Swoob Idona Racerback Bra: Product Review

The Product

When I picked up my newest shoes a few weeks ago, I also picked up a little something I'd had my eye on for a while: the Swoob Idona Racerback bra. I've been obsessing over this product for 3 reasons:

• I purchased a pair of their Full Length leggings over the winter and L-O-V-E them. They are almost everything you dream of in a mid-weight tight (some reflective properties would be great, but in fairness I think they were designed for yoga, so, fine). Given how much I loved these tights, it seemed like a safe bet that other Swoob products might also be great. 
• Swoob is a Utah-based company. Utah has a strong economic cluster in outdoor products manufacturing I know this because it's my job to know it, but it also makes good sense. We're a crazy outdoorsy bunch here, year-round. 
• There are times when I would love to carry my phone with me on a run, and there just wasn't a great way to do this before. Wanna take a picture? Need my phone. Want to feel safer on a solo run in the dark or in a new-to-you place? Need your phone. 

Testing it Out

I've worn this bra twice now. There are things I love about it and things I'm less crazy about. Let's start with the pros:

• I love the purple color. Not important. I know. 
• It does a good job of keeping things where they need to be, and this is no small feat. They are serious when they say it's good for high impact sports. 
• The material feels great and performs well. 

I hate to do this, Swoob, but, the cons:

• Sizing is done by S,M,L, rather than by standard bra sizing. For me, from any store for any type of garment, this usually means that a medium is a tiny bit snug and a large is too large, as was the case here. I bought the Medium and it's been fine, but I will say that I've been hesitant to go long in it, for fear of chafing. Once it's been broken in a bit, this will likely be a non-issue. 
• Uni-boob. 
• By far, my biggest complaint is that my phone doesn't actually fit in the bra. Here you can see my LG G2 sitting above the front (inside) pocket of the bra. It's maybe a quarter inch too wide for the pocket, and the mouth of the pocket doesn't expand. This pocket likely works if you have an iPhone, or just a smaller phone. I don't think the LG G2 is a particularly huge phone, so I was disappointed. 

Even though the pocket doesn't work for my phone, I imagine I'll get some use out of it anyway, by cramming Gu or a credit card in there. There are also side pockets for those things, which is a nice touch. 

In Conclusion

In closing, I like this product, but probably would not purchase another one unless they addressed the items in my "cons" list in a redesign. 

* I have not been contacted by Swoob to conduct this review. The views given here are mine and mine alone, and were given with no compensation or product. I purchased the product out of my own pocket. 

Milestones and bellies and shirts, oh my!

This morning I went on my first post-fall run. I went with my neighbor and we took it slow just to make sure nothing hurt. I'm happy to report that I think running is back on! In other news:

1. Another milestone: This morning I officially crossed 800 miles for the year! I'm beyond thrilled about this and can't wait to see where I end up by the end of the year. 
2. It's time for another picture in the great Belly Watch 2011-2012. 24 weeks, baby! I had an OB appointment today and got to hear the heartbeat again. I cannot wait to meet this little boy!

3. The picture serves two purposes today--it's also the blog debut of my maternity running shirt (available here). I absolutely love this shirt and would recommend it. I love that it has thumb holes (and, therefore, sufficiently long sleeves). It's technical fabric. It's easily long enough. And I love the color. I am super impressed at the quality of the shirt, and so thankful that it's available, where nothing like this was made during my first pregnancy. I would recommend that you buy up a size, though. I would normally buy a medium, but because so many maternity shirts (from all brands, seemingly) tend to get short in the third trimester, I decided to give myself some extra space. All over, I think the size larger was a good call. 

Mondays in Love: Arm Sleeves

*Don't forget to leave a comment on this post to enter my giveaway!! Handmade runner goodness!


I mentioned in my Rock & Roll St. Louis post that I'd picked up some arm sleeves/warmers and a new headband while volunteering at the race expo on Saturday. With temps in the mid-50s this morning, it was a perfect chance to try out the arm warmers. And guess what--I am in love.

As you can tell from the picture, my baby belly is starting to round out a bit. Because of this, my running shorts/pants move themselves to the bottom of my bump, making virtually all of my shirts too short. I have one short-sleeved shirt (the one shown here) and a tank top that are longer, but too skimpy for cool weather. Until the arm sleeves happened.

The deets:
They are Purple Plaid Arm Sleeves from Running Skirts (available here). At $39 a pair, they are not particularly cheap, but they are letting me delay the purchase of a maternity top and get more wear out of summer tops.

The good

• Purple.Plaid. 
• I got the small size, and they stay put. 
• Thumb holes! 
• Pockets on the backs of both hands and at the top of one.
• I didn't realize that I minded the bulkiness of long sleeved tech shirts until I wore these. I've heard other runners say this, but didn't really get it until now. 

I really don't have much negative to say about them. They do leave an imprint on the crease of your arm. If they are tight enough to stay up, apparently they are tight enough to leave imprints along their folds. But this is not a big deal. My only real critique would be that I wouldn't have hated another half inch in length, BUT, I'm 5'8". I have a bit of a bigger wingspan than your average runner chick. So I can't really fault them for this either. 

If you're considering some new fall/early winter running gear, I definitely recommend checking out some arm sleeves. They are freeing, fun, and make your running gear much more versatile. If anyone has recommendations of other brands/types to check out, please pass them along! 

Updates & Product Reviews

As promised, I have all sorts of updates for you. A few of you have asked how The Vengeance is doing, and I have a big update there. And some other runner-geek things. Here's what we're going to cover. And yes, I saved #4 for #4 so you menfolk can stop reading and not miss anything else. Thoughtful!

1. The Vengeance
It's a long-ish story at this point. If you're new to the blog, let me get you up to date. My Garmin Forerunner 405, which I named The Vengeance, stopped recording all graphs sometime after Thanksgiving. At first I thought I'd just run on an overcast day and hadn't gotten a good satellite signal. Then (with the help of Garmin support), it looked like I just needed to update the software on it and my Training Center. When that hadn't worked either after a few runs, I called Garmin support back yesterday. I was on the phone with them for TWO HOURS. When the first tech support guy ran out of suggestions, they transferred me to the more advanced support group. They had an entire group of tech people around the phone going through every permutation of every setting and fix they could think of. At the end of two hours they decided that it must be something that's broken inside the watch. They actually said that no one on the tech support team had ever heard of this particular problem happening. Since I've had it less than a year, they are replacing it. So....parting will be such sweet sorrow. It will go back to the Mothership sometime this week. I've spent so much time with her that I feel almost like I should throw a going-away party. Even though this is all unfortunate, I have to say that Garmin support is freaking awesome. Everyone I talked to was sincere about wanting to help me fix the problem. They were never disinterested or rude. And they are replacing the watch! Excellent customer service.

2. The shirt
I picked this up a few weeks ago from a sale bin at Target. It's one of their Champion tops. When I first put it on I thought it was ridiculously too long, but it turns out that it's pretty cute with tights/running pants. For $7, this technical fabric top was a great find.

3. The pants
I had a Groupon to my fave local running store and I was out of Gu, so we headed up there yesterday morning to stock up before my long run. While there, I decided to use my Groupon for some new running tights or pants. My only pair of running tights are great, but they're thermal and really much too warm for temps in the 40s/50s. I tried on a few pairs and decided to get the Nike Be Strong Regular Fit training pants. They are fantastic. They are absolutely everything I wanted in a pair of running pants. The waistband is wide and super comfy and flattering. They are snug through the hip but a little looser through the mid-thigh and  straight-ish through the leg. It's a really flattering cut for my body type. And I love the length! All around, they are absolutely everything I wanted. I want like 6 more pairs. :)

4. The sports bra
Back in September I reviewed the Under Amour Heatgear Endure sports bra (read it here). At the time I said I probably wouldn't wear the bra for a long run. In the meantime I've lost 6 pounds (and counting!!) and the fabric has stretched a teeny tiny bit. I wore it for my 12-miler today and had no problems. It has morphed into  a really great sports bra. I highly recommend!

That's the end of my updates. Oh, except the most important: TWELVE WEEKS UNTIL CLEVELAND!!! I can't freaking wait!!

One-week challenge wrap-up

BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO RUNNINGFIRST. He did it. He ran a solo 16 miler today (read it here) and with that, has won the challenge. Keep up the good work!! Go get those PR's this spring!


Here's the break-down of the rest of my week's workouts. It was a tough and rewarding week.


Thursday was my rest day.

Friday was a 6 mile pace workout. The plan was to run one warm-up mile, 4 miles at 9:09 and 1 cool-down mile. But I ran the first three miles much too fast. I slowed down almost far enough after that, but the damage was done. The result of the workout was that I was sore last night.

I HATE that I have to say the following. HATE it. But here goes: I had no business trying to run my 12 miler today. For one thing, I had a fever (which I didn't bother to actually measure with a thermometer, but took the sweats/shivers as a sure enough sign). For another, I'm fighting an infection. I'm on amoxicillin for what turned out to be the worst sinus infection of my life. Third, one of the two runs I missed when this sinus infection was a bad cold was the 9 mile long run that was meant to prep me for this step-up in mileage. And finally, I ran entirely too hard yesterday. The end result of all this was a 12-miler that I got through successfully, but it took more effort than usual. Average pace of 10:06, which is right on target. Here I am when I got back to the house.

I give you this picture as a teaser for tomorrow's post. I have two new product reviews, an update on The Vengeance, and an update to an old product review. Stay tuned!

Product review, men need not read

I am not a member of the IBTC. Consequently, it's hard for me to find a good sports bra for running (dudes, I warned you not to read this!). Last year Runner's World published a product review of different bras categorized by cup size. So, I clipped the article and kept it for future reference.

Maybe 6 weeks ago I spotted one of the reviewed bras at REI. I tried one on and brought it home. I've run in it enough times to get a sense now of the pros and cons. So here you are, a product review of the Under Armour heatgear Endure. (I paid for the product and have no connection whatsoever to Under Armour).

The pros:

• When they say no bouncage, they mean *no* bouncage. None.
• It is meant for and responds very well to hot weather. Which as you all know, we have here in the summer.
• Individual cups. No uni-boob.

The cons:

• The straps cross across the back, which provides support, but also means that they push inward at the shoulders. They are a little tight for my liking. This may however also be because I fall between a medium and large and bought the medium.
• I don't personally like the zip-front closure. For one thing, the zip-pull sometimes sticks up and pokes me (easily fixed though). For another thing, it is sometimes hard to get closed. I actually delayed writing this review on the hope that it would stretch after a few wearings and be easier to close. Only a little, it turns out.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this bra for women in similar circumstances as myself: not waify, and living in a warmer climate. I would strictly recommend it for mid-week runs, not for long runs, on account of the tight straps. It's one that I will keep in my collection and continue to wear.

Indignant/Love

First, a rant:

I just watched the movie "Marie Antoinette" after taking over a year to read the book it's based on. The movie is so bad I am almost indignant about it. And I am not a movie snob! Really! C'mon, I love Talladega Nights, Dodgeball, all the stupid humor. And some serious things. Not a snob! They should have called the movie "All the Pretty things Marie Antoinette Lived Among During Her Time at Versailles." That would have been a more accurate title.

Second, running:

I went to track practice last night. It was the fall Team's first track workout, so it was meant to be pretty easy. We did:

1 mile warm-up

6 x 400

1 mile cool-down (of which RunningFirst and I did half a mile)

It was generally believed that I should take it a little easy, it being my first really serious workout post-appy. The more senior Team members (i.e., people who have watched me run now for 3+ years and know my running habits sometimes better than I do) were sure I wouldn't be able to keep myself in check. But I showed them! Reality: I took May as an "easy," "between races" month, then had an appendectomy. I'm a little out of shape. And yes, eventually my stomach started to hurt a little. Spin: I totally kept myself under control and really intentionally slowed down a few seconds per interval. I ran them each in about 1:46.

Which brings me to my first totally intolerable Garmin gush-fest. I FREAKING LOVE THIS THING. I just synced it to my laptop when I got home and boom all my intervals, total time and distance, everything was just there. And easily transported into my runningahead log. No need for anyone to write down times at the track. Or email them to me. Or for me to then manually copy them from email into runningahead. It's just done.

272.0 + 3.2 = 275.2 miles

I have an easy run planned for tomorrow and a 6-miler (assuming compliance by my abs) for Saturday. Tomorrow's could get ditched though depending on how the babe is feeling in the morning. He had immunizations today and had a rough evening. Poor little guy. Keep your fingers (a word I invariably type first as "gingers" and have to delete) crossed for him!

Expo pic & product review

Quick follow-up post.

First up, the expo pic I promised. The more I think about it, I don't think there is a pre-race pic to post. I think I hallucinated that one into existence. My bad. Expo:

(l-r: Mrs. Lifesaver, me, The Gangsta, Meredith, Coach Dolores, Meg. Love these ladies!)

Second, the product review. At the recommendation of Morgan over at Redhead Running, I tried the Bondi Band. I was searching for a reliable running head band that wouldn't pop off the back of my head. The rubberized Goody ones are ok for short runs, but I've had trouble with them for anything that would fall into the "endurance running" category. So what did I think of the Bondi?

Worth the money. It wicks. It doesn't come off. 13.1 this morning and it did not budge. Sure, it makes me look a little like a pirate if it isn't folded over, but it works. Plus, it comes in a wide array of colors. I also really like that the bottom of it is sewn together so that it isn't crazy wide under your ponytail/hair. I will be ordering more! I was advised that the solid colors work slightly better than the prints due to a difference in fabric, so I'll be sticking with solids. Go rock some cute headbands, girls!

So that's how it's gonna go down?

I apologize for the blog slacking! Here's the recap of everything you've missed.

Monday: On Monday while working from home I checked the hourly forecast for the rest of that day and Tuesday. It looked like this:

PERFECT, rain, rain, dinner/family time, dark, windy, windy, windy, windy, dark.

So I got up and went running. A good 4.8 miles around the neighborhood then right back to work. I love that my work can be flexible like that right now. It won't be like this for long.

Tuesday: Admission of truth--I am not a reliable cross-trainer. Actually, I just don't do it most of the time. Which is why I'm going to go ahead and count mowing the lawn as exercise. If Mr. Joanna can count ping pong as exercise (which he does...true story), I can count mowing. When I finished I looked back at the yard, all proud of myself. Then I saw this. One missed strip of grass between rows and no time to weed whack it. FAIL. I still cross-trained. Right?

Wednesday: RunningFirst and I decided to believe weather.com's claim that the rain was over, so we headed to the track dutifully at 6pm. The workout: warm-up, 3 mile tempo run, cool down. My mile splits were 8:04, 7:54, and 7:48. Decreasing splits! Unlike a true tempo run, I took short breaks between miles--shorter than if it were an interval workout. I'm happy to report that I was absolutely unafraid of this workout. It was one of the easier ones we've done, intentionally, since we're now close-ish to race day.

In the middle of the cool-down, RunningFirst (who ran parts of the workout with me) lamented the state of his preparation for our race and the difficulty he'd had in joining me for portions of the tempo run. So there on the spot he decided that our track workout was going to be written in the history books like this. I freaking love it. It IS true that I appreciated being paced so well. And it's also true that he's about half full of it. On purpose.

Thursday: A pigeon flew into my office through the one small window that opens. The pigeon and I were both too freaked out for a photo op. I called some people with nets who came and released it back into the great outdoors.

And now, because I'm in a really random mood, I'm going to give you a totally unrelated and unsolicited product review: Lemon Curd.

It has come to my attention that a lot of you have never heard of lemon curd. Let me introduce you. It is sort of like really thick lemon pie filling that you put on toast. You convince yourself that it's as reasonable as eating jam. It's expensive and ridiculous and pretty much the best thing on Earth. You can find it in most grocery stores next to the jam/jelly section. Give it a try!

I'm planning a FAQ post about this blog, so if there's anything you'd like to know please just post a comment and ask!

167.4 + 4.8 + 5.0 = 177.2 miles