Petzl Tikka XP 2 Headlamp

Petzl Tikka XP 2 Headlamp

 

I was running from work to my local gym tonight and realised that it was so dark as I ran across an unlit field, that I thought it's about time to get my headlamp out!

 

For the last two years I've been running on and off to get fit, tone up and generally get to places without having a carbon footprint (eg running to the gym or home instead of driving). This time last year I got fed up of having to run slowly when off road due to fear of tripping over so I did some research, asked around at work and finally decided to buy the Petzl Tikka XP 2 Headlamp in a girly iris colour (even though others can't see the colour in the dark!) This cost me about £35 and proved to be pretty useful.

 

The headlamp has five modes (economical, max and strobe white, and max and strobe red which are all activated with a single soft touch button) however I only need to use the maximum white when running off road.  Although saying that I could use it over my cycle helmet on strobe mode as an additional front or back light (ideal if one of my bike lights fail).  Over the front of the light window there is a little shutter which gives the option of dispersed light which is useful when running along the road to prevent blinding passing drivers!

 

The white light is ridiculously bright (80 lumens) which is around 68 meters of bright white light! There are three AAA batteries which seem to last as I used it plenty last winter and tried it today and there still seems to be plenty of power (no red low battery LED showing). 

 

There are three solid batteries powering this headlamp so it isn't the lightest of headlamps and can feel uncomfortable to begin with. When I first used the headlamp it took me a few minutes to get used to the weight and pressure on my head but I soon got used to the feeling and once in a running frame of mind all I could think of was; why hadn't I bought this months ago, I can now see in the dark!!!

 

The thick iris and white elasticated headband/strap is comfortable and obviously adjustable, it also has a whistle built into the fastening for emergencies, which you will hopefully never need. Having only used this over the last winter the strap hasn't started to lose it's elasticity yet, but when it does start to go there are replacement straps for £5 which is far cheaper than replacing the whole unit.

 

I would recommend this for anyone running off road or on partially lit streets during the winter or nights especially when it's wet as it's waterproof. But first I would suggest trying one on in a store before ordering online as it may be too heavy for some women.



Current Workout Music

I thought I'd share with you my favourite work out track at the moment.  This is great for running, cycling and general gym work.  I love progressive dance music in the background whilst concentrating on something like cycling but also as a distraction when the hard work begins to  burn!

 

David Guetta - She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) ft. Sia

Nike Tech Tights

Nike Tech Tights

I must admit I am a bit of a fan of Nike Clothing and these tights are one of the reasons. They are fitted but stretching with slight compression but they don't dig in or turn transparent when stretch like some of my other tights! They also have a neat pocket inside at the front which is big enough to store an ID card or key but they don't have a zip so items fall out when moving lots.  If they had a zip it would be ideal for storage but it would get in the way when cycling or stretching etc. My preference would be to have a pocket on the side as I tend to lean forward or back when doing stationary exercises.

I wear these under cycling shorts or on their own for running and the gym in the winter but as they are ideal for the winter it means they are too warm for the summer, so I usually wear 3/4 trousers in the summer.  These are an ideal length for me as they sit on my waist (elasticated waist with no string but they stay up) and long enough to to cover my ankles and heels if i tuck them into my socks. The grippy tape at the bottom of the ankle hem stops them from rising up when doing exercise. They cost ~£26 which is pretty cheap so I bought a couple so that I have one clean whilst the other is being washed when doing exercise every day.

GB Premier Dragon Boat Training

This weekend I participated in my first GB Premier Dragon Boat training sessions, where I began training to compete at the 11th International Dragon Boat Federation World Nations Championships  in Szeged, Hungary in July 2013.  If I get onto the team (with a lot of hard work, good technique, stamina and speed) I will be representing my country along with the rest of the GB Premier National Team.

Dragon Boating is one of the oldest water sports originating from China. Boats are powered by 20 paddlers (men, women or mixed), steered by the helm and the pace is set by the strokes (front two paddlers) but echoed to the boat via the drummer.  Instead of repeating other websites I'd recommend having a look for more information about the sport from the European Dragon Boat Association's website: www.edbf.org/index.php the GB team website: http://www.gbdragonboat.com/ and finally for more details on the history: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_boat is useful.

Just over a year ago I hadn't heard of Dragon Boating, it was through work that I was roped into it, ok I volunteered, to do a sponsored paddle with eight of my colleagues to raise money for Water Aid.  The challenge was to paddle from Bath to Bristol with minimal training beforehand. What attracted me to this challenge was the idea of getting on the local canal and seeing my home area from a different perspective, while also doing some exercise!

The initial training sessions seemed hard as we had no idea what to expect or how to paddle but the team providing the use of a boat for the event and teaching us to paddle were excellent.  This was the first time I had really experienced a team sport and it wasn't so much my colleagues that got me hooked but more the team that gave the training and support.  This team were the Bristol Empire Dragons (BED) who race as TAO (meaning working together in Chinese) in the Premier National League.  After doing the charity challenge the team asked me to join the team. I thought why not, I enjoyed the challenge and liked the idea of being part of a team.  A month or so after joining the team we raced in the Henley Winter Series which involved a four monthly races taking ~33 minutes to paddle the 7.5km circular course.  This was followed by tea, cake and a presentation of medals to the fastest team. The winter series was cold but the racing was full of adrenalin and so satisfying knowing that I'd worked hard in training and racing and felt proud of the team and the part I played within it.

As the season turned to summer we changed our training from long stamina sessions to shorter sprints in preparation for the ~3 minute sprints of the National League Races organised by the British Dragon Boat Association. These race days involved two semi final and one final of each of 100m, 200m and 500m, there was also a 'fun' race that didn't count towards the National League, such as a 1000m sprint! These days were longer but there were more winners (first, second and third for each final) and more teams from all over the country so it was great to meet lots of people interested in the same sport.

I have now completed one winter and one summer season of racing and hope to race for GB next year... let the hard work begin!

This is the GB Premier Mixed crew who took Gold in the 200 meters at the 10th European Nations Championship in Nottingham, England:

 

This is an interesting video made by the Men's GB Dragon Boat team:

 

SealSkinz All Weather Long Finger Waterproof Cycling Gloves

SealSkinz All Weather Long Finger Waterproof Cycling Gloves at Tredz

I used to be a fair weather cyclist with cheap (£3) fingerless gloves which were sufficient in mild and warm weather but a few months ago I started cycling to work two or three times a week and soon realised that I needed something more substantial to get me through the cold windy winter. So I did a bit of research online and guessed that I was a small (as most gloves are uni-sex) and found these high visibility cycling gloves for £28. This is a little more than I wanted to spend (I'm cheap when it comes to accessories!) but they I was intrigued by the palm padding and silicon print on the fingers. 

I've been using these for a few weeks now and they are worth every penny and in fact I wish I'd bought them a month earlier as they are quite toasty. They are soft inside with plenty of room for movement (sometimes too much when I slam my bike breaks on going down hill) but the extra room is ideal for when my fingers swell from exercise. They are easy to get on and have an adjustable velrco strap on the wrists to tighten once on (which you can hold with the gloves are on). They have great grip on the palms and finger tips (as advertised) and the lumpy padding is in just the right place so it stops the handle bars rubbing but doesn't pinch the skin.

These gloves come in blue, black, red and high visibility yellow and are fully waterproof and breathable. The yellow is nice and bright so easy to find in the bottom of my locker/bag and helps to be visible on the dark streets. I wouldn't recommend these to the fashion conscious though!

Nike Pro Hyperwarm Long Sleeve Top

Nike Pro Hyperwarm Long Sleeve Top at Sports Direct (Nov 2012)
I love this top! It's soft and almost furry on the inside (micro fleece) and smooth on the outside with plenty of stretch and no lumpy seams. Plus it has holes for thumbs so ideal for wearing over compression layers and under thermal gloves when cycling and running in the cold.  I wouldn't recommend wearing it when it's warm though, as the name states (hyperwarm) it keeps you warm but is breathable so basically you'd overheat in mild weather!  I bought it for £28 which is a bargain compared to most online stores and I use it every day (I've got it in pink and purple!) My theory is I'll be more visible to cars, cyclists, pedestrians etc if I'm wearing bright colours so this is useful without being too garish! Note, this is called pink but it looks more like a orange pink and the purple one is more of a beautiful magenta.

Introductions

Hello and welcome to GirlyFitness!
To begin with I'll give you a brief introduction about me... I'm a bit of a fitness freak, well sometime I am! I tend to go through phases where there aren't enough hours in the day for the amount of exercise I want to do, then other times I just want to eat chocolate and watch films. I guess in that sense I'm pretty normal!

So what's this blog all about? Well, I keep buying fitness magazines in the hope that they will inspire me to do more exercise and inform me about new and different sports, as well as reviews on useful and sensibly priced clothes.  Instead I find I've spent £3 to £5 on tips for quick wins like eating sugar an hour before a main meal to speed up my metabolism! So this blog is going to be about what I would consider useful reviews of affordable kit (less than £100 unless specialist) and what I find motivating and interesting regarding exercise.

My main sports are Dragonboating, cycling and a bit of running (of course I also do yoga and gym classes!) but I'll give anything a go that isn't too high in the air (rock climbing is my height limit!) In the last year or so I ran the Bath Half Marathon (my first running event which happened to be with a sprained ankle), cycled 24 hours on a spin bike (great fun but rather painful on the derrière) and a few walking events for charity.  At the moment I'm in training or at least starting to train for time trials to get onto the GB DragonBoat team. This involved being fit (fitness test in January 2013) and having a good technique and the mental and physical strength to commit to each stroke.