You couldn’t miss me out running today. I had an the brightest yellow shirt you’ve ever seen. I usually wear pink. I like to feel like a girl while sweating like a pig. So why the fluorescent yellow?

I tried a shirt from SunSoul. They use technology to bend the sun rays that hit the fabric to turn it from harmful to your skin to helpful to your skin. “An effective, natural solution to refine skin tone and prevent sun-damage.”

SunSoul’s activewear and hats not only provide UPF 50+ sun protection, but also harness the power of light to offer skin benefits. The unique fabric acts as a selective filter when it is exposed to sunlight. Fluorescent yellow or blue pigments in the material convert the UV and sunlight into healthy colored light and transmit it through to the skin.

But since you may believe a doctor more than me, here’s a medical opinion: “SunSoul offers great protection from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun,” explains Dr. Lori Brightman of the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York. “I have seen the initial results and before and after usage in clinical tests, and the results on skin texture … are impressive. I would recommend SunSoul to my patients.”

SunSoul has 2 lines: blumöd and yelomöd. Yellow light can be absorbed by collagen and stimulate remodeling of the skin. Blue light is popularly used to deal with blemishes of the skin. The combined design features of the fabric with the fluorescent pigment result in only the visible, healthy blue or yellow light reaching the skin at about 70% of the sun’s intensity, while 98% of UV light is either blocked, absorbed by the material or converted to safe, colored light.

Clinical trials of SunSoul products showed skin tone and texture improvement during 6-8 weeks of consistent use at sun exposure levels of at least 2 hours per week.

I tried the short sleeve mock neck tee. It was 55 degrees and slightly breezy, so the mock neck didn’t bother me. I thought I’d be embarassed by the bright color but a cyclist passed me wearing a MUCH brighter yellow and then I decided no one cared what I looked like running around the park anyway, and if this would keep my chest and back healthier than why not.

The added benefit was the wicking/sweat of the fabric. This shirt did better to remove sweat from me while running than I have ever experienced. And at the same time the look of the wetness was more camouflaged. To learn more, visit www.sunsoul.com. Or click on the chart below to become scientifical.

I also tried a Spibelt. This is an adjustable belt with an expandable pocket so you can run with one small thing, like a key or I.D. – or you can run with something larger, like an iPhone - and it shouldn’t bounce around on your tummy.

It held my MP3, phone and house key with no problem at all. I put it on and adjusted both sliders – one on each side. I did my 5 minute walking warm up. Then I started running.

I swear I had a problem with the firstfootfall. The spibelt went from my hips up to my waist and started bobbing up and down, slapping against me because of the few inches of gap left from when it was hip-size. So I adjusted it to my waist while in motion, making it tight around my midsection. But it bounced and flapped. So I yanked it back to my hips, now quite snug because it was waist size. But that worked. That kept it in place. And everything inside stopped bouncing for the whole 3 miles. I thought that was quite cool.

Then I stretched, did abs and got in the shower. I noticed in the shower I had a red dot on my hip. Upon closer inspection, it was a blood blister. Now, one could say this was coincidental and had nothing to do with the Spibelt. (One could also say I wouldn’t want to eat my weight in chocolate.) But my shorts were almost a year old, and the Spibelt was brand new, and nothing else was on that area of my body. And the red mark was not there yesterday at 2pm when I showered last. So I’m thinking I O.D.’ed the snugness of the belt. But without that snugness everything bounced.

I’ll stick with wearing a Spibelt for non-running ventures, like hitting a theme park for the day. It is essentially a tiny fanny pack after all.

There was a Spibelt competitor at the Disney Marathon expo. Their belt had only one adjuster, and included 2 clips for your race number (Spibelt sells theirs separately) and also had 2 spots in the elastic to slide in goos. I wonder if their’s leave behind yuckiness.

(I received both of these items free, but I was not paid for this post.)

(And I don’t think I could eat my weight in chocolate in one sitting.)