Author: Fallon @ Slacker Runner

#SKINSorNOTHING

Disclaimer: I received a pair of A400 Compression Shorts from SKINS to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I normally try to come up with catchy titles for my reviews but nothing can really top their own hashtag. 😀

When the chance came up to test compression shorts from SKINS, I was excited. The brand I was wearing no longer made the style I owned and my pair was getting a little ragged. The weather here was staying pretty warm so shorts would be fine for a few months.

The website has a handy little size calculator which I took advantage of but I was still a little concerned when the shorts seemed really small upon arrival. Then a little more concerned when they seemed snug around my calves when pulling them on. Ummm, my thighs are bigger than my calves, how is this going to work? Surprisingly well- the material is like magic! Silky soft and stretchy but tight in the right places. How do they do that?

Ok, let’s get technical-

Innovative ADAPTIVE Technology keeps you warm when it’s cold and cool when it’s hot
A-Seams for comfort and durability without chafing
360 degree reflectivity
Lower rise sits comfortably on the hips
Easily accessible waistband pocket
Wider waistband for comfort

Dynamic Gradient Compression

SKINS most advanced compression technology increases muscle oxygenation, stabilizes active muscles and reduces blood lactate build up, to enhance performance and speed up recovery time.

Now, I am a big fan of compression so what did I think of these?

They were longer than I thought they would be. They felt a little snug on the first run- maybe too snug. Either that I was just now realizing how badly my last pair had worn out. After a few miles my legs felt great. That was the only time the legs felt too tight. Every other time has been golden. I’ve worn them for short runs, almost every long run since (dang laundry issues!) and my trail race. In fact, the only parts of my body that didn’t hurt post trail race with all its’ hills were the parts covered by the shorts. Coincidence? Probably not.

I feel like the longer my run the better my legs feel in them. My upper legs have felt great on my long runs lately. I credit the shorts because the rest of me is falling apart.😛

I wash them after each run and they’ve held up great so far. I do line dry them. But I line dry 80% of my clothing so that’s no big deal.

My one gripe is the waist. If you check the data I pulled from the website up there⬆️ it says “lower rise sits… on hips”. Umm, not so much. At least not for me. The shorts go up to my rib cage. That is high people! Now I don’t know if I just have an odd shaped torso or if I need a smaller size. I honestly don’t think I could fit into a smaller size but maybe I’m wrong? Maybe I should try folding down the waist band. We’ll see.

Waist height aside, I kind of love these shorts. 🙂

Check out more opinions- some people tested the full pants-

Lindsey— Jessica

Want your own? Use code BIBRAVE20 to save 20%.

What do you run in?

Week 39- Keeping On

Upcoming Races-

Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1?????????
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 13.1!!!!!

Week 39? How did that happen? It’s October people! How did that happen? Anyone else feel like this year is flying by? Damn that’s a lot of questions, I’ll stop.

My back was better last week but still very present if that makes sense. I went with 3 days of running instead of 4. Thought about adding a 4th on Sunday but ultimately decided not to.

Monday- 3 miles My legs were feeling a little tight from the previous day’s hot mess of a long run so I kept things nice and easy. And short. My legs were a little stiff in the beginning but they loosened up. I ended up walking more than I would have liked at the end as a man had 2 large off leash dogs running around on the river path. They looked friendly but I don’t take that chance. I don’t have the best track record with dogs. 😛

Tuesday- Rest Holy crap, I was walking out the door to go to work and I was hit with the worst charlie horse! I get them occasionally while sleeping but this was a first while moving. Weird.

Wednesday- Rest My back was cranky and it was 90* in home town at 6. I had changed and planned on running but when my mom called and suggested we meet up for pizza, it didn’t take much convincing. 😛

Thursday- 2.8 miles ish Maybe?? Work ran late so I had a late start. It was still almost 90 in home town when I started running. I forgot my hat, luckily I had a visor. Should have worn shorts not capris. Probably shouldn’t have started a run when my Garmin was at 8%. Thankfully the changing seasons had the sun dropping quickly. Less cool was that my Garmin died completely around 2 miles in. 1 tiny buzz of “low battery” to black screen. No!!! I stopped and said a few colorful words but I only had myself to blame. I pulled up Strava and tried to squeeze in what I could in the dying light. Running wise- it was a decent run. It also told me that I really need to start carrying my Knuckle Lights with me.

Friday- Rest Open to close. Let’s be real, by Friday- I’m a little loopy- nothing extra outside of work is happening. 😛 I was looking forward to sleeping in the next day.

Saturday- 8 miles I swear I was planning on sleeping in but somehow I was turning off my alarm and getting ready to run. I planned on running 10 miles from my house and ending at my mother’s tennis practice. However a couple of wardrobe malfunctions had me crunched for time. I first realized that the shorts I wanted to wear were dirty so I went with my second choice. Except when I went to use the bathroom one last time before leaving the house I found a huge hole in leg. WTH? Ok, what is my 3rd choice? I ended up running in a skirt. Which I use to run in all the time but I don’t anymore because I feel uncomfortable in them being that I am a little overly fluffy right now. Thankfully, it didn’t suck.

By the time I got out the door, I figured I would only have time for 9 miles. That said, it was a surprisingly even paced run. I was feeling pretty good. My back was cooperating and so was my shin. Halfway, I see someone running my way and think I recognize them. I do! It’s NikeC! So we stop and chat a bit before going our separate ways. Then I ran on knowing I now only had time for 8 miles. Fine by me. In fact it was barely 8. I was coming up on 7.7 trying to get to the high school when my mother called. She had finished practice and wanted to know where I was. I’m trying! I ended up having to run a circle in the parking lot to hit 8 miles. 😂

Sunday- Rest This time I did sleep in. It was awesome. Less awesome was the 90* temp of the day. My back was a little fussy, not hugely more than usual but with the higher temps I kept pushing a possible run back. I finally cleaned my car and sadly it was so dirty that it was quite a work out. 😛

13.8 miles for the week. Still low but the back is feeling a little better. I do have a doctor’s appointment this week and I am still going to ask for a referral to a PT. Can’t hurt right?

How was your week?

Rambling On 17

What’s up Friday! It’s almost long run time! 🙂

Who am I kidding, I’m looking forward to a morning of sleeping in. 😛

Have I mentioned I have an awesome team at work? Because I do. I just need to throw that out there. They rock on a daily basis.

My back still hurts. More of a dull ache than sharp now so I just try to do everything slowly. I stupidly wore the wrong heels all day Thursday and my back is pissed about that. Silly Slacker, emergency heels are for emergencies not 9.5 hour days. Stupid.

Apparently I spoke too soon about Fall weather. The 90’s have made a roaring comeback. It’s even been in the 80’s in work town. Then Timehop reminded me that last year and the year before was hotter. Ok, fine whatever, I want fall weather!

Rock n Roll San Jose is in a little over a week and I still haven’t registered. But I have 2 hotels booked. Think I’m doing something wrong? 😂

Speaking of doing things wrong- if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my post about My Fitness Pal giving up on me.

Ouch. Dissed by an app.

What are your weekend plans?

Week 38- Stupid

Upcoming Races-

Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1???
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 13.1!!!!!

I feel like all I do these days is make excuses. One of these weeks, I will type “this week was awesome!”. But that was not this week.

My back has been acting up and my hope that my new bed would cure all has not materialized. Boo. Actually, I am still on the fence when it comes to the new bed. But it’s only been 2 weeks, right? It has to get better right? I do feel less tired, so that’s a plus.

Ok, let’s get to the running or lack there of. This week had a good run, a creepy run and a disaster run.

Monday- Yoga app. Monday is a running day and I should have run but my back was pissed so I passed on the run and headed home to try and stretch out my back. If a yoga app could get dusty, mine would be. I chose a flexibility workout and tried to follow it the best I could. I also used my foam roller.

Tuesday- More stretching I still hurt more than I could ignore so another rest day it was. Ugh, this was getting old.

Wednesday- 4 miles The pain had downgraded to an ache so I figured I would try a run. Honestly I thought I would only get in a mile or 2. Imagine my surprise when I felt ok enough to keep running for 4 miles. I was slower than molasses but I felt ok. It was a decent run. It was also in the 60’s for the first time. I almost felt cold. 😛

Thursday- 1.5 miles Creeptastic run. I knew running 2 days in a row could be pushing my back but that was not what cut this run short. I set off and was walking my warm up when I noticed a bush on the back side of the lake. Except that bush had never been there before. And it seemed really boxy….and was it wearing shoes? As I’m giving this bush the stink eye, it jumps up and tries to scare me. Ummm, no dude. He was full on wearing one of those camouflage bush outfits. What? 1/2 mile later, some guy tries to preach to me. Which normally wouldn’t seem too odd but something about him just weird-ed me out. 1/4 mile later, bush guy was in a new hiding spot. I gave him the stink eye again. 1/4 mile past that, there was a dude dressed in a black hoodie, all covered up with a large black backpack. All right, I’m done. Get me out of here.

Friday- Rest Being down my boss, means that Fridays will be open to close for a while. That said, no running will be happening. My back was feeling a little better though. Or the migraine and dizzy spells that came with that time of the month just took precedence.

Saturday-Rest Based on how I felt Friday I knew I wasn’t running long in the morning but I had thought about making up Monday’s/Thursday’s missed miles in the afternoon. At least until I took a nap on the floor and really pissed off my back again. Stupid.

Sunday- 8 miles I planned on running in the morning but apparently my body had other ideas. I vaguely remember my alarm going off and me thinking 10 more minutes sounded nice. Then it was 9:45. Well, crap. Instead I set out for my long run at 3:00. It was 82* but I figured I would be fine. Bad idea.

Miles 1-4 weren’t bad. I stuck to my 1 minute run/ 1 minute walk and drank water when needed. I added a new street to the route and ran until I literally ran out out sidewalk. It was on the way back that I started to realize I had a problem. I really needed a bathroom! I swear I have never had to pee that bad in my life. I knew there was a park about a mile away and I was hoping the bathrooms were open. I got to the dog park first but the bathroom was so disgusting- I wasn’t that desperate. There was another set across the street so I kept my fingers crossed. Much cleaner but there were no doors for the stalls! What? Ok, I was that desperate. Luckily, a nice stranger was waiting outside for her son in the men’s room so she kept watch for me. Thank you! But by then I was also figuring out that I was overheating. My fingers had turned to sausages, my head was starting to hurt. Miles 6-8 were a slow slog of just trying to take the shortest route back to my car. Screw 10 miles, that wasn’t happening today. Why was there no shade?!

13.58 miles for the week. Considering my track record lately, it didn’t suck. At this rate, I won’t hit the 20’s again marathon training. 🤣 I had better be wrong about that.

How was your week?

Do you have fall weather?

Rambling On 16

Is it Friday yet? And now it is because I didn’t finish this when I started it. Oops. But yay!

Nothing makes a lazy runner stretch more than the first twinge of an injury.

Right?

I’ve been having some back issues and I was hoping they would clear up with the new bed. Yeah, that hasn’t happened yet. I realize it hasn’t even been 2 weeks but still. I think the movie theater chairs really pissed it off. Monday saw the yoga app being used and more stretching on Tuesday. Sitting on tennis balls, foam rolling, you name it. Grrr.

This week has been odd. I feel run over but not exhausted. I don’t even know how that makes sense. It’s been odd adjusting to my boss being gone and as a result, I’ve been a little absent this week. Ok, if I’m honest- the last month. I am going to get back to a normal schedule- I miss you guys!

We now get to wear jeans on Fridays and I think I am the only one going wah. I have to wear pants? But I don’t like pants. 😛 It’s ok, I can deal with it once a week. 😀

With San Jose in 2 weeks, I would really like to pull off a 10 miler this weekend. Fingers crossed!!!

In other news, Fall is definitely in the air!!

What are you up to this weekend?