“Disclaimer: I received a pair of Knockaround Fast Lane Sunglasses to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!”

SUNGLASSES. Most people own a couple of pairs – all for their own dedicated purposes. I know I have my car pair, my sunglasses I keep in my purse for when I’m out at breweries/shopping, a “cheap” pair that I don’t have to worry about losing at the beach and then the random freebie give aways you get at an expo or fundraiser event. What if I told you, there’s a brand that not only makes a solid and sturdy pair – but also a stylish, non-slip, ATHLETIC pair that you can run, hike and bike while wearing?!

I for one wasn’t a huge believer when the running sunglass craze hit social media. I’m a “hat runner” and always run wearing my Pink Nike hat. For me, this keeps my hair out of control and out of my eyes, stops sweat from dripping down my face (kinda) and provides some sort of protection from the sun rays during those summer day runs. When I received my Knockaround Fast Lane Sunglasses I was immediately impressed with how they felt. They arrived in a cute drawstring bag that makes it easy to throw in your purse, gym bag or beach tote and they feel STURDY. When I say sturdy, I’m basically saying expensive 🙂 Did I mention these glasses are under $30?!

I tested these out first in a variety of “low to no” impact settings : walking Eugene during my lunch break, sitting in a friend’s backyard for a cookout or the weekend road trip to visit friends. In all these situations, I was slowly, but surely, becoming a believer. These glasses don’t look cheap, they held up well in a variety of these settings and they didn’t squeeze or hurt my head like most sunglasses end up doing for me at least.

THE ACTIVE TEST. This particular style was a little big for me to wear WITH my running hat, so I tried them for a short 5k around the neighborhood w/o my normal hat to give them a honest shot at knocking my socks off – and they did. They did not bounce, did not slip down my nose, did not fog up with sweat and stayed in place throughout my entire run. I was shocked at how comfortable they continued to be and how I barely even noticed they were there throughout my workout. Another thing I really like is the price point. With these not being super expensive, if they do get lost in a wave at the beach or get misplaced – it’s not the end of the world! They’re reasonable enough to replace if the occasion arises (or to stockpile one in every color) As a summary…. I 10/10 would recommend these sunglasses.

For someone who usually only wore sunglasses in a social setting, I can say these sunglasses truly made me a believer … I’m already plotting the various color/styles I want to add to my collection and have a few more pairs sitting in my shopping cart online. If you’re looking for a stylish, low-cost, but reliable pair of sunnies … look no further than the Knockaround Fast Lane!

Disclaimer: I received Runderwear product to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

What better way to explore a new city (or COUNTRY) than to run through it? Whenever I’m visiting new place of interest I love combining continued exercise while also exploring all the best tourist spots. I don’t know about you but Paris has always been on my bucket list. Cheese, wine, the romance of the city – SIGN ME UP!

Our friends at Runderwear are giving away a chance to win a trip to run the Paris Marathon in 2020.

The sweepstakes include:

• Two (2) admissions to the Paris Marathon in April 2020;
• Roundtrip airfare for two (2) from the United States to London, England;
• Hotel accommodations for one night in London, England;
• Two (2) Eurostar tickets from London, England to Paris, France;
• Hotel accommodations for three nights in Paris, France;
• A full Runderwear kit;
• plus, additional partner prizes!

Read the complete details and ENTER NOW at http://bit.ly/bibraveparis

What are you waiting for?! One simple contest entry form can unlock your dream RACE-CATION! May the odds ever be in your favor! ❤

Disclaimer: I received a Road iD Wrist iD to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

Let’s be serious, can you put a price on safety? I became familiar with Road iD early on in my “running career” aka when I signed up for my first 5k when I started noticing them at local races. When I looked into what the product actually was – I immediately ordered one and also purchased gift cards for my family.

As listed on their website the purpose of Road iD is as follows: “We save lives and provide priceless peace of mind. At Road ID, we don’t make widgets…we make a difference. Our testimonials provide perpetual inspiration and fuel our relentless passion. We are a great company trying hard to be a great company.” The company’s values are listed as: “Do it right; Ear to the Ground, Eye to the Sky; Share the Love; Get on the Bus; and, Whoop it Up.” From their website to the packaging on their products, Road iD has a very down to earth and relatable feel. You can easily tell they genuinely care about helping people and believe in their product.

Road iD has several styles viable – from the wrist iD like I have, to one that attaches to your watch of choice, to shoelace iDs. I love the different options that really can fit everyone’s lifestyle or sport of choice. Once you select your style, you can further customize your iD to fit your style. For my wrist iD – I got to choose what color I wanted the faceplate to be (I had been eyeing the rose gold for quite some time now!) from gold, silver and rose gold. Next up is the band color. You virtually have every color of the rainbow available to you along with some speciality options, depending on what’s available (ex: glow in the dark for halloween or a retro throwback 90’s design). I decided on a nice, clean, WHITE band to match my watch band (always have to be matchy matchy, right?!

Road iD also have several badges that are available to purchase to further display your favorite distance, causes or motivating words. The sky is literally the limit on the customization options available to you. I purchase a heart badge and a 13.1 badge to celebrate my favorite distance – the half marathon.

Your iD is then further customized with your emergency information. This is pretty much completely customizable based on what you feel is most important. Keep in mind what information you would want a first responder to have in the terrible event of an emergency. For me, I wanted to have my emergency contact information (my family), any allergy information (NKA for me) and my basic details (birthdate and city I live). I love that the company completely leave this up to you to customize. I have some friends that don’t need all of the lines for emergency information and add a motivating quote at the bottom for them to see when they look down.

I love the company’s mission and how affordable they make it for runners (and people in general) to have such important safety information at their fingers-tips. I highly recommend every one to check on their website and products available if you have not already. You can’t put a price on safety and the peace of mind a “simple bracelet” can give you. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Wicked 10k as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming aBibRave Pro (ambassador), and check outBibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

I FINALLY got to check the Wicked 10k off my race “bucket” list – and what a great time I had! I made a weekend out of it and signed up for the Pumpkin Smash Challenge – the Monster Mile on Friday night followed by the Wicked 10K Saturday morning; not only was it a great tune up for my legs but I got to bring home an *extra* sparkly Challenge medal.

I stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Oceanside – one of the race sponsored hotels (hello discount rate!) It was super close to the Monster Mile start line and close to the Wicked 10k finish line. I never had to walk more than 1 mile the entire weekend, so that was extremely nice.

The expo was easy to get in and out of at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. I didn’t spend too much time checking out the booths but there was a nice assortment of vendors and races present. Plenty of cute photo ops and props were around and you are able to get your “over 21” wristband here – HIGHLY recommend to beat the lines on race day. Runners received a short sleeve cotton t-shirt for the Monster Mile and a long sleeve technical t-shirt for the 10k. As always, the swag was great. Now it was time to get ready for the race!

The Monster Mile: I was trying to think of the last time I “raced” a mile and I literally think it was probably P.E. class in middle school. The start was a little chaotic, there were corrals by anticipated finish time but of course everyone just kind of piled in where-ever they wanted to. What was really fun was people watching while waiting for the race to start – the costumes were great! It was awesome to see some creative (and some scary) costumes and trying to mentally envision how people would actually run in them. Luckily, this was just a mile 🙂

The course was straight down the boardwalk. There weren’t too many lights or overall course decorations, but it was at night and gave that spooky atmosphere none the less. After a flat and fast mile, the finish line greeted you with a nice medal, water and snacks. A short walk lead you to the finish line party at the Shack. As soon as you walked in you got a free post-race beverage – ORANGE CRUSH for me! I had never been to this venue and it was amazing. Definitely the perfect spot to hang out with your friends after a race. Overall, I would give the Monster Mile an 8/10 and would absolutely do it again.

The next morning was the main event so I walked a mile back to my hotel, ordered a healthy dinner (it was hard to not carb load when I’m used to running/traveling for half marathons) and called it a night! I woke up at 6AM (8AM start for the 10k) and got ready for the main event.

The Wicked 10k: The 10k starts in front of the convention center, which was about 1.2 mile from my hotel. I left at 7 allowing myself an hour to get there. It was 70 degrees and actually quite humid for race day which I wasn’t expecting, but was glad I packed shorts and short sleeve shirt to race in. The walk to the start was uneventful and I was quickly met by masses of costumes, music and excitement! The Convention Center was open which was nice (hello real restrooms) and there was plenty of space to spread out and wait for the start.

The course was fun, flat and packed with spectators. There was several noteable course entertainment stops : walking through zombies, thriller dancers and a candy corn “trick or treat” stop. There were plenty of water stops (about every 2 miles) which was nice for the warm day. Overall, the best way to describe the course was “alive” – everyone was smiling, laughing and having a good time. The final mile (ish) was on the boardwalk so you get to say HI! to King Neptune as you approach the finish line. Again, the finish line greeted you with bottled water, granola bars, a nice medal and finishers item – glass pint glass and a koozie.

After making in through the finishers corral, you enter the after party on the beach! Baker’s Crust soup, Blue Moon Beer, Angry Orchard Cider and live music. There are tables set up to link up with your friends and enjoy your post race brew. All of this, of course, with the lovely backdrop of the ocean. One of the sponsor non-profit organizations was onsite and did a k9 demonstration on the beach which was really cool to see.

Overall I would give this race weekend a 8/10. The races were both super organized, fun and well executed. The medals are sparkly, well designed and had nice ribbons (always key!) along with solid finishers items. J&A always puts on amazing events and the Wicked 10k weekend tells no different story. I’m already thinking about a costume for next year…

Disclaimer: I received free entry to J&A’s Wicked 10k as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming aBibRave Pro (ambassador), and check outBibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

I haven’t run a race since March (Shamrock) where I was also sidelined after for an extensive IT injury. I took the time to properly rehab that and was really looking forward to kicking off “race season” with a bang at Wicked.

All that considered I am still SO excited for this race. The pre-race marketing has me anxious for the course – clowns, zombies and awesome DJs and very much looking forward to the finish line party – beer, cider and soup … all ok the beach! and really just the overall Wicked experience. It seems like it’s a pretty big J&A race, too – maybe similar to Shamrock size which is always a good time. Celebrating on the beach post race with a brew isn’t a bad look either 😬🍻

My plan is to have fun, enjoy the course support, listen to the bands and seriously to just have a good time. I turn 29 on Tuesday and I’m considering this the kick off to my birthday 🎉 On a more serious note, although I’ve been under the watchful eye on my physical therapist, it will be a good “test” to see just how “bad” my hip really is at the moment.

I’m looking forward to crossing the finish line and relaxing on the beach afterwards while enjoying the post- race party with everyone! Let me know if you’ll be there! 🎃

Also – if you are going to be running tomorrow … here’s some last minute tips and tricks from j&a on parking for tomorrow

Disclaimer: I received an Oofos OOahh Sport Project Pink Recovery Sandals to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

It didn’t take long for me to notice people slipping OOFOS on after races or after a local running group get together. I was immediately attracted to them and I wondered to myself why exactly EVERYONE seemed to have these sandals, and more importantly what was the point of them? Thanks to a quick Google search, I was lead to the Oofos Website.

OOFOS are literally designed to help you recover faster. Their advanced foam technology helps absorb more impact than your typical shoes would, thus the feeling of “walking on clouds.” This, of course, reduces stress and overall tension on your feet. They have a variety of styles and colors available to appeal to multiple audiences. This particular pair I was able to try out was the OOahh Sport Project Pink Recovery Sandals.

For lack of a better summary, these sandals are simply amazing. I found myself looking forward to slipping them on after hard runs and didn’t want to take them off until I literally crawled into bed. I quickly had to hide them from my boyfriend who became a quick fan as well 🙂 I love this slip-on style and found it easier to get in and out of than the flip flop style I also own. I did notice a huge improvement with how my feet felt overall, especially after my long runs. This style was so versatile I was about to wear them out running errands, to the movies and even just around my house – they’re that comfortable.

Aside from being a five star product, there is SO MUCH more behind this specific collection that really pulled at my heart strings and immediately made me respect and appreciate OOFOS as a company even more. This pair of sandals is from the Project Pink Collection; this collection was created around increasing awareness for Breast Cancer. This cause is near and dear to the company’s heart, as a member of the Oofos family was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2014. You can read more of Duncan’s story here: https://www.oofos.com/pages/project-pink-new

Along with creating the Project Pink Collection, OOFOS has made a year-round commitment to this cause. For every pair of OOFOS sold on OOFOS.com (not only from the Project Pink Collection), 3% is donated directly towards the Dana-Farber Breast Cancer Research team to support their extremely important research efforts. How awesome is that?

If you haven’t added OOFOS to your recovery tool-kit, I highly encourage you to do so! I now consider this sandal imperative to my half-marathon training and look forward to “rewarding” my feet with them after each and every tough run. OOFOS has an awesome loyalty program where you earn discounts with your purchases AND they always offer free shipping + returns with every order. Check out their website today and “Feel The Oo.”

Disclaimer: I received Nuun Rest to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

I have always been a HUGE Nuun fan while training – actually in general. Their typical line of electrolyte replacements has been vital to my recovery from long runs and pre-hydration for races. The Nuun Rest line; however, is completely different!

It’s been a long few months between stress at work, trying to get back in the swing of things from a training standpoint and life in general. I started having issues sleeping even went I felt like I was exhausted. So to say the opportunity to try this product came at the perfect time is an understatement.

I received two flavors to try of Nuun Rest – Blackberry Vanilla and Lemon Chamomile. For me, blackberry vanilla was the hands down taste winner. The lemon chamomile wasn’t bad by any means, and definitely had that lemon-y taste I was expecting but aired more on the “tea” taste. Overall, I would purchase both flavors again, but Blackberry Vanilla was super refreshing.

I made Nuun Rest to consume about an hour before (I tried it both hot and cold) going to bed. Like I said before, the flavor was phenomenal. I definitely noticed feeling more relaxed and ready to go to sleep at the end of the drink. I ended up putting my book down early and calling it a night 🙂

The key components in the product are Magnesium and Tart Cherry juice which help aid in overall recovery. Nuun Rest is truly a rest/recovery product that does indeed help with sleep. I would not recommend consuming this when you’re not trying to get sleepy 🙂

Nuun Rest should be mixed with a smaller amount of water than other Nuun products (I made this mistake initially). It is recommended to mix with 4-6 ounces. If not, it will taste extremely watered down. You can mix it with cold or hot/warm water…like you would a tea (so yummy!) which is perfect for before bedtime.

Just a heads up – there WILL be a magnesium residue at the bottom of the glass. This is simply because magnesium doesn’t fully dissolve; it is perfectly normal and happens with all supplements including magnesium. It freaked me out at first but it settles at the bottom and can just be rinsed out when you’re done.

Overall, I give this product a 10/10 and will add it into my routine order from Nuun. I’ve found myself looking forward to drinking this nightly and the relaxation that comes with it.

You can use discount code HYDRATEBIPRO for 20% off through 10/31/2019 (excludes subscription options and bundles) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Wicked 10K as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (Ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

Have you ever had that ONE race that you see year-after-year but that never quit jives with your schedule? For me, that race has always been the Wicked 10K. Each and every year I have major FOMO when the race’s pictures flood my Instagram feed and I see everyone having the time of their lives, but I’ve never been able to run it myself. Lucky for me, my annual work commitment that interfered was bumped up to earlier in the month – YAY! which made my participation possible.

I have run the majority of j&a’s races and have loved each and every one of them, but there is something that sticks out about this one that has always peeked my interest. Some personal reasons I’ve always wanted to run this race:

• It’s the perfect start to any Fall half marathon training cycle
• I love ALL things Halloween
• It’s right before my Birthday (3 days to be exact!)
• The post-race party is on the beach
• Blue Moon is a title sponsor (yay for post race beers)

I am super excited to not only have something specific to train for, but to also finally be able to check this off my running Bucket List! Needless to say I updated my Garmin countdown immediately 🙂

If you’ve run this before or have it on your schedule for this year, let’s chat all things Wicked 10K! Tell me your favorite aspects of the race, course tips and tricks, fun costume ideas and/or any other suggestions. I hope I’ll see some of you there 🙂

Ever have one of those runs where EVERYTHING feels off? That’s how it’s been lately for me. I’ve been super stressed out & have a lot going on, and sadly I just kind of shut down training wise. I wish I was one of those people that really zoned in on their runs in times like these, but I’m not.

Even if I force myself out the door, I can’t keep my heart rate down, my pace is slower than usual and it’s just a complete battle. That’s the summary of today’s run. The last two-ish weeks I haven’t been even remotely close to consistent – and I’ll own that – but I set out for 6 miles today for my “long run.” CRASH AND BURN

I finished. But barely. I stopped countless times, took walk breaks, texted my boyfriend saying I’m quoting running and almost cried. The only reason I didn’t cry was because I convinced myself it would take too much energy 🤣

Bottom line, it was brutal. But it’s done! And regardless, it’s still six more miles in the bank that I’ve added to my base building.

Next week I’m going to try to be consistent with my eating, sleeping, recovery and of course my runs so I have a better report next weekend xoxo

My “rough draft” into the blogging world

I have always enjoyed reading other people’s blogs – finding a new recipe to try for dinner, looking up a review on a product I was teetering on buying or planning my next vacation, yet never “took the plunge” myself. But here we are!

SO, a little about me:

• I was born in Texas and am a huge Longhorns fan – hook ‘em!
• I graduated from Radford University and was a sister of Zeta Tau Alpha
• Wine is my drink of choice, 99.8% of the time it’s Cab Sav
• I’ve had pets my entire life, all rescues
• That cute Boston pictures above is Eugene, he is also a rescue and is my entire heart and soul
• I love to run recreationally, anything from a 5k to Half Marathon
• I typically, always, run in a pink Nike Golf Hat … and it slowly but surely became my identifier hence the blog name 🙂

My blog will be centered around running, training insights, products I love and hate and races I’ve checked off my list – but also splashes of dogs, wine, travel and house projects. Looking forward to this new journey xox

#BibRavePro #RescueDog #WineLover #CoffeeChat