I am so excited to have the opportunity to do another Sparkly Soul giveaway on the blog!
Sparkly Soul headbands are one of my favorite (if not the favorite) running accessory I own.
These headbands come in so many pretty colors, and their sparkles are seen from far away. Another great part of the bands – they don’t slip! Seriously, this thing NEVER budges! I ran a marathon in one and it never moved. They are amazing. I promise (btw, I like the wide headbands).
Have a I sold you yet? Well good. Because you are going to love your sparkly soul. Now let’s discuss how you can win!
Me and my BF after winning a 5k! See what sparkly soul can do for you??
I am a big fan of the silver! Sparkly soul was necessary at my Girls on the Run 5k this year!
Number 1 must be included to be entered to win this contest. The rest are additional entries. I will pick the winner on Thursday at 8pm, using random.com.
Add a new comment for each way you enter.
You will be ready to race!
Last weekend, my best friend Nicole got married. Nicole lives in California now, and was coming in town a week before her wedding. We decided that the best way to kick off her wedding week was to run a half marathon, with the goal of a PR for Nicole.
When I race, I am all about the outfits (umm, duh). For this race, I decided that we HAD to run in tutus. Nicole’s would be white, and mine would be purple (her bridesmaid dress colors). I made the tutus, then hand crafted some shirts, and TA DA!
Due to Nicole’s late night flight and a gala I attended on Friday evening, we did not get to bed until 1:30am. We knew the next morning would be rough, but we were ready to conquer the Hospital Hill half marathon!
5:15 came WAY too early. Holy moly, we were exhausted. We slowly got dressed, and staggered out the door to make the trek downtown.
Once we arrived and assembled our ensembles, we walked to towards the start. Right off the bat, people were yelling at us, honking at us, and cheering at us. It was so funny!
We snapped a quick pic with an old friend, found our place in line, and began our half marathon journey side by side.
The weather was PERFECT. This race is always has a reputation of being super hot, and we got such a break this year. I will say one thing though – it was freaking hilly!!! I guess I didn’t really take the name of the race seriously. Who knew that Hospital Hill would be full of hills??
Of course she was wearing a veil.
The future Mrs. Valentine running through Valentine Rd.
It was so much fun running in these outfits because everyone was cheering for us. Seriously, everyone was. It was as if they had never seen runners in costume.
Nicole and I made it through the hills, and were able to finish strong and very happy.
So….did we get Nicole a PR? The answer is YES!!!! By 20 seconds!
So proud with our medals!
So what did we do the rest of the week? Well…..
We watched our girl get married.
It was the perfect week, with the perfect people.
First of all, I would like everyone to know that I should be in Chicago right now, relaxing in my hotel. But I’m not. I am sitting in the airport in Kansas City waiting for my flight, after my first flight was 8 hours delayed. I might have had a tiny meltdown (ok, like 6 huge meltdowns) already and threatened multiple ticketing agents. They don’t think running a marathon is as big of a deal as I do. How dare them.
American Airlines Worker: “Mam (ummm, how dare she “Mam” me), we will do what we can. But right now we don’t have any other options”.
Ok…now onto the point of this blog post….
Have you ever seen those articles in US Weekly, where they go through a celebrities bag? Well, I thought it would be fun to show you what is in my bag when I travel for a race! Here we go!
I hate that I have to run with an inhaler strapped to me, but such is life for a person with asthma.
KT Tape is a lifesaver.
I take 4 ibuprofen before the race starts.
I love strawberry lemonade NUUN.
GU is my go-to safe gel.
Gatorade pre-game is so yummy.
Chex Mix is my crack.
Spi Belts to store our GU, will remove after first two GU’s are gone.
Workout clothes galore. I didn’t even pack a pair of jeans!
Cross body bag – a must for traveling!
In 12 short hours, I will be on my way to a two time marathon title. And I can’t freaking wait.
It has been awhile since I wrote a Fashion Friday post. I just couldn’t really think of something great to showcase and write about.
Well, this week I figured out the perfect thing to share with you all….Marathon Attire.
The weather isn’t looking too desirable for the race on Sunday. But I am hoping that it stays cool for us in the morning. The race also moved the start up 30 minutes, which could make a huge difference.
Because of this weather situation, I need to stay cool. But I also need to stay cute (umm, hello? Miles with Style here).
I have pondered over this outfit for days, and had a couple dress rehearsals in other outfits. But I finally find “the one”, and I am so happy to share this with you all (at this point you are probably thinking that I am WAY too focused on clothes, whatevs).
This is my favorite running top. It is the Lululemon Push your Limits tank. I now own it in 4 colors. It is the most supportive tank ever, and an added bonus is that I don’t have to wear an extra sports bra under it like I do with all of my other running tanks.
If you are ever in Lululemon and you see this tank, do yourself a favor and INVEST. It is amazing.
I blogged earlier this week that I purchased a new running skirt for this race. Well good news – the skirt came in time, and it is AMAZING.
This skirt is properly named Run: A Marathon Skirt.
It has tight shorts underneath, and a very lightweight skirt on top. It is so lightweight, I can’t really even tell that I am wearing anything!! Yesterday I was running in this and had to look down a couple times to make sure it was still there!
Best of all, I have nail polish that matches the neon pink in the skirt perfectly.
I now have bangs (little side swoopy ones), which require a sturdy headband to hold them back. Since the rest of my outfit is Lulu, I figured I should complete the look with a Lulu headband.
This is the Slipless Headband. And the name is perfect, because it does not slip at all.
I have completed quite a few training runs in this beauty, and I know it will be the perfect head accessory to complete my marathon look.
I am so relieved that this aspect of the race is finalized. I realize that I will look like Lululemon threw up on me, but that is just fine. I will comfortable and happy, and look cute too!
Chicagoland Marathon: BRING IT ON.
Rock the Parkway half marathon is a race I have wanted to do for the last few years. And yesterday, I finally ran it!
I had planned to run this race as hard as I possibly could. My overall goal was running this thing under 1:40, however I thought it would be awesome to run it under 1:36:30 (my 2011 best).
As race day approached, the weather forecast looked worse and worse. Come race day, the high was mid 70’s, with high chances of thunderstorms, as well as high humidity. Obviously these details weighed heavily on my mind…BUT I was still ready to bust my booty and run as hard as I could!
Saturday morning, Stacy and I left for the race. Stacy was a pacer for the 1:55 group, and I planned to run with the 1:35 pace group. The pacers use a Smart Pace Strategy, therefore I knew it would be a good idea to try to run with them. They would get me to the finish, and help me run a smart race.
Ready, Ready, Ready, Ready, Ready to RUN!
Awesome medals...that I was scoping out pre-race.
Obviously I was here very early...before anyone had even lined up for the start!
The first 6 miles, I was rockin! I felt good, and was truckin right along with my pace group. Then mile 7 hit…and I thought I might DIE. I started to lose my pace group, and also lose my mental strength.
The next few miles were TOUGH. I wanted to stop, I wanted to walk, I wanted to crawl on the curb and see if I could find someone to drive me to the finish (for real, no joke). But I didn’t. And I found my “dig deep” surge that I really needed.
I managed to finish the race like I started…STRONG. I gave that last mile everything I had in me, and didn’t give up until I crossed that finish line.
My final finish time was a 1:38:24.
That extra .05 could totally take off 2 minutes, right???
Check out 8, 9, 10, 11....obviously I was havin' some issues!
This time met my goal of breaking 1:40, but did not meet my goal of breaking 1:36:30. Therefore, I was let down.
Let down but still with a BIG smile on my face!
I appreciate everyone who so kindly tells me that the weather sucked, and that on a good weather day, I could have met my goals. I do believe that the weather slowed me down, but I do not believe that it would have helped me meet my big goal. Truth is, I probably didn’t train like I needed to, and I will be the first to admit that.
Next year, I plan to run Rock the Parkway again, if it isn’t too close to BOSTON (I say that in all caps because I am so freaking excited already). And next year, I plan to ROCK it even more than I did this year. The course was awesome, and the organization of the race was great. Anyone looked for a great Kansas City race needs to add Rock the Parkway to their list.
Thank you for all of your support before and after race day. It meant SO much, and I cannot wait to return the favor to all of you when you are working hard towards something!
PS. Not sure if you remember that I was running this race VIP status (bc I registered late and did anything I could to get in the darn thing), but I wanted to show you the amenities that came with VIP racing. I do not have a photo of my VIP parking spot, because I could not ever find the VIP parking lot.
OK, this might have made it worth the $150 registration fee.
This weekend, I ran the Westport St. Patrick’s Day 4 mile run. I have done this race 3 times, and this year was the most fun of all.
Stacy, Diana and I decided that we would go all out in costume this year, and wear tutus. After spending a few a hours on Friday night cutting, looping and pulling, the tutus were complete (and I had carpel tunnel).
Saturday morning came and we all headed downtown to the race. We wanted to get in 4 miles prior to the race, since we usually run long on Saturdays. After a slow 3.5 mile warm up, we got dressed up and headed down to the start line. I ran into some other friends at the start line too!
Eileen wore a tutu too!!
The race started off quite annoying. I lined up in the 7 min mile, and it appears that everyone else lined up in that pace as well. I was having a mini meltdown from tripping over so many people. A tip to runners: If you are running a slower than what the sign says that you are standing under, MOVE BACK!!!!
Dan knows what I am talking about.
The first mile went by fast, and I ran a 6:59.
Luckily, a lot of the annoying people started to peel away during mile two, and I could find my racing groove and stop using so much energy dodging people.
This mile went by pretty fast. There was some wind and some hills, but I made it! What I loved most about this mile is the 8 (approx.) year old girl I ran by. She was haulin’!!! And I was in awe. I said, “Girlfriend, you’re rockin!!!” as I ran by her. And she sweetly said, “Thank you!!”.
My eye was on the prize in mile four, and that prize was the finish line. It was hard to pass up the jello shots and green beer people were passing out, but I knew there would be some to enjoy after the race!!
Mile 4 was a 6:57, and I finished the 4.03 mile race in 28:18.
After the race, we headed to a bar and starting hydrating. We ran hard, and we needed to re-fuel and re-hydrate.
Q: How much of a bloody mary ended up on my shirt?? A: Half, or $3.50 worth.
Stacy and Di rocked this race too! It was such a fun race for all of us girls to run together. Stacy and Diana’s husbands also ran, and did amazing as well!
After Stacy and Diana headed home, I went to another nearby bar and met up with some friends that had also ran the race.
The post race hydration kept going….
All in all, it was a great day. The weather was perfect, and our legs were feeling fast.
Wishing you a bright and sunny week ahead!!
It is Friday again, and I want to talk shoes.
As most girls do, I love shoes. I love heels, I love flats and I love comfy.
Now keep reading to see just a few of my faves!
Flats are fab, heels are great, but the shoes that matter most to me are my running shoes.
I have been a huge fan of Brooks running shoes for quite a while.
Four years ago, I started wearing the Brooks Glycerin. I loved the support and the cushion. They were great.
This past fall I decided to try out the Brooks Ghost. Wow. These shoes are amazing, and I have never been so in love with shoes (and that is saying a lot!). In fact when it is time to get new shoes, I just pick up the exact same pair. Same color, same style, same everything. I am obsessed.
So what are your favorite types of shoes? And I am talking all shoes…flats, heels, running, whatever!
Let’s start this Friday off great. Let’s talk shoe talk.
Fashion Fridays – Sparkly Giveaway!
Happy Friday, and TGIF my friends.
What a week…I know I said I would be practicing my positive thinking this week, but I kind of struggled. Today I am feeling much better though, and I plan on continuing this mood.
This week, adding a little sparkle to my life helped me get through, so Fashion Fridays will be featuring headbands that I received from Sparkly Soul!
I am a big fan of head flair when I run. Well, lets get real – I am a big fan of ALL flair when I run. And I was SO excited when I received my sparkly soul headbands last week!
Sparkly Soul sent me a thin headband, and a wide headband. I picked my colors to be blue and green, since those will match quite a few of my workout ensembles (I swear all my workout clothes seem to be blue).
I tried the headbands this week at my boot camp class. And I LOVED them.
I struggle with headbands slipping due my awkwardly shaped head…but let me tell ya – this thing did not budge! It stayed in place the entire class, and never failed to look cute while the rest of me did not.
Self portraits at their finest!
Now let’s give some away!
Do you want to have sparkly flair too? Well now is your chance to get a thin AND wide sparkly band for free!
To enter the contest, please follow the rules below.
Go to sparklysoul.com, and pick out your favorite colors of EACH band (thin & wide).
Comment on this blog and tell me which colors you would choose.
Good luck! A winner will be selected at RANDOM on Monday.
Go to SparklySoul.com, pick out some headbands and use the code “Fitfluential” to get 15% off! This code is good until March 1st.