Helping others, my Garmin Zombie Badge journey

I'VE MOVED MY BLOG OVER TO WORDPRESS.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW TO GET THE ZOMBIE BADGE YOURSELF AT SIMPLYSEANIE.COM.

I love to help people. It's often why my posts on here end with 'Hope this helps'. And it's also why I started the blog post 'Reaching level 4 on Garmin and the badges I earned along the way'. It was merely an opportunity to share with others what it would take to get, at that time, the coveted 4 on your Garmin profile.

What I wasn't expecting... Read the rest of this post over at simplyseanie.com.

How to earn the Garmin Zombie badge in 3 steps

I'VE MOVED MY BLOG OVER TO WORDPRESS.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW TO GET THE ZOMBIE BADGE YOURSELF AT SIMPLYSEANIE.COM.

If you've been trying to find someone with the Garmin Zombie badge, so that you too can collect it, then in 3 simple steps you can earn the badge for yourself too... Read the rest of this post over at simplyseanie.com.

Reaching level 4 on Garmin and the badges I earned along the way

I'VE MOVED MY BLOG OVER TO WORDPRESS.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW TO GET THE ZOMBIE BADGE YOURSELF AT SIMPLYSEANIE.COM.

Gamification has been around for a long ol' time. Garmin have this year cottoned onto the fact that rewarding people, with virtual badges and arbitrary numbers, gives their customers an additional sense of achievement and progress over their activities.

And it works. It's the equivalent of patting a dog on the head. "Who's a good boy for doing 20 thousand steps today? You are. Yes you are"... Read the rest of this post over at simplyseanie.com.

Howies Run Shorts are the best shorts for ultra-marathons that I've ever tried

I don't usually do product reviews for clothes as they either work or they don't. But when you run an ultra-marathon what might work fine for a regular run or even a full marathon can quite literally fall apart at the seams on a run 4 times as long.

I've tried many different shorts over the years, mainly from Nike, but also from Adidas and Salomon too. They've all been running shorts and they've all served me very well in training and on shorter events.

When using them on an ultra however, even 50 milers, I've often found that I have to make sacrifices, such as more frequently adding lubrication to the nether regions or adjusting my running gait so that I'm not rubbing material against a part of me. Overall they've completed their purpose to hide my nether regions from the eyes of others and kept them warm and dry too, but always at a price. And they've always meant an uncomfortable few days post-race recovery with the familiar penguin waddle.

The shorts ride a little, but you don't particularly notice it

(goofy gait and arm swing, models own)

Enter the Howies Men's Run Short

These are different. Firstly, they only come in black and offer 4 sizes. I'm a medium (32 - 34" waist). They're also quite 'floofy' as they have an excess of material around the crotch area. Which at first looks odd and can be somewhat distracting. However, when out running, they are not only very comfortable, but best of all they are the least distracting too.

The inner short means that you don't have to wear separate under-wear and everything stays 'tucked-in' like you would expect perhaps from a set of snug boxer shorts. There's no movement, but the material is soft and comfortable and friction free.

Centurion Running North Downs Way 100 2017

I ran the NDW100 this year and went through a few different types of weather (bright sun, humid cover and pouring rain) and with temperatures ranging from 10 at night to just over 25 during the day. Not too extreme a temperature change, but notable when you're the one running through them.

And the shorts shrugged it all off. I did apply a generous helping of Vaseline to the nethers at the start, and usually I'd have to re-apply during the run and change my gait, but this time I had to do neither. They remained itch and scratch free the entire time. There was no build up of heat-spots and what was even more impressive was that there was no discomfort post-race.

Merino run vest is light,

wicks well and remains super comfortable.
I have 4 of these vests they're that good

I have 3 sets of these shorts and at first I suspected that the all-polyster construction would leave these as training-only shorts, but I took a punt with them on some longer runs and haven't used anything else since.

Matching running vest

A great one-two combo is to match the shorts with a Howies Merino vest or top. I've got a bunch of different merino tops from Howies and they're easily the best run tops I've had. In fact, I probably should have written a dedicated post just for them.

Howies stock

Howies are a wonderful company. They're ethical, care about the environment and the products they make, but are always offering new clothing lines. Which has led me to panic that the 2 sets I have may be the last I'll ever have. As soon as they're back in stock, I'll be ordering more.

Check whether they have your size in stock for the shorts and for the running vests.

Worth noting that I'm not a Howies ambassador, I didn't get anything for free and no one asked me to write this. I genuinely believe they offer the best short for running an ultra-marathon that I've ever tested.

Recommended: dhb road and mountain bike clothes

I'd love to own a wardrobe of Assos gear. Something for every weather, style and fit. Nothing pongs and everything is easily accessible and still feels fresh when you put it on in on a cold morning. The reality of life however, means that my wardrobe is in fact an awkwardly shaped box on the floor of the spare room and it's all mainly cheap dhb gear from wiggle.co.uk. It pongs on occasion and it's certainly not fresh. But I still rate and recommend them and continue to buy more stuff too.

My first pair of mountain bike shorts was a pair of Pearil Izumi Pro's. They were £100 (in 2003) and they were amazing. I managed to eek use out of them until only a few years ago. Setting the bar so high so soon meant that anything else I bought was loose fitting, awkward to wear and didn't feel right whilst on the bike.

I tried Fox, other Pearl Izumi shorts and Royal. Nothing compared to spending good money for good quality.

Until I tried dhb. Now I don't work for them and there's no affiliation, but I'm so genuinely chuffed with the quality and value of their products that I wanted to share my views.

My dhb collection

I really like their stuff.

• Bib tights
• Bib shorts
• Arm warmers
• Summer socks
• Thermal socks
• Merino base layer
• Long sleeved jersey
• Waterproof
• Phone wallet

My favourite piece of kit at the moment has to be my long sleeved jersey.

dhb Vaeon Roubaix Long Sleeve Jersey

Here's what I like about it

• Great value. I'd expect this jersey to last a few years and per ride, we're talking less than £0.50. Which is great.
• Snug fit. It's an odd material and cut in that it suited me as soon as I put it on. There was no bunching or re-adjusting. Sure it's tight, but it conforms more than it compresses.
• Pockets for your needs. I personally don't use the pockets that often, but I've done a 100 miler with this jersey and have had all of my food, phone and arm warmers stashed in there. No discomfort and everything fitted fine.
• It's not wind-proof, but it's wind-proof enough. Coupled with a base layer it's great for crisply cold mornings, but with a light vest underneath it it's great for Spring rides. Obviously it's not suited for Summer, but I appreciate it's versatility when you need to layer up.
• Colours. Black is awesome. Red is even better!

A bit about Wiggle

I use to be all about chainreactioncycles.com. I grew up looking at MBUK and browsing the CRC adverts with their prices and small photos of the components I could only dream of. Then along came Wiggle and my first thought was 'they're are not as cheap as CRC'. Then something happened. CRC got worse, Wiggle got better and price wasn't the only differentiator. It was the service too. And CRC service has always been really good and everyone is really friendly, but wiggle run sportive events, they have their own brand of clothing which is brilliant (and suited to UK weather) and you get the sense that they're committed to the UK biking scene. Maybe CRC and other retailers do this too, I know Evans do, but Wiggle have captured the essence of the sport for me and my wallet too.

They also appeal to my running and swimming side too. Check them out: wiggle.co.uk

wiggle.co.uk/run | wiggle.co.uk/cycle | wiggle.co.uk/swim

Breakfast of champions

80% of potential weight loss is your diet

The rest is the production of muscle to increase your metabolic rate and burn whatever it is that you eat. Pretty simple I guess.

I read in an Outdoor Fitness article recently about a good breakfast. They couldn't find one off the shelf, but they did have a suggestion of making your own breakfasts. Here's the meal that they suggested.

It's light enough for before a workout, but flexible enough that you can add more for a post-workout meal.

Breakfast

• Oats 56g
• Whey protein 15g
• Chia seeds 3g
• Flax seeds 3g
• Almonds 3g
• Cocoa nibs 2g
• Dried blueberries 8g
• Honey 8g
• Cinnamon 1g

The above equates to (for 100g):

• 20g of protein
• 50g of carbs
• 11g of fat

New training programme: achieving the awesome

The horse stance (not me)

My personal trainer and good friend in no uncertain words said that if I continue along my current training path I will achieve more, but I will never reach my potential.

Strong words, but readily understood and now accepted.

I've spent so much time abusing my body by not stretching that it's affected my posture and my ability to complete even the most basic of moves. For example, I always thought I was good at squats, but even a simple front squat is near impossible for me to complete in perfect form because my hip flexors are so tight. When I tried the same technique with the use of a swiss ball against a wall I felt like I was going to fall forward.

Clearly things need to change and that thing is me.

This does mean that my 5k goal might not happen or I may not complete my ultra marathon this year, but if I change now for the better it means next years goal will be easier to attain.

Here's some of the exercises I need to be performing over the next month:

Core

• Cable rotations
• Planks
• Side planks with rotations
• Horse stacnce oppostive palm and knee raises

Hip flexors

• Raised reverse lunge (front foot is high)
• Stretch hip flexors, lots

Swimming

• Lat pull downs
• Side shoulder raises

Stretching

• Take 15 minutes every day to stretch

There's still more exercises to come, but for once I'm not ready to attempt them. Feels odd.