Friday Five: Brands to Love

I'm linking up with the ladies of the DC trifecta, Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney for the Friday Five. Be sure to check out their posts too. This weeks topic is brands to love. There are so many brands in the fitness world and I have tried out quite a few of them. Picking a top 5 was pretty tough, but here are my top five favorite brands.

1. Brooks
This is my go to shoe brand. The Ghost's are a great neutral shoe that work perfectly for me. Since August 2013 I've had 6 pairs of these shoes in all different colors. I also own some Brooks clothing that I absolutely love.

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2. Thorlos
The Thorlos Experia are my favorite running socks. I have enough pairs to get me stocked between running days because I pretty much refuse to run without them. They have great cushion and make my feet feel great while running.

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3. Sparkly Soul
These headbands are the best things ever! I wear them not only when I run and workout, but also at work. I have to wear blue or white scrubs at work so I love wearing these headbands to add a little pop of color to my outfit. They do not move at all and don't get stretched out either.

We wore Sparkly Soul Headbands during the Enchanted 10K for a headband and for Cinderella's necklace.

4. Nuun
I am a new fan of Nuun. I had tried two flavors in the past and couldn't really tolerate the taste. I have tried 3 more flavors and now really enjoy it! I love that it has the electrolytes I need pre and post-run and that it's not sugary/full of calories.

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5. Pro Compression
These socks are absolute life savers. I wear them every time I work and they prevent my legs from feeling really achy by the end of my 12 hour shift. I also rely on these for recovery. Typically I sleep in them the night before a long run/race and then wear them post-run also.

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Other Favorites: Sparkle Athletic, Sparkle Skirts, Lululemon

What are some of your favorite brands?

Friday Five: Sick Day Favorites

Today I'm linking up with the DC Trifecta (Courtney @ Eat Pray Run DC, Mar @ Mar on the Run and Cynthia @ You Signed up for What?!) for the Friday Five. Thanks for hosting ladies! This week's topic is Friday Favorites.

Yesterday was a day off of work for me and I had a cold develop over the course of the day. I felt worse as the day went on, but there were a few things that made me feel just a little bit better. I decided to write about my favorite comforts to have on a sick day.

1. Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea: I love this tea anytime. I tend to drink it more often during the winter. I feel like it does wonders for me when I'm sick. Usually after a few cups of this tea I start feeling better.

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2. Water: I try to drink a good amount of water on a daily basis, but I know when I'm sick I need to force fluids even more so that my body can flush out whatever is attacking my system.

3. Soup: A sick day necessity! Two of my favorites are Wolfgang Puck's Tomato Basil Bisque and Progresso Chicken and Homestyle Noodle. Yum!

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4. Clementines: These delicious little fruits are the perfect snack. I keep them on hand all winter long and tend to buy the large 5 lb bag that Costco sells. For some reason I just kept eating these yesterday. It doesn't hurt that each one has 60% daily value of Vitamin C!

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5. Puffs Plus Tissues: When I have a runny nose it tends to get rubbed raw very quickly if I use regular tissues. Puffs Plus are like wiping your nose with a soft material so your skin doesn't get irritated.

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This is honestly the sweet spot of training where if I was going to get sick between now and January it is probably the best time to get it over with. I just completed my long runs over the weekend plus a 45 minute run. I don't have another long run for 9 more days. Let's hope this gets out of my system before then and I can stay healthy for the rest of this training cycle!

What is one of your sick day favorites?

That's all for now!

Friday Five: Five Things about Baltimore Running Festival

I can't believe the Baltimore Running Festival is TOMORROW! There's a 5K, Half, Marathon and Marathon Relay. Cameron, Em and I will all be running the half marathon. I signed up for this race back in January just four days after completing my first half. 

1. Expo- I haven't been to a big race expo since the Disney World Half back in January. I'm hoping this one won't disappoint. The only bad part is that we will be going during the last 3 hours of the expo so I'm not sure how much official merchandise will be left. 

2. Goals- Since I've been sick for the past 11 days I'm keeping my goals realistic and in perspective. At one point I was considering attempting to go sub-2 for this race, but when I got sick that idea went out the window. I don't want to put too much added stress on my body, I think running 13.1 miles will be stressful enough for it. 

        Goal #1- Run sub- 2:30

        Goal #2- Finish the race

3. Course- I've read quite a few race recaps and the opinions vary on the course. Some people say it was really hilly, while others say they didn't notice the hills. I'm hoping the latter is true for me. I live in an area where there are lots of inclines and running a flat course is impossible. Hopefully that has prepared me for anything this course throws at me. 

4. Medals- I just love the crab and MD flag aspects of this year's medals. The medal on the left is for the half marathon. The medal on the right is for completing the Maryland Double (running in the Frederick Running Festival in May and Baltimore in October). 

Photos from Baltimore Run Fest Facebook Page

                               

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

5. Post-Race Food and Fun- After the race we'll be spending the afternoon/evening with friends and family. Em's dad will be cooking up his famous ribs for us to enjoy. It will be the perfect post-race meal!

That's all for now!

Anyone else running a race at the Baltimore Running Festival tomorrow?

Foods I'm Loving Friday

Lately, I've found some foods that I have just loved and I thought I would share the love with y'all.


1. Dole Chopped Salads: These salads are AMAZING! The bag comes with lettuce, dressing and tasty add ins that vary depending on the flavor.The chopped lettuce consistency is one of my favorite parts. There are 5 flavors and I've tried them all.  My favorite flavor is the Sunflower Crunch (Sweet Onion and Citrus dressing with bacon bits and sunflower seeds) followed by BBQ Ranch (BBQ Ranch Dressing with fried onions and tortilla chips).

2. Cucumber and Tomato Salad: I've been making this salad at least once a week from mid-July until now. I chop up 2 cucumber and 2 large tomatoes in a bowl. Then add some olive oil, red wine vinegar, a dash of honey and lemon juice, salt and pepper and let it marinade with the veggies. So yummy!

3. Honeycrisp Apples: I went to our local orchard yesterday and picked up my favorite type of apple. Their season just started so I was anxious to buy some. They were perfectly crisp and sweet.

4. Quinoa Chips: To me these taste just like potato chips, but the nutrition facts are much more appealing. You read that right, 9 grams of protein/20 chip serving! I've had the BBQ and Sea Salt and enjoy them both.

5. Spaghetti Squash: About 2 years ago Cameron and I had tried Spaghetti Squash with a homemade pesto sauce and let's just say we ended up eating at Chipotle that night haha. Neither of us care for the taste of squash, but somehow thought we would like it. Last week I tried it with regular pasta sauce and thought it was SO GOOD! I've had it twice since then and picked two more up at the orchard while I was there.

What foods are you loving lately?

That's all for now!

Friday Five: Favorite Race Memories

This week's Friday Five topic was Favorite Race Memories. I have run quite a few races and it was hard to narrow it down, but here's my top five:


1. WDW Half (1/2014)- This race will always hold a special place in my heart because it was my first half marathon. My favorite parts of the race were running through Magic Kingdom and having Em by my side the entire time.

2. Reach the Finish Half (4/2014)- This is the race that I earned my current half marathon PR. It was a very small local race. I proved to myself that I don't need crowd support to run a good race.

3. 2006 Maryland State Cross Country Championships- This race was brutal to say the least. It's run on the hardest cross country course in the state of Maryland and is just loaded with hills. We had been beat the entire season by another team in our own county and the odds were stacked against us. After the race we were all crying because none of us felt like we had run well at all and we wanted to win the state championship so badly. Shortly after the race we were on the course cheering on our boys team when the coach from the other school saw us and said, "Congratulations, you guys won." At first we didn't believe him, so we took off to find our coach and he confirmed it for us. Then of course more tears ensued. At that moment it didn't matter that we had lost to that other team all season long, we won the state title!! Truly a memorable race that is still vivid 8 years later.

4. Turkey Trot 5K (11/2010)- This was my return to running race. I hadn't run since the fall of 2008. The fall of 2010 is when I started up again and the turkey trot was my first race back.

5. Village Realty 5K (7/2014)- This race is my current 5K PR. What I loved most was that my husband, parents, sister, aunt and uncle all participated in the race as well. It was so fun to see so many people that I knew on the course.

Thanks to the DC Trifecta (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!) for hosting the weekly Friday Five Link Up.

What's your favorite race memory?

That's all for now!

Friday Five: What's New

This is my first Friday Five post! I've always enjoyed reading other bloggers Friday Five posts, so I decided to give it a try. Thanks to the DC Trifecta (Eat Pray Run DC, Mar on the Run! and You Signed Up for What?!) for hosting this link-up. This week's theme was What's New.

1. Swimming- Over the past month and a half I have started to enjoy swimming laps. When I have the opportunity to do so I fit it into my workout schedule.

2. Ray-Ban's- For our 2 year Anniversary we decided our gift to each other would be Ray-Ban sunglasses. Cameron got the classic Wayfarer and I got the smaller New Wayfarer.

3. Bicycle- If you read my post from Sunday, you learned that I lost my bike off of our bike rack on the way to the beach. While at the beach I went to a local bike shop and bought a new one. I ended up getting a really good deal on it. I love my new bike. My Mom ended up buying one also :)

4. Running Shirt- I went to the Life is Good store in OBX and purchased a new tech V-neck running shirt. I adore it!

5.  Loving the Outer Banks- (ok, so this isn't new, but I'm there now) It's been a few years since we have vacationed down here and it is just wonderful! The hardest decision of the day (other than where to eat dinner) is to lay by the pool or go to the beach.


Wow, a lot of those are new purchases lately (oy!)

What's something new in your life?

That's all for now!