Feetures! sock review

I splurged on some wool socks the other day at our local Fleet Feet store.  I never thought I'd be the person buying socks for $15 a pair.  Oh my goodness are these socks beyond amazing!  Right out of the package I put them on my feet and headed out the door for a 10 miler.  It was about 35 degrees and raining.  My feet are usually quite chilly--often purplish gray by the time I finish my runs in the winter.  

 The socks are extremely soft and kept my feet warm and dry.  I took my shoes off and my socks didn't even feel wet but my shoes were quite damp/wet.  My feet didn't feel too hot or ever get cold during my run.  I am going to have to head back to the store to get a second pair of these for my long runs in the winter since I have about 2 runs over an hour in time each week.  Thinking the other pair will have to be "taller" since my ankles are now the part that I feel the chill from the weather.  Below is a photo of the socks on my feet.  I stood on the edges of my feet so that you could see the design of the sock a little better and how they wrap around the arches and are specific to the foot.

Do you have any favorite cold weather running apparel that I should try out?

Gu's... what works for me

Having quite a few weeks of long runs and tough workouts I figured now would be a good time to try out a few different flavors of energy products.  I have found some new ones that will work for me as well as some that will be ok for sometimes (aka I have to be in the mood).

Salted Watermelon.  Delicious but very sweet.  I didn't mind this too much as it was about 40 degrees outside and made me think of summer.  I am not sure I would feel the same about the sweetness of this for a longer race.  I'd have to take this early and be in the mood.  Overall, tasty and I like it.  

Vanilla Bean gets 2 thumbs up from me.  It is sweet but not over the top.  It is like canned frosting but not as sugary sweet.  This went down easy for me and I didn't need to chase it with a lot of water to get the taste out of my mouth because it was "too much."

If you love Caramel sauce on your ice cream this is for you.  I love this flavor but it is a little strong and needs quite a bit of water to get washed down.  I can eat caramel by the spoonful and this was just like that--delicious!  If it is a chilly day I recommend that you "knead" the packet to get it warm and gooey before eating.  I had some the other day when it was cold and it was more difficult to swallow since it was like a the caramel sauce that was in the fridge.  

Pinapple flavored Gu.  This was decent but would only be a flavor for me in the summer.  I am not sure I could stomach this in the cold as it doesn't fit your usual cravings based on the weather.  I love soup in the winter but not so much in the summer--hence pineapple falls in the love in the summer but not high on the list for winter.

Race Dots

I don't know about other runners but I was kind of over the whole safety pinning race bibs to my clothes.  If it is a costume or shirt I don't plan on wearing again that's ok with me but many of my clothes are ones I wear on a regular basis and the pins put holes in my shirts.  Through social media I found out about racedots and figured I'd order a set and give them a try.  

First off, the package was a pain the behind to open, but then again so are all plastic packages.  I ordered online and had them in my hands about 3 days later--fast shipping.  The magnets were STRONG!  I could fairly easily pull them apart when they had the cardboard they came in separating the front from the back but without that cardboard good golly that was tough.
I wore them for a local 5k and was quite pleased.  It took me a while to get them situated on my bib and  to position my bib how I wanted but I am sure with some practice I will get better at putting my race number on with the racedots.
The front and back of the magnets are designed to "interlock" with each other.  The fronts have a bump on the back that sits in the holes where the pins usually go.  The backs look like a washer or "O" and the bump from the front kind of nestles into the "O."  So happy that I ordered these and am looking forward to many more pin-free races.

Half Fanatic #9040

I officially qualified for Half-Fanatic status after the Diva's half in early October.  The idea of becoming a half-fanatic has been like a little flicker in the back of my mind for quite a while and the timing was right for my races so I decided, "why not."

To officially qualify you need to run 3 half marathons in 90 days or 2 within 14 days.  I was close to the 2 in 14 days one but Rochester half and Diva's half were borderline in my opinion and my Shoreline half in July eeked in for a qualification of something like 78 days if I remember correctly.

Now that I am a half fanatic I am trying to figure out how I can "moon up."  That's just a fancy way of figuring out how many races I can cram into certain time spans to be of higher than "entry level" fanatic.  Plus, I can read about many small races that may have never been on my radar before that I might have an interest in as I travel.

Now that the flame is burning and not flickering on my half-fanatic status I've started thinking about Marathon-Maniacs-- 3 marathons in 90 days.  Yeah, I've officially crossed into Beyond-Crazy status.

Scarecrow 5k

So the weekend after Diva's half I ran a local 5k in my fantastic Rock City skirt.  Amy from Rock City skirts sent me the skirt free to try out and I loved it.  Although I received the skirt for free the opinions about the skirt are my own.  It was the perfect little touch of sass and fun for my costume.  If I didn't want to run dressed in costume but wanted a cute skirt there were plenty of other options as well.

 The skirt has a thin elastic band that is comfy and fit nicely over my leggings.  I could have easily worn shorts under the skirt but it was quite chilly out for a mid-October morning.  I added my Mouse ears and some white gloves to complete the look.  The Rock City skirt made my costume easy-peasy.

 Since it was a race where costumes were encouraged the local MRTT group that I am part of decided to dress as super heroes.  They all looked great and I thought about other "costumes" for my skirt to keep in mind for future races.

 Our local Fleet Feet did another fantastic job as the timing crew of the event.  They did not host the event, just provided timing services.  The course was mostly out and back along the canal with a small portion on the road for the start.  It was a little narrow for most of the race but I had a fun time and just kept cruising at about 7:45 miles for the entire race.

 After I crossed the finish line I spotted my mom and she could pick me out of the crowd fairly easily with my skirt and ears.  Too bad my sneakers weren't yellow!

 Other costumes I came up with for the Minnie skirt are ice cream scooper gal.  Yup, standing outside with an ice cream scoop.  You could plus it up with a paper hat and a ice cream logo shirt or foam ice cream cone.

 Add a little apron and instant baker.  I would also opt for a chef hat if I had one.  A little waiter inspired too with some "be our guest" type service theme.

 Or, embrace your own super power and create a cape and be "super-you."  It could be the sock match finder, boo-boo kisser... whatever it is that you do and your family thinks you rock at.  Basically make up your own super hero.

 Rock City skirts made pulling together a last minute costume super easy and cute with the few things I had sitting around my house.  Can't wait to try out some other skirts and see what I can create.

Diva's Half Marathon

After work on Friday Manfriend and I headed down to Long Island to visit my college roommate, teammate and best friend Miss D and her husband Greg.  Saturday, Dani and I drove to get our bib numbers.  We ended up buying coordinating tank tops to wear with our sparkle skirts the next day.  The expo was a decent size for the race and not overly crowded.  I will say that our bibs did not look very clear, they were kind of pixel-y in the logo area.  I would expect that such a large race would have a better quality image for printing on the bibs.  Oh well.  After our expo adventure we went out to lunch with our guys and their kid before deciding to chill at their house for the afternoon and eat junk food and watch movies.

 Early the next morning we got up and headed over to the race.  We left her house at about 5:30 since we had to be in the park by 7am.  We spent almost 45 minutes in traffic waiting to get into the park and watched as the police car came up to close the park entrance.  We were able to sneak in but it was already 7:15 with our race starting at 8.  Not ideal but we managed.

 It was a chilly morning but we didn't remember any "throw away clothes" so we just kind of sucked it up.   We knew that once we got running we'd be ok and we didn't have long to wait.  There was a lot of pink at the start--neither of us are really big fans of the color but being October and Breast Cancer Awareness month we just let it go.

 I did not plan on running a fast race and figured we'd stop for photos along the course and take walking breaks.  Well Miss D had a time goal in mind and was reluctant to stop for photos until about mile 8 (which I explained is the half marathon suckfest part).  Suckfest is the part of the race where it gets hard for a few miles and you just have to get through it for the good part-- the last mile or two before the finish.

 They had a total of 3 inflatables on the course and no other "photo opportunities" that we felt the need to stop for.  There were quite a few spots on the course with music playing and water stops with cheer leaders and volunteers that were very supportive/cheering loudly for the runners.

 I will say that I was impressed by the amount of water stops on the course and the volunteers at those stops.  While I carried my own bottle for the race it is nice to know there was plenty in the event that I needed water.

 I ran ahead of Miss D a little bit so I could take a photo of her running with the Islanders hockey arena behind her. As we got further into the race I took my Salted Caramel Gu (delicious) and offered some to Dani.  She declined and then a little while later it was suckfest time-- but in all honesty her knee was bothering her and she wasn't able to do the training but didn't want to disappoint me so she was truckin' along.

When she sat down to have her photo at the last inflatable a medial guy asked if she was ok and we kind of laughed and were like, yeah, we just wanted to take a photo.  Apparently other people were not stopping for photos.

 I was bummed when they did not offer up any Gu's on the course.  I was hoping to try a new flavor and see how my stomach handled it in a non-competitive race for me and one that in all honesty wasn't on my radar other than a really good reason to see a friend.  We got our feather boas and tiaras with a mile to go.

 I offered walk breaks several times but Miss D would not have any of that.  She was a trooper.  At the finish we were given our medals by some models in fire gear.

 The medals spin in the center where the jewel is.  I am really surprised they didn't have a second jewel on the other side of the spinning part.  The medals are really nice and quite large.  The bling did not disappoint.

 After getting our medals we were given a single rose by a man in a tux.  Um, they are really pampering us gals with this finish line.  We also were handed a glass of champagne with a Diva's sticker on it (that apparently someone put all those stickers on upside down).

 Our boys were at the finish line and both wearing black Adidas hoodies.  I mean, if us gals are coordinated dressers I guess it's only fair that our boys also coordinate when they dress up.

Overall, I had a great weekend with my best friend and getting to run her first half marathon with her.  I also qualified for half fanatics with my finish at Diva's so it was a really great weekend.  Now I am busily looking at half marathons so I can "moon up" (move up to a higher rank with # of races and date proximity).  

Ragnar Relay Adirondacks

In my MRTT group a gal posted that her friend was on the Ragnar Relay team and needed an extra body for the weekend since a teammate broke her foot in the Rochester half.  Crazy, right?  Well I've always wanted to do a Ragnar race but don't have friends that are crazy in that way.  So here it is a Wednesday night and I leave on Friday afternoon to hop into a van or 2 with 11 complete strangers.

 My mom didn't want me going all alone and leaving my car in some small town when I met up with the vans for the event so she went with me and was able to catch me at a few of my relay leg exchanges.  She's the best.

 I first meet up with the van of people I will be riding with at about 11:30 at night in a Super 8 parking lot in Ticonderoga.  This after my mom and I arrived around 9:30 and I still needed to eat dinner.  After that we tried to sleep in her car but by the time we got our selves set up we snoozed for like 30 minutes.
I hoped in the van with strangers, my mom tried to sleep in the parking lot some more.  We met up with van 1 (I am in van 2 at this time and the last leg of the van).  It is a very relaxed but fun environment at the "big" exchange.  I start hearing about people making kills on their runs and must have looked shocked so my van mate explains that when you pass a person at Ragnar it's called a kill.   Kind of like in volleyball they have kills and digs.  It's just part of the vocab at Ragnar.  Also, the mile to go signs are lies.  LIES!  It always feels like way longer than a mile whether it be in the van or actually running.

 I don't run until about 4 in the morning for my leg and we drive from exchange point to exchange point in the van and waiting around for our teammates.  I am having a great time but am really pushing exhaustion.  I've been up since 6am and worked at school before meeting up with the van.  They've all gotten at least a few hours of sleep.  Well, I run my first leg in the pitch black of night and hand off my slap bracelet.  Even though I had 4 head lamps, reflective vest and 2 blinking arm bands I hate running in the dark.  At this point they have me grab all my stuff and join van 1... which means no sleep for me since I was in van 2 and it is their turn for sleep.  A gal in van 1 was injured and they need me to take on some of her legs since I am a strong runner.

 I've now been up for 24 hours but with the sun coming up am catching a second wind and don't seem as tired.  I do back to back legs and think I am done for the relay until the finish---they've also changed the legs I was supposed to do which means my mom no longer has directions to my exchange points since I only printed out my info.  I call in to let her know and she, being the most amazing person I know, finds a way to get where I will be without me knowing.

 It was an absolutely stunning morning with temps in the lower 50's and the leaves at about peak.

 I got to run a major section of a "very hard" leg on a packed dirt road that was very hilly.  I was allowed to have van support but my van never stopped to see if I wanted water or to cheer for me.  Um, when I was in van 2 we stopped every mile or 2 and parked til the runner came by and moved along to the next mile down the road.  I was extremely thirsty at this point and wanted to cry or ask another van for water.  At least I had brought a 7 oz bottle with me but that did little to help me over 8 miles of hills.

 I ate about 8 orange gum drop slices in an attempt for energy and to detract from the fact that I was so thirsty.  I managed to get 15 kills in my back to back legs so I guess I was feeling better than most.  As usual, my mood changed when I saw the sun hitting the trees just right and realized, "wow, this is stunning and I get to enjoy it."

 I get to my exchange point and my mom was there with chocolate milk.  I was so happy to see her. She also gave me her coca cola.  My van came through with a bottle of water for me as well.  Supposedly all done with my running we have one more girl to run for our van and we get to "rest" until it is time for us to finish as a team.  So thankful they changed it around or I'd have to get back in van 2 and be the final leg runner.  

 They go and "tag" other vans in parking lots.  All the vans use chalk paint to decorate as well and it is really quite fun to see all the different team names and crazy.  They divided up the magnets the vans were tagged with later but I didn't end up with any since I didn't stick around much after the finish.  I needed to get home so we could go to Buffalo for a birthday celebration on Sunday.  (Chaos, that was my weekend).

 Only the best support crew!  My mom, totally amazing in every way.

I told the van how I was so thirsty so they should stop for the next girl every 2 miles to offer her water since she wasn't carrying any.  At least I had a little something.  The girl was thankful to have water.  I also pointed out that our van had stopped in poison ivy as they were all about to hop out and cheer.  They moved the van further up the road.  I might be sleep deprived but I still have common sense.

 We called ahead to van #2 and they weren't at the exchange point yet.  They would be about 20 minutes.  I was all for keeping the relay moving so I started putting on my running shoes and voluntarily hoped out of the van and picked up the next leg since it was easy and they could meet at the next exchange for the slap bracelet.  At the exchange she was so very confused since I had given her the bracelet and I said the other gals would explain and took off.

 My mom, not even knowing that I would be running an extra leg (it was all of 2 minutes that we determined I was running and that was too bad for the other van) showed up at my exchange point.  I already said she is the best and that just proves it.

 I finished that quick little leg and then we drove up to Lake Placid where I snagged a shower and a 40 minute nap after being awake for over 36 hours.  We got to cross the finish line together and then I headed home with my mom.  Yes, I quite quickly zonked out in the car, but not until after she insisted on stuffing me full of some food--- we settled on pizza at a local Lake Placid joint.
What I ran:
Leg 24--Easy 2.7 in the dark with 3 kills
Leg 28--Easy 2.8--with 3 kills
Leg29--Very Hard 7.8--with 12 kills
Leg 31--Easy 2.4--with 5 kills
Total Miles:  16.5 and not spread out like most of the other relay people legs were.

Did I have fun?  Absolutely
would it be more fun with people you know--um, YES!
would I do this again? -- yes, with the right people and now that I have a better idea of how this whole thing works I want to put together and ultra team (group of 6 instead of 12) runners.  Yup, I am crazy cause it takes a whole lot of crazy to get in a van with complete strangers in middle of the night and go running.

Rochester 1/2 Marathon

I ran the Rochester 1/2 Marathon on Sunday, September 21.  My mom, dad and Manfriend went to support me on and my crazy.  Of course I wore my favorite running attire-- a SparkleSkirt.  This particular one is called Jasmine and has beautiful silver threads running through it with blues and greens for the base color.  It was a little chilly at the start so I wore some arm sleeves.  

 Manfriend had to wear his Bills gear and he enjoyed getting cheers from the runners!

 I headed over to the start and it was a "line up where you belong" kind of thing.  I had to wait on the side of the bridge to line up since the marathon went off 15 minutes before the 1/2.  It looked to be a gorgeous day, but don't be fooled.  The weather around here changes quickly.

The first few miles went by un-eventful except for the first spotting of my support crew.  They were amazing and were able to catch me at three spots on the course and then at the finish.

 The second time they saw me I was not doing so awesome and totally missed them.  I was trying to work through a terrible side stitch that has become known as Mr. Stabby.

 I was still working on the stitch when I saw them at their 3rd spot on the course.  I handed them my food wrapper and kept on moving.  It was getting very gray and overcast.  I knew it was going to rain since it was in the forecast for the afternoon.  I tried really hard to beat the rain.

 I managed to have 2 miles to go when it started to sprinkle.  Ok, not so bad and it felt good.  But then with just over a mile to go it poured buckets on us.  Soaked.  And then 20 minutes later (after I was in the car heading home) it was sunny again.  I feel really bad for the marathon runners who had to deal with soaked shoes--I can only imagine the blisters and uncomfy feeling of drenched clothes.

 Although I had a side stitch and wasn't pushing the pace and ran comfortable the entire time I am quite pleased with my 1:50 clock time finish.  Looking forward to Disney, although I know that won't be an attempt at breaking 1:45.  Guess I have to wait til sometime next year for that as my next half is with a best friend and is entirely for fun as it is her first and we have plans to act like goof balls the whole time and chat away.