Cool Runnings

Winter Running Layers by tamsinkr featuring Sweaty Betty

WINTER IS COMING

The cold, dark nights are beginning to set in and it's almost time to turn the clocks back. This means its important to start layering up if you want to enjoy a successful run.

After I put it on blast last week that I was going to take up running I have since become a woman obsessed. I've been devouring running books, skulking in sports shops and doing some serious online research looking at different running blogs and websites. 

Basically I've bombarded myself with so much inspiration and motivation that I'm pretty much foaming at the mouth and in a frenzy to finally get out there and go for a run. I've even got my exact route planned and mapped out!

I'll save my run planning and favourite websites & blogs for another post and instead introduce a few of my favourite picks for appropriate layering if you're running this winter - you may notice I've not included any jackets or windbreakers and that is because I've fallen deeply in love, but sadly that love will remain unrequited because of the extortionate price - and also because I thought I'd do a more detailed post about what you want to look for in a running jacket, and what best suits me. 

I wouldn't yet count myself as a runner yet (seeing as I've not yet ran!) but I've read enough of the books, did enough sport at school and have lived long enough in the North & Scotland to have some background knowledge as to how to wrap up warm - although does anyone agree that at school you were generally ripped out of your warm tracksuit whatever the weather and forced to play hockey with chattering teeth in just a skirt, knee high socks and thin polo? If people are so insistent you can do yourself damage by being too cold why is this the norm at schools?!

I think the key ingredients for any run are simply

a) a good sports bra (high impact of course)

b) a good pair of trainers - which means getting a gait analysis to ensure your trainers are helping how you run!)

c)a wicking top (wicking material being what draws your sweat away from the surface and to the top of the fabric to stop you getting too cold/or overheating

d) comfortable bottoms - whether thats shorts/capris/tights - lycras generally the best though. 

e) Sports socks - you can buy specialist running ones which help prevent blisters through a double layer system

f)a hat - a cap to keep the sun off your face (not cardboard as it tends to go soggy), and to keep your ears warm in winter

Jon Snow knows one thing - how to
dress appropriately for winter

However in winter you definitely need to add a few extras, such as:

g) gloves - protect those hands! And according to some books - good for wiping your nose. You won't be the only thing thats running, guaranteed. My ones feature a handy hidden pocket for my house key.

h)a snood - protect that neck!

i)a base layer thermal wicking top - this can go under any tshirt, although experts warn you to stay away from cotton as a 2nd layer on top of this, as it can get soggy and therefore heavy.

j) a jacket/windbreaker - definitely needs to be waterproof. This is the UK after all. 

Even more additional items that have been suggested include leg warmers, and specialist trail shoes to handle different terrains and icy roads. Don't kid yourself that your run itself will warm you up - winter is bitter and you'll enjoy your run more if you have the proper layers - you can always take them off as you go along. *

Now that that's all done its also important to remember that just because the nights are getting dark and gloomy your kit doesn't have to stay muted. In fact it's imperative to your safety that you're as bright and noticeable as possible, so say AYE to anything neon so that you don't end up being hit by a car that didn't see you trotting along the side of the road. You should always have something bright and reflective on - even if its just an armband (As seen in image 9 of my collage) it could just save your life - especially if you're too focused on your music that you can't hear any background noise, (massive no-no) and therefore any cars coming, several books back up the idea that you should run in the direction of traffic & try to look the driver in the eye so that you know that they have seen you. 

Lecture over, lets look at my top picks.

1. 2. & 3. Are all by Black Milk Clothing. Not specialist running wear, but they are lycra, look great, and lots of runners are already big fans. I love these Queen of Hearts, Cathedral and Hills of Gondor (Hello LOTR) prints but Black Milk are really well known for their Galaxy prints also and have a huge choice of lots of imaginative designs including famous artwork. Pricey, but it beats black. (If they bring out some Game of Thrones styles I'll be a very happy lady)

4-9 Are all from Sweaty Betty.

4. Stardust Run Tights £65

5. Competitor Run Hoody £70 One of my faves, this has thumb-hole cuffs and a funnel neck for extra warmth. Its at the top of my Christmas list already with...

6. Zero Gravity Run Tights £85 It's taking me a lot of willpower to not just buy these immediately. They look amazing. I love galaxy prints.

7. Relaxed Long Sleeve Run Top £70 I just love this colour combo, and it looks like it has a nice fit. I like my clothes slightly baggier. Would work well over a thermal base layer.

8. Heart Rate Long Sleeve Run Top

9.Reflective Arm Blinker £14 You can get much cheaper ones but I like that this one has blinking lights as well. You don't have to rely on the car light catching you, your blinking E.T arm will be seen a mile off. 

10. Saucony Ultimate Run Gloves - there's a lot of gloves out there, I liked the orange stripe on these. My gloves were actually a lot cheaper and although they're just plain black they also have the secret key pocket. Mine are by Hind.

11. & 12. Both Urban Outfitters - you can get proper running hats, and its important to wear something as a lot of heat leaves your head, but I don't see anything wrong with just wearing a baseball cap or a normal woolly one. Mine's from UO as well and I like the extra colour and pattern it brings to my outfit. As long as my ears are warm and it helps keep my headphones in - I'm happy. Plus it never hurts to include a few contrasting patterns & colours, hell it brightens up my day even if it makes me look like a jumble sale escapee.

There we go - those are my top picks! There's A LOT of running gear out there but these are just some of my favourites from some of the more well known websites. If you want to look further I'll be doing a post soon with some of my favourite running websites and retailers (so much running right now, I did tell you - a woman obsessed!)

I tried to leave off Nike etc because the big brands are an obvious go-to for goodlooking sports wear, but they all do have lovely stuff. I can't wait for my new Nike trainers to arrive!

Happy running/shopping

T x

*Never forget the general essentials such as sunlotion throughout the year, & staying appropriately hydrated.

Trading Standards - Know Your Consumer Rights!

Beware All Ye Who Enter Here - prepare to lose your consumer rights.

I am very upset today.

I am upset because one of my closest and dearest friends has been treated in an absolutely appalling manner by a well known High Street Retailer (I wasn’t going to name-and-shame but you know what? It might get them to pull their socks up! RIVER ISLAND I name you!)

My friend is not an angry customer, nor has she been rude – she bought two coats online, decided she didn’t like them and returned them within 4 days. So far so good right? Wrong. What should be a regular and entirely normal refund process has turned into an absolute circus, where I feel even her honesty about the order has been questioned.

I won’t go into the nitty gritty but in short River Island have been unhelpful, vague about when she should be getting her refund (just another 28 days!) unaware of their own return policies and refusing to uphold basic consumer rights. To the point where they’ve even questioned if she paid for her order in the first place – how would that even work?

It’s not just been a shoddy customer system but the people she’s spoken to on the phone have also been downright rude, insulting, and have refused to do basic things like allow her to speak to a manager. I know this because I’ve been reading her her consumer rights as she’s been on the phone to them.

She’s been left without an apology, without an explanation as to when the problem can be sorted, and severely out of pocket.

Adding to this she’s just come out of hospital after having an emergency appendectomy, this is an additional stress she could really do without at them minute – although this doesn’t mean she should receive any extra special service, it just shows a complete lack of care or concern for any of their customers)

I had a quick look on twitter to see if people had a similar view of this and it seems the overwhelming response is yes, River Island’s customer service is absolute balls, and to be honest I think it represents a problem that runs throughout the British High Street and even the UK economy at the moment.

Once upon a time I was stood supervising a changing room being shouted at by an elderly couple that because of ‘people like me’ the economy was such a state. I smiled and politely disagreed with them then but now I look back and find I do agree – although I’ll change the ‘people like me’ to ‘shops like this’ (I’d like to say for the record that I had been extremely kind to this couple, and had been helping them for a while with choosing formal shirts. The shop I worked in had a policy of letting people try on shirts from a rack of already unpackaged shirts which were exactly the same but all black – when I told the couple that they would only be able to try on these, rather than removing others from a packet as is the nationwide school policy, they suddenly got very very nasty, and very very personal)

Back to the main issue though – what I mean by ‘shops like this’ is that there has been a definite decline in customer service in favour of boosting the stores profits (although one could argue surely they are both linked?) How do we expect any current economical situation to get better if when people do go to the shops they’re generally treated either like their invisible, or that they’re an inconvenience.

 What I noticed from working in-store myself is that one of our main jobs wasn’t to be readily available to customers, but was to push the store credit card. Our job performance was based solely on that rather than how we interacted with consumers, and often we were all kept so busy with silly jobs (re-fold all the jeans in a different way!) that there were no staff available to help with enquiries on the shop floor. It was  alsooften recommended that we had to ask the same customer 3 to 4 times if they wanted a store credit card in any one transaction. Annoying to both the customer, and to us, I personally felt like I was being forced to bully customers, and that I wasn’t doing my job properly by not being there to help anyone who came in. Surely the experience of shopping is meant to be pleasurable – who wants to stand and be pressured into signing up for a credit card everytime you buy something? Especially after you spent 45 minutes wandering around trying to find someone who could answer a simple query like where the toilets are! I wouldn’t go back to that shop, and I think it’s a fair point to make that it was the fact everyone was signing up for credit cards left right and centre that got a lot of us into trouble in the first place!

Why are people expected to keep shopping when they’re treated like they don’t know what they’re talking about, or make them feel like their being difficult just because their asking for their consumer rights to be upheld? Sure you get your nasty, complaining for the sake of complaining customers but I’d say 90% of people are polite, and honest, and are people are ALLOWED TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS.

River Island’s treatment of my friend has been terrible, and I’ve recommended to her that she report them to Trading Standards. Either they need to start hiring better staff who can do the job properly without being impolite, vague and dismissive, or they need to put in a better training system. Either way I think its an imperative issue that all shops need to be doing – not just with the returns but with customer service in general.

The days of ‘the customer is always right’ are certainly long gone and it was definitely not always the case anyway – but companies need to realise that customers are more than just a walking pound sign – someone to get to sign up for a store card, or upselling a crappy lint roller. Customers have brains, have rights, and have a choice – not to return to your store and give their hard earned £££ elsewhere, and if they are in the wrong its no bother to politely explain to them what the situation is and where they can go from there.

What could help boost this is KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS. Never go into a battle without suitable armour & weaponry. Protect yourself, but don't be afraid to go on the offensive and state where they've gone wrong. Be polite always, and consider writing a letter to the Head Office with a suggestion as to how they could change their system for the better to avoid further problems. 

Did you know that you have EVEN MORE rights if you buy online, because of Distance Selling Rights?

The Unfair Contract Terms Act of 1977 can also invalidate a lot of exclusion causes that retailers put into their contracts of sale.

That’s what buying something is – you’re entering a contract with the seller where you both have ends to keep up. If the item is faulty, damaged and even if you change your minds, within a certain amount of time ,you have the right to return it – even without a receipt.

It’s important to know your rights to avoid getting swindled by the (lets just say it) greedy, self serving corporate retailer pigglywigs. If they could get away with giving the customers no rights, they would and they probably so often get away with it because people don’t have the know how to deal with them.

They’re not doing you a favour by selling you a coat, YOU’RE giving them money and therefore ensuring they make a profit, THEY NEED YOU to come shop with them, therefore why aren’t they encouraging us to do so – with effective customer service?

It seems so simple, doesn’t it?

Anyway I better finish this off before I get any angrier and end up marching on the Arndale Shopping Centre with a vicious placard.

The best website for helping you know your consumer rights is this from the Citizen's Advice Bureau and also this from the Government which links you to different sites which detail what your exact rights are for different situations. Money Saving Expert even offer a free print out, wallet sized guide of your consumer rights!

T x

Come back Otis! We need you!

Let me know if you have any stories of really bad (or even really good – see a past post) customer service – nothing better than a juicy horror story from retail to make me glad that I escaped!

Just a quick note – remember that awesome children’s programme dealing with consumer rights, ‘Short Change’? Bring it back!

Picture sources:

Daily Mail Online & The Telegraph Online

Built for running?

Sports Day... a long time ago. 

 In my younger days (who am I kidding? I'm only just 22)
In my less lazy days I actually used to do sport.

 Zoom Terra Kiger Woman's Trail Running Shoe - £110
Would be hard to miss wearing a pair of these!

 It may have been a result of being at boarding school and therefore not having much else to do but I used to play (and enjoy) hockey, lacrosse, rounders, and netball as well as take part in the compulsory athletics of the summer term, and various charity/ competitive runs. Although the latter was just so you could get your hands on the '10k tshirt' to wear around House with pride.
As well as this I also attended pilates, dance and circuits classes from time to time, put in a few hours at the gym every so often, and maybe on one or two occasions even went for a morning swim.
All in all I was kept pretty fit and trim, and its only now post-University& post compulsory games that I realise just how important this was for me and my body.

LunarGlide 5 Shield Women's Running Shoe
Has reflective panels on - safety first!

Although not overweight, (yet) without any kind of enforced fitness my body has unfortunately been steadily piling on the pounds, not unnoticed, but not necessarily dealt with - until now.
At 1 and a half stone heavier than what I used to be in my prime I think it's high time that I took my hand out of the biscuit tin, shoved myself off the sofa, and take up an activity to try and get me back in shape.

As a child I was fairly athletic (2nd place for Girl's Champion, 1st place medal winner for High Jump at school *cough cough*) and my Dad had great pride in telling me that my (then) scrawny physique was 'built for running, if I'd only give it a go', but a disastrous inter-school cross country championship run at prep school soon put paid to those ambitions, and I flatly refused to run for anything more than a bus. In my defence for that competition I didn't actually understand what cross country was, I was fresh out of a primary school where P.E consisted of being released into a field for half an hour and I was suddenly told that I had been 'running well', bundled into my tracksuit and driven in a minibus with the other poor souls who had been selected to the track.
I remember thinking it would just be a run around a large field and tore off, only to horrifically realise that the other runners all started to go up a large hill after they had gone round the field.
I can still remember this horror, no wonder I was put off running.

Anyway, roughly about 12 years later I'm back, and actually excited to get going. I've been reading lots of running blogs to inspire me, and have been doing my research into kit, courses and tips.

Possibly my favourite - the Wildhorse Women's Running Shoe

I'll be going to get my gait analysed tomorrow to find the best pair of trainers to fit my 'running style' ad therefore hopefully sort out the pains I get in my shins while doing any form of high impact exercises; although I've included pics of some 'pretty' Nike trainers that I'm hoping I'll get paired up with, as well as tangling with some sports bras and running leggings.

If I spend enough money getting appropriately suited and booted then I'm hoping I'll keep running out of guilt - this was an actual tip that I read on the internet and I intend to follow it to the very letter.

I'll keep you updated on how I get on - but please feel free to bombard me with abuse if I don't keep it up! I think guilt is definitely going to be my main motivation to keep it going, but if I'm honest I am rather looking forward to reaching that point where I look forward to going for my run, and start crushing goals and feeling confident to enter races.
Maybe all those years ago my Dad was right (as he was about nearly everything) and I am 'built for running'. We'll see.

T x

Find the trainers here: