Fit for Life Half Marathon recap

Last Saturday I ran the Fit For Life Half Marathon! It was my third half marathon in 84 days that means that I am qualified to become a Half Fanatic! Considering I have only ran three half's total doesn't seem like I should be qualified to be a fanatic but I guess if you run all three in such a short amount of time that must show you are some kind of fanatic right. I really want the awesome half fanatic race shirt!

Back to the race recap. Packet pickup was Wednesday and Thursday before the Saturday race. I recevied my bib and a tech shirt, the rest of the "goodies" that normally come with packet pickup were emailed to me a few days before that. Random fact: One of my B.R.F. (best running friends) actually got to pick the color of the shirt because she called to find out what the shirts looked like 3 weeks before the event and they told her to pick the color. Pretty cool!! The race started at 7:30 in the parking lot of Hawks Stadium. The course was an out and back along the Boise Greenbelt. My last half 3 weeks ago actually started where this race had it's turn around point.

I was warned ahead of time by a friend that they didn't have tons of water stations along the course so I brought my own. Also they only had water and gatorade along the course, no gels or anything. It is kind of a good thing that I am an over researcher because otherwise I might have assumed that enough water would be provided that I would need. Also on their website they do not list where the porta potties are located. I know why they didn't list it...because they only had one porta potty. It was at mile 4, since the race was an out and back race I guess I could have used that one porta potty again at mile 9. Thankfully it was an area I knew well since I run the exact location on my lunch break at work and with my training runs with Boise Run Walk. I was able to point out along the course to others where the "secret" bathrooms were that weren't far from the greenbelt but unless you knew about them you would run right by them. FYI: The "secret" bathrooms are located around miles 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 (there are only three but with running back on the same route you get to enjoy them twice).

The first half of the race I was running strong and then I realized maybe I started out a little too fast. Plus my lovely IT band started to sing. I am so sick of that stupid IT band trying to talk to me when I am running. I just want some peace and quiet during my races! Is that too much to ask?! Anyway so at mile 10, I decided that I just wanted to be done with the race, I was tired (silly me thinking I could push myself too much) and hurting (I hate you knee). I sped up, annoying my knee further, and after a mile found one of my friends. I called her on the phone to let her know I was stalking her. I ran faster to catch her and we got to enjoy the last 1.5 miles of the race together. We arrived back at Hawks stadium where my husband and kids (my friend's too) were waiting for us. Like any race, you want to finish strong. What happens if a kid walks into your running path? You dodge him and make an awesome "oh crap" face then you pray that is your awesome finisher photo! Well I am in luck! It is my finisher's photo however it doesn't look as awesome as I had envisioned.

After the race they had free hot dogs and beer, water and some gatorade. After a race I want chocolate milk. After doing a bunch of races I now realize that maybe this isn't a standard thing that every race carries. Last year this race had chocolate milk (I did research), that knowledge is what fueled me the last mile of the race. However no chocolate milk this year :( The Race to Robie Creek had chocolate milk (lots and lots of it, I had two), See Jane Run had chocolate coconut milk (it was frozen and they gave me two to enjoy once they thawed), Fit for Life gave me none. I'm still bummed out!

Overall the race was cheap and a pretty area to run. They had 300 runners doing the half so maybe if it were a bigger race and had more man power then we could enjoy more water, maybe orange slices or some gels along the course. But then the race wouldn't be so cheap and low maintenance. It is a race I would recommend to others assuming they did their research and knew what to expect when!

Did you race this weekend? Did it have chocolate milk? What do you look forward to enjoying after a race? 

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! 

Reasons to keep training!

I just ran a half marathon last weekend therefore I am super excited to sign up for more races. I have a problem where I actually want to run most races, so picking only a few at a time is hard. In three weeks I have the Fit For Life Half Marathon. But a few days before that is the sign up date for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon in Disneyland. I have been planning for this race for almost a year now. Even though I will sign up on July 9th, it is still forever away. I won't be running in the promised land until January so I have to find races to keep me busy until then.

I have the Dirty Dash the first half of August. This will be my first year doing the Dirty Dash and I couldn't be more excited. I have always wanted to do a mud race. Maybe this is because I didn't play in the mud enough as a child.

The Color Run is at the end of August. Last year my focus was: run and get some color. This year is to see if I can be the most colorful person ever. I am going to make the Blue Man group look normal. I am thinking I will make color angels (much like snow angels but with color instead of snow). This is a fun race that isn't timed so why not try to get as much color out of it as possible.

In September I have to get back to running without the assistance of mud or color. I'm doing the FitOne 9k. This race is formerly know as the Women's Fitness Celebration and this will be the first year that they offer a 9k in addition to the 5k. The 9k will start at the Old Penn and travel to the Boise Train Depot then end in Ann Morrison Park. It is going to be a beautiful course.

At the end of September is the Idaho Wine Run. It is an amazing awesome race. Perfect for any runner since they offer a marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k! You run through beautiful wine country and enjoy wine tasting from many different wine vendors in the Snake River Valley. I ran the 5k last year and I'm looking forward to running the 10k this year.

Those are a few of my upcoming races. What races do you have on your calendar? Any in Boise? 

See Jane Run Half Marathon Race Recap

Yesterday was my second half marathon and my first flat one. I knew that since my last half was up a mountain this one I should get a PR easily. I was right! I PR'd by 41 minutes!!! Super excited about that number.

Now back to all the exciting stuff about the race. The race started nice and early at 8am. I was running the half with a few of my sorority sisters and some fellow MRTT members. Given that we like racing and dressing alike we all wore sparkle skirts!

The race started right on time and we were off! The race started on the Boise Greenbelt and after about 7 miles it switched to sidewalks through a subdivision. The sidewalks were rather annoying since they were so windy. After 2 miles we were done with the subdivision and back on the Greenbelt (YAY!). There is so much more to look at on the Greenbelt then winding through a subdivision.

Very shortly after the mile 11 sign my leg decided to hate me. All of a sudden my left leg felt super heavy and numb. I had to walk immediately. I sent my running buddy ahead because I didn't know how long I would be walking. After a minute or so I started running again. My leg seemed to be better then it happened again. I started walking again. After about 30 seconds this wonderful woman came and gave me encouragement. She reminded me that we were close to the end and told me to run with her. She was exactly what I needed at that moment plus she even shared some water with me, a complete stranger. The last mile and a half flew by. Finally I see the 13 mile sign. I am thrilled and picked up my pace so I would finish strong then my leg went crazy again. I refused to walk the last .10 of a mile so I started a limping run to the finish line. I finished with the time of 2:33:52. Not the goal time of 2:30 that I was hoping but very happy with that time considering my leg went crazy.

After the race I enjoyed an awesome massage, champagne, chocolate and completely frozen chocolate coconut milk. I was really bummed that the chocolate coconut milk was frozen because I was really looking forward to chocolate milk after the race. I also had the opportunity to meet Sara from house bella. She is also a SJR Ambassador. This was her first half and she rocked it! I also had the pleasure of meeting Lori, Owner and CEO of See Jane Run. I wasn't able to find Tanya from Running in Boise, another SJR Ambassador, after the race but I did see her running far ahead of me at one point in the race. All the people who put on the race and the volunteers were great, very friendly and helpful!

Thank you to See Jane Run for a great race with some great friends! Can't wait to run for Champagne and chocolate again next year!

Did you run this weekend? Do you know what happened to my leg? 

Adventures in Streaking

Today was day 22 of the Runner's World Run Streak. This is the longest streak I have ever had! It has been pretty easy to get out and just run a mile every day. I'm over half way through the streak. Some of my streak-ventures have been chasing a hot air balloon (unfortunately it didn't land where I was chasing it), tried out Sparkly Soul headbands (love them), and I went streaking through the quad at Boise State. With the running every day it has given me more opportunity to meet up with friends to run as well.  I am loving all my streak-ventures!

Balloon Chasing

Love this headband!

Streaking through the Quad

Yesterday was Father's Day! In honor of Father's Day I am going to talk about my awesome husband who is the Father of our two wonderful kids. My husband has been so great about my running especially during my running streak and half marathon training. He has made sure there is always time for me to get in my miles. Not only that but he helps me put the kids to bed then does around 8 miles every night. He is amazing and I'm proud of him.

There is five days until the See Jane Run Half Marathon and 5k!!! I'm so excited! There is still plenty of time to sign up! As an add bonus anyone who signs up before Thursday will have a portion of their race fee donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Boise. $25 if you sign up for the Half and $15 if you sign up for the 5k. Just use the code "ILOVELLS"when you sign up. The weather looks great for this weekend, the course is a great along the greenbelt, and the energy is going to be awesome! Come run with me!

Do you have any races coming up this weekend? Have you had any streak-ventures?

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.

National Running Day, Get your Run On!

Today is National Running Day!!!! How are you celebrating this day? Are you running with your running buddies? Or running all alone to reflect on your running journey? I am meeting up with some of my Mom's Run This Town friends. A few of them happen to be my sorority sisters as well. It is awesome to have two of my favorite things (my sorority and running) blend together. We also have two Couch to 5k moms coming to join us in a run for the first time. I am thrilled at the idea that we get to spend National Running Day with them as they are on the journey to become a runner. I get inspired by new runners, runners who have stuck with running for years, people who get PR's and people who don't give up on running despite injury! I can't wait to run with all the above tonight!

How are you celebrating National Running Day?