Thursday, June 13, 2013

Early Mornings

On a normal day my alarm goes off at 5:30.  I find this to be repulsive, but after a while I guess you get used to it.  On Tuesday I heard that it was supposed to rain all afternoon on Wednesday.  I know myself well enough to know that I would have an incredibly hard time convincing myself to get out the door for my mile in the pouring rain.  I figured I'd set my alarm a few minutes early and get it over with before work.



When my alarm went off I dragged my butt out of bed, put on the clothes I had so thoughtfully laid out the night before and headed out the door after a quick sip of water.  My Garmin decided to take forever to get satellites and when it finally did, I got the worst side cramp ever.  It was a slow, painful mile.  I decided that perhaps morning running was not for me.  As it turned out, the sun was shining all afternoon.  It was nice to have my mile over with, but I was kind of mad that I woke up early for that.

Then yesterday the news kept talking about the terrible storm that was coming.  I decided that waking up early again was better than running in torrential downpours, gusting winds, and possible tornadoes.  So, once again, I laid out my clothes, set my alarm and woke up early.  It seemed like it was going to go well.  My Garmin gained satellites quickly and I didn't have a side cramp.  Life seemed ok.  Then after about 4 minutes I looked down and while the time had started somehow the mileage hadn't?  So weird.  It had never done that before.  Maybe it was mad at me for waking it up early two days in a row.  (Just a side note, the weather was terrible on my way home from work, but shortly after way sunshine and happiness.)

Tomorrow I will be sleeping in (ha) so that I can run at least 3 miles.  I really don't want to wake up in the 4 o' clock hour so I will be running after work.  As fun as it is being able to say that I'm running every day, I really am running way less than I should be.  I've been taking the easy way out and pretty much only running a mile.  I've gotten in some decent strength moves (think random crunches, push ups, squats, etc), but I need to be building up some mileage so I can start thinking about that November half!

Hope everyone's having a happy (storm free!) week!

For any other runners setting their alarms early check out this story from Runner's World :-)  Drink up!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Zola Review!

Thanks to the ladies at Fit Approach I was able to do a review of three Zola products: coconut water, coconut water with pulp, and acai juice.  I actually almost didn't opt in to this opportunity because the last time I had coconut water I wasn't a fan.  It ended up being frozen and put into smoothies.  I had been really curious about acai juice though, and I figured if I was getting one I may as well get all three.

When the package arrived I found three full size bottles/cans in the box along with a surprise pair of green sunglasses.  I felt if nothing else the presentation was really nice!



I ended up trying the acai juice first and I really liked it!  It was different than I expected, but I would definitely drink it again.  To me it kind of tasted like crushed blueberry juice.  If you aren't a fan of some texture in your drinks you probably wouldn't like it, but once I got used to it I enjoyed it a lot.



The coconut water with pulp was up next.  I made my nice friend drink it with me (the can was fairly large, and since I had a bad last experience I didn't want to sign on to finishing it by myself!).  We drank it after a nice warm afternoon at the pool and it was really refreshing.  I'm not sure what I thought the pulp was going to look like, but it wasn't quite what I expected.  I didn't really notice it until my last sip at the end since it had settled at the bottom.  I definitely liked the Zola brand better than my previous kind, but I still wasn't quite in love.

Today I had the final drink, the coconut water without pulp.  I really liked it!  I expected it to taste a lot like the one with pulp, but I found that the taste of this one appealed to me a lot more.  It seemed to have more flavor than the one with pulp.  (My nice friend helped with this one, too.  He liked it, but was a bigger fan of the one with pulp!)  I could see myself buying this, especially now that it's warmer out.

Coconut water tastes best after a warm hike with the pup!

Thanks again to Zola and Fit Approach for the fun review opportunity!



**Disclaimer: Thanks to my affiliation with Fit Approach I received these products for free in exchange for a review from Zola.  All opinions are my own.  





Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Happy National Running Day!

Just thought I would pop in to say Happy National Running Day!  We really couldn't have gotten more perfect weather for it and I ran 2 miles around my neighborhood in honor of the holiday.

So far the Runner's World Summer Running Streak has been going really well.  I actually ran the day before the streak started, so I have been running for 11 days straight for a total of 21.44 miles.  My legs have been feeling really good, and honestly, I've been taking it pretty easy most of the days.  So far so good!

I swear Maddux knows what I mean when I say "dog jog" now.  As we headed out the door today I asked him if we were going on a dog jog and he took off as soon as we hit the sidewalk.  While it didn't last long (sniffing trees appealed to him more than the actually running) it was nice to know that my pup got to celebrate for a minute or two!

Either he is tired from his 2 minute jog, or didn't want to be near my sweaty self.  Who knows.

I hope everyone has had some happy miles today!  If you are on Twitter or Instagram make sure to use #IMARUNNER.  Timex is donating $5 per entry to the One Fund Boston up to $15,000.  For more information on this and other National Running Day news click HERE.

Happy running!



Sunday, June 2, 2013

Zooma Annapolis 10k Recap

I can finally say I'm getting in some consistent miles again!  The Runner's World Summer Running Streak started up on Monday so every day I'll be getting in at least a mile until July 4.  The first mile on Monday was ridiculously tough.  I kind of regretted committing since my running has been so subpar lately, but so far the rest of the days have been going really well.

Thanks to Pavement Runner for the pic!  Grab it HERE!

On Friday I headed to Annapolis to pick up my race number.  I hadn't gotten any emails full of information which made me a little nervous.  I know a lot of the emails are completely unnecessary, but I love feeling prepared and like I know every single little detail.  The expo was easy to get to and there was a parking garage a block away.  Picking up my number was simple and they had samples of Luna Bars and Honest Tea.  After giving the volunteer my name she put a number and tech shirt in a cute bag and sent me on my way.  Once again, I got nervous when I found there was no additional information in my bag.  I guess they figured since everything you possibly needed to know was on the website they didn't need to waste paper giving us the same information, which I respect, but the crazy detail obsessed lady in me hated it a little.



When I got home, I had a Racer 5 IPA (the racer part made it seem right), laid out everything I would need for my race, and got ready for an early bed time.  When my alarm went off at 4:45 the next morning I quickly got ready and was out the door by 5:15.  Maddux was not pleased with the wake up call, but seemed to forgive me after I gave him breakfast and let him get back in bed.



I got to the race in plenty of time.  The parking was super easy (yes, parking at a DC area race!  Right next to the start!) and there was a nice long line of porta potties.  There was plenty of time before the race started and I ended up getting to meet a fellow SPA, Lisa!  She was so sweet and has been totally killing it at her races lately.  You can check out her blog here!

Lining up for the race went smoothly.  They didn't have corrals, but had pace per mile signs on the fence so you could line up appropriately.  I couldn't hear the announcements very well, but I did notice that they encouraged walkers to go to the back which was nice.  The race started and wound around the  Navy Stadium.  I was in a weird mood at the start of the race and had a hard time getting into it, but once we got to the downtown part of the race I started thinking about the day date my nice friend and I had back in January.  Remembering our fun day put me in a much better mindset and the miles started flying by.  That is, until the bridge.  At first I was happy to see the bridge because there was a much needed water stop.  Then I realized how uphill and sunny it was.  It was absolutely brutal going up, but going down was glorious.  After a brief struggle right after the bridge I ended up finishing up strong.  The race wasn't a full 10k, but I didn't really have a problem with it since it was rather hot outside.

After crossing the finish line I stood in line to receive my finisher's necklace, water bottle, yoga mat, and snack box (hummus!  Odd post race snack, but delicious!).  Thinking back, I probably should have ran to put stuff in the car before grabbing my snack box since they didn't have anything to keep all the goodies in, but after some readjusting I made it back without dropping everything.  I ended up getting home right before 9 which was awesome and had a nice chill day full of naps with my pup and pool time with my nice friend.



Overall I have mixed feelings about this race.  I loved how it was capped to 4,000.  It was nice being in a smaller setting than most DC area races and you got a lot of amazing stuff with your entry fee.  I think probably most of the indifference toward it comes from my weird mood.  I had a good time, I just wasn't my typical "YEAH RACE DAY!" self.   Who knows.  Congrats to all those who raced Zooma yesterday, ESPECIALLY the half marathoners!  You guys are amazing for rocking it in that heat!