Don't struggle with these things this Summer (And a GIVEAWAY)

When it comes to running in the heat, there is not much that we (or any other runner) could probably tell you that you don't already know or that is not already common sense, like wear light weight clothes, put on sunscreen, wear a hat/visor, stay hydrated, run during the coolest part of the day, yada, yada, yada,!

It's summer, and it's just plain hot!  Most days, we have to get up and be on the road (or trails) before 7 am in order to get a cool run in, but it's summer and who wants to get up that early? Not me! So yes, some of my runs (when I was running) happened a little bit later.  My best tip about running in the heat in this instance would be to pick your route accordingly. We've talked extensively in our previous posts about finding SAFE routes that actually provide an adequate amount of shade. Sadly my favorite trail in the fall, becomes way to hot to run in the summer so I have to look elsewhere.
Some other places I've found that offer some shade during the day include:

College Campuses: I am fortunate enough to have one right down the road from me. Luckily it is lined with big shade trees, but unfortunately the campus is pretty hilly.

Campgrounds: There is also a campground near me as well. These are great places to run. They aren't very busy ( traffic heavy) mid morning/afternoon and shade is plentiful.

Cemetery: I know I've mentioned this route before and was met with varying opinions about it, but hey, it's safe ( no traffic) and most cemeteries are well manicure with nice big shade trees.


In addition to having a "Shade" issue on my runs, I usually have a hydration issue. Last summer when I was regularly doing 13 mile training runs, I would always run out of water at mile 9!  I never run by my house, so stopping for a drink or putting an extra bottle in the mail box was out of the questions. 

We recently received these O2COOL misting bottles that hold 20 ounces, so now I can be sure I have plenty of water and can mist myself when I'm feeling too warm. Win Win!

Speaking of Win, we are giving away one of these misting water bottles. Have you entered the giveaway?

You can enter the Giveaway HERE.

We are linking up with TOTR.

a 5K and Why I couldnt hold the sign

One of our dear friends, who will be joining us at RnR this year and running his first Disney race in 2016, decided to do a local 5k this weekend. I was asked to run too, but I thought it better to sit it out and just be a spectator instead.

This is the same friend that was going to do the Bad Ass Virtual Race with Lacey last month but as you may remember, they were not able to run together. In any case, he decided to wear the Bad Ass  shirt for this official 5K race.  If you don't remember why we call him "Bad Ass", you can read about that HERE .

Anyway, we should share that the reason he could not run the virtual race last month was because he had unexpectedly had surgery on his jaw and had his mouth wired shut for two weeks. Yes, he could not eat solid foods for two weeks, so to say his nutrition was probably suffering was an understatement.

Anyway, he wanted to do the local 5K and I said I would go cheer him on. My neighbor was also running so I wanted to cheer for her too!

I told him that I would make a sign for him. I wasn't sure just what I wanted to say, so after doing a little Googling of race signs, I came up with something to write.

At the last minute, Scott decided that he wanted to go to the race too. He took one look at the sign that I made and promptly reminded me that the race started in front of an elementary school and that it wasn't appropriate for me to be holding the sign that I made.  I totally forgot about that. Perhaps he was right.

Pretty soon the runners were off and we waited near the finish line. we figured our friend would come in around 25 or 26 minutes. He had ran 5K's before and that around what his time usually was.

We were starting to get worried when we didn't see him. A few of our other friends had finished and had told us that the hill on the course was a killer.  I thought perhaps he was just feeling drained due to lack of nutrition, but Scott had to make a joke and say that maybe he got pulled off the course because his shirt was inappropriate! Funny!

He did finish strong and we were proud of him for running the race.

And since he was already wearing an "inappropriate" race shirt, I made him hold my sign for a picture ( after the race), since I didn't get to hold it on the side lines...lol

It was definitely a beautiful day for a race and I'm really sorry that I didn't get to run, although I'm sure my knees are glad!  There are several other local 5K's coming up this summer and I am SO hoping that I can be strong enough to do one of them .

Do you have any local 5K's coming up that you will be running or spectating at? -M

Congrats! And a Peek in Our Week

Do you remember when we talked about running the April Fools race on the Atlantic City Boardwalk back in April? Well after the race we gathered at Margaritaville with some other runners and watched the awards ceremony. Neither of us thought we would win anything but we were there early enough and had a good seat so decided to just stick around and watch. After we left the beach that day, I didn't really even given that race a second thought, until I got this unexpected package in the mail the other day.

 I anxiously tore it open and ripped this nice letter that explained that I had won an age group award and I was sent a sovenier. What a great surprise that was. -L

I stopped going to physical therapy and started my personal training sessions this week. It's kind of funny because my personal trainer is actually my therapist and we use the equipment at the gym where I took therapy.

 I don't know why I did not learn these moves during therapy, but regardless, I am enjoying it and I am learning a lot. I went only 3 days this week but each day I learn something new. I had to skip the last 2 days because I unexpectedly had to get stitches in my abdoman and didn't think lifting weights and stretching would be a good idea. Yes, I find it funny that I have been waiting for Baylee to heal from the stitches on her tummy so we could go swimming, and now I'm the one with stitches on mine! I guess we'll just have to wait another 10 days!  -M

We both took Baylee and Belle for some walks this week. Walking with my dog is sometimes the favorite part of my day.

We met some friends at the park this week. Can you believe that one guy walks all four of these Golden Retrievers every day? Sometimes he even has five retrievers!

Tell us something that you did this weekend?

Why I didn't always want my running partner

I know that the title of this post might sound cruel, but let me explain. It's true, I didn't always want my running partner. In fact, in the beginning, I didn't want her at all. She was always eager to go for a run but we rarely ran at the same pace, she was always making detours, and at times I thought she was going to cause an accident ( for both of us). To tell you the truth, she's really more of a swimmer anyway, but that's NOT why I didn't want her.

I'm sure by now, you know I am not talking about my
mom, my sister, or my bff. I'm talking about my sweet girl Baylee, my beautiful bundle of yellow fur. And yes, there was a time when I didn't want her ( Gasp) and my husband reminds me of this all the time.

The post I didn't want to have to write

Okay, so that is an odd title for a blog post, but it's true. This is one post I didn't want to have to write but I AM writing it because we have always believed in being upfront, honest, and transparent on our blog.

In 2013 I had my first experience with Altra shoes. I heard the head of the company speak about how they were made and how they were different from the normal running shoe. I loved the wide toe box the Altras had and the concept behind the zero drop made perfect sense. This was a product I could definitely get behind so shortly after running in my Altra's I was brought on board as one of their ambassadors.  These were the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn! I will NEVER deny that. And for being an ambassador I got lots of shoes for free. Totally not a bad deal, right?

If you are transitioning from a traditional running shoe to a zero drop shoe then you know that you have to ease into the switch. Go for smaller runs in the zero drop and alternate with your traditional running shoes until things feel comfortable. If you don't you may experience calf pain because your legs are depending on muscle they haven't had to use before in the traditional shoes.  I did the transitioning just fine and I never felt the calf pain. It is when I started running in the Altras more often that I have felt the worst leg pain in my entire life. I had a first hand experience as to what ITBS really felt like mixed in with Greater Trochataric pain, lateral tendonitis in the knee and hip bursitis.

Now, I am NOT saying that the Altras caused all this pain because I will admit that there are many factors that could have contributed to all this pain and one of them was the increase in mileage I was doing over that time frame. As you know, I was in Physical Therapy for 7 months (January thru July 2014) before I started to see any relief. I had a few good races in the fall of 2014 but then shortly afterwards fell victim to the same pain. I was continuing running in the Altras, along with running more miles. I will say that I NEVER had a problem when I wore my old running shoes. 

Again, I don't want to pass blame on the shoes, but I do want to be able to explore my options and see if there is something different out there that will work better for my body. I really believe the concept behind the Altras is great but perhaps it is not for me.  I tell you all this because I have decided to put my ambassadorship on hiatus.  I will never deny that they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn in my life, but  I don't want to go through another 7 months of therapy to only follow the same pattern of going back to these shoes and becoming injured again.  If the injuries continue even after trying different shoes, then I will know that perhaps it wasn't the Altras.  I know its so hard to tell what is giving me the problems because there are so many variables involved, but for now I need to take one variable out of the equation and see if that makes a difference.  Don't get me wrong, I love the free shoes and the free gear, but I can not keep accepting it if I don't feel comfortable using it.

I tell you this because over the next few months I will be trying out some new shoes, and I don't want anyone to think that I am being disloyal to my Altras which I have said that I loved so much.

Sadly it is true, sometimes you can love shoes, but they just might not love you back!

Have you ever had to switch out of a brand ( of anything) that you really liked because it wasn't working for you? -M

Tape Tips

I've tried kinesiology tape many times before and I can honestly say that I've never felt any better because of it. I've got taped by the KT tape people before every Disney race I've done while injured, and I still got no relief from pain while I ran. I will admit that my problem is bigger than what KT Tape or any kinesiology tape could probably help.

I often get asked to review products for the column I write in the newspaper. I especially like when those products are fitness related and I can share them here with you too. One of the products I was asked to review this year was Rock Tape. Rock Tape is another brand of kinesiology tape.  I kept putting off and putting off the review because to tell you the truth I was certain it wouldn't work for the injury I had. KT tape never worked, so why would Rock Tape?  I did however get to try some of the Rock Sauce they sent me and I did enjoy that. Rock sauce is similar to Bio Freeze or Marathon Cream.  Anyway, back to the Rock Tape.  About a week before I left for the Tinkerbell half marathon, I was getting some pain around my knee in addition to the IT band pain I usually have.  I decided to take a look at this Rock Tape and see how they say to apply it for said knee pain.


This Rock Tape was on for 7 days and went through several hot showers and it still looks great.

I taped this way and I was happy to say I got in 5 pain free miles. I needed to stop after 5 because I could feel that if I pushed anymore the pain would come back. but at least that was 5 miles more than what I was able to do the day before! I do not mean to speak negatively of KT tape but I will honestly say that it has never stayed put for me. Even when I have the KT tape people themselves apply it ( and use their fancy adhesive spray), it always starts to curl up and fall off.  Rock Tape on the other hand has stayed put for DAYS. Even through hot showers, it still sticks.

Here are some things that I have found out about tapes.

Rock Tape is made from a cotton material while KT tape is made from a synthetic material. The KT Tape  rep actually told me this. He said that's why KT tape stays on longer than other brands. I just had to smile and shake my head because I believe that is why it DOES NOT stay on as long as other brands. I think the cotton is where its at.

When applying tape, make sure that you apply to a clean yet DRY leg. Be sure to remove any left over tape residue from past tape jobs. Do not apply lotion to your legs before taping.

If you are taping yourself. Make sure you apply the correct amount of "stretch" to the tape. If you have IT band pain, you will probably want to tape to "Inhibit" that muscle.

When taping you want to criss cross pieces of tape on the point of pain ( if you have one particular spot that is giving you pressing pain).

This next tip is a BIG one. When you overlap pieces of tape, make sure that the ends of each piece of tape are on your skin. Do not end one piece of tape over top of another.  This is the main reason you may have trouble with your tape not sticking.


I have found that my Rock Tape stays on just fine when I am in the shower but if you are worried about it getting wet or you are using a different brand of tape, my quick tip to you is put a bread bag around your leg while you are in the shower. This is crazy and you are probably wondering how I know this. Well, during Disney marathon weekend, I had my knee taped at the expo. I took a shower after the half marathon and wanted to preserve my KT Tape, or what was left of it anyway.  The only thing we had available to wrap around my leg was a plastic bag that we had bagels in. I cut a whole in the bottom of the bag and slipped my leg in.  I won't have to do that again now that I am using the Rock Tape, but it is a quick tip in case you are in a pinch.

The Rock Tape does not heal my injury but I have noticed that it does control the pain even when I wear it around the house. As you know, I won't be running for a while because I really need to give my injury a rest but when I do feel like I am okay to go for a run I will probably use this Rock Tape for a little bit of support for a while.   -M

What kind of kinesiology tape do you like and why? What is your best tape tip?  -M

We are linking up with April, patty, and Erika at TOTR.

Summer Giveaway!

Happy June! June has always been my favorite month! It means school is out, summer officially starts, pool time, family cook outs and a few special birthdays! Just in time to celebrate June's arrival, we are participating in another Giveaway blog hop hosted by Kristy from Runaway Bridal Planner. We just love her giveaway hops, don't you?

Ok, so we were Really excited about this giveaway! I can see this being a must have