The latest product I was sent to test was a pair of women's UV arm sleeves made by Buff - the same company that makes "the buff" headwear. Although I own two pairs of (non-Buff) arm sleeves, I have never used them. Prior to the arrival of the Buff arm sleeves I was thinking that it was getting too warm for these to actually be useful.
The sleeves arrived in my mailbox and it turns out these are made for warmer weather. Not only do the sleeves offer UV protection, but the wicking material they are made of is very soft, comfortable, and helps cool you down. They also have reflective properties which were helpful during my early morning runs.
I wore these for several of my final training runs prior to the Cellcom Green Bay marathon. They provided a perfect amount of warmth for cooler mornings where I did not feel the need to ditch them once my body warmed up. I also liked how they helped cool me down during a few of my warmer (70+ degrees and sunny) afternoon runs. Once the sweat hits them, they feel insta-cool!
The real test of the sleeves came during the actual marathon. The marathon weather was rainy, cloudy and 50 degrees at the start. So, on the cool side, particularly since I planned on wearing my crop top. I made the decision to wear the arm sleeves since I liked them during the training runs. I thought that I could easily pull them off and stash them in my shorts pockets (or hand them off to a family member) if they bothered me.
I never needed to worry about taking them off. Even though I forgot to cut out the tag on the one sleeve (visible in the photo below), nothing about them bothered me during the marathon and I would say they both kept me from being too chilly at the start, and helped me stay cool during the later miles when the rain let up and the sun came out (low 60s with sun at the finish). A bonus feature is that they made me easy to spot during the crowded lap of Lambeau Field.
I worked hard for a marathon PR so I'm not going to give all the credit of a good race to these sleeves, but they definitely helped in the temperature regulation arena!
My upper arm measurement was in between the S/M and M/L sizes. I ordered the M/L size and was a little nervous that the sleeves would not stay up. They ended up working great and stayed put through all of my runs, including the marathon. I liked that they were not super tight and clingy on my arms. I ordered the "Akira" pattern.
You can check out my Cellcom Green Bay Marathon race review on BibRave here.
Disclaimer: I received the Buff UV arm sleeves to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews! All opinions are my own and the links within this post do not provide any incentive to me personally, nor does your purchase of the product benefit me personally.
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