Wordless Wednesday, Sunset Beach Edition

Marathon Training at Sunset Beach

Tuesday is my normal running day, usually speed work at the track, always with my pace group.

Being on vacay with the girls does not get me off the hook!



Audra was going to come with me, but she started feeling yucky at dinner last night.



When I woke up this morning and got her message, I went back to sleep for 15 minutes and almost bailed entirely. It was overcast, i don't know the area, blah blah blah



I decided to stop making excuses and get it done. I told one of my ladies that I was heading towards the beach but probably wouldn't run on it.



Yeah. Right. As if this Jersey Shore girl would get that close without actually running on the beach.



Our house is less than half a mile to the beach, so the original plan was to see the beach, run along it on the roadway, and then double back. As soon as I saw that ocean I knew I was running along it. New plan!



Run a mile on the beach and double back, 3 miles total.



All of a sudden, though, I'm at mile 2 and hadn't turned back yet. My calves were also starting to ache a little!



Ok, time to turn back! I decided to run until I hit 3 miles and walk back, which ended up being just over a mile.



I'm spending the rest of my day relaxing now! Today is the last day!

Have you ever run in the sand?

Sunset Beach Workout

My girlfriends and I all came to Sunset Beach NC for some girl time this weekend. A few of us wanted to get in a little exercise today so we walked to the beach from our rental house.



Once we got there, a couple of the girls did some Burn Boot Camp mini workouts and I did some beach yoga.





The weather here is amazing, I may have gotten a little sunburned! Tomorrow is supposed to be stormy so we will be hanging out at the house.



Do you work out when you go on vacation?

Insane Inflatable 5k

After running 6 miles with my pace group this morning, I drove up to Concord to walk the Insane Inflatable 5k with some friends.



Afterwards I drove 4 hours to Sunset Beach and I am exhausted so here are some pics from the day!

Flat Mama Friday, Insane Inflatable Edition

Last weekend was the Trifecta. This weekend will be the Double Down. Why do anything halfway?

First is my pace group run, 6 miles with my running family!

Then I'm headed to Concord to the Charlotte Speedway for the Insane Inflatable 5k with Lissa and some other friends!





Then I'm headed to the beach for a long weekend with my Girls! Time to relax for a few days!



Are you racing this weekend?

Summer in the South with Gatorade Endurance

I received Gatorade Endurance products for the purposes of this review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Check out BibRave.com to read and write race reviews.

Y'all, it is seriously hot in the south right now. I guess that makes me sound like Captain Obvious, but as a Jersey Girl living in the South for the last 2+ years, I'm learning some new things every season.



For example, sometimes we don't even have Spring in the South. It's more like Sprummer. It's really freaking cold (ok, not really, it's the south after all) and then it's nice for about a week and then BAM!
Summer.
SPRUMMER.

The humidity, added to the heat, kind of makes you want to die. For real. We get up and run at 6 am in self defense. This way you are mostly done when the sun comes up.



I have been using the Watermelon Thirst Quencher Powder for the last couple weeks, but I am mostly going to talk about one particular day. The Trifecta. I posted about it and shared a bunch of pics, so you may have heard about it.
It started with a long run....



I woke up with a sad tummy, so I didn't take any pics. I think I was nervous about my crazy day. Anyway, we ran 5 miles in the crazy NC heat and then I did a quick change before heading to part 2 of the Trifecta: Boot Camp.



I met up with fellow Bib Rave Pro, Lissa, and we both brought our Gatorade to get us through!



Such a smart decision. We had both run 5 miles with our run clubs and then met up for that brutal workout!



Afterwards I went home and made another bottle. I needed to replenish before the third part of the trifecta: a night time trail race.... also with Lissa.



I'm so glad I had my Gatorade! No brutal migraine from dehydration, and I could enjoy a little moonshine afterwards!





Gatorade Thirst Quencher also came in super handy last night. It was cornhole night!



It was also in the 90s at 7 PM with no sign of cooling down. We were out in the direct sunlight and it was just beating down on us.



I may have guzzled it!

Gatorade Thirst Quencher Endurance Formula has twice the sodium, three times the potassium, and is made for your long runs and intense workouts. Perfect trifecta hydration!



It isn't your daddy's Gatorade. It's lightly flavored, makes it easy to drink throughout your workouts! No added sugars, no coloring. Just plain goodness! I really enjoyed it, and there aren't many electrolyte drinks I can say that about!

You may have noticed the new Mango gel in the pics above. I could tell you how fabulous it is, but I'd be lying. Why? I haven't tried it yet!
My friends are liking it, but I haven't hit a run long enough to warrant extra fuel, those are coming up this week and next. I will post on Instagram once I've tried it out!
I was told that it goes down nice and easy, which I'm glad about. I dont like super thick gels, for me it's a texture thing. I'm such a baby!
Each packet has 20 grams of carbs and 80 calories, essential during long runs!

Website tip: the website still says Coming Soon, but I'm told you can buy it. This better be true, the hubs just discovered mine and it's going twice as fast now!

What's your favorite Gatorade flavor?

Facing My Fears 2018 May Edition

If you have been following along, you may have noticed some changes to the list! My May Fear was supposed to be a Karate type class. I found a really great, too good to be true Groupon for a location not too far from my house. I called the location and spoke to the owner and got the nights and times of the adult classes.
And then I put it off.
And off.
And waited until the last possible day in May for me to go. I went in and spoke to the owner and he showed me where to wait while the teens finished. I waited almost 20 minutes, while the teen class ran late.
He then told me that there were no other adults, there were rarely other adults, and if I came back the following Wednesday, his one adult (black belt) would be back from a cruise. And then he showed me the door.
I knew that Groupon was too good to be true.
So now I'm stuck.

During this same last week of May, I was packing for my trip to Colorado.



The closer it got, the more stressed out I got. I've only met a few Ambasadors, and never met the Founder, Nicole, or the Ambassador Program Director, Noelle.
Plus, there are some seriously intimidating Ambassadors at this Retreat. These ladies run ultras and Iron Mans. Ambassador Emily Harvey just finished an Iron Man... with one leg! Don't even get me started on Mirna Valerio. These ladies are incredible.

Technically, the Retreat started on June 1, but since the Karate Debacle was not my fault, I've decided to let it slide.
The original plan was for the hubs, my adorable safety net, to drive me there and then meet a friend for dinner while he waited. When he found out that Boulder was 40 minutes away, he got the friend to pick him up and I was on my own.
Yikes.



So I went to the store.... and I shopped....



And I got an amazing swag bag...



And then I stood around like the derpy person I am. There was a photo booth, but you had to find someone dressed like you to use it. Omg. I walked up to a total stranger, who was dressed like me, and I got her to come take a pic with me.



I saw a few familiar faces, but they all came with friends, so I stood around a little longer wishing that the dinner would start. I felt ridiculous, although I shouldn't have. I managed to join up with a few others who were alone and we walked over to get dinner together. Smarter women had saved their seats at tables so I ended up standing at a high top in the back. No biggie. A few ladies joined me so at least I wasn't alone! Plus, we were in the shade.



The evening was fun, and we got a sneak peek of some future prints and styles, and then some fun awards. And then it was over. I survived day one!



Day 2 was in Westminster. It was breakfast, some amazing speakers, yoga, Shark Tank, and then lunch.



Day 2 was literally everything in life that terrifies me. I took very few pics! We started with breakfast, which was bagels, Noosa yogurt, coffee and OJ, tea from the Tea Spot....
Hmmmm... I'm sure there was more but I don't remember!
We all sat and I was alone again! Soon some very nice ladies came and sat near me, but they were all together so I still felt sort of silly! I really need to get over this.
Our first speaker talked about how tough her life was as a teen and young adult, and how she ended up making some really bad choices, but turned her life around. No details, what happens at Skirt Sports stays at Skirt Sports.
Mirna did an amazing talk about Body Image and we had to do some activities with the person next to us.



Becky and I hit it off, which made this part easier!
Time for yoga. Except they wanted Ambassador Captains to skip yoga and talk about the program. I got to sit around with Nicole, Noelle, and the other captains and talk about the Ambassador program. It was a lot of fun and an ambassador told me she was excited to finally meet me and had been looking for me since the night before! (What?!?) That felt amazing, I'm not gonna lie.
Next we moved back inside for Shark Tank.
Each group was randomly chosen before hand and we all got about 30 minutes to come up with a product that we think Skirt Sports should make. Name, colors, price point etc. Then we had to present it to Nicole, Noelle, and some other employees of Skirt Sports.
Some ideas were genius, some hysterical. It was so much fun!

Our final speaker was an amazing former triathlete who hosts retreats now. She was super sweet and motivating and she gave us all a guardian angel to bring on race day.



Afterwards, we all got lunch bags to go. There was an ambassador hike but I didn't want the hubs to be alone all day without a car, so I skipped it.

I definitely glossed over a lot of details, since I knew this would be so long. The important thing is that I stepped way out of my comfort zone for this. There were so many times that I wanted to melt into the background, but I forced myself to fake it until I made it.
If you've met me, you might find all of this hard to believe. I can be super shy until I'm comfortable, and then I'm just loony tunes. I can be myself and have fun.
If it's a new situation, I have been known to make myself sick with worry about it. Headaches and stomach aches are frequent occurrences. I have missed out on many occasions because I was too nervous and too scared to just suck it up and go.
Hopefully a year of Facing My Fears will help with that!