I cannot tell you in words how much I love my K-Swiss shoes. I love running in them and working out in them for so many reasons. They are by far the lightest shoes I’ve ever tried on for running and working out. I love the feeling that they give my feet and how they seem to give me just enough support without becoming heavy. I’ve tried numerous different shoes and these ones have me going back for more. The two shoes I have been testing is the Keahou 2 and the K-ona.

I started out on the Keahou shoe and really liked it. Then I took up the challenge to try the new Keahou 2. The toe box is big enough to not make my toes bleed and I really like the support throughout the arch. One thing that I noticed is that the shoe is that there is a little less cushion in the toe area. I really like the breathability of these shoes as well. I noticed that they are very light because they have holes to release air and sweat throughout the shoe, which really adds a lot to the shoe innovation, but not weight to the shoe, which is great. I also really like the soles of the shoes which seem to be springy and give the amount of cushion needed for short runs and long runs. I love wearing these shoes for all distances and they are my go-to trainer.

Another great feature of the shoe is how they look. Everywhere I wear these shoes, I always get compliments and questions about the shoe, which NEVER happens when I wear running shoes. The most common question is what brand of shoes are they and how much were they. I know the prices for the shoes are awesome, comparatively to other brands, which is great when you start going through shoes so quickly. These ones run for $100.

The second shoes I tried out was the K-ona and this is the lightest running and training shoe I’ve ever tried on. They are perfect for working events and I love walking around in them all day long. When you’re on your feet for more than 10 hours,  you  need support and these ones feel awesome all throughout the day, running around, everything. They remind me of racing flats in that I wore in high school, except with cushion and great support. Another thing that is pretty cool about these shoes is that they are great for breathability. There are a lot of holes throughout the shoes and the fabric is lightweight that makes them really functional. There are even holes throughout the sole that allows heat to escape and makes them so much overall. One of my biggest pet peeves is that when I walk through wet grass, my shoes get wet and it just seeps into my socks and soaks it up. Disgusting. I love these shoes because they allow the water to get out and the air to get back in and allows them to dry out. Major, major points for that one.

I seriously love K-Swiss shoes. As I stated in my previous review on them, many people are like K-Swiss? Really? But it’s great to have such a gem of a shoe and I’m still so glad I gave them a try. Many people don’t realize that they’ve been making awesome shoes for quite some time now. I used to love my Nikes, but after bleeding through two pairs of shoes, I realized it was time to switch it up. Great find, good prices, great service, love K-Swiss on so many levels.

xoxo

K-Swiss gave me these shoes to review for free, but I would run in them even if they weren’t free. :)

So excited to share this review with you, and as I said in the video, I figured I would just make a video to show you guys how awesome it is!

So nice to have something that works so well and even though I’m partially dreading my 20 miler tomorrow because I’m not the biggest fan of 20 milers, I’m glad I’ll be taking this guy along with me!

Main Features: Water bottles, neoprene pocket, stretchable fabric, and NO BOUNCING! Sorry for the crappy video but it’s so much easier to explain it to you than to write it all out. Here’s the iFitness Website and here’s a link to the belt directly. iFitness was kind enough to send me this to review for free, but honestly, I would totally buy it, and I’m not just saying that. It’s awesome and I’m glad that I got to review it!

This weekend is going to be awesome. 20 miler on the plate for tomorrow. Registering at Crate and Barrel on Sunday, taking some engagement pictures on Sunday and one year from today, I’ll be getting married. Holla!

xoxo

Today is ONE YEAR with my company, Run Racing. I can’t believe it and here’s a little recap of the year in pictures.

LA Marathon was my first big expo that I worked. I never had done anything like this before and it was quite fun and tiring all at the same time. It does give me a little bit more of a chance to meet my readers though, but it ruins a lot of my weekends since I have to work so much!

More expos!

Another fun part of my job is setting up flags for SeaFestival. That’s every weekend in the summer from May to September. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 5 am to 8 am and then back at 6 pm to take them down. I’m not so good at putting them together, but it’s hilarious to watch me, according to my coworkers. :)

There were the OC Fair 5ks, which were cool and my first ‘races’ that I worked.

Met even more fun people and worked with Leslie and Adri, my two lovely co-workers!

The highlight of the summer work was meeting, or maybe just seeing Michael Phelps. DANG.

Before I knew it, it was time for Long Beach! GAH craziest weekend of my life! Still can’t believe I made it out alive.

This picture almost brings me to tears hahaha. The best part of this picture is all those people have my email address, and if the course is an inch to long, or they couldn’t find a parking spot because they left late, or their shoe came untied, they email me.

After we cleaned up LB, it was Turkey Trot time where it was 36 degrees that morning at 3 am, much to cold for this little turkey. And then onto the Holiday Half!

Maritza came out and ran, and I was in the command center all morning long.Pretty crazy to hear everything going on and having to communicate with so many different agencies for the race.

Now we’re back to Expoing it up and getting ready for the OC Marathon! Last year I missed the OC Marathon because I was in Canada, but this year I will be there with bells on.

I am SO thankful for the people that sit in the ‘bullpen’ with me. They make my life much more entertaining at work and makes the nasty emails I get much more laughable. If you want to know more about my job, you can find another post here that I did on it.

Here’s to another fun year of staying out of the way of the forklift, crying between portapotties and dumpsters, drinking so much monster and coffee we’re shaking and laughing about christening portapotties at 3 am. One of the scariest things in life is using portapotties in pitch blackness and not knowing where the crew guys are who think it’s humorous to torture us. See my life pretty much revolves around these.

xoxo

So I put off my 16 miler off ALL weekend long and waited until yesterday morning to do it. Luckily, I dragged B along with me! He had done 10 miles with me before and though he is not a big fan of running, he likes doing it for a workout. He also has a new thing that he loves. EATING GU! As you know, I CANNOT ever eat Gu, so I had to scrounge some up for him. Ever since we saw Hood To Coast together, he has been wanting to try some and asks anyone who runs if they eat it. I finally found some and gave it to him and he had it the other day before playing racquetball at work (I know, right) and is now obsessed with it. Disgusting. So I brought him some for our run and got my new fuel belt all ready and off we went on the beach path. It was a GORGEOUS day for a run. The entire time we counted down the miles together and he was so excited to take his ‘gooey’ at mile 6. He loves them and can’t wait to try more flavors. Maybe it will just take a while for the novelty to wear off or one bad Gu and their relationship will be over.

I realize when I run, I try to eat as less as possible because my stomach gets so upset. So I eat at mile 6-10-14 and so on. I realize since he’s a boy and needs to eat much more than me, he probably should have eaten at  mile 4-8-12- and so on. :( Miles 13-16 were rough for him, but he finished it and I was really proud of him! He wanted to kill me for the rest of the day though. I’m working on the iFitness review though, it’s my new favorite thing hands down! I couldn’t believe how great it worked.

So after the 16 miler  yesterday, I am a little sore and  had a pretty disastrous blister. We averaged a 9:55 per mile pace which is pretty good. I’m glad today is a rest day though, I have been hitting up the gym and running a lot lately and I’m getting sore. Break day is my favorite day! :)

As for the other parts of my weekend, it was spent sleeping in (HOORAY, needed that!) watching TV, cleaning and buying fabric

Hint, Hint: Wedding colors! :) Don’t worry I’m not fashioning a dress out of any of this! HA! But I did also ask all my bridesmaids ad maid of honor as well. So now everyone is in the know! Another important part of this weekend :)

So now I have the 20 miler coming up next week. Pretty nervous but I’m glad that it will be out of the way and soon it will be LA Marathon time!

xoxo

So with the whole work Texas Trip, I didn’t get any long run last weekend. FAIL. This weekend I have a 14-16 miler scheduled, which I shall tackle on Sunday. I’m going to run with my new iFitness belt, which I am SO excited to try.

It looks like such an awesome way to carry water, and when I’ve worn it around the house I’ve noticed that it doesn’t bounce like my regular fuel belt. So I will report back hopefully with awesome results.

I went for a 4.5 miler last night and it was one of those runs that went really well and it felt good to get out there and get my legs turning over again. Toward the end I was really running hard and it felt so natural and exhilarating to have that feeling back. It was crisp out and I felt good. I have still been having a little bit of trouble with my shins so I  made sure to roll them out when I got home.

Now that we aren’t working every weekend here at work, I have a few weekends to get in some long runs before LA and Oakland, which makes me a little more confident that I will be able to survive the races. So I’m back on track and going to finish out the training strong. It’s only like a month away! I can’t believe how fast January and February are going. Soon it will be March and the races will be over.

I have decided to not do any more fulls for the rest of the year, and I’m going to run a few half marathons, 5Ks and 10Ks to keep my running up.I just feel like my body is really tired. I love running but I just don’t love training. I admit, it takes so much time, effort, and it’s overwhelming sometimes. I love training for halfs and shorter distances. That’s just how I work.  Training just takes up too much time right now and I know that this year is a special year to enjoy many things and hobbling around after a 20 miler isn’t exactly the way I want to spend my weekends. I’m looking forward to these two fulls and then working on my speed and running to enjoy it and just when I want to, not having to adhere to training as much. I have been going to the gym a lot and I do enjoy that a lot too. I’m going to start swimming again as well, because I love it!

And, B and I are getting married on February 25th, 2012 :) We were hoping for March, but the place we are looking at is already booked. SHEESH PEOPLE!

So here’s to a good long run on Sunday, a non-bouncy iFitness belt and some awesome carb loading, per usual.

xoxo