New Year's Resolutions

Well here it is 12/31/13 and I haven't made any resolutions. The only thing I want to accomplish in 2014 is to run 1,000 miles! That should be an easy goal right? I say that now at the beginning of the year:) 

I wish everyone a wonderful and Happy New Year!!

My year of races

My goal this year was 34 races. Turns out I did 36!

Wow what a year! I placed in my age group 4 times. And I ran 4 runDisney events. It really was a great year. Not sure what my plans are for next year. I really need to set my goals. 

I do have the Glass Slipper Challenge coming up in February. And the Excalibur 10 miler in March. And of course I'll be running the Space Coast Half again this year. I WILL have all 7 medals in the Big Bang Series.

What are your running goals for next year?

Week one with ENERGYbits

I will start out by saying I'm posting this a couple of days late. 

My first week taking ENERGYbits has been fabulous! Well except for that whole getting a cold thing. But I'm pretty sure taking the bits helped.

Tuesday and Wednesday I ran and never felt better. 

Then Thursday I woke up sick. I was sick Thursday-Saturday. During those days I took 30 bits twice a day. I'm not going to say ENERGYbits "cured" me. BUT they sure did help. I can't take cold pills, so for me I can only take allergy pills and Mucinex. If that doesn't work I suffer. Whenever I was feeling sluggish that's when I took the bits. 

Sunday I was afraid to do too much so I didn't workout or do anything too strenuous. 

Monday was just working around the house. And Tuesday I finally ran! I felt great and had energy. I stopped at 2 miles only because I started coughing.

This week I became a Brand Ambassador for ENERGYbits!!

Go to www.energybits.com and enter the promo 'MEGAN' and receive 30% off!!

I'm in LOVE with ENERGYbits!! I can't say it enough!!

Day 1 of 30 being powered by bits!

For the next 30 days my husband and I are going to be taking ENERGYbits and blogging about it. Well he'll take them I'll write. I'm not going to be boring you everyday, just giving weekly updates! 

Day one:

I took my "bits" this morning after I had a banana and coffee. Shortly after I went for a 5 mile run. I wasn't trying to be super speedy, just wanted to stick to my training plan for Glass Slipper Challenge. My goal is 2:15 finish. Which breaks down to 3:1 run/walk ratio at 6.4 and 4.0. This morning I wasn't tired during my run. Which I had been the last two. And I was ahead of my goal.

My energy levels were great! I did take a 5 minute nap, well cause I LOVE naps! One nice thing is that I was not hungry all day long!

Well that was my day one. Now for hubby.

Hubby's Day One:

He got home from an exhausting six day trip. (I should mention he's a pilot. They work crazy long hours and deal with lots of stress.) So I was really glad we received these when we did. He took his with breakfast also. Usually on day 1 of his days off he's very tired and doesn't do much. Today I noticed he had more energy and we even went out and ran errands. Also when he's tired he gets snacky. Not today!! I can't wait to see how the "bits" work while he's at work! 

I'll let you know how our week goes!! 

My First Race with ENGERYbits

Saturday I ran the Reindeer Run 5k. This is the 3rd year in a row I've run this race.  I saved my last 30 ENERGYbits just for this day. I wanted to see how my time differed from the last 5k I ran.

I arrived at the race, picked up my packet and warmed up. Did all the usual stuff. Then 10 minutes before the start of the race I took my "bits."

We lined up my nerves were in check and away we went. 

I always start out way too fast. I'll never learn. I found I was passing the people who usually pass me. I was feeling super speedy. And my first mile showed my speed. 8:53. I can't tell you the last time I ran a sub 9 minute mile. Miles 2 & 3 were a little slower. 9:28 and 9:34. I tried to keep up with another runner and that may not have been the best plan. But hey I finished this race 33 seconds faster than my last. Not bad considering the last time I ran this fast was August. My finish time was 29:19!

I think my speed is back, thanks to ENERGYbits!

My Splits from the last three 5k's

Turkey Trot 5k Splits were 10:03, 9:57, 9:43

Santa Hustle 5k Splits were 9:23, 9:48, 9:41

Reindeer Run 5k Splits were 8:53, 9:28, 9:34

Got to have your photo taken with the reindeer!

Have you tried ENERGYbits? If not you should!

ENERGYbits Review

I received a sample of ENERGYbits to try. I heard about the bits from Twitter months ago. But because I'm so nervous to try anything new, I didn't want to purchase them just to find out I can't tolerate it. 

After receiving my bits, I took two just to ensure no adverse reactions. When taking something new I get nervous. I swear I'm one food allergy away from living in a bubble. But I didn't need to be nervous this time, cause no adverse reactions! 

The morning of my run, I woke up and had a my normal banana and egg pre run fuel. Wasn't sure if I should eat or not, so I did. I did as the package says and took all 30 bits 10 minutes before my run. I have no problem swallowing pills so I took all 30 at once. 

I'll admit I was nervous to see how this whole run was going to go.

I am training for the runDisney Glass Slipper Challenge. I bought myself a pace band with my goal time of 2:15. So on my training runs I wear it to see how I'm doing. So of course I wore it since I was planning on running 7 miles. I have been doing the 3:1 run/walk ratio and continued that. I found that I wasn't constantly looking at the timer thinking when is that walk break? I had energy! I was running faster than I've run in a long time. My splits were much faster than they were four days prior. In fact when I got to 7 miles, I stopped to take a picture of my watch to show my time and continued on another mile! 

Sunday's run

Thursday's run after 7 miles

And total of what I ran today

Shortly after my runs, I'm starving. That didn't happen. And I require a nap a few hours later. No nap for me. Ok I was kinda disappointed on the nap thing, cause I REALLY like naps. 

I was amazed as to how much energy I had all day. I've already placed my order for a full bag. I will be updating my blog weekly on how my progress is going. I also ordered a bag for my husband. So I'll be updating about him also. I still have 30 bits left and will be taking them before the Reindeer Run 5k on Saturday! Can't wait to see my time!!

One of the biggest reasons I love these is because it is ONE ingredient!! 

If you want to order your own bag go to their website ENERGYbits! They are also offering a holiday special, which I took advantage of. If you buy two or more bags you get a free stocking stuffer! But for trying their product and writing a review they gave me a discount code for my followers. For the discount, just enter the word "BLOG" into the coupon box and you will receive a 10%! If you were ever thinking maybe I should try this, you should! 

ENERGYbits sent me a free sample. All of my opinions are my own. 

Glass Slipper Training Has Begun

Well today marks my first training run for the Glass Slipper Challenge. For those of you who don't know what the GSC is, it's a 10k on Saturday and 1/2 on Sunday. And it all happens during runDisney Princess weekend. 

Once I've run all 19.3 miles I'll get these beautiful medals!

But back to training. Today I ran 7 miles. I was about 3 minutes slower than I wanted to be. But it was hot humid and I was tired. Well that's my excuse today:)

I got a new pace band for training for the Princess half. I really want to PR this year! I kinda have a training schedule planned. I am using the Jeff Galloway program that runDisney  posted and then I always add my own twist. 

I have 73 days to go.....

34 Races In 2013

This year I decided to run 34 races. Since I turned 34 this year that was the number I picked! My first race of the year was January 5 and my 34th race was December 1st! At the beginning of the year I had decided that I wanted wear a Sparkle Athletic skirt to every race and try to dress up as much as possible toward the theme. Little did I know I would end up owning 14 skirts. The 15th one is in the mail and will be here in a couple of days!

I ended up running:

1      2 Miler
1      3k
25    5k
1      8k
1      10k
1      10 Miler
4      Half Marathon

January-July

July-December

I'm not sure which of my outfits is my favorite, but I did have fun putting all of them together. 

This year I have run around the Daytona International Speedway. I have run over the Key Largo Bridge. Sparkled through Disney World and Disneyland. I've dressed up as Elastigirl, Sleeping Beauty, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White and Mike Wazowski. I even teased up my bangs and ran in an 80's themed race! Coconut bras aren't the easiest thing to run in, but I did that too! And now I can't wait to put the finishing touches on my Christmas themed outfits!

I've met wonderful new running friends. I was RaceJoy's first tester for their app. I've had a great running year!

Not sure how many I'll run next year. Probably not as many as this year. But you can bet I'll be wearing a Sparkle Athletic skirt to every race!

Do you dress up at races?

Space Coast Half Recap

Yesterday morning I woke up at 3am and got ready to run my 6th half marathon! Since we live just a half mile from one of the host hotels, I had my husband drop me off. I got there at 4:14 and that bus left at 4:15 on the dot. 

When I arrived in Cocoa Village I walked around. I did happen to walk around and see the sparkly medals before the race! Also stopped to have my picture taken with the space man. 

Since my mom was volunteering I met up with her and of course had to get a photo.

Got to the start line stretched and was waiting for blast off! When we got the "go for launch" it was still pretty dark. My first mile and a half was slower than I had planned because of the crowds. But in the end I'm glad it forced me to be a little slower because I like to run faster than I should at the beginning then really slow at the end. After the first water stop the field really thinned out. At that point I started my run/walk/run Galloway method. 

Since my training wasn't really training for this race I think I did quite well. My goal was for a 2:30 finish. Last year I ran with the pace group and it was great. But this year I was going to do the run/walk/run thing so I decided to go alone. Before the race I made two purchases which I'm so glad I did. First being the Pace Bands. Second is the Gym Boss timer. Without these two things I'm not sure how I would have done. I will continue using both items for training for the glass slipper! 

I really do love this course. The view of the Indian River is gorgeous. And I love that the people on this street get out and participate. There were a couple of houses with water stops. At one house the parents were pouring water and two little girls were handing out water. My favorite house is the one that makes breakfast in the front lawn! There's a table with a griddle and I saw pancake batter. Last year they were frying bacon and it smelled so good! Some residents just come out and cheer us on! 

Mile 5 was my fastest and mile 11 was my slowest. Looking back at my Garmin times, the splits were pretty even. I really think I'll continue the run/walk/run method. 

The first half of the race was great. The second half was cold. Since I sweated so much at the beginning my shirt was soaked. The second half we ran into a head wind and it was cold. All I could think about was crossing the finish line and getting the towel to warm up.

The best part of the race was after I crossed the finish line and started to walk up to get my medal, there was my mom waiting for me holding my beautiful sparkly medal! She put it around my neck and hugged me. Then it was off to pick up my towel and head to the beer tent!

Someday I'm going to remember to smile at the finish line. 

I ended up finishing it with a time of 2:25! Not a PR but my best 1/2 time so far this year.

Overall it was a great race! I love that this is a local race for me and I will continue running this race for as long as I can. Running Zone always puts on great races and is why I continue to run with them every weekend.

Just have to add a few more photos to this post.

My mom and I