I think we all know we need to be more environmentally conscious and eco-friendly.
Unless you’ve been living under a box, you’ll be well aware that plastic is our nemesis and we should all be trying to reduce how much we use. Though it’s ridiculously difficult as it’s permeated our lives so deeply. You cannot escape it. It wraps our food, our cosmetics, packaging, it’s in anything we buy really. It’s almost impossible to avoid it.
What else I’ve noticed is the trend of “fast fashion”. Clothes that are almost disposable. You wear them for a short period of time – because they’re on trend – and then you’re done with them as the next trend emerges. And because the clothes are so cheap, it’s easy to do. Personally I don’t follow the majority of trends. I’m not that into fashion and I like buying clothes that will last me and I won’t look stupid wearing next year.
I’m the first to admit don’t do enough to be environmentally sustainable but I do try and make a conscious effort in small ways throughout my day. Like using my reusable coffee mug, my metal straw, buying less bottles of fizzy drinks, recycling, re-using, composting… And not buying stupid stuff that won’t last.
This is why I was keen to get involved with SueMe. The company manufactures responsibly sourced sportswear while still being comfortable and performance-related. I was able to try two pairs of their underwear and a t-shirt. Firstly, I thought it was very cool that they send SEEDS (as in, for plants) with their items. I love this!
Their underwear is made from 95% beech tree pulp and is manufactured to be CO2 neutral. Not only this but the fibres require less amount of land and a lower water consumption. The t-shirts are 70% bamboo viscose as well as 30% organic cotton.
The underwear is SO comfortable. They’re boy short style – so female boxers, if that’s the best terminology! And they fit so nicely and are super flattering. The material is very soft. You could wear these to run a marathon in and not suffer from the dreaded chafe, 100%. They are wickable, breathable and naturally antimicrobial, which is ideal for sports. Interesting the pants (knickers? Shorts?) were designed by the same guy who made Iain Thorpes’ swimsuit (the swimsuit he wore to win the Gold medal). So you know they’re decent!
I love the t-shirt as well. They have some very cool designs (a lot of cycling themes) but I just loved the thunder storm one.
The t-shirts are made in line with Global Organic Textile Standard and Global Recycle Standard and as such are manufactured in a way to meet certain standards (e.g. the water is recycled in a closed-loop system). Obviously all of this would be kind of wasted if the clothes didn’t feel or look good – my verdict? I really like them. The t-shirt is nice and casual and perfect with jeans.
These days I think we just need to take a bit more time and conscious thought to decide where we’re buying things from, whether we actually need them and what impact we’re having on the environment. I don’t think we can just float through life willy nilly and not be responsible for our actions anymore. And supporting more companies like SueMe is a good step in the right direction I think!
Do you follow fashion trends?
What do you do to be more environmentally conscious?
**Full Disclaimer: I was sent these items from SueMe for free in exchange for a review post. All opinions are my own honest ones.**
The colder weather definitely helps me to run faster and the 10k route I take is super flat so this helps. I should probably do a 10k race and give it some welly to make it official (as I’ve now beaten my official PB twice on a training run). But at the same time, I don’t want to enter a 10k race this side of Christmas before my next marathon… aaaaand I hate 10ks. Though I do have Stubbington 10k mid-January. Not really a goal in my head though if I’m honest. I’m just happy to know I’m a bit faster.
I also liked the front. It was a very thoughtful and lovely gift. I wore it with pride at Netley parkrun the week after I got back from Zary. Everyone was impressed 🙂 It’s a niche challenge, I grant you, but I’m so proud of myself and it’s so nice to have something to commemorate it.
Compression socks: I was recently sent some compression socks from 
However, I personally like to wear them during long runs as I find it reduces cramp and I feel more supported. This might all be a placebo but I like to wear them. I think it helps.
Anyway, the compression socks from Rymora are good. They’re tight and provide decent support to my calves. However, they are not as tight or give as much compression as my favourite pair from CEP. I think the cost reflects this (CEP are upwards of £30 whereas Rymora are around £10). That said, some people prefer less compression. They’re also A LOT easier to get off after the run – which with my CEP socks can be an absolute nightmare.
The Rymora socks are a little long for me as well. They come just over my knees. But nothing that a bit of rolling down doesn’t solve. All in all, a very affordable option for a “milder” pair of compression socks.
I know I need to get better and I annoy myself for what I’m like. I do like to think I’m good in other ways though. I don’t use baby wipes, I don’t wear make-up, I use the “hard” shampoo from Lush, I buy loose fruit and vegetables where I can and try not to buy too many fizzy drinks in small bottles. I know I have a long way to go but at least I’m conscious of my actions. I just wish society also made things easier as well. Excuses, excuses I know.
Yes they may sound weird but they were really tasty. I’m a firm believer that bacon is a good addition to sweet things 😉
And yesterday was a very zesty and tasty lemon tart. Genuinely I’ll be sad when this ends. I’ve gotten used to the constant supply of home-baked goodies.
And even more on the note of cakes… It was Kyle’s birthday the other week (and his twin brother, Zack’s). His team at work bought him a “unicorn cake” from the CoOp downstairs (we both work at Wiggle FYI) so I was able to have a slice. I’ve wanted to try it for AGES, passing it so many times in CoOp so I was quite excited.
If you’re not into ultra sweet and sickly cakes, I’d avoid but for me this was perfection. I’m basically a small child.
I went for chicken wings to start and ribs for main (predictable AF).
We had a voucher for “buy one main and get another free” but as there were 7 of us we needed another main to make it work so Kyle and I shared a main chicken wings as a starter so we could get it for free. Happily this meant another portion of chips! Genius 😉 The waiters were really nice -Zack and Kyle got free cocktails.
Then for pudding Kyle’s sister, Lucy, had made two INCREDIBLE chocolate cakes. Kyle’s was covered in Malteasers, Dime and Bueno. I had to try both of course!
I did prefer Kyle’s though. Usually I’m not a huge chocolate cake fan but this honestly rocked my world. As a thank you to the amazing waiters, we gave them a slice of cake too.
New trainers: My trainers have racked up over 400 miles so it was time to swap them out for a new pair. When I originally bought my trainers I bought two more pairs of the same kind because they were so cheap. £35 each in the Nike Outlet! So pleased.
I love the colour! And they’re so soft and comfortable. I’m so pleased I’m set for the next 800 or so miles with this pair and my safety stock pair. I do love adidas Supernova Boosts but I’ve found these work for me really well too. They’re Nike Lunarglides. I had them in a lilac purple but I much prefer this bright colour.
And I’m so pleased that I managed to pick up speed towards the end! Yes it was tough but not impossibly so. I’m just pleased I’m maintaining some sort of speed despite slacking on the track front. I have ideas of maybe “going for it” at the Gosport Half Marathon (November) and maybe the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon (December). Not PB attempts specifically (I think I’d need a lot more work ahead of those races to get under my current times), but just “let’s see where I’m at” kind of runs. Whoooo knows. I haven’t been injured for a bit so that’s probably in store for me soon 😉
So, the chain of events as far as I can see was that I changed trainers to ASICS after really enjoying a solid period of good running in my Adidas Supernovas. Both calves became super tight but I continued to run in them despite this and then decided, as they got worse, to quickly re-purchase the faithful Adidas again. But it appeared the damage was already done. This was during my time in Wales with my family and my calves felt tight on each run – the left more so.
Then I ran the Portsmouth Marathon… calves not 100% but nothing terrible. Though speeding up at the end probably didn’t help things, nor did running so soon (and up a giant hill) a few days later.
On that note I’ve made a couple of investments to my “beauty regime”. My mother is a terrible influence on me. She recently bought the Clarins version of the cleansing brush and let me try it out (yes we shared brushes, no I don’t care. She’s my mother). It felt amazing and left my face really fresh and clean. Then the next day we ended up in Boots and somehow I’d purchased the Clinique cleaning brush. Almost £100. I actually felt a bit sick when I got home. To be fair, it came with three other products, though I mean for that cost it better have!! (It came with a toner product as well not shown in the photo).
It has a very high concentration of two powerful antioxidants: Resveratrol and Ferulic Acid, which are apparently great antioxidants for the skin.
When I first popped the new gloves on I knew they were the real deal. These bad boys are seriously warm. They’re also not big and bulky – as some winter gloves are – and still have the cool finger bits that allow you to still be able to use the touch screens of smart phones (so annoying when you have to remove your gloves to do this!). 
I wore the gloves during the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon and they were perfect. The material is very breathable so even when my hands got hot it didn’t feel like they were sweaty inside. Fully recommend these if you’re looking for some warm running gloves!
I feel rather posh using them I must say! I personally loved the smoked one as it adds such a subtle tasty edge.