My Race Ragz Review and Giveaway

I am sure you are sick and tired of hearing me yack away about my marathon hehe but I am sorry to tell you that it is a month away so be prepared for it to continue that long ;)

Anyways, we cannot let you have all that boring reading and nothing fun out of it! Luckily I have a give away for you today!

What do you race in? Have you ever been racing and seen cool shirts with something inspiring on them? I see them all the time and I am always motivated to push a little harder when I see great ones.

I knew when I signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon that I would want to be rocking a cool shirt ;) I was in the hunt for a company to make me one that also offered dry-fit quality that I race in. Well I found Race Ragz and I knew I would be all set!

They offer the option to customize a dry-fit shirt to anything you want! Yep you can put pictures on it, writing, slogans, anything! And guess what? It is affordable! Some companies charge for every little thing you add to a shirt. It can really get expensive, especially if you are like me and have a logo you like and a fat picture you want to show off hehe

I got my shirt and of course I love it!!! I cannot wait to rock it while I run my first marathon! I like how it has my picture right on the front and my bee logo on the back :) It was simple and easy to upload pictures to the Race Ragz website and then fun creating my own design. The shirt came in fairly quickly too!

So what didn't I like?

Well I feel they do run a bit small, I ordered a medium and it fits snugly. I did go by the size chart and it is accurate. I do like my racing shirts snug so its good.
Only other minor complaint would be the only selection is white and it is thin. It is great for warmer races but for chillier New England ones I will definitely have to have a shirt under this.

I do like this shirt a lot and I am already ordering 2 more for regular daily use hehe I cannot help myself!!!

So who wants to win? To enter just leave a comment here telling me what your race shirt would say and for a bonus entry tweet about this giveaway and start following and tweeting to @MyRaceRagz

I will pick one random winner next Friday October 28th

**I was sent my shirt to review but the opinions are my own and I was not compensated monetarily in any way

Why I Love the Treadmill

I love running outside do not get me wrong. It is amazing, however I have been logging a lot of extra miles lately and it is taking a toll on my joints. The major issues being my knee and outer shin. But some pain is to be expected when pounding the pavement day after day for 5 to 6 miles.

I have always said I have a love/hate relationship with the treadmill. The treadmill is boring. The treadmill is annoying. The treadmill does not allow me to be outside and enjoy the scenery. The treadmill gets hot because inside of a gym running gets warm after a mile or 2.

All that being said I must admit and give some love to good old treadmill.

The treadmill has allowed me to keep training no matter what is going on outside. When I started running last year, it was the treadmill that began it all. In fact I really did not start running regularly outdoors until after my first 5K. Before it I had done maybe 10 runs total outside, 90% were always on this old treadmill at my condo complex gym.

Yup look at that, I was at that little gym on the old equipment but it worked!!

Wow I forgot these existed hahaha these are from May 2010! 

We got a YMCA membership this year so I have upgraded the treadmills I use but it is still the same. Now I use the treadmill to work on my speed and help me increase mileage when my joints are sore. You see my knee loves when I run on the treadmill, it really appreciates the lower impact it has versus pounding the concrete and pavement outdoors.

When I was feeling shin pain last month I turned to the treadmill and it did not let me down.
Sometimes when I run outside I get pain but when I am running on the treadmill it is 95% pain free. This leaves me feeling great.

My speed work is usually done on the treadmill. I know I know, most people will tell you get to a track, get it done outside. There are not many tracks around here and in New England the weather is unforgiving. I would not want to be working on speed on a slick icy or rainy track or roads. The beauty of the treadmill is it allows me to work on my speed safely.

My treadmill never lets me down. It is always there waiting to be powered up and ready to go. When we move and get a basement I know my first purchase will be a treadmill ;) I may call it the dreadmill sometimes because it can be monotonous, but I have a solution for that too. I get a running magazine and cover the display. Usually those super fit runners are enough to inspire many miles run on the treadmill ;)

Do you have a love/hate relationship with a piece of fitness equipment?

Paddy's Road Race Report

I got a number to this race at the last minute! My lovely Aunt Lisa who has been ill recently could not attend. She has run this race every single year for the past 9 years. This year was their 10 year anniversary!!! I could tell by her voice on the phone how bummed out she was to not be able to go. I felt her pain. So I agreed I would take her number and head out to this race and make her proud!

I had to work all day so this race would cut into that. But luckily it was located 2 miles away from my store! So I literally decided hey why not race on a lunch break ;) When I went to the race website it said to come early because it would be hard to find parking. I obviously could not do that but I looked it up online and saw where it was located and I had the best plan. Just run there :)

So I made my plans and even enlisted my friend Lauren to sign up for this race and come along. She lives near my store so we met and ran down to the race! It started at 11:30 I know late for a race but hey here in New England its chilly now so we can sleep in. I was up at 6 and working though so I got suited up at work and headed down to the race.

I wore my fuel belt down there and kept my phone and a gel in there. I was planning to run a total of 8 miles so I needed a little something to keep me going when the race began. By the way I just noticed this weekend that my belt holds race numbers.... Yes I am slow lol. Love that feature though!! 

SO yes the run down was great! We kept up a steady 10 minutes per mile pace and made it there in 20 minutes. This race was all about the Irish hehe it was nice. Well it was Paddy's Road Race so what else would it be? It took place in Newton, and I was facing some tough competition. I am not used to a small 5K with such serious runners! They had pace signs up to line up! I have never seen that at a 5K for 1500 people. Then again I have not raced in Newton, the running city ;)

I felt good. I had got some water and took my gel pac about 5 minutes before the race was going to begin. I was surrounded by super fit people in the 7 minute per mile pace. I began to feel like I should move. I constantly do this to myself, doubt my ability. I look at other runners around me and assume they are all better and faster than me. I still feel like the fat girl sometimes and lining up for a race is often one of those times. This race was even chip timed! I was impressed hehe.

So the announcement was made and away we went! I started out strong but it hurt. Yup all of a sudden my legs just felt like what are you doing to me? I had to really push them to move. I just kept telling myself it was only 3 miles, it was only 3 miles. I raced around the corners and came up to mile 1 at 6:45. I felt fast. I felt in control. But I also felt defeated. There were so many runners passing me. I felt slow.

I know I know you are saying Colleen you are crazy, you are fast. But I just did not feel fast. It felt like hard work and usually 5Ks are easier for me. I think it was the long run the Sunday before. My legs just were not ready for a race quite yet. I do not know what it was all I know is I was not happy when I finished and saw the clock say 21 minutes. I kept running for another mile to cool down.

 I took this right after the race. I wanted to remember how I felt and often my face does not lie ;) I guess I did not get a PR and it made me mad? I am so hard on myself that I let it get the best of me. My official chip time was 21:04. All top 10 female finishers had a sub 20 minute time. Yes I looked. Yes I was in awe ;)

The race was fun! And I hope I made my Auntie proud. I called her and let her know how she did hehehe since the number was hers she now has a 21 minute 3 miler on the books ;) It was a great atmosphere and I would do it again for sure!

I walked around for a few minutes and then ran back to work for my final 2 miles of the day. Those miles were the best a nice 9.5 minute pace and I felt strong. Maybe the speed workouts jsut need to be lessened for a bit. We shall see!

This race was fun but it also showed me the goals I want to keep pushing for and fueled my fire to keep working toward my own sub 20 5K one day soon.

Do you use races to set new goals?

Marathon Training Week 17

Yes we are already passed 4 months! Week 17. This has been a great journey. Every week I learn something new and I get closer and closer to the big day!

It is getting tough some days I am so wiped out all I want to do is sleep. I have been busy in my personal life too and it is taking a toll. I am looking forward to some rest soon!! This was also my long run hangover week so mentally it was tough. I got through it though and had a blast racing this weekend too!

Monday- I headed to the gym to do some cross training. After Sunday's 26 miler I was not about to go crazy ;) I ended up doing 8 miles on the upright bike hill routine in a half hour and then I just hopped on the treadmill and walked for a mile in 15 minutes. It was nice to just be calm and walk out the tired muscles. Then I did some stretching and foam rolling at home.

Tuesday- Rough mental day. I headed to the gym and worked out with my friend Sandy who happens to be an awesome trainer ;) We were squatting and bench pressing taking turns. Man it was tough but I squatted 165 pounds a new high for me and benched about 95 pounds, that was a struggle. Sandy says a great athlete can: bench, squat, deadlift and pull up their own body weight! Eek hehe I can deadlift and squat 155# but I have a lil ways to go with the other 2 ;) I came home and headed out for a 20 minutes 2 mile run with peanut.

Wednesday- Tough 5:30 AM run of 3.5 miles in 35 minutes. Sometimes I cannot force myself out of bed to run in the early morning especially when my RA is flared up, I struggled the whole time and was glad when it ended. I came home from work that night and redeemed myself when peanut asked to go run. we headed out for 2 miles and then came home and did some weights work. I did 100 sit ups and 100 sit ups and worked on my pull ups.

Thursday- I got on an old school treadmill and rocked out 4 quick miles in 33 minutes! Then I did my 100 sit ups and push ups when I was done. The treadmill is in my sister's basement. I just may be visiting her more often hehe

Friday- I was not planning on running. I actually was planning a rest day. But I felt so good and I got home and it was raining and I just had this itch to run. So I got my night gear on and went for a soggy 4.3 mile run in 40 minutes and it felt great! I really am glad I went for this run I loved every single minute of it. When I got in I did my 100 sit ups and 100 push ups.

Saturday- It was Nicole's first 5K! Read all about it here :) I got in the 3.1 right next to her it was simply great.

Sunday- I got in 8 miles. I ran 2 miles to a race and ran that race it was 3 miles and then ran a recovery mile. Then ran 2 more miles back to work ;) Stay tuned for my recap on that tomorrow!

I got in 38 miles this week! Not too shabby for my long run hangover week. Oh and I got convinced to sign up for one more half marathon before Philly! I will be running the Manchester City Half Marathon on November 6th with Gene and Damian!

Do you ever sign up for races because of peer pressure? Or to get training longer runs done?