Crane compression review

My friend has a saying "I'm going to make every dollar my prisoner" when he's on a saving spree.
I feel a bit like that at the moment too, trying to get on top of registration for a car and scooter, insurance, bills, and the flights to Berlin that are yet to be booked. You know, the usual.

My ears certainly pricked up when last Friday a woman in our way-too-open-plan office mentioned that Aldi was going to have a sale on compression tights and tops over the weekend.

Do I need new pair of tights or do I. My 2XU compression tights are loose to the point of chafing me on my long runs now. I love me some 2XU, all my items have lasted for years, are comfy and flattering. But I just don't have that kind of coinage at the moment. And there's been nothing but large sizes on the 2XU outlet site.

And so, to Aldi I made it for Crane brand compression. There was one long pair of women's tights left, in size large. Sigh. But many pairs of long men's tights in small. I figured it was worth the less than $17 gamble.

And it was.

Pros
No branding
Minimal coloured stitching
Small reflective panel
Not see through
Tight/compression effect
Comfotable to run in
No swishing sound when walking or running

Cons
Slightly dinky rear pocket. Adequate to hold small set of keys, but I wouldn't trust my cash in there.
Because they are the mens version, the front pouch is kinda unsightly on a woman - lucky all my tees are long
The sizing/material details printed on the inside of the pants can be seen when the tights are on. Again the long tee negates this.

But really, you don't care about all that, you're just impressed that my socks match my top.

Run: 17:36 | 3.2km | 5:27m/km
A quick run to shake out the cobwebs before Run Melbourne on Sunday. I gots me some cups on Strava. That's always a good feeling.

Swim: 43:13 | 2km | 2:09m/100m.
2x 500m, 1x 1000m. My left shoulder felt a little niggly. Also I need to swim more. I noted the opening times for the week this visit. That's a first. Usually I rock up and hope it's open. I've not wasted my time yet.

Weekend snapshot

Friday night drinks, ricotta pancakes, gardening, exploration, walking, football, family, homemade pizzas, time trials, Cadel!!!, sleep in, design market, Japanese food, late afternoon run. The weekend goes far too fast!

Run: 35:09 | 6km | 5:52/km. Included a 3km time trial. 16:12. A 16s improvement. Not too bad considering this was done late afternoon and I was tired and found that lunch wasn't too happy running.

The fog is lifting

Maybe it was post race blues, but something wasn't sitting well with me this week. I kind of lost my mojo for exercise and eating well.

I hardly cooked, I ate waaay to many marshmallows and every run session has been preceded by massive bouts of procrastination. I did something I promised I wouldn't do and moved today's planned long run to Sunday (the weather wasn't awesome this morning). Basically the complete opposite to last week.

It's odd, because it's been a good week. I have ticked many many things off a long to do list which makes my virgo heart sing with joy, including having my cracked iPhone replace for free. For free! The speed sessions have boosted my running confidence (sub 6min kms!). And I'm keeping up with the strength sessions.

But I have been tired, not drinking water, not eating well, feel like I've put on weight (hello marshmallows) and have developed a runny nose. Which are probably all contributing to the meh-ness.

So I sat down this morning and meal planned. I shopped this afternoon and I can't wait to try out some new (to me) healthy and tasty meals next week while getting back on the Fitday bandwagon. And after my long run on Sunday I'm totally treating myself to a coconut water. I'll run three hours for coconut water. Whatever gets me out there, right?

Run: 41:15 | 7km | 5:53/km. Speed session. Main set 10x 30s efforts with 30s jogging.

Thur; ride: 40m | 10km | 15km/hr. Commute on the slow bike to an appointment in Williamstown. Windy! Spent a lot of time with hand holding my skirt down.

Wed; run: 50:06 | 8.22km | 6:05km. Comfortable run.

Tues; run: 1:00:25 | 9.95km : 6:04/km. 3 km time trial with warm up and super long cool down because the immobiliser failed to work and wouldn't open the car door, so I had to run home and get another beeper. 16:28 for the 3km, a 20s improvement.

Mon; run: 30:14 | 4.66km | 6:29/km. Recovery run/making up time after yesterdays run given three hours was on the schedule and only two and a bit hours were run. Felt tired.

There's no hiding

Time trials don't lie. Gosh, it was tempting to put this off, you know, to swap sessions. To do this another day, but I sucked it up. I thought of yesterday's post and got it done. And while it hurt, it only hurt for a bit. Or 3kms worth.

Run: 29:22 | 5.03km | 5m57s/km.
Including time trial: 16:43 | 3km | 5m 34s/km. I got increasingly slower as the kms went by. I hoping next time to be a little bit faster and a little bit more consistent. As tough as I find time trials, it is nice to have a benchmark. I can only improve from here.