2014 Race Awards

Every year I like to look back on my running and fitness and reflect on what I accomplished, what I loved, and make new goals. It's always fun to reminisce while putting together an end of the year blog post. 

This year I am linking up with Montana from Pretty Lil Mudder as we dish out some end of the year race awards. My race schedule was cut short due to my injuries and I ran fewer races than previous years, but there were still plenty of races to talk about.

Most Scenic Course - Newport Half Marathon 

There are miles of ocean views like this along the first 6-ish miles of the Newport Half Marathon course. After that you get a couple of miles on mansion views. It's beautiful.

Most Challenging Course - ZOOMA Cape Cod Half Marathon

This race has a very hilly second half. It's a challenge for most runners but my various leg injuries made this one the most challenging course of the year.

Best Expo - ZOOMA Cape Cod

It's not the size, but the attention to details that earns ZOOMA this one. They have great merchandise from sponsors and local vendors, but they also create a personalized experience. Take photos, attend presentations, meet the race founders. Just some little things like that.

Best Post-Race Food/Beverages - Kickoff to Summer 5K

Post race food that is mostly homemade treats or healthy fruit choices win the honors here. It's not elaborate or fancy, but it is always so good.

Best Swag - ZOOMA Cape Cod 

Packing my new @feeturesrunning performance socks from my @zoomarun race swag for tomorrow's after school run. #ZOOMAnation #zoomacapecod #fitgear

A photo posted by AmyC (@runningescapades) on Sep 9, 2014 at 5:56pm PDT

ZOOMA swag included the race tech shirt, a hat and the normal samples, but it was the Feetures! socks that made this swag a real treat.

Most Unique Medal - First Run 5K

I have accumulated three of them now, but the famous wine stopper medal will always be the most unique to me.

Favorite Race Shirt - Newport 10 Miler

Although this race shirt is a cotton tee, I love the simple design and color choice. If it was a moisture wicking material, I know I would run in it. For now it's one of my cozy, lazy day picks.

Favorite Overall Race - TI Disco Fever 10K

Growing up, I was a big fan of disco music. Even though I don't usually dress up for races, this one was too fun not to join in.

Best Course Support - Ragnar Relay Cape Cod

We didn't all run together like in the picture until the finish line, but it felt like we had been the whole race. Besides leap-frogging our runners on the course, nothing compares to hearing "Go runner" shouted to you from nearly every passing vehicle while you run.

Race You Are Most Proud of Yourself for Completing - Half at the Hamptons

For about a month leading up to this race, I was dealing with knee pain, that I now know was my torn meniscus, so I had no idea if I was going to be able to finish or not. My stepdaughter and I joined forces to finish this one using a run/walk plan and we did it.

Tell me about your 2014 races. Pick a category from the list or make one of your own.

This post is also part of the Fitness Friday link up hosted by Jill.

GNC PUREDGE: Chocolate Protein Mug Cake

The following post is written on behalf of GNC through my relationship with Linqia. All opinions are my own.

Over the past few months I have been coping with running injuries, recovering from knee surgery, dealing with digestive issues and overcoming fatigue. It hasn't been easy, to say the least.

However, the GNC PUREDGE line is easy to integrate into your every day life. The line includes a variety of products to meet several different needs: amino, energy, bars, and protein.

The GNC PUREDGE line is whole-food based and promises:

- No Gluten-added ingredients

- No GMO-added ingredients

- No banned substances

- No artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners

- No preservatives

- No wheat, yeast, fish, or egg

- No sugar alcohols 

GNC Complete Amino includes glutamine, so it was the first product I tried. Glutamine is known to help muscle recovery, fight illness, and improve digestion. It was recently recommended to me by a running friend. When I mixed with water it tasted a lot like the tropical punch Kool-Aid I drank as a kid. I have been blending it into my morning smoothies The tropical punch flavor overpowers the fruits and vegetables, but it is still good.

GNC Daily Energy is recommended to jumpstart your day or your workout. After days of hauling myself around school on a crutch, I was running on empty at the end of the day. Adding a scoop of cherry limeade to my smoothie gave me a boost, but the flavor didn't overpower my freggies.

GNC Complete Protein Bars are easy to toss into your lunch bag as I like to do. As much as I wanted to love these, both flavors tasted a little too much like vitamins to me. I'm very picky about my protein bars though.

GNC Complete Protein was my favorite product...maybe because it was chocolate! I had been looking for an excuse to make some sort of dessert and this product gave me a great excuse.

Inspired by an awesome recipe from Julie for chocolate mug cake, I made some modifications to make it gluten-free and protein packed so it can be a delicious post-workout indulgence!

I can't believe how easy it was to make cake…and in the microwave.

How do you use your chocolate protein?

Don't forget to check out all the GNC PUREDGE products here.

This post is also part of the #WIAW link up hosted by Jen

#HolidaySweat Challenge Week 3 Update

I don't know why it's taken me this long to do a Holiday Sweat Challenge post, but here we go!

Week 3 started as I was 4 days post-op from my meniscus surgery. I stayed home from school an extra day to give my knee one more day of rest in the hopes of reducing the still significant swelling.

I tried to ice my knee and get some work done, but after a wellness call from Dr. O's office I spent three hours getting an ultra sound and waiting for the results. The good news was I had no clots, the bad news was I had to limit my weight bearing by using one crutch until the end of the week.

My week of workouts suffered as a result of my recovery. On one hand I couldn't do much because of my knee and on the other I was exhausted. Maybe my body was working overtime for the healing process and maybe maneuvering myself around with one crutch is just tiresome.

In addition to tracking workouts during the challenge, we also track our servings of fruit, vegetables, and water. This part of the challenge has been eye-opening.

Monday - Arm strength workout (you can check it out here) and leg exercises. Water and 3 freggie servings.

Tuesday - Another arm workout, water, and 3 freggie servings. Bed at 8:15 PM

Wednesday - Water and 3 freggie servings. Bed at 8 PM

Thursday - Leg exercises, water, and 3 freggie servings. Bed at 7:30 PM!!

Friday - Leg exercises, water, and 3 freggie servings. Bed at 8 PM

Saturday - Spent 2 hours walking around the mall Christmas shopping. Normally this would not feel like a workout, but it was the most walking I've done (crutch-free) in over a week! 2 serving freggies and tons of water.

Sunday - Arm strength workout and leg exercises. 4 freggie servings and tons of water.

This challenge has shown me how much I am lacking in my water intake. Add to that some medicine that can cause constipation, and well…not so good for my tummy. At the end of the week I saw an article on Facebook about a woman who drank 3 liters of water a day and changed her life (read it here). I knew I had to make some changes myself.

I started using the Plant Nanny app after my friend Dani told me about it. It's an easy way to keep track of how much water I'm drinking and reach my daily goal. The app also gives me my own "plant" and every time I drink water, I water the plant and watch it grow. I named my plant Water Baby.

What do you track?
Do you use an app?

Workout Wednesday: Arms on Fire

PT for my knee will not start until I'm two weeks post-op, YIKES! That's a long time.

It didn't take long for me to remember that there is nothing wrong with my arms or abs and the wise words of Christine from TI Fitness, "You'll be a better runner with a strong upper body."

She's right. In "Run Better By Working Your Upper Body" from Runner's World, Nikki Kimball explains the importance of upper body strength.

"The best distance athletes don't just have impressive quads and glutes. They have muscular arms and shoulders that help them maintain speed throughout their races. When you run, your arms counterbalance the motion of your legs, resulting in saved energy. The swing of the arms helps propel the body forward so the lower body isn't doing all the work. And a strong upper body bolsters a runner's form when fatigue sets in."

Since I only own a pair of light hand weights, I thought about the arm workouts that had me near tears at Booty Barre. Those 10 minute strength sessions were about repetitions, not weight.

You may be looking at that set of exercises and thinking, serving tray? bowling? 

They really are exercises (I promise) and they look like this:

At then end of the first circuit, my arms were already feeling the burn. Each exercise got harder and harder to do.

Using my 2 pound weights, the whole workout took me about 15 minutes

and

my arms were on fire.



Do you prefer reps or weight?

This post is part of the Workout Wednesday link up hosted by 

Diatta, Sheila, Amanda and Heather

#DishtheFit: What's Next? Goals for 2015

Today I'm linking up with Jill Conyers and Jessica for Tuesdays #DishtheFit and today's topic is:

What's next? Goals for 2015.

Honestly, it is hard to think about 2015 while I'm sitting here with ice on my knee and crutches by my side.

It seemed best to start by looking back at my Bucket List for 2014 for a little recap of my year. My goal to hit 1000 miles was curtailed by all of my injuries. I ran at least 2 new races during 2014: the TI Disco Fever 10K and the Ragnar Relay Cape Cod. Although I did not add another state to my places I have raced list, I did run a lot of miles in Vermont! Two new activities that I tried were Stand Up Paddle Boarding and Zip Lining. Sadly I was closed out of the coaching certification class, but I continued to make healthy food choices and fell in love with smoothies!

It didn't take long for the little walk down memory lane to get me thinking. What is next for me?

Rehab my knee - My first priority is to get back into my running shoes. My goal is to be logging miles by the end of January.

Build my overall strength - I want to take at least one cross training class every week and focus on my upper body strength so I'll be a better runner.

Volunteer at another race - I did this with MRTT at the GOTR Fall 5K and it was so amazing to be part of such a big day for so many runners. I'd love to volunteer at the Boston Marathon (fingers crossed).

Just run - That's it. No worries about distance, pace, or PRs. More group runs, more fun runs, more family runs.

Be the BEST Ambassador - It will be my mission to spread my love of running wherever I can: the high school Run Club, a National Running Day event,  ZOOMA Cape Cod in September. (see discount on my sidebar!)

What's next for you? 
Any big plans in 2015?

I've also added this post to the Tuesdays on the Run link up!