Mid week wrap up

I am happy to announce the winner of the Endorphin Warrior Training Bracelet was Melissa. I hope she will enjoy her bracelet as much as I do.

I am now into week 12 of my 16 week training plan. I just finished my longest run to date this past Sunday. I ran 18.13 km in 1:55:39. I'm quite happy with my time. I'm hoping to keep it up for the race. My knee is doing well. It was a bit sore after the run. I'm working on strengthening my quads and hamstrings to help my knee out.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The roads were not that wet, so I decided to take my Newton Motion runners for a test. I had only run with them on the treadmill as I was transitioning over the those shoes. The shoes were very comfortable and light. Maybe Newton will send me a pair one day to review :)  My run buddy also picked up some Gu chomps for me to try out and this was the perfect run to give them a try. I'm still trying to decide what I will use for fuel on the actual race day.

My baby turned 6 months this week which means my maternity leave is half way over. Yes, in Canada we have the option of taking a year off for our maternity leave. The past 6 months have flown by, I'm not quite sure where the time went. I'm still trying to figure out his routine or shall I say help him get into a routine. With our first child I was quite strict with her daily routine but with baby 2, he just has to go with the flow. This has made my training a bit tough. I will continue to log the miles when I can and keep my eyes on the prize. Baby will be a big boy in no time, so I'll savour each moment I have left

Hope you're all having a great week

A

Endorphin Warrior Review & Giveaway

I was so excited when  Endorphin Warrior offered me the opportunity to review their Warrior Training Bracelet. There are 20 different motivational words for you to choose from  and since I am training this year for my first full marathon, I chose BELIEVE. Here's why

- I Believe that I can complete a full marathon
- I Believe that I can get through all the training (even hills)
- I Believe in myself
- I Believe that I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it

It reminds me one of my favourite Bible verses : "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Philippians 4:13

When I started running a few years ago, I never thought that I would get bitten by the running bug so badly. Once I crossed the finish line of my first race, I knew that I would like to keep on running more races. I had decided that I would one day run a full marathon and this year is going to the year. I BELIEVE that I can do it. There are many days when I really do not feel like training. Especially with a new baby and a 4 year old, my days are pretty jam packed.  I often want to just crawl into bed and sleep and give up on training, but I believe in myself and I know that I will cross that finish line.

I was looking forward to receiving my Believe Warrior Training Bracelet because I love inspirational jewellery... heck, I love any kind of jewellery especially running related.

I was happy to find out that the bracelet comes in different sizes and I got one of the smallest sizes for my small wrists. The nickel plated metal tag is attached the the soft leather wristband. It has a snap enclosure that is easy to put on. I have been wearing mine every day since I received it.  I love seeing it every time I look down at my wrist. It reminds me of the goals I have set for myself and to believe.

So, here's the great part I have one Warrior Training Bracelet with your choice of motivational word to give away !! Giveaway ends Sunday March 24 at midnight and the winner will be announced on Monday March 25.

To Enter (Mandatory) Please leave a separate comment for each entry (six possible entries)

1. Go to Endorphin Warrior and tell me which keyword you would choose

Additional Entries

2. FollowEndorphin Warrior on Twitter

3. Like Endorphin Warrior on Facebook

4. Follow my blog

5. Follow me on Twitter

6. Tweet about this giveaway: I want to win @EndorphnWarrior Training Bracelet from @ainrunningland #warrioron http://aliceinrunningland.blogspot.ca/2013/03/endorphin-warrior-review-giveaway.html. And leave a comment with the link to your tweet


Also, throughout the month of March, Endorphin Warrior is giving away a FREE Dog Tag/Key Ring as well as donate $1 from each online order to support a local elementary school running club for lower-income children. You can get the information here.

*Disclaimer I was given this bracelet and all opinions on this blog post are my own and I was not paid or required to give a particular opinion

Twitter Party and KT Tape

Since joining the world of Twitter, I've discovered a lot of new products out there. I am always keen on learning about products that can help me with my running and general health. Running is one of my passions and with all the training, there are aches and pains and even injuries that can occur.

One of the things that I have helped me was having kinesiolgy tape applied to my areas of need. I had first seen it at an expo in Tampa a few years ago and then had a free application done at another expo.  I was quickly amazed at how it helped me with the race as I was having some quad issues that year.  

I took part in my first Twitter chat last night hosted by a fellow blogger that I had been following Heather from Through Heather's Looking Glass and KT Tape.  It was a great way to ask questions, chat with other runners and learn about KT Tape. At then end of our chat party Heather announced that there were going to be winners and prizes to those who took part and guess what?  

I was randomly chosen!!! I can't wait to try KT Tape out.. want to know why ?

Here are a few reasons to why I like KT Tape so far.

- they have 8 AWESOME colours with cool names like Blaze Orange and Epic Purple

  which you can use to match your race day outfit

- you can buy them in Canada 

and most of all YOU CAN APPLY IT YOURSELF!!!

I had always thought that you needed to go to a certified kinesio taper, as in a person who is qualified to do this, like a chiropractor or a physic therapist. But KT Tape has instruction videos to guide you through the application yourself.

If you've never tried kinesiotaping or not sure what it is, check out the video. I can tell you that it has helped me and I'm a believer. 

 

Thanks again to Heather and KT Tape. It was a blast to be apart of the Twitter party last night #kttape.

Looking forward to KT taping my knee when I get my Laser Blue and sporting it for my next race.

Second Chances

I have been over the moon these past few days with some great news. One of my first posts on this blog was about the Nike Womens' Half Marathon that my friends and I had been trying to get into by lottery. This has been one of my dream races. Unfortunately, we were not selected. But this past Friday - International Womens' Day, I got a text message from one of my run buddies regarding an email about this race.

Nike had decided to give a second chance to the runners that did not get into the half marathon the first time. I had to reread the email multiple times and pinch myself. The only stipulation was that we  run a virtual 10K race on the weekend of March 9/10 as well as run the half marathon in April. Spaces were limited, so we were a bit frantic. We had already registered for another race the same weekend. I was torn. I have been trying to get into the Nike Womens' Marathon San Francisco for the past 4 years.

After consulting my run buddies and my supportive hubby, we decided to go ahead and register. What are the chances that we will be able to have this opportunity again. So Washington, DC here we come. It will be my first race after baby and I will be bringing baby along. My dear friend (LOVE HER) has agreed to fly down and help me watch my baby while I run this inaugural race through the U.S Capitol. I have looked over the race route and it looks like I will be running past all the landmarks. I CAN'T WAIT!

I'm right on track with training as well. I just finished week 10 of my training plan and happy to say that I'm feeling pretty good.

Along with our registration into the Nike Half Marathon, we also had to run the virtual 10K this weekend using a Nike+ app. I had planned to run 16 kms with my run buddy who is also going to be running Nike with me. We could not have asked for a nicer day. The weather was warm, sun was shining and we were still in shock that we were actually going to run in Washington.

Since we registered the day before the virtual 10K we did not get the official race shirt from Nike, so we sported our Nike caps instead.

What is your dream race? 

Happy running.. have a great week :)

Alice

Never enough time in the day

It's been a crazy 2 weeks since my last post. I've been trucking along with my running and logging most of my mileage on dailymile.com. Feel free to follow me as I try to get to my goal. A good friend of mine came into town for a visit last weekend and I was unable to squeeze in my long run so I ended up doing it this past week on the treadmill.

I have never ever ran for that long on the treadmill. I had to run 12 kms and the thought of it just about killed me, but there was no other way I was going to be able to get it in. So I sucked it up and did it. Luckily, I had a few movies loaded into the iPad and away I went. I finished an entire movie for that run. It helped make the run go by, but I also think I run slower when running to a movie. There is no pounding uptempo music to get me going, but there was no way I would have been able to run that distance without a movie or someone willing to sit and talk with me. I actually ran 10 km, then the baby woke and needed to be fed. I nursed him quickly and ran back down to the treadmill to do the last 2 km.  Thank goodness the treadmill is just in the basement.

My baby turned 5 months this week and I must say it's been flying by. He seems to be growing so much faster than my first. There never is enough time in the day to get everything done. And I feel so much busier on maternity leave than I do when I'm working. In some ways I can't wait to go back to work, but at the same time I am savouring every moment I have at home with my kids. Time management is not one of my best qualities, but trying to train for a half marathon/marathon has made me smarten up and to also love my treadmill.

Happy 5 months. I'm his teething toy

Today, my in laws were visiting which means I can head out for a run. I'm so glad they come for long run Sundays. It was cold and dreary, but I couldn't wait to get out. It was a bit warmer this week than my last run. It was -4 with the windchill -9. It felt much colder, but once I got moving, I was fine.  The only obstacles were the huge chucks of snow on the sidewalks. I felt like a hurdler for part of my run. I finished my 14km run in 1:33:12.  I finished the night off with a fabulous massage...oh yeah.. I'm ready for more now.

How were your runs this week? Have a Great week. 

A.