June Recap, streak recap, and Vitacost review oh my!

Let's talk about June! June was a good month. I ran every single day of June as part of the run streak! As a result of running every single day, I was able to log 91.54 miles!!! More than kind of impressed with myself. If I would have added the miles up sooner I would have tried to get an extra 9 miles done to make it an even 100 but I did math too late. After 39 days the streak finally ended on July 4th.

My legs were thrilled to have a rest day but I am battling the feeling of feeling lazy. I took a rest day on the 5th, ran 7 miles on the 6th and on the 7th the thought of taking another rest day made me feel like I was not committed to running. Darn you running streak for making me feel guilty about the occasional rest day but I did just run a half on Saturday so I had to let them rest some before the race. Overall I loved the streak, you see some things and experience stuff you won't if you didn't run every day. I talked about some of my adventures here but I have more fun to add. I ran while watching a plane crop dust right across the street from where I was. They put on quite a show!

I got lost on a 12 mile run with my friend. We some how got separated from a group of 20 people but because we went the wrong way we saw humming birds, parent swans with baby swans, a deer with two baby deer,  giraffes peaking over the fence at the zoo and discovered a beautiful, zen like park.

I am the proud owner of the most spectacular sock tan lines in the world. I cheated on my Brooks Ghost one day to give them a break and almost twisted my ankles because of it. Word to the Wise: Don't stray from your Brooks or you will be sorry, the Brooks Gods will make your run suck!

I also had the opportunity to review some of Vitacost products. One reason I love Vitacost is because they sell everything! They sent me all this stuff awesome stuff.

My favorite was the Himalania Dark Chocolate Goji Berries. Seriously good!

My kids loved the Pure Organic fruit and veggies strips. Also I received Multi-Vitamin Gummies for kids. They loved them and ask about taking their vitamins every day. Most of the time they ask multiple times a day so we have to mark it on the calendar when they take it so they don't talk us into giving them more than they are suppose to have.

The Himalayan Pink Salt has become a new staple in my kitchen. I love it but my favorite part is that it is pink! I love pink! 

I love trying new foods out and with Vitacost they make it pretty easy because they carry so much variety!

I'm working on my race recap of the Fit For Life Half marathon that I ran this weekend! Look for it in the next day or so! 

Runs and Review

A couple days ago I got up early to meet a friend for a run. She only wanted to do 3 miles and I was planning to get 8 miles done so I got at the meeting place early enough to get one mile in (I was hoping for two miles but hey I had to push snooze once)! Upon arriving at the location I was pleased to see I had the whole place to myself. After my warm up I took off on my run. It is was still early so I had this amazing fog and the sun rising. I couldn't of asked for a better backdrop for my run plus it wasn't hot yet.

I finished up my 8 mile run with a little bit pathetic pace. It included my friend's warm up and cool down plus some random walking while we finished catching up before I took off on my run again. Overall not a great run but I got my miles in and I plan to do another 9 mile this Saturday to make up for this run. How do you get through a long run when all you want to do is walk? Do you complete the miles even if you have to crawl or do you suck it up and run to get them over with fast?

After my run I wanted to try the Zola Coconut Water that has been getting cold in the fridge for a few days.

I decided to make a smoothie with it so I dumped in a cup of Coconut Water, a scoop of chocolate protein powder, more spinach than Popeye would enjoy and some ice. Blend, blend, blend and drink, drink, drink. It was so good! I normally put unsweetened coconut in all my smoothies anyway so it's fair to say I like it but with the coconut water it helped make it super awesome. Like a healthy almond joy! My son calls this drink my "Hulk drink" since it is so green. I just smile and nod, it makes me happy that he thinks I am even some what connected to his favorite super hero.

My favorite of the bunch was the coconut with pulp. If I am going to have coconut water I want to see some coconut in it! It went great with a banana, lots of spinach, protein powder and ice. I need to start making all my smoothies with coconut water. 

I was a little afraid of the Acai juice. I typically don't like berry juices. I love berries but not in juice form. Since I went in a little afraid I was pleasantly surprised that is was good. I'm weird and dilute my juices when I drink them so drinking this straight was a strong. Next time I will dilute and it will be perfect for my taste. Check out Zola and all their products! 

What is your favorite coconut water? Have you ever tried coconut water?

This blog received no payment or other compensation for reviews of products or services.

My new BFF and me

The other day I accompanied my friend on her very first 20 minute run. She started the the couch-to-5k program about 5 weeks ago and she had to do her first long run. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to join her on her big day.  The run started out like any normal run for me. I was getting in the zone, paying attention to my breathing and not keeping in mind that I was with a girl who was running for 20 minutes for the first time. About 10 minutes into the run, we talked about proper form and tried to find her a "power song" on my iphone. When we had 4 minutes left she commented that she didn't think she was going to make it so we ran through some sprinklers. At 2 minutes left, she decided that she had to finish because she didn't want to repeat that training run. At 1 minute left, she realized that she was going to make it. During our cool down walk after the run she was in disbelief. She couldn't believe she had just done that! I was proud of her but she was also proud of herself!

I remember that feeling, heck I still get that feeling, but I remember when doing the couch-to-5k program, every run made you feel like that! A year and a half later, you get proud after huge accomplishments (like 10k's, half marathons, etc.) but you don't always stop to pat yourself on the back after a normal short run. The last two months I have been dealing with an annoying IT band. It was very discouraging and any time I would try to go my normal speed or more than 2 miles it started giving me horrible pain and would cut my runs short. Today I met my new best friend, my foam roller.

I rock and rolled with it then went for a run. Not a super long one but one where I really pushed my legs for all they had. I sprinted up some small hills and went faster than I have maybe ever. No pain at all. Like I said it was a short run but boy did it feel good. It wasn't a huge accomplishment run but I was super proud and excited that my knee finally listened and didn't give me any trouble. I was on Cloud 9! I can not wait until tomorrow when I get to run again, hopefully pain free from now on.

In addition to my awesome new foam roller, I have been sporting an awesome headband from Running Happy.

They have a wide variety of colors and styles. They are also really comfortable. Typically "non-slip" headbands slide off my head. I can't tell you how many races I end up with my headband wrapped around my wrist. I have also had the pleasure of ripping off a headband and throwing it in the garbage because it was giving me a killer headache. My Running Happy headband felt great and they even added a hair clip to the band to ensure that it wasn't going any where while I was running. LOVE THAT!!

Honestly I love the headband! It's cute, comfortable and stays put. That get's two thumbs up in my book! 

Have you tried a foam roller? What is your favorite non-slip headband? 

This blog received no payment or other compensation for reviews of products or services.

New Easter Traditions and Core Foods Review

Easter weekend was fantastic!! I attended the Shu's Easter Run and Egg Hunt. We had three different distances to choose from 2.5 miles, 4 miles and 8 miles. After the theme filled run we ended at Shu's Idaho Running for an Easter egg hunt. I was able to grab six eggs. I got some candy, a coupon for $3 off a hair cut, $10 gift card to a local children's store, $3 gift card to TCBY and my favorite prize of all a Adidas running hat! Super excited about that win! I couldn't wait to try it out. It is fantastic for keeping the sun out of my eyes and keeping my head cool with its climate-cooling abilities.

I left the kids at home for the Easter Run but that gave me the idea to create our own Easter run on Easter morning with my kids. The Easter bunny was gracious enough to leave a bunch of eggs for me to hide. I ran around the huge farm land we call our backyard and hide a bunch of eggs along the path that my daughter and I would run and the other half of the eggs on the trail that my son and husband would walk. The kids had a blast exercising and searching for eggs. The loop each kid took was about a mile. They both said it was their favorite thing we did that day. Definitely something we plan to repeat every year! 

Do you have any healthy Easter traditions? 

Recently I was given the opportunity to review Core Foods. I did not know much about this product was very excited to give it a go. I received three flavors: Raw Walnut Banana, Raw Almond Raisin, and Raw Cashew Cacao. Each bar is one full bowl of raw oatmeal!

I really enjoyed the banana walnut bar. It had a good flavor and enjoyable texture. I was a little nervous about the bar since all of the ones I received have raisins in them. I couldn't taste the raisin and couldn't even tell they were there. The Raw Walnut Banana was my favorite!

Since the bars have all natural ingredients they weren't overly sweet which I appreciate especially if I am eating it in the morning.

My husband took one on a hike. It was a re-energizer after many miles with many still left to do. Easy to throw in your backpack and eat anywhere! Just drink two glasses of water with it.

The bars kept me full and energized for many hours. I was even starting to feel before I finished the bar. Check out Core Foods for easy meals on the go! I plan to buy more for when I am running late for work and have no time to eat something at home.

What's your favorite meal on the go? Have you tried Core Foods? 

This blog received no payment or other compensation for reviews of products or services.

Wait...It's possible to run without music?!?!?

Had a great week running! Was able to get a 5 mile run in on my lunch break at work however I forgot my headphones. I do not know the last time I even ran without a running buddy or headphones so it ended up being a fun experiment. I still prefer running with noise though I realize I don't need it. Sometimes it's nice to enjoy your surroundings.

The view from my 5 mile headphone-less run

Yesterday I completed my 5k for the Jelly Bean Virtual Race hosted by Run with Jess. Then I went on a hike to Table Rock with my husband and our friend. The weather was perfect and I needed to get some hills in even if it was just walking.

Jealous...you should be! My beautiful city!

Robie is just 25 days away! I am still on track with my training so I know I won't completely die during my first half marathon. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little  a lot nervous!

I just received this beautiful new FlipBelt in the mail. My first impression was that it looked well made with a great material used. I picked the seafoam-ish color on the website. However I should have paid attention to the color name. "Sky" isn't exactly seafoam. While I was bummed that the color wasn't what I wanted it was still cute.  I couldn't wait to try it out. My first test run was an easy 3 miles. It worked great, didn't move at all and held my iphone securely! Then I took it on my hike. Still worked great but when I got a phone call it seemed impossible to get my phone out before the call was sent to voicemail. That has to do with it being new to me though. I love the fact that people can't see the holes so despite the fact that it took me a few seconds to remember where they were located I wouldn't change the design. I can't wait to see how it holds up on longer runs!

What do you use to carry your phone and gels while you're running? 

Update and Review

Hooray! The computer gods were on my side and I was able to sign up for this year's Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon! As soon as 12:00:01pm hit I started signing up. Due to errors and slow processing time I finally got a confirmation at 12:11. My official time on my receipt was 12:04pm. Lots of people attempted to sign up just minutes after noon and didn't get in so I was lucky! I am so excited to be running my first half marathon with some of my good friends! Any running tips from experienced half marathoners?

I have a 10k on Saturday! The Les Bois 10k Train Run, it is suppose to be a challenging course with some hills. I am excited to run it but a little worried because my ankle has been giving me some problems lately. Judging by how it feels on my runs during this week will dictate if I run it.

The wonderful people at Vitacost sent me a box full of products to try. Just check out this variety (picture below). I received many high protein products, some organic season salt, and laundry soap.

My favorite was this super yummy Promax Fit 'n Crisp Protein Snack Cinnamon Crunch. It was basically like a cinnamon rice crispy treat. Seriously it was way too good to be called healthy.

Another favorite was these Pretzels Sticks. They are covered in cinnamon, all natural ingredients and gluten free even! My kids loved them!

The Kind bars were fantastic and perfect on the go snack. I preferred the coconut and almond bar but that is because I have a serious obsession with coconut. The cranberry and almond was good too. In reality there is not a Kind bar that isn't fantastic!

Do you have any races that you are running this weekend or training for? 

This blog received no payment or other compensation for reviews of products or services.