I am trying to stick with the Tuesday Reviews of my favorite products that I love because I want more people to know about them. Alas, today I wanted to talk about the wonders of a little tablet called Nuun. Nuun is a delicious form of hydration that I tried out during my marathon training and I really liked it. First off, the taste is MUCH better and not overly sugary and overwhelming when running. They have pleasant flavors that really taste good and are refreshing. I really like their tri-berry flavor.

Nuun is a product that helps you stay away from dehydration. Nuun produces a hypotonic solution so that your body will absorb Nuun faster than the leading “sports drinks” or even water alone. Your body is therefore, able to restore optimal water and electrolyte balance more quickly. When drinking Nuun I have never felt dehydrated on a run at all. I have also never gotten an upset stomach off drinking Nuun either.

Another important aspect of hydration that Nuun provides is the electrolyte count (or sodium). Nuun provides 700mg of sodium for every litre of drink – this amount, in addition to the other critical electrolytes contained in every Nuun tablet, ensures that you are adequately replenishing your body’s stores to help you perform at your best, and stay healthy.

Though many people say that Nuun lacks some of the carbohydrates that other drinks offer, and it has zero calories, for me personally I would much rather eat something on my run, than drink calories because I think that may be what is upsetting my stomach and creating my stomach issues. I have come to realize when running very long distances (anything over 8 miles for me) that calories are super important and your calorie intake needs to at least be something. I think for my next training cycle, for whatever race that may be, I will try to eat foods instead of take gus/beans/shots etc, because those seem to be what messed up my stomach in the first place. I mean, besides the episode at Mile 8.

Nuun is tasty, replenishes electrolytes and I would recommend you guys to check it out next time you are at your local running store. It’s just a small tablet that you can dissolve in water. Think alkaseltzer. It’s nice because I can take more than one with me on a run and can refill my water and still have Nuun with me.

You can buy it on their website, or you can sometimes find it at local smaller running stores. Check it out! You won’t be disappointed in the flavors and hydration.

xoxo

Today could quite possibly be my favorite day of the year and I’m filled with joy. Well the best besides my birthday in October, it’s

Hooray! Tonight I’m going to put in some recovery miles. Though running Monday was a little rough, I definitely think it has allowed my soreness to go away. Tonight I’ll be running a little bit probably a nice little 2 miles out and back. I’m excited to run tonight and then to start working on my speed for the upcoming San Fransisco Half July 26! Remember, if you want to start running, go slow, and take your time. Running is to be ENJOYED!

I think during training I got a little overwhelmed with the schedule and got really burnt out. I have missed just getting in miles and working on fast miles, and got tired of running for anyone else besides myself. I know that I’ve learned my lesson and I know that getting in more miles will make me much faster as well. I can’t wait to go on a relaxing long run this weekend in San Luis Obispo!

Yesterday I got some sweet ‘official’ race photos from San Diego this past weekend. Normally I thought there would be a lot more pictures taken on the course, but there was one spot at mile 22ish, which this gem was taken:

And then we have the lovely finishing photo. Don’t worry the clock tells lies. My chip time was 4:28, since I crossed the finish line earlier than the clock said. I’m not lying to you people! Yet, I am kind of bummed that the clock reads that in my finishing pictures.

Though I’m not too totally jazzed on these photos, perhaps the woman in the black in front of me ruined them, they aren’t the worst so whatever works I guess. I am still waiting for my medal picture that I must see. At least I look like I’m running in these two pictures. There is one that I look like a crazy race walker. Obviously I didn’t post it. :)

As for a sweet review that I totally must tell you guys about, the wonderful and delicious Pop Chips. They sent me a sweet package to review (and since I work in advertising, I have to give them MAJOR props on their marketing and packaging) and I’m not going to lie, I was a bit skeptical. I love me some “baked” chips and didn’t really know what to expect when eating these “popped” chips.

For me, they felt like they almost have the ‘I want to be a ricecake’ mentality, but were thin little round chips. Excuse the horrible picture, but this is about how thin they are. They are crispy and not greasy at all. I have seen these in the stores and just never bought them because they were a little more expensive than the other chips, nor am I one to try something that I don’t already know. Perhaps I am a creature of habit? Anyways, I took one bite of these and they were delicious! They have much, much more flavor than a regular potato chip and they aren’t weighted down with salt and artificial flavors. I didn’t feel like a greasy little piglet after. Major bonus.

So they look a little different than chips, but they taste different too, much better. I even had my co-worker test all the flavors with me and he really enjoyed them, even enough to buy them as well. Mr. R stole a bag and I told him he could only eat them if he also contributed to my review. His response when I asked them how they were via text? ” BOMMMMMMMBYYYYYYYYYY” Good one. He is now a convert as well, and I saw some bags in his cupboard. I really like the Salt and Pepper ones but all the flavors are really tasty. They are just lighter and better than other chips that I’ve tried, hands down. Their only downfall is that their bag is a little bit smaller at the grocery store and they aren’t the cheapest, but at the same time, sometimes I have seen some deals on them, in which I’ve stocked up.

It takes a lot for me to pay full price for anything, including food at the grocery store, but I would pay full price for these. I know, I know, sounds bad that I won’t pay full price for food, but remember I live in CA. It’s expensive. Their taste and nutritional info is outstanding and I felt like I was actually eating a healthy snack instead of just getting some chips that were loaded down with unhealthy ingredients. Next time you are in the super market, check them out, they are delicious and worth the extra .50 cents.

So get out and run and then eat some Pop Chips, or at least visit their site Pop Chips. You won’t be disappointed if you try them, promise!

Tomorrow will be some sweet running deals! I am already excited planning my next outfit for my next race. Well I’m already excited for my next race. I openly also admit I’m a freak.

xoxo

Last night I did some yoga to center my chi, and it felt great. I realized I need to stretch more! This morning I ran 3 miles and did another 25 minutes of yoga and I am really feeling good lately. No soreness and I’m starting to feel a little prepared for San Diego Rock and Roll. I have my last 20 miler this weekend so after that I’ll be on the taper road. Happy Cinco De Mayo to everyone, I’ll be watching the Biggest Loser tonight, nothing crazy! I know you all want to know what I think about the Garmin so here you go!

I was always told that I needed to get a Garmin. No one could ever really tell me why though, and to be honest, I’ve only used it in a pretty basic way thus far, but I plan to use it and all the different settings as I continue to learn more about it myself. Therefore I warn everyone, this is a very basic overview of the Garmin and it’s capabilities. I am still learning myself and I will post about any other great features as I learn about them. Honestly, I’m quite happy with just the simple way I use it now, so I know there’s more things out there, but at the same time, I like to keep it easy and simple.

I was an avid Nike+ user, but was starting to see an issue with it’s mileage tracking once I started to hit higher mileage. I ran a 25k (15 miles) and my Nike + told me I ran 17.86 miles. That’s when I knew that the mileage was off. I had calibrated it numerous times as well. Also I had gone through around 5 or 6 Nike pluses because of calibration issues and the sensors randomly dying or not being able to connect. I had heard about many people’s love for the Garmin, but no one could ever tell me why it was so fantastic. I did hear that it will change your running and racing a lot though.

I finally started researching the Garmin family and decided that I wanted to get the Forerunner 305. I decided on this one because it came with a heart rate monitor and seemed to be less expensive since it’s an ‘older’ model. I researched the 305 on Ebay and craigslist and found one for $130 with free shipping that was brand new. Finally the box arrived and the Garmin was mine. The first rule of having a Garmin is that it must have a name. I named mine Claude and he is the star of the Garmin Review.

One really cool and very accurate thing about the Garmin and that makes it much better than the Nike plus is the fact that it tracks you by GPS satellite. This makes your miles accurate and the mileage is an option that you can show on the Garmin’s screen when your running. Here is a picture of the Garmin’s Screen

This is the front of the Garmin. The setting I use it on shows the time in the top screen, (18.55) and the bottom two screens are split into two different modes. On the bottom left you can see my pace (20.42) and the mileage that I’ve gone thus far (2.06 miles) The buttons below, on the left is the lap/reset button and on the right is the start/stop button. It’s pretty easy to use and the face is obviously very large and visible. You can change the settings to see different ‘modes’ but I only use this mode thus far. There is another mode to show how many calories you’ve burned as well as mileage, time etc. In the upper right hand corner, if I was using the heart rate monitor, that is where it would say what my heart rate was as well.

This is the side of the 305. The arrow buttons change the modes on the front while you are working out. You can see that the 305 is pretty thick and bulky, but I haven’t had one problem besides a few adjustable ones and you get used to it. I will discuss the only ‘downfall’ towards the bottoms in the pros and cons section.

This is the underside and as you can see it straps on with a simple watch band. The band is plastic and it stays put fairly well. It is a very large band though and I have oddly small wrists.

This is the back of the Garmin. The numbers are my serial number and the four dots on the back are where the Garmin is charged from. The Garmin plugs into the computer for charging or the wall plug and charges quickly and easily.

This is the Garmin next to a pen. You can see how thick it is. I realized after I uploaded this picture it’s somewhat of an optical illusion though since the pen is so much closer to the camera. Epic Fail. You can see how large it is in the next picture though.

It is pretty basic as a ‘watch size’ but it’s fairly large in bulkiness. It’s very thick and the curve doesn’t fit on my wrist well, but I have had some other people wear it and try it on and there were no problems at all for them. I think possibly it’s because of my wrists and the bone I have on the outside of them that sticks up.

That bone can be easily rubbed raw and scabbed by Claude, that is why I choose to wear my Garmin up a little bit higher or sometimes I wear it on the inside of my wrist to stop chaffing.

A lot of people run and race without any type of tracking system but I have been very pleased with the Garmin, but it is nice that I can track my mileage, pace and overall distances run. It’s also great because it maps out the path you took on your run/walk since it has the trackability feature from the satellite.

I really liked how easy it was to use directly out of the box. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t really delved into the Garmin and really figured out everything on Claude, because it’s so simple and easy to use just how it is now. It stays charged for a long time (supposedly 10 hour battery life) and I’ve only had to recharge it once since I’ve gotten it.

To start the Garmin, once you are outside, just turn it ‘on’ via the on button on the right hand side and a screen will pop up with a progress bar that lets you know the Garmin is ‘locating satellites’. This is the only annoying thing about the Garmin. Sometimes it ‘locates’ the satellites immediately and other times, for me it takes up to two minutes. Once the satellite is found you hit start and your workout is started.

I really like the calorie counting feature but the Garmin uses speed traveled — not heart rate — to calculate calorie output on the Forerunner. It doesn’t bother me that much though and I even think I like that more since I haven’t used the heart rate monitor yet, nor do I want to have to wear the heart rate monitor to find out how many calories I’ve burned.

Another cool feature of the Garmin is that once you have a few courses you like, you can save and race against them, marking points along the way. You can set up interval workouts with specific distances or time or repeats. You can also use the GPS navigation feature to see your path on a map once you upload your workouts and you can save locations you want to remember — and find your way home if you get lost. (Would have been a good tool for my friend LA Runner when he was lost on his Skyline to Sea 50k) :)

Another great thing that I like is the fact that the buttons are easy to use and you don’t have to go through them all to find one thing, i.e. the start and stop button. It has an auto-pause feature that stops the timer when you stop moving and restarts again when you get going — great for stoplights and water breaks.

The only problems I really have with Claude is that is doesn’t really like my wrist bone and that I can’t really get it to easily work with my Mac computer at home. I am going to have to spend some time with that to find a fully functional way to upload data to a website so I can view it no matter where I am. I have a website to check out, but I just haven’t had the time to sit down and work with it for a while. Also this may be weird, but there is no clock that I have found that you can ‘show’ during your workout. I guess this just means that I have to look at the clock before I leave on my run and then just add the time gone to know what time it is, but it’s a little strange.

The Pros:

Easy to use, no set up needed, can use the ‘normal’ functions and still understand the product, a lot of features that I haven’t even discovered, available with the heart rate monitor, not as expensive if you search, large display, possibility to update workouts to websites, long enough battery life, different modes, GPS tracking system which means accurate distances, looks better than the 301 that looks like a giant black twinkie, charges via usb

The Cons:

No exactly the most chic accessory, not many color options, not really kosher with my Mac at home (but I’m working on it), no clock

I will definitely continue to learn more about my Garmin and will post. I’m sure I’ll get many comments telling me lots of other ‘great features’ but honestly, I like it just the way it is! I thought it was a little expensive, but now that I have it, and if I was truly training to get speedier I can see how it would be very helpful in determining my pace. I did a speed workout last week and I did find myself able to hold my pace for much longer because I knew how much was left and exactly how fast I was going because of my Garmin. It’s a great training tool and I am really glad I did purchase it. It’s worth the money and overall thus far I would give it a A-grade! I will let you know if anything sway my opinon of the Garmin anymore, including more discoveries.

Hope this was helpful! If you have any questions, feel free to email me @ [email protected]

xoxo

So I got some products from Zensah right before I got sick but I was excited to try them out and had to wait an incredibly long time to do so. I got a pink sports bra, some pink arm warmers, a pink running skirt and some compression socks. I decided to run in the sports bra and use the arm warmers this weekend for my extended long run/race.

I am VERY picky about sports bras, so I was skeptical this one would be tight enough, hold everything together and not chafe. I am right inbetween a 34B/C so smalls are WAY too tight and mediums usually fit okay, but sometimes they squeeze the fat on my underarms which doesn’t look very chic. For some reason I also chafe like a snake shedding it’s skin on my long runs.

Then the arm warmers… The first person I ever saw wearing them was LA Runner and I wondered what in the HECK they were used for. After a while it dawned on me but I still didn’t see the need for them at all, or if they would even work, plus I thought I would look like an idiot with them on. I thought the same thing about my hydration belt and now I have one and love it. Little did I know that the arm warmers would be amazing. I even saw a few comments yesterday wondering what I was doing with them. I agree, it’s weird, but wait till you hear about them.

The sports bra is seriously great. I like my sports bras unusually tight and this one fit nice and snug but wasn’t suffocating. I even noticed it holding everything together at all the right times. That’s right, I checked myself out in the buildings I ran by and saw that I wasn’t all over the place. It wasn’t too tight to wreck with my breathing and I felt very, shall we say, supported, at ALL times, which is nice. Sometimes when it’s too hot my sports bras get damp with sweat and this was not the case at all. It stayed dry and the material was VERY comfortable. I was really surprised with what a difference this sports bra made. I wore it for a very long run too, 16 miles, and it held up great.

Another great thing about the sports bra was that there was absolutely no sign of chafing at all. I usually have some kind of chafing in a ring around chest from the top of the sports bra and also underneath the sports bra. I had absolutely no sign of either spots chafing. I was comfortable, not to warm and I even ran without a shirt for 2 miles and felt great, not like I was giving a free show to those around me. It was a great support sports bra and fit really well. I totally would recommend them, and they have a cool colors on their site.

Secondly the arm warmers. I was very VERY skeptical that these things were worth basically anything. They are fairly expensive and I just couldn’t see myself buying something without getting to try it out first. I didn’t even know the true need for these. I didn’t know what to expect or how warm they would keep me, anything. I slipped them on over my arms before I left and they were at least very comfortable on. I didn’t know what to expect once I went outside. It was pretty cool out, and I did want to wear a long sleeve shirt but I HATE having to tie it around my waist, neck or whatever I can, once I get warm after running for ten minutes. The sleeves are simply AMAZING. I was shocked how great they worked. My arms felt warm the entire time and they are the perfect length so that Claude doesn’t hit my wrist bone either. They are breathable, and felt like nothing was even on my arms but they kept me the perfect temperature.

Even when it got a little warmer, they were so comfy I just left them on. I wore them for all of my 16 mile run and never felt more comfortable in my life. I wasn’t too hot or too cold and they worked out great. I would totally recommend them to anyone who goes out for a run and doesn’t want to get cold. Seriously, I was really skeptical, but now that I’ve tried them I know I’ll be using these instead of long sleeved shirts that just overheat me. Plus, they make you look WAY MORE HARDCORE!

There is a section that got cut off that said that it was really easy to bend and move my arm in because my other arm is bent. And I totally realize that I spelled hight instead of high. FAIL big time, but I am not going back into photoshop (though my skills are obviously amazing) to fix it. You get the point, they go up high.