A Beautiful Occassion

Over the weekend, I had the honor of being a part of one of my best friend’s wedding. We’ve known each other since kindergarten (almost 20 years!) It was a wonderful time, and the weather couldn’t have been better. We started the day at Revelations for mimosas and girl time, then headed to St. Mary’s in Avon. The ceremony was beautiful, and tears were kept to a minimum. We headed to Edgewater Park for pictures afterward, and had the perfect view of Cleveland. The reception was held at Wagner’s where we danced the night away. I wish you the very best Marissa and Dave, happy honeymoon!

Mr. & Mrs.

Best of friends

Honey Stinger Winner

An update on the Honey Stinger Giveaway, we have a winner!

Congrats to Courtney! DM me your address and I’ll have these sent out right away.

 

 

It’s my last week before marathon training begins, and I’m still putting together the final touches on my schedule. As the day gets closer, I’m already starting to get nervous for the long runs. Any tips on what’s absolutely necessary for my training?

The Other Half

A few weeks from starting the second half of 2012, and I can’t believe how quickly everything has gone by. I still remember getting into my cold gear and heading out the door for long Sunday runs in the snow cold weather. I would give just about anything to have that weather back right about now. But half the fun of summer is adjusting to the heat and figuring out what to do in the second half of the year. And while I’ve been adjusting to the heat these past few weeks, I’ve also been enjoying my summer. I nixed a race due to my legs not feeling 100% and just slacked a bit on some sort of training plan I had for myself. It’s ok though, I decided I should enjoy these last two weeks of no real plan before the mother of all training schedule arrives.

I’ll even admit that maybe I even got a little burnt out, but who doesn’t. Sometimes you need to just step back, relax and get ready for what comes next. I’d love to put 100% into every race I do this fall, but I probably won’t be able to. I  have two races that will be the most important things this fall, MDI and Columbus. Of course the marathon is my main goal, but I don’t want to put all hope into one race and not enjoy some local runs. Here’s my tentative schedule for the next six months. Some are still in question, and I may add a few, but at least I have some idea of how to measure the second half of the year.

June 30, 2012 – Run for Help 5k?

July 4, 2012 – Bay Days 5M

July 14, 2012 – Winking Lizard A Shot in the Dark

August 11, 2012 – NR Lion’s Club 10k

September 8, 2012 – Run for the Record 5k

September 9, 2012 – River Run Half Marathon?

September 15, 2012 – Mount Desert Island Half Marathon

September 23, 2012 – Race with Grace 5k

October 21, 2012 – Columbus Marathon

November 4, 2012 – Inland Trail Half Marathon?

November 22, 2012 – Mesa Turkey Trot 10k

My biggest challenge is creating my marathon training. I’ve played around with Runner’s World’s Smart Coach to come up with a few plans, and I’ll probably end up combing a few, and changing a few. I have no idea what I’m doing, all I know is that those long runs count.

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway, it ends Sunday!

What’s your second half of the year look like? Any suggestions on marathon training?

Honey Stinger Review and Giveaway!

I am a creature of habit when it comes to my race routine. Throughout high school and college I would do the exact same race prep every week. My Saturday morning’s consisted of Lemon Lime Powerade, a chocolate chip Chewy bar, Apple & Cinnamon Quakes and covering myself in Icy Hot. This year I’ve ventured out a lot and completely changed my pre race strategy. I nixed everything and started fresh. Now I start with a chocolate chip Clif Bar, Lemon Lime Gatorade, and Strawberry Banana Gu. Ok, so maybe not a lot has changed, but I feel better prepared when I step up to that line.

Right before Cleveland, I checked out the Gu stock at Second Sole and noticed Honey Stingers Energy Chews. They were new to the store and were pretty new to the staff as well. They offered to let me try a few, and I promised I’d give a review on how I thought they were.

The first pack I tried out was Caffeinated Lime-Ade. Because I love lemon lime flavors so much I figured this would be a hit. You’re supposed to eat about 5 for every hour you exercise. I had originally planned to do a long run, so I ate a few before and put them in my race belt to save for later. I loved the flavor, but I think because I drink it so much, I was caught off guard that I had to chew. I could feel the extra energy and wanted to run for hours. Unfortunately my legs were pretty sore from hills so I had to cut the run short. Overall I felt like I had a lot more energy than normal, which I believe came from the extra caffeine. Downside, I was thirsty the entire run, but this could have been from the heat as well.

The second one I tried was Fruit Smoothie. Honestly these taste just like fruit snacks and I love it. I had to slow myself down so I wouldn’t eat the entire pack. My energy didn’t feel as high, like it previously did with the caffeinated chews, but my energy was consistent. I enjoyed this flavor better and even though I ate a ton, I didn’t feel it weighing down my stomach.

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Overall I thought these were a great change from my routine. I’m looking forward to experimenting with other flavors and trying out other products. They’re healthy snacks that are light on the stomach and come in a variety of flavors to please everyone. In fact, Honey Stinger tells you up front just how healthy they are.

“Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews are formulated specifically for health-conscious individuals and athletes seeking a great tasting energy snack. Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews are unique as they are the first to include naturally occurring fiber and protein derived from 100% organic tapioca syrup and honey (Lime-Ade chews are 95% organic). Smaller and softer than other chews.

Made with USDA certified Organic ingredients. Gluten-free, dairy-free, non-GMO ingredients. 0g Trans Fats and no partially hydrogenated oils. 100% RDA Vitamin C along with 1g protein and 1g fibre per package.”

So what to do with the last pack? That’s yours to win! I’ll be giving away one pack of the Cherry Blossom flavor.

Want to win? Leave a separate comment for each entry. You’ll have four chances to win!

• Tell me your pre race ritual.
• Tweet about this giveaway! “I want to win some Honey Stinger Energy Chews from @masher!” And don’t forget the link!
  
• Follow @2ndsolerockyriv on Twitter.
• Follow @HoneyStinger on Twitter.

Make sure to get your entries in by 4:00pm on Sunday, June 24th. A winner will be picked and announced the following Monday. Good luck!

If you’re interested in more information or products from Honey Stinger, please visit their website.

Disclosure: I was given Honey Stinger Energy Chews to try out and review on my own time. The opinions are my own and not influenced by Second Sole or Honey Stinger.

MDI Week Two

Last week was almost an embarrassment to my training schedule. I originally had high hopes of packing in the miles, but in the back of my mind, I knew traveling would dominate and put a back seat to my running. Lucky me got to visit the home of the Cheeseheads, three days in Wisconsin, and just an hour outside of Green Bay. Tuesday through Thursday I spent sun up to sun down in meetings. I traveled between Milwaukee to Oshkosh and back down to Milwaukee again. I spent a lot of time learning from the president of the company and hearing what our customers thought of our products. It was an insightful week, but lacked running. Being on my feet or in the car the entire time, wore me down, and I was left with no motivation or time to run.

I was fairly disappointed with the amount of running I didn’t do. However, I was able to score some Packers gear during a five hour wait for our delayed flight. (Thanks United for a horrible experience!)

Decisions, Decisions

 

So this week I plan to get things back on track. Race schedule shows the Park 2 Park Half Marathon this Sunday. I have yet to make a decision on this race, but it’s coming close to crunch time if I want to run or not. I’ll have to see how this week goes and if I’m able to get in some long runs, I’ll take a shot at another 13.1.

 

Has travel ever changed your training schedule? How do you balance traveling and running?

 

 

MDI Week One

In just 16 weeks I’ll be up in Maine, enjoying the coast, checking out lighthouses, eating lots of seafood and running my second out of state half marathon. I’m so excited for this race, not only because it’s in Maine, but because it goes through Acadia National Park, right where my favorite lighthouse is. This is seriously a dream race, so I had to get it done in the first year of the 25 challenge. The Mount Desert Island YMCA Half Marathon has been a race I’ve had my eye on for the past year. It’s limited to 400 people, park limit, and has been closed out for months. Unfortunately MDI training will be overshadowed by marathon training after the first month, so this is my time to really put in the miles and get ready for what fall brings.

After taking a week off post Cleveland, I was certainly ready to get back into my shoes. Mentally and physically I feel better, I’m ready for my next training cycle. I had plans to rack up the miles this week, but I had to scale it back a bit. I’m still a bit nervous my knee will start to ache if I run too much too quickly. Luckily, I was able to break in my Asics 1140. The first couple days I tried them after Colorado I had major shin pains. This time around, the pain only lasted a few feet, sounds like a solid start to me!

 

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 2 Miles

Wednesday: 3 Miles

Thursday: 6 Miles

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 3 Miles

Sunday: Rest Day

So what do I expect for the month of June? I’m hoping to get a lot of miles in, ramp up my training and prepare myself for those long runs that are right around the corner. I don’t have as many races on the schedule, but I’m hoping the half later on this month will be my best one yet.

This week I’ll be in Wisconsin for work, so getting miles in may be a bit tricky. I already have a packed schedule, and will be on the move constantly. Here’s to a new training cycle and some marathon prep!