Product Review of Nuun

Many weeks ago I started training for a marathon ;)

One of the challenges of training was staying hydrated especially when running in the heat. My friend and fellow marathoner in training Gene recommended I try some Nuun.

Nuun is hydration tablets you drop into your water to give you some electrolytes. The beauty of Nuun is it does not have sugar!!! Yep I will just include this from their website:

- Zero sugar
- Important electrolytes
- Under 8 calories
- Easy to use

The tablets come in a tube and all you have to do is drop one into your water bottle and it dissolves within minutes.

I must admit I was skeptical. I do not like flavored things since switching to drinking water all day most things just do not taste good anymore.

Well I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised! Not only did it taste good, but it did not upset my stomach as most flavored things seem to do lately. Not only did it taste good, it kept me hydrated on some pretty tough runs. I would mix it ahead of time and carry it on my fuel belt.

I recommend it for people who are looking for electrolytes without all the calories, chemicals and sugars in regular sports drinks. you can buy them signally in some stores they have a store locator on their website. You can also order the 4 pack variety packs.

I was shied away by the cost at first. Then I bought my powerade for $1.99 2 weeks ago when I was out and about and needed some fuel. I then realized that Nuun really is not all that expensive. 12 tablets come in 1 tube!! So that is 12 powerades for me lol and so it adds up to $24 for 4 tubes on their website, meaning one bottle of Nuun made only costs $.50 after I realized that I realized it actually would be more economical for me to buy Nuun and not my Powerade ;)

My favorite flavors were tri-berry and grape. I am ordering banana and strawberry lemonade next :)

Do you have a favorite flavor of Nuun?

Changing Perspective

Why did you start your journey to get healthy?

It is a question I get asked all the time. It is a question I seldom have a quick answer to.

I think the problem is I started because of one thing and it has evolved over time to so much more than I ever could have imagined. When I began I was obese and unhappy. I felt hopeless. Alone. Depressed. and so on, you get it. All I so desperately wanted was to be skinny.

I think about it now, I would have given up anything to be tiny and thin and look "cute" in my eyes, being thin was the only way to do this. I had tried many things: crash dieting, pills, restrictive eating, you name it I had probably tried it. You fall into a slump and when desperation really sinks in you just keep sinking into the black hole of obesity hell. At least that is what it felt like for me.

So really when I walked into my first Weight Watchers meeting I was that girl. I thought maybe I could lose some weight, I never imagined it would work. That I would be able to drop weight and finally fit into smaller clothes.

So I started losing weight and started feeling good. And I was exercising the whole time and it was good. I started to think I could be skinny....

Then a funny thing happened. I started running. At first it was just a 2-3 minute jog on the treadmill in between walking intervals. I started to enjoy running. I started to think I could maybe run a 5K. Well in the middle of September in 2010, just 7 months after being hopeless and obese I ran my first 5K and it felt great.

I signed up for another 5K in October and had fun at that one too.

It was then that I began to realize:

I am not doing all of this to fit into a pair of skinny jeans, because let's face it my calves are too big for those! I started running last year and fell in love. I mean head over heels, crazy, bad ass, addicted to it! I have ran 4 half marathons already this year and already have 1 more booked and now I am training for my first full marathon. I realized I do not even dream of skinny jeans anymore. Now my dreams are filled with medals and running trails waiting to be discovered.

It is amazing how far your perspective can change over time.

I went from desperately wanting to be skinny, to getting healthy and realizing skinny was not necessarily what would be healthy and good for me. I am healthy now and I have muscle, and that muscle is making me pretty damn happy. It is not about being skinny it is about being HEALTHY HAPPY and of course BAD ASS ;)

My Stylish Secret Weapon: Arctic Ease

You know I love me some bright colors!!! Well you may or may not know my fave all time is pink. It always has been since I was little! My sister used to make fun of me and call me pink princess but I did not care. When I started running I noticed I would always go for the bright gear and pink being number one. My KT tape is of course pink, my Polar FT 60, pink as well! So now I have another favorite item in my fitness routine that I can add to the pinkness!!! Yes Arctic Ease is now going to come in 3 awesome colors and pink is one of them :)

You cannot go from being an obese couch potato to training for a marathon without some pain. It just is not possible. But how you recover from your runs and deal with that pain is where you can win and get the will to keep going.

When I had knee issues early in my half marathon training I sought out a product I would be able to use on a daily basis to ease swelling and pain. I found Arctic Ease and threw away those nasty menthol rubs!

It is better than ice becuase:

Yes you see I can run with it as well!! I wrap at work, at home chasing the toddler, or on days when I want to run but am feeling a little pain. Right after a run I pop one on and it really does keep me going!

Stay tuned for these hot new colors to hit a sporting goods store near you soon ;)

Marathon Training Week 12

It has been 12 weeks!!! That is 3 whole months! I have learned so much these past few months.

Training for a marathon is hard. It is a lot of work but it is good work. I am learning that no is not an option and words like can't and failure are not part of my vocabulary any longer. I am more driven to accomplish this goal than I have been about anything in awhile. Marathon training has really made me get serious and listen to my body. I am tracking my food with weight watchers still but also eating paleo style as well. This has helped me out a lot. Also I pay attention the days leading up to a long run and am learning what my body responds best to.

It is not just about getting out there and running. For me it is so much more because I feel like I have a goal and I want to knock it out of the water. Just showing up to Philly and finishing is not good enough for me. I want to run this marathon in under 4 hours. I want to be in the best physical shape possible to allow that to happen. These past 3 months I have been working hard and I really felt this week that the hard work is worth it and paying off.

Monday: I went to visit the awesome trainer Sandy at her home gym and do her crossfit workout of the day. I also attempted a rope climb. But I cannot quite do that yet.

Tuesday: I hit the treadmill for 6.2 miles in 53 minutes. I hit the treadmill because it was raining and I just had no desire to be out running in the pouring rain. It proved to be the good choice this week.

Wednesday: I rowed for 15 minutes to warm up on the rowing machine. This is a great workout for your whole body it uses different muscles than other cross training techniques and is low impact! I love it. Then I lifted weights for 45 minutes.

Thursday: I hit the treadmill again. I got in 4 miles early in the morning in 38 minutes.

Friday: I got out early and did a 5k run outside early in the morning. I stayed steady and finished in 31 minutes but it felt a bit rough. When I got home from work I decided I would do a second workout and jogged 3 miles with peanut in her jogger for 30 minutes and then did some core work for 20 minutes.

Saturday: Rest day! Took my first rest day in 13 days. It was a much needed break. I wanted to give my legs a nice break to prepare for my 23 miler Sunday morning :)

Sunday: 23 miles!!!! Woot woot longest run yet :) I blabbed all about itwork on Sunday I was too excited to wait to share :)

Conquering the Big 23!

All week long I was thinking about it. 23 miles. Longest run to date was 20 miles in a beginning of a hurricane and it sucked. How would I do for 23? How would my stomach hold up?

How would I run for 4 hours? 4 hours. Think about it. I did a lot. 4 hours is half of a workday for some people, it is a long ass time. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of it. I have a hard time justifying taking that much time for myself on the only day off I had all week from work. But I had to work through it all before this morning.

I know what my goal is to run the Philadelphia Marathon in under 4 hours. To make this goal a reality I must train. And part of that training is doing these long runs. The toughest part of a long run is keeping it up. To me races are easy, it is like show time when it is race day. You have spectators cheering, people running along side you, cameras flashing, and fuel stations set up. It is easy all you have to do is show up and run and have fun.

The training to get there is what will mess with your head. Heading out this morning in the cold dawn at 6AM on my only day off was not the easiest thing in the world but I knew in my heart I wanted to do it. I want that glory of a strong finish. So I got geared up and away I went.

Fuel today was great and hydration was nailed! Thanks to my friend Dan and his advice I hydrated more and I had no stomach distress! I also stayed away from nuts for the past 2 weeks and that has really helped. This morning I had 2 hard boiled eggs. Then right before I headed out I had 3 cliff shot blocks and nuun. I filled my fuel belt with nuun as well.

The first hour went by great. I was sipping from my bottle a little bit at a time and my only issue was it was freezing. My hands get like ice when it is too cold and they were pretty numb from cold the entire hour. I guess I will have to break out my gloves soon. This has been an issue since losing my weight, my body temperature has yet to get used to the cold. But I felt great an hour in I chewed 3 more shot blocks and kept going.

When I hit 2 hours and 12 miles I stopped at my sisters house. She conviently lives 11 miles away from me :) So I stashed shot blocks and nuun at her house yesterday and she gave me her key so I could sneak in without waking them up. I had 3 more shot blocks and a banana. I was starving but once I had that I felt great.

The next hour got a bit tough. There are so many hills in the town she lives in that my legs were tired. It is the mental part that comes into play for me during these times. For me I just have to keep closing my eyes and picturing crossing that finish line. When I hit my wall today at mile 14 I had to flip to Nelly's "Heart of a Champion" and just get myself pumped to finish. It renewed my spirit!

At hour 3 I popped the last 3 shot blocks and kept going. By now I knew I was only 5 miles away from home. And the worst hills were behind me. I began to pick up my pace because I felt really good. It also started to get warmer out. But my pace was about 9 minutes a mile and this was at mile 19! I was amazed at myself and my ability to kick it into high gear after being out for so long.

But then mile 21 hit and something happened. My fingers started to tingle. I have never had that problem exercising before. I shook it out and kept going. Then the arms started to tingle and my breathing got heavy. I was a mile from my house and felt like I was going to pass out. I began to panic a little. I began to think about stopping but I figured I was so close to home that it would be ok.

I just pounded out the last mile and my arms and legs were tingling and I felt I was going to pass out at a moment. It was an odd eerie feeling and I must say I did not enjoy it at all. I finally made it to my house and walked for about 4 minutes to cool down until I could not take it and charged into my house.

I collapsed right on the floor in the living room and the room was spinning. T was like wow you actually made it! I was like I cannot move please bring me a drink! I got some powerade and a banana and began to feel the tingling going away. I knew I would be ok, it was just a scary moment.

After a few minutes on the floor I was able to get up and walk it out and stretched out for about 10 minutes. By then I was ok and got to my recovery routine of making my protein shake and cooling down.

I did it!!!! In 3 hours and 49 minutes I dueled the beastly 23 mile run and won!!! :) I may need to up my fuel along the way so I do not pass out ;) But that is the beauty of these training runs!! It is the dress rehearsal for the big day. SO now I have my stomach down I can work on the fuel and staying fresh for the big 26!

What do you do during long runs to stay motivated and finish strong? I would love to hear some tips :)