went off at 4:30 am and it was time to get the show on the road for part two of my attempt to fit my long workouts in during the week.  Except I accidentally turned alarm #2 off before dozing off and waking up again at 4:50.  Oops!  I jumped out of bed, put the running gear on, Body Glided, took Finlay for a walk and grabbed my stuff.  I downed a gel just before starting on the road at 5:20 am.  The sun was already on its way up so it wasn’t even that dark out.

I had a two hour run on the schedule and since it is pretty well downhill the entire way I much prefer the run into work, as opposed to the uphill run home.  The streets were pretty quiet and the temperature was super comfortable out.  I was going along at a half decent clip too!

I wore a Camelbak and drank some Infinit Run for the first time.  Not sure which run formulation it is, but it comes in the 6 pack trial.  It was a lemon-lime flavour and I really enjoyed it.  Not too obtrusive of a flavour, something I could easily down on a regular basis and not get sick of the taste.  As I was getting towards the tail end of my run I was running the pathway along the Bow River, just past Edworthy park and all of a sudden I heard my name!  It was my friend Debbie, saying hi and shouting encouragement at me.  It was a good boost!  Near the end my legs got a bit tired, but I finished the run up in good shape.  Door to door…2 hours!  Perfect!

I ran upstairs, grabbed my gym bag, and quickly mixed up the Infinite Recovery shake and headed off to the Y to shower and change.  Within about three minutes of the recovery shake hitting my stomach it let me know in no uncertain terms that it was not a fan!  The taste was okay, it just wasn’t sitting well at all.  I somehow or other drank 1/3 of it, and then finally said no more.  Oh well, some things work great for people, other things don’t.  This is the first thing I’ve tried that does not sit well in my stomach.  Guess I’ll be sticking to good ol’ chocolate milk for my recovery drink!

Alright, must start getting ready for bed because it will be my third really early morning in a row.  Did I mention that Friday is not a rest day?? :)

The Sports Bra Experiment

Sorry boys, this post is going to be all about sports bras.  You may want to skip this one.  You have been forewarned!
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Just when you get things figured out for the clothes that you need to wear on long run and during a marathon, things get thrown for a loop when you enter the triathlon world.  When I did my first two triathlons I picked a top with a built in sports bra because that seemed like a better idea than wearing a separate bra, intentionally getting it wet, then biking and running in it.  Then I joined Team Tri Life and our kit included a top without a built in bra.  Hmm, time for the scientist in me to find the perfect bra for triathlon!

The Criteria

1. Excellent support.  I’m not super well endowed, but I still need a pretty good amount of support for the girls.
2. Would lock and load my heart rate monitor strap under the bra band.  After suffering some wicked chaffing (that I still have the scar for) where the HRM band bounced around I knew this would be key on a long day in a triathlon.
3. Wouldn’t absorb a ton of water in the swim and that would also dry quickly.  Well, it may not dry quickly, but I didn’t want to feel like I was carrying a couple of sponges strapped to my chest.
4. I also wanted a bra that was high cut, so that if I needed to lower the zip on my tri top I wouldn’t busting out a bunch of cleavage.  Mind you, I’m single…and cute guys race triathlon.  Maybe that wouldn’t have been that bad of an idea altogether…

The Contenders

1. A medium support bra that I picked up from the Gap a few years back.  This one has always been a good standby bra, but sadly they don’t make it anymore.  It is a double layer of fabric, and comes in as the lightest bra at 64 grams.  You’ll recognize it in the pictures because it is the fuchsia one.

2. Under Armour high impact that I picked up from the Under Armour outlet in Orlando.  This one is also a light weight at 65 grams.  The support isn’t too bad, but it seems to work mostly by the smooshing method which isn’t always the most comfortable.

3. CW-X Sport Support Bra, a medium support bra.  This one definitely meets the HRM criteria, and despite being billed as medium support it handles my 36B girls pretty well.  74 grams that is super comfortable.  This is an expensive brand, but you can sometimes find a good deal online.  I’ve managed to get a few CW-X deals from Team Estrogen from time to time.

4. CW-X Firm Support Bra.  This one also does a great job of leaving enough room for a HRM strap, but as is typical for me with most firm support bras this one feels a little too constricting on my chest.  106 grams.

5. Moving Comfort Diana A/B bra.  By this point in time I was tired of buying black bras and bought this one in white…which I somewhat regret now.  This one is a completely different fabric from any other sports bra.  It is quite lightweight, but it is a stiffer kind of fabric.  I was convinced that I needed to try this bra when I saw it was billed as the ultimate marathon and tri bra.  I would say this ranks equally for comfort with the CW-X Sport bra.  74 grams.

The Experiment

I needed to know how these bras stacked up for absorbing water, then how quickly they would dry.  The most accurate way to know that would be with the help of my handy dandy kitchen scale to measure the change in weight:  
I got the contenders wet in the tub
then hung them outside to dry for an hour.
I’m sure my neighbours must have thought I was nuts…  But this was in the name of science!  After an hour I weighed them to see how how well they had dried.  Here’s a breakdown of the results:

Water Absorption (least to most)
1. Moving Comfort
2. CW-X Firm
3. CW-X Sport
4. Under Armour
5. Gap

Ability to Dry (best to worst, by measuring the difference in air dry weight to wet weight)
1. CW-X Sport: shoulders and top half nearly dry, still wet near the band
2. CW-X Firm: shoulders dry, body and band still very wet
3. Under Armour: still overall a bit wet
4. Moving Comfort: still overall a bit wet
5. Gap: overall very wet

Field Tests

After my backyard experiment I saw the Moving Comfort and the CW-X Sport bras as being my two best options.  The real test would be to see how each one would hold up on race day.

I wore the Moving Comfort bra at the WCOC triathlon in May, then I wore the CW-X bra this past weekend at Wasa Lake.  The best thing I can say about both bras is that I never thought about either of them during the race.  Neither felt wet or heavy after the swim, and my HRM strap was kept firmly in place during both races.  No chaffing at all.  I’d highly recommend either bra, whether you are looking for the perfect piece of race day triathlon gear, or just a great bra to wear during training.

Tech4O Running Watch Review

A little while back I was contacted by the good folks at Tech4O to ask whether I would be interested in reviewing one of their running watches for them. You bet I would!

There are several different models to choose from and there are six women's specific watches in the line up. The women's models range in price from $39.99 to $89.99 and you even have the option of a watch with a heart rate monitor. I was most interested in the Accelerator Runner which retails for $69.99.
So what makes the Tech4O watch different from your standard watch? It has a built in accelerometer that measures you speed and distance, plus the watch will also figure out how many calories you are burning. The built in accelerometer means that you don't need to wear a foot pod or other extraneous device. And because it isn't use GPS you can use this watch while running among tall buildings, under heavy tree cover, or inside at the track or on a treadmill.

Just for comparison you can see how the Accelerator sizes up against my Timex and my Garmin 305:The Tech4O is just a teeny tiny bit larger than my Timex. The nice thing about this is you can use it as your regular watch and have the accelerometer option anytime.

Before you can use the watch you need to spend a bit of time putting your information in and calibrating it. You'll need to run a known distance and the watch will count the number of foot strikes. Input that information into a handy dandy calculator on the Tech4O site.

Unfortunately the calibration was where I ran into a few issues. Initially I ran on the track at the Y. I calculated my stride length and set the watch up for it. The next time I used the watch it was on the treadmill. I had the window set up so that I could see my speed in mph for comparison. At lower speeds my calibration was way off. At higher speeds I was bang on. I took the data and ran it through the calculator then updated the watch again. The next time I ran outside and had my Garmin on one wrist and the Accelerator on another. Once again my calibration was off by about 5%. Obviously my stride varies quite differently depending on whether I'm running the track, the treadmill or outside. I recalibrated the watch again. The next time I wore it outside I checked the stats versus my Garmin at regular intervals. As I was warming up distances were off, but ultimately when I finished up the run the difference between the Garmin and the Accelerator was negligible.

So, what are the pros and cons?

Pros:

• Price: this is significantly cheaper than a GPS based fitness watch
• Size: because this watch is smaller it will fit smaller wrists a lot more comfortably
• Heart rate monitor option: fantastic if you want to keep track of your heart rate as well
• Go anywhere: this would be great for trail running, and I can definitely see using this all the time during the winter whenever I have to head inside to train. I miscount laps all the time and this way I won't have to think about it
• Distance, anywhere and anytime: if you go on a vacation and do plenty of walking you may want an idea of how far you've gone. This is definitely a more subtle way to keep track as opposed to wearing your Garmin!
  

Cons:

• Calibration: I need to use a different stride length calibration depending on where I'm running.
• Data uploading: Data for your run is stored in the watch, but there is no way to upload it to your computer. This may or may not matter to you though!
• Data storage: If you don't store your run to the watch's memory then the run will be erased at some point in time. Not sure when, but I think it is within a week.

Ultimately it depends on what you are looking for in a fitness watch, but I think this is an excellent alternative to a GPS device if you are looking for something a little less expensive. If you are keen on being able to go back and analyze your data over the course of the run it isn't possible here. I can definitely seem some great potential uses for this watch though.

Figuring Out How to Transport Your Bike

On of my tasks for the weekend was to pick out a bike rack for my car. I've been throwing it in the back of my car up until now, but that gets to be a pain after awhile. Also, with all of the traveling that I will be doing with my bike that doesn't leave a lot of room to carry luggage (or a dog sometimes). Plus the back of my car only fits one bike which isn't always convenient.

There are a few options for bike racks. Probably the least expensive option is a trunk mounted bike rack. I never gave this option a lot of thought as my brother had found that his trunk mounted rack wound up doing some damage to the back of his car a few years back. It also makes it difficult to get into your trunk when you have it mounted on the car.

Because my car has rails on the roof I could have gone with a roof rack system. Putting crossbars on my car would not be expensive at all, but the carrier to attach to the crossbars is expensive. To set my car up for one bike would have cost the same as the install of a hitch and a rack with more options for number of bikes I would want to carry. The guy that I was talking to at my dealership also mentioned that a lot of people wind up driving into low clearance areas that aren't high enough for their vehicle and their bike, and wind up doing some damage. I figured I didn't need that possibility! Not to mention the thought of lifting the bike up and down all the time...seemed like a pain in the rear.

The final option for me was a hitch install and a rack. I had the hitch installed on my car a month or two ago, and this weekend I decided that it was time to search for the rack. I'll be honest, I didn't weigh the pros and cons of different hitch mounted racks ahead of time, I just showed up at Bow Cycle to see what they had in stock that would work for me.

I wound up picking up a Thule 912 Roadway 2 bike hitch rack. It retails for $259.99 in Canada. In case you ever pick up something similar and the bike shop offers to install it for you, don't bother. If you can put together an IKEA TV stand, you can install this yourself. It is pretty easy.

First things first, a lock on your rack to the hitch is not standard. Considering the cost of the rack it is worthwhile spending an extra $55 or $60 for the Snug Tite-Lock. (Not sure why this isn't standard...but anyhow...)

The install is pretty simple. You only need one tool and it comes in the box - the Thule tool!

The Snug Tite-Lock comes with a slightly longer lock pin that your lock slides on to. You need one key to lock and unlock from the pin, and a second key is needed to actually get the lock out from the inside of the body, so hopefully it should be pretty secure.

Probably one of the best things about the Thule system is how easy it is to get into and out of your trunk. Just flip a lever the the rack drops forward so you can get in your trunk. Um...just make sure your bike isn't attached...!

The other point worth making is that if you leave your car and bike somewhere you'll want to make sure you purchase a separate lock to secure it your bike to your rack. There are loops near the base of the rack that you can thread it through. I just picked up a 6' Kryptonite cable lock. The rack also comes with a strap to thread through your bike to the rack to prevent sway and to keep your front wheel under control (which I obviously didn't do in the photo below).

Set up is easy...taking the bikes on and off is easy...and your bike feels secure in the back as you drive down the road. In case you are looking at your options for transporting your bike, hopefully this will help a bit!

Product Reviews

Gear and Gadgets

Running Skirts

I've tried several brands - Skirt Sports Gym Girls and Marathon Girls, RunningSkirts.com and a skirt from New Balance. Really, I've tried a bunch! The running skirt from RunningSkirts.com is by far my favourite. No more bunching up of shorts on the run!

Sports Bras

I tested out several different brands of sports bras to determine how well they would perform in a triathlon. I have also looked at three Moving Comfort bras in more detail.

Tech4O Running Watch

An alternative to a GPS based system!

Thule 912 Roadway 2 Bike Hitch Rack

What are your options for transporting bike by your car, and how easy is it to install a Thule hitch rack? Turns out it is really easy!

Nutrition

Hydration - nuun
Gels - Clif Shots, Hammer Gels, Gu, Accel Gel
Chews - I've tried Sport Beans, Honey Stinger protein bars and chews. Sharkies and Clif Shot Blocs are not my favourite since I find they stick to my teeth!

Post-Workout Fueling

Cupcakes in Calgary

There are two formative cupcake shops in town - Crave and Buttercream Bakeshoppe. See what happens when an engineer sets these cupcakes to go head to head. For some reason this post continuously gets the most hits from far flung reaches of the world.

POM Wonderful

There are so many more possibilities than just drinking pomegranate juice. You can cook with it too! Every time I've cooked with POM Wonderful the food has turned out amazingly.