Each month the Run Testers try out piles of running products, but there’s a lot of kit outside of shoes and tech that we don’t get a chance to talk about until we do a full round-up.
In this video, we cover the latest running shorts, nutrition, caps and running vests.
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JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
Kieran’s Picks
00:45 – Veloforte Desto Gels
01:50 – INOV8 Racepac 20
03:05 – Adidas Own The Run 2-in-2 Shorts
Nick’s Picks
04:20 – SiS Rego Clear Recovery Powder
05:50 – Soltan Active Lip SPF30
06:30 – The North Face Summer LT Run Hat
Tom’s Picks
07:50 – Fractel R Series Caps
09:50 – Soar Graded Speed Shorts
12:25 – Luchos Guava Energy Blocks
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Hey Tomy from the Run testers with Another monthly Roundup this is the Video where we talk about all the things That we've tested over the past few Weeks that we haven't been able to fit Into with the videos so let's dive in And see what we've all picked this [Music] Month now I'm a big fan of V for's range Of fueling and hydration product the General gist is that the vfor favors Real food ingredients over synthetics And anything artificial but they also Shoot for flavors in their gels bars Chews protein shakes that you genuinely Want to eat really interesting flavors There the tempo date lemon and ginger Gels are great but I recently used their New adesto gels for the first time on my 30 m solo Ultra to test the Adidas terx Agravic speed Ultra a video on the Channel you can check that out and They're excellent they're loose sort of Runny syrupy texture slips down easily Is really nice if you don't have water You get no gamy mouth kind of aftermath You can get with thicker gels the hit of Real Cherry is delicious in these with a Good balance of sweet but a bit of Sharpness as well they remind me Somewhat of the Cherry active gels that You can buy which are also worth a look Actually if you want something a little Bit different there's 75 milligrams of
Caffeine from Gana here doesn't have a Bitter taste and it played nice with my Stomach on that run there's 22 G of carb In each nice compact gel that's pretty Standard they're really nice and stash They're easy to open and if you're Looking for a more natural way to fuel The maltodextrin options these are Definitely worth the look you probably Won't want to eat 12 of them in a row I Think the flavor is a bit much for that So I tend to use these in combination With a more kind of neutral Precision Fuel and hydration 90 G pouches and then Add in one of these for a great kind of Flavor jolt and a nice switch up in Taste along the way now it's called a Race pack 20 but I've been mainly using This hydration vest pack for solo runs I've used it for that same 30 m solo That I did I've stuck it on a lot when I Want to go commute a bit but I don't Need to carry too much kit I really love The versatility of this pack it's Probably a bit more packed than some may Want for really lightweight racing There's a bit more structure to it it's A bit heavier than something like a Lightweight minimal like those Salamon Skin vests that you get for example Which I also really love racing in but I Think I'd be happy to use this for Longer Trail Adventures where I need to Carry a bit more kit and I want a bit
More structure to the pack now the front Bungee system that you've got here is Really easy to get a good secure f I like the way the harness sits on the Shoulders I found there was very little Bounce using this when I had sort of a Medium amount of Kit in it there's a Nice foam back panel that adds some Extra comfort and protection from the Stuff you've got in your pack you also Get plenty of stash space here with a Total of 10 Pockets across the pack two 500 mil soft flasks front holstered up Here plus good zipper pocket at the Front for a phone there's a slightly More water protected pocket up here at The top and overall the fabric here Feels durable there are other happy Details like pole attachments and a Built-in whistle it's just a really well Put together hydration pack I bloody Love a good twoin one short and the only Thing I love more than a twoin one short It's a twoin one short with a built-in Belt for storage now these Adidas own The run shorts I'm missing the belt but I'll let that go because the inner Shorts are made from a really nice soft Fabric it's not too compressive holds Everything in place this offers good Support and protection you know looks After your dignity even though you've Got these side splits there's a little Leg pocket that can hold a phone here
That I wouldn't it with my big iPhone in There I think it's good for kind of After if you want to stash a phone but I Wouldn't use it whilst running the outer Shorts here are really nice and light They hang and fit really well and the Twin short combo that you've got here Isn't too heavy overall so they're good For spring autum weather if you like Running really minimal in summer they Might be too hot but I think the Sweeping splits here give a good range Of motion I really love the blue and I Find them light enough to use in most Weather conditions the belt here as well Is nice and wide elasticated and it sort Holds really well without cutting in Yeah overall these are sort of some Shorts that I found really really Comfortable to run in recently yeah and I think they're relatively well priced As Well so my first pick this month is the New sis rioo clear recovery powder now I've been using the standard rioo Recovery powder for a few years I used It for most of my London marathan block This year as well and that's just a Classic chocolate flavor or something Like that quite a thick shake this is The lighter clear flavors you have now With the recovery clear which is just Much better to have during the hot Months I think it's a more refreshing
Drink a lighter drink the flavors are Much more summer friendly you've got a Peach flavor and a raspberry and Cranberry flavor of which the raspberry And cranberry is better I would say and It just gives you all the things you Need to help your body bounce back from A hard workout so generally if I'm not Training too hard I'll do all my kind of Recovery needs bya food and normal meals But if I I'm really pushing it with a Hard training block I will use a Recovery shake after my hard workouts in The week it just feels like I bounce Back much better throughout the rest of The day and then the next day if I do That and I like the classic powder but During summer it's nice to have this More lightweight clear powder which is Just a bit more tasty and refreshing on A hot day each serving contains 20 g of Protein 21 G of carbs just kind of the Basic stuff you need to get into the Body after a really hard workout it does Froth up a lot when mixed the clear Version of this powder which doesn't Really happen so much with the standard Version but if you just leave it a few Minutes that froth comes down you can Drink it very easily it's not cheap Powder it's £25 for her 460 G bag which Is 10 servings but kind of thing you Probably look out for in sales SAS often Does around things like Black Friday
Like I do like to use recovery powder Now during really hard training blocks Just to not necessarily bounce back and Train better the next day it's almost Just to make sure I'm on slightly better Form throughout the rest of the day After a hard workout you know when I'm Dealing with kids or in generally just Trying to do the rest of my life it just Helps me bounce back quicker so I feel Better for the rest of that day next Pick this month very much isn't Essential for me it is the Sultan sunare Protect and moisturize lip stick I guess You could call it it's basically just a Sunscreen for your lips that I use every Day on my runs like I just tend to use Lip balm some kind throughout the year Otherwise I get very cracked lips in the Summer I really don't like getting burnt Lips it happens to be once at University At a festival and they got really Cracked lips and I got mocked Relentlessly throughout the rest of University and indeed to this day by Some people so don't get burnt lips it Can really haunt you for a long time This is a pretty standard one the Sul Hand stick you get at boots or on Amazon It's fairly cheap at £7 for the stick Sometimes lip balms with sunscreen can Get pretty expensive so this is a pretty Basic one does the job whack it on Before a run protect what is a an area
Of the body that gets burnt very easily For running I find and when your lips Are ch and cracked is not very pleasant When you're sucking down air on the run I find last pick this month is the Northface summer LT Run hat it's part of Their new light range which uses very Fast drying Fabrics that have some SPF Protection as well it's just a really Good summer hat it is really lightweight And it does dry very quickly it's almost Completely dry now after I ran very Sweatily in it not long ago it's got a Easy to adjust fit with the thing at the Back there it's got a pretty classic l Or round comfortable to wear with Glasses headphones all that kind of Stuff which I tend to nearly always wear On every single run got a nice big thick Band runs around the front of the Hat There that does soak up a lot of sweat So you're not getting that situation Where you sweat so much it starts to Drip off the peak of the hat which does Happen to me sometimes with certain hats It cost £30 like I said it's part of the North fa's new range of UPF protective Gear there's a whole load of stuff in There if you are planning to go and do Runs in very hot conditions all the time Don't tend to have a huge problem with The sun in the UK aside from on my lips Don't forget the lip stuff but if you Are somewhere where you are constantly
Worried about that kind of thing this New range is basically very lightweight Materials that don't make you feel hot Whil it's also protecting you from the Sun so it's quite a nice little range From the North Face and in particular I Have been enjoying as the weather starts To get a little bit better here in the UK so Frack T is a brand that I haven't Used before uh I know Mike's Used uh Some of the Caps before I'm a massive Fan of caps so finally I've got around To uh testing some fractal caps uh the Two I've got here are the Abacus R Series Abacus and the r series Neptune And these are pretty similar in the way That they're designed uh they're the Sort of caps that I like to wear they Look more like normal caps than some of The running caps that you get so um the Abacus one which is this color is a Little bit too colorful for me I don't Tend to wear colorful caps too often but It's very comfortable it's made of Something called AO 3D fabric which is Meant to be breathable lightweight um And just good if you're running and you Get you're getting sweaty um and it does A very very good job at that I found This cap to be extremely comfortable When out on the Run uh it fits my head Very very nicely um and it just feels Very uh lightweight and and breathable Uh and it Wicks the sweat away quite
Quickly so I test a lot of caps over at The Run testers I've got a pile of about 50 caps in my cupboard um and I can be Quite choosy about which ones I use but These ones I've really enjoyed testing My favorite one is actually the Neptune So this is more my kind of color bit More subtle bit more like a normal cap I Use this one a lot more than this one Actually I like the material a bit more On this it uses uh this Polar Tech Material that is um also designed to be Breathable and um comfortable uh and it Does a very good job at it um I just Like the design of this a bit more I Think they both fit pretty much the same To me they they've got a nice lock down Fit it has this uh strap at the back Which is Elasticated um but it's very easy to uh Strap up and uh get a good fit on I Don't have a particularly big head so I Tend to do it quite low um but overall I Found both of these to be very Comfortable they've got slightly Different Technologies in them the the Fabrics but they deliver the same sort Of performance benefits to me very Comfortable fit on the head quite nice And deep so you can wear them and look Quite nice they're not the really high Sitting ones that you can sometime get With running caps so great caps love Them uh very much enjoying running in
Them at the moment while it's hot uh so Yeah pleased that I've finally got to Test some practical caps out my next Pick this month uh are some sore shorts So these are the graded speed shorts and These are ridiculously lightweight so They're basically for me I would use These as liners for some of my other Shorts um because they very similar to The liner that you get in some of the Jewel shorts that saw has uh but these You could wear these if you wanted to on Their own I wouldn't um I don't really Like wearing skin tight um shorts uh Cycling style shorts uh when I'm out Running um I don't really want to Subject people to that but if you wanted To you could and they are only 64 G They're incredibly light um and they Have compression into built into them as Well what I would say is that if you uh Are used used to wearing s kit It Generally is quite tight it's more Designed for people like NYX so if you Are a medium in normal shorts then you Probably want to go large in in Saw Definitely with these so I go small for All of my shorts and and liners um these Really are the lowest that I would go They're definitely tighter than I've Seen in uh some other shorts that's Partly because their compression their Design to add certain um support across Different areas of of the legs and the
Glutes um but they they are quite tight So you might need to go up to the next Sizing level just to get a comfortable Fit in in the shorts they're okay for me But I definitely um I'm I'm on the verge Of them being too small um they are Incredibly lightweight as I've said um They've also got a little pocket in the Back which you can probably fit like a Gel in or something um and it has this Um the materials this really lightweight Uh sort of papery feeling design but it Doesn't feel like a thicker fabric it Just feels very very light light and Thin uh and as a result it really Evaporates sweat off very very quickly You barely notice you've got these these On um the other thing as well is it has This inner inner grip uh sort of rubber Design inside the shorts which does a Fantastic job of holding them on uh once You've got them on they're staying on um And if you did want to go out and just Racing these you would feel like you're Barely wearing anything they're Obviously very expensive they're £ 150 Which is a lot of money for a pair of Shorts but if you are really serious About your running and you're happy to Pay loads of money to have the most Lightweight thing out there um when You're out racing and getting your PBS They really are the lightest thing I've Ever had on um so well worth having a
Look at if you if you if that's what You're after um but they are fantastic Pair of liners um that are worth the Money if you're really really focused on Having the lightest bit kit possible my Final pick this month is something that I've known about for a very long time But I've never actually got around to Testing them and that's these luchos Guava energy blocks now um normally for The last two years I basically started Using fueling and gels and things like That before then I never touched Anything I just go out and run a Marathon and just see if there's Something on course and uh eat or drink It when I was out there but since I've Started probably training for marathons I've started looking at fueling more um Normally I'd go for gels for races or if I was doing hard training uh these Luchos are designed for cyclists and Runners it's more for trail Runners um Because it's not the easiest thing to Eat basic it's like a little um bar that Um it's like a jelly bar very very sweet Jelly bar that um is natural it's it's a Natural um uh load of ingredients and You get it in this little leaf uh which Is completely compostable so you can if You drop it you still want to throw it Away but if you dropped it it would be Fine and it would it would decompose um The bar is comes like that so you can
Sort of pull it apart strip it into half To whatever you want um it's not Particularly welld designed if you were Going to do a marathon a road Marathon You would use these cuz it'd be too hard To open it up and pull it out it's not Designed for that it's more for as I say Cyclist because obviously you can stop And and and and have some or Trail Runners or Ultra Trail Runners where You're going to you can you can stop off And you can have a bit of a snack and Then and then carry on it's definitely Not a uh an easily uh consumable thing To have out when you're racing you Probably end up dropping it or having Too much of it or whatever Um but it's definitely a good one to Have if you are out on trails and you Want to carry something with you for Energy and you don't want to carry too Much so one of these has 130 calories in Uh 34 G of carbohydrates uh and 20 Mig Of vitamin C in it so um and it's not Got many ingredients in so it's quite a Nice natural um option to have if you Don't want to go for some of the gels Which um can be quite full of Preservatives and sweetness and things Like that what I found is they are They're very sweet but very nice to eat So I'd be happy to sit and eat these in Front of the TV um as a treat I don't do That because that's very dangerous
Getting into that world but um they are Really nice definitely a good option if You're um if you're a trail Runner and You want something that is verging on Food uh as opposed to gels um I'm doing A lot more easy Trail runs at the moment And these are just working really well So I'm glad I've had a chance to to try These out finally and they come in loads Of different flavors well like guav and Coffee guav and Berry Um guav and uh orange as well so there's I think there's five flavors you can buy It in different sorts of packs so you Can buy three of the flavors in 10 packs And that's about £35 you can buy 27 in One flavor which is around £36 I think Um and you can buy the various um sizes Of box as well but the most common ones Seem to be those those too so um yeah Well worth look if you're looking for Something nice and uh enjoyable to eat Out on the trails that's it from us this Month thanks a lot for watching don't Forget to like subscribe click the Little bell and if you're going to catch Them blow you can find a link to our Podcast which comes out a few times each Month thanks all for watching catch you Next time [Music]
