Tri Challenge

Last week was a disaster for exercise. I had a tough week at work, felt completely knackered, didn’t go to bed early enough and failed to get up early to get to the gym Monday right through to Saturday. (I was also a grumpy cow at work which I am sure is related, because I know that exercise affects my general mood and wellbeing). Managed a fairly pathetic 4-miler in the pouring rain at The Look Out on Sunday and that was it.

This week, I have made a concerted effort to get back into the swing of things again. After a long day trip for a meeting in Paris on Monday (sounds glamorous, but was just exhausting), I must admit I did sleep in on Tuesday. Anyway, dragged myself out of bed for spinning yesterday, had an early night and toddled off to the gym this morning for a treadmill run complete with iPod and new-ish headphones.

I’ve struggled to find a decent pair of headphones for a while. I used to have a fairly robust pair of  over-the-ear style ones but lost them and couldn’t remember the name of the manufacturer to get a replacement pair. Then I bought a pair of Philips headphones that looked similar in shape but were made of a flimsy white rubber material – arguably more comfortable but just kept bouncing away from my ears so I ended up with an atrocious tinny sound. They were about 35 quid, so not exactly cheap.

I did some research before making another problematic purchase, and read a few complimentary reviews and blogs about Sennheiser. The company makes a range of headphones designed for sports use. I plumped for the neckband model PMX70.

Nice headphones, vile colour

I’ve used them a few times now, and I’m already a convert. The neckband style looks a bit strange but works very well – although if you have long hair that you wear in a ponytail, you need to secure it into a some kind of bun affair to stop it banging against the band and distorting the sound. Once you have that sorted, the sound is excellent – a nice lot of bass and plenty of volume for noisy gyms and busy roads.

The Sennheisers don’t channel sweat into your eardrums like other styles, and I’m led to believe by other users that they last longer than the average 12 months or so even if you are a very sweaty runner like me.

So, what don’t I like about them? Well, they’re a little tight (or maybe I just have a big head) so I can’t imagine running for a couple of hours in them without feeling a bit uncomfortable by the end of the run. But I hope they’ll loosen up with more use.

And obviously the colour is utterly hideous (there are no other colours available). I can’t help thinking Sennheiser has missed a trick there given the range of colours the iPod Shuffle and Nano come in. The green/grey combo would really only go nicely with the green Shuffle, or maybe the silver one at a push. What it definitely doesn’t go with is my pretty little lilac Shuffle that perches nice and neatly on my right hip…with a stonking great attention-seeking green wire sticking out of the top of it.

Anyway – on balance – a good buy. And available at the bargainous price of £14.99 from Amazon.