we interrupt your normal mommy ramblings...

A quick break in your normal Running Mom adventures for a little product review. I don't do product reviews too often, unless it's something that I'm totally digging. These products have certainly met and exceeded my expectations, so I would love to take a few minutes and share them with you.

SUGOI arm warmers www.sugoi.com

I went back, and forth, back and forth about getting arm warmers. I'm sure you remember me blah blah blahing about it, and may even have caught yourself screaming at your computer screen "JUST GET SOME ALREADY! jeeze woman!".

So I got them. Earlier this year I was chosen to be a Brand Champion for Sugoi, and I have loved every single product of theirs that I have tried out. So naturally, when it was time for arm warmers, I turned to Sugoi. I was not disappointed!

As the queen of cold...meaning I'm freezing when the thermometer drops below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, I wondered how on earth some little sleeves and a tank top would keep me warm. Let me tell you, THEY DO. It's the perfect solution to keeping your core cool, but your appendages warm. Apparently, cyclists have been using these for years, but just recently it seems that runners have been jumping on the arm warmer wagon. OK, maybe this isn't' a new thing for runners either, but I suddenly see them EVERYWHERE.

Sugoi offers a variety of arm warmers, made with different fabrics for varying climates/weather conditions, and different designs (even these crazy "tattoo arms") or even solid colors . I chose the Icon Arm Warmers made with midzero fabric. Because if I want to be warm, I want to be warm, right? (even though these are only the midweight...they have even thicker ones for you Northern friends!) And they absolutely keep me warm. They are fuzzy and soft inside, yet still sweat wicking. They rock.

But the best part about these arm warmers is the elastic arm grip that holds the arm warmers in place. I have used the arm warmers on 3 runs now, and have never had to adjust them, not once. You can see the bands, as well as the fleecy soft inner liner, in my fabulous picture above (taken on the kids little tykes plastic picnic table, hey you gotta do what you've gotta do!)

So long story short, Sugoi rocks and I love their products. If you've been around here for a while you've heard me gush about my Sugoi Race + Recovery compression socks. Not to mention the people at Sugoi are kick butt themselves, and I'm so happy to be a part of their "team".

Oh, and you want some motivation? Check out Incredible Jane's blog, a fellow mom and Sugoi employee, who is jumping back on the exercise wagon after taking a 10 year hiatus. And by jumping back in...I mean diving in head first. She is really kicking some butt!!

thriv Natural Performance http://www.thrivnp.com/

This shirt is great, not only for your greenies out there, but any athlete looking for COMFORTABLE workout wear. Thriv performance wear is made of a combination of Bamboo, Organic cotton, and elastane and is moisture wicking, anti–microbial (bamboo naturally resists odor, for all of you stinky sweaters out there), thermal regulation, and has UV protection. Thriv says their garments perform as well or better than synthetic/petroleum based product, are infinitely more comfortable, offer more wearing occasions, and are better for the environment.

I'm not gonna lie. I was skeptical. Bamboo? Really?

But then I received my racerback tank in the mail. The shirt is incredibly soft. Much lighter and thinner than cotton. As a result, the shirt is not as supportive as your typical spandex blend tank, which is good and bad, depending on how you look at it. On the negative side, even with my not very well endowed self, I had to wear a sports bra underneath the tank, despite the built in shelf bra. On the positive, the lower part of the shirt was much loser than most tanks, and therefore didn't ride up while running, revealing the ever-so-scary mommy belly skin, haha.

As far as sweat performance, I stayed completely dry. Granted, it was only 54 degrees outside and not typical SC weather, but I certainly ran hard enough to break a sweat.

This shirt will certainly be making it's way into my workout wear rotation. Thriv also offers a slew of other products, tops and bottoms, so go check them out. Thank you to the people at Thriv for sharing it with me! And if you all join the Thriv1st program you may have a chance to win your own Thriv shirt to try out.

And here you go friends...I asked my fabulous photographer for an "action shot"...and I got one alright. Busy working on the computer before the run. How's that for action? haha!

Check out my kick butt headsweats hat from Go Ultra Sports http://www.goultrasports.com/ . It's a very cool site/community where you can log/track workouts, manage calendars, map your runs, create customized homepages, etc. You know the drill. AND you can upload info from your Garmin (Nike+ too). I've always been jealous of the Nike+ people and their fun little community. You can find me over there under RunFasterMommy (surprise, surprise).

Happy Thanksgiving Eve friends!