Review Crew: Gu

The original. Highly imitated, never duplicated Gu. Well, at least that’s the way I look at it. It could very well be that Gu was not the first ever created energy boosting performance enhancing electrolyte replenishing gel for runners, but it was the first I had ever heard of when I started going out for the long haul training for my first marathon. So, that’s the way it stands in my book.

It was a friend of mine from high school, also training for her first marathon at the time, that introduced me to Gu. She just mentioned something about vanilla bean gu in casual conversation as if it was something I was supposed to know about to which I simply nodded in agreement all the while wondering what the heck “gu” was. Considering my previous experiences with gulike substances would not be something I’d call edible (“hmmm…look what I just found under the back seat of my car in the middle of a hot hot summer?” Lift lid. Sniff. “Ewww…what exactly is this gu?”) much less described as a delightful little flavor like “vanilla bean,” I did what any aspiring runner would do, I googled it.

And lo and behold this is what I discovered: in short, a teeny tiny little packet of gel you suck down during a run to give you an energy boost. For the long version, what exactly is in Gu and why it works, visit the Gu website here.

Now for me, Gu gel is similar to Gu Chomps. It doesn’t pack quite enough punch. I am a tremendously heavy sweater and because of this I need to consume more electrolytes on a run than the average bear. I do use Gu on shorter long runs (is that an oxymoron?) of say 7-10 miles, but anything longer than that and I am opting for Gu Roctane or E-Gel instead with the higher sodium content (more on both of those in an upcoming review). I will also use Gu, similar to the Gu Chomps, pre-run if I haven’t eaten in awhile and I don’t have time to eat a real meal, wait for digestion, then run. And then there’s Gu for dessert, but that’s really an entirely different story (which happens to be located here if you’re interested. Yes, I do believe vanilla bean is just that good.)

Gu comes in a variety of flavors and over time I’ve pretty much had them all except espresso love as I just can’t quite bring myself to like coffee no matter how hard I try (oh wait…I have also never tried mint chocolate or jet blackberry. It seems they do not carry these lovely flavors at my running store. Hmmm…how to get my hands on some? Wonder if anybody I know at my favorite PR company, Outside PR, could come to my rescue and save me from the virtually desperate situation that is my mint chocolate/jet blackberryless short long runs? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? )

My personal favorite is yes, vanilla bean with plain a close second, but really all the rest are pretty good too and there’s no funky after taste like power gels or some of the others.  So I keep a mixed bunch in my repertoire in order to be fully prepared for whatever my taste buds might be craving for on any particular day.

I should also mention, that in the smattering of flavors Scott from Outside PR sent me to give a shot, he included the newly developed mandarin orange flavor. I’m not a huge orange fan and in particular when I think mandarin orange, I think strong flavor, but not so much here. It’s more of a soft subtle orange flavor, not overpowering or super sweet (super sweet = not good while running. Trust me). Very tasty. Definitely keep an eye out for that one when it hits your running store and give it a try.

As for The Crew, here’s there take on Gu:

RunSis Says:

“When I first started running, I couldn't run and drink so my first try with gu went horribly wrong. Now that I'm a more "seasoned" runner and can proudly drink and run (PSA: never drink and drive), I gave Gu another shot. It went down a lot easier than my first attempt. I tried lemon sublime and it tasted good, a little on the sweet side and left a sweet aftertaste that I eventually chased away with Gatorade endurance. I don't think I'm ready to make the switch from chomps to Gu, but I'm not afraid anymore to experiment with Gu.”

The Spazz Says:

Flavor: Espresso Love
“What can I say, I felt the love. Espresso Love contains 2x the caffeine as regular gels and it truly packs a punch. As a coffee drinker I loved the flavor and the energy boost. I took one before a 5 am run of 4 ½ miles and felt peppy and alert the entire time. However, I would suggest skipping the 2x caffeine of Espresso Love and opting for regular strength for caffeine sensitive runners.”

  Flavor: Chocolate Outrage
"This is my all-time favorite Gu flavor. I purchase this stuff by the case.
Chocolate Outrage has the regular/lighter level of caffeine, and a smooth chocolate flavor. If you are not a big fan of the taste of Gu I suggest trying this one. The chocolate flavor isn’t very different than a melted Hershey’s Bar.”

Flavor: Strawberry Banana
"I also enjoyed this flavor. Strawberry Banana does not contain any caffeine, so it is a good substitute for caffeine sensitive runners or for mixing up between caffeinated gels and non-caffeinated gels.”

 

Mobile Mile Marker Says

Huh. I know it was right here somewhere. What happened to MMM’s review? Uh oh. I do believe it may have been absorbed into a certain 4 year old’s art project as most pieces of paper lying around will. (What can I say, she’s a terrific recycler.) But I know you’re all dying to hear his thoughts, so maybe he’ll send it over to me again? Cross your fingers.

Next up on the review agenda: Gu Roctane and finally, what you’ve all been waiting for…the sweaty sweaty me story (what? Did you all think I was going to say Gu giveaway. Yeah, yeah that’s coming too, but really my sweat. What could possibly be more interesting?) Stay tuned.

 

P.S. While you’re still hanging around, try to score yourself a running headband or some super sweatproof  sunscreen. Click here for details.

A Word to the Wise (finished) & A Word on Michigan

You know the old runner’s saying: “Do not try anything new on race day”? I’m thinking maybe that should be extended to race week. Do not try anything new the week of your race. Wait…now let me repeat this slowly in case you’re just perusing quickly through:

Do. NOT. Try. Anything. New. The. Week. Of. Your. Race. PERIOD.

“Oh, but it’s just a short run.”

“Yeah, but this is really no big deal.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Come on, what are the chances?”

“I think I can handle it.”

NOPE. Stop. Back up. Go read my boldly printed slowly written period excessive sentence again. Under NO circumstances should you try something new the week of your race (unless perhaps your children are being chased by a smelly pack of wild foaming at the mouth hyenas who are angry because your daughter just tried to give them a makeover while they were sleeping or some other highly unlikely extreme makeover scenario gone wrong situation).

You see, I did end up going on vacation Up North this week. For those of you who are not familiar with the general location of Up North, that would be for us Michiganders anywhere in the fine state of Michigan below the Upper Peninsula and above the approximate middle of the mitten. Really, if you’re not from around here you should know we in Michigan throw around the term “Up North” like it’s going out of style in the summer time. Not only are we surrounded by the Great Lakes around here, but we are FULL of literally thousands of gorgeous inland lakes. Therefore, the vast majority of Michiganians will head towards the north and to the edges of the state anywhere there’s water in the hot months for at least a weekend. And honestly, if you’ve never been on a vacation in Michigan you are SERIOUSLY missing out. Think rolling forested hills, pristine white sandy beaches, crystal clear blue water (with nothing that can eat you in it), cozy quaint friendly little towns, and fabulous food including of course tasty yummy fudge…mmmm….

I can not think of a place I’d rather be in the summer than Up North right here in Michigan. And on that note, we’ll pause here briefly for a commercial interruption. After the break…my foolish race week mistake and the results thereof. Is the weekend tri up in the air now? Back…in 60 seconds…

So we were in Frankfort this past weekend at the Harbor Lights Resort right on the shore of Lake Michigan. THE perfect place to go for a little barefoot beach run, although my husband wisely called me off suggesting I probably didn’t want to tackle that for the first time the week of my tri. What if I stepped on a shell? Or the sand was a far harder workout on my legs than I thought?

Taking his advice I decided to run on a bike path, through town, and then on the sidewalk to get in a little 4 mile run. But the brilliant beach running idea was followed by an even more brilliant idea #2, why not run sans socks? Now I realize this is not exactly the same as running barefoot on the beach, but I figured it was a little bit closer to it and more importantly, I was planning on running this weekend’s tri (3 mile run) without socks on to save time in transition. I mean, I ran the last tri (1.5 mile run) without socks on and had only the mildly irritated beginnings of a blister so what the heck? How much worse could it get? Let’s just throw caution to the wind shall we and try 3 or 4 without socks.

Now, I guess if I look at this positively, it’s better I found out what a 3 mile run without socks will do to feet that have not been properly acclimated to running in such a fashion BEFORE the race. Let’s just say by the time I hit 3 of the 4 miler, I was sensing something was wrong and about a 1/2 mile later I felt that something wrong tear open. So I stopped to remove my shoes and take a peek.

Lord have mercy! My shoes chewed my feet up and spit them out. I’ve got two huge blisters on each of the insoles of my feet and the skin on my right heel has pretty much been ripped right off (that’d be the something wrong tearing open). It’s ridiculous. (I like to call them my battle scars, but my husband says in order for them to actually qualify as battle scars I probably had to be running for more than 40 minutes. To which I pointed out that the actual time of injury in battle makes no difference, the only requirement for a battle scar is to be in battle. Although he astutely noted, I was not in an actual battle. A point which I was forced to concede. But then again, if one were to look at the wounds on my feet, one might suggest that the damage my shoes caused would certainly qualify them as a some sort of violent aggressor to be fought OR say it with me now…battled. But I digress…again…)

To make matters worse (because let’s be honest here folks, that’s totally the way I roll), I walked around on the sandy beach all day with my kiddos (why deprive them because of my silly mistake?) thus rubbing dirt into the open wound on the back of my heel and further exacerbating the closed blisters to just this side of monstrous. Which although make fascinating skin bubbles for my 4 year old to look at, are more than a little annoying for me.

**SIGH** So that would be my current conditioned. Irritated. Basically, as I sit here with my feet in a bowl of warm water and sea salt, thanks to the terrific suggestion of my fellow running blog mamma, Cynthia, I’m thinking about just blowing off transition #1 on Sunday and taking all the time I want to put on some socks, maybe even a band aid (or two…or three) before I head off on the bike after the swim. My goal for the race can be to swim, ride, and maybe, depending on the feet, run a faster pace than at the last tri and not worry about the total finishing time. It’s kind of hard to compare the two anyway, because the distances are not exactly the same (400 yard swim not 400 meters, 11 miles on the bike not 10.7, 3 mile run not 1.5 miles).

Either way, I have serious doubts though that I’ll be getting through this one with out causing some more damage. But at least in the eyes of my husband, it’ll take long enough the be a “battle scar”. In the words of a famous greens keeper, “So, you know, I got that going for me.” (Anybody know that one?)

And the lesson from all this besides if you’re going to run without socks or barefoot you might want to start slooooooowly is: DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING RACE WEEK. Your feet will thank-you.

P.S. Best place to travel in Michigan? I’m partial to Lewiston on East Twin Lake where my Grandpa’s cabin used to be, but unless it’s changed a lot since I was a kid, it wasn’t really a touristy town. Here’s a few of my other favorite Michigan places in no particular order except for the way they pop into my head: Ludington, Grand Haven, Mackinaw, Mackinac Island, Traverse City, Leelanau Peninsula, Silver Lake…I could go on and on, but let my defer to my fellow Michigan enthusiats. Anybody else have any other favorite summer Michigan vacation destinations? Leave us a comment and/or a link to check out.

P.P.S. Gu review. Tonight! In the meantime, check out two of my other recent reviews/giveaways, Scarlett Craft Running Headbands and Scape Sunscreen. There’s still time to get in on the giveaways if your interested and it really doesn’t take much to enter. Really. I swear. If you’re reading this, you’re probably only one or two clicks away from entering. Promise. It’ll take all of 30 seconds.

Well that was not supposed to happen

Oops. Guess I shouldn't try to blog while my kids are both awake eh? They both seemed busy enough in their little play room, but one thing led to another and VOILA! An unfinished post was published earlier today.

My apologies. I have no idea what you read exactly (although I'm about to find out). All I know is I went to edit my draft on Live Writer and I got a message that to do so the post would have to be retrieved from my blog. Uhhhhh....come again? That's when I realized instead of save draft, I must have hit publish post. Wups.

To those of you who stumbled on it earlier today, SORRY! Think of it as the coming attractions (plus spelling errors). I hope you'll stop back later for the rest of the post (yes, I can complete a thought and don't typically just leave things hanging mid tangent.) If you hadn't noticed, carry on then. Nothing to see here.

Review Crew: Scape Sunscreen + Giveaway

But first an update. Shoulder and neck are about 95% back to normal. (Thank God for Chiropractors!) And the 20 mile run is in and done. And yes, it was done on the treadmill which makes me a rock star…or completely insane. But since a fair number of rock stars seem to have in fact completely lost their mind (think Brittney Spears a year or so ago), I feel the term aptly applies.

My sister and mom on the other hand, prefer to consider it something of CIA undercover spy training. In the unfortunate case of my capture by our enemies, should they chose torture by treadmill, I would not break. No sir. They would get no sensitive intelligence from me. However, it was duly noted that should my captors wisely choose to offer me chocolate I would of course be forced to comply and squeal like a pig ;-)

But onto the sunscreen…

When I was offered the chance to test out and review Scape, I jumped on it. I’m a massive sweater (to be discussed in a future post. Aren’t you so excited?) with the uncanny ability to sweat off just about anything. But a sunscreen developed by an endurance athlete? Oh yeah baby, sign me up. SPF 50+. Waterproof. Sweatproof. Noncomedogenic. Vitamin E & Antioxidants. Sounds good right?

So they sent me the lotion and the lip balm and I tested them both out on an 18 mile run. The first thing I noticed about the lotion is that it’s thick and I don’t know why that seems like a good thing, but it just does. Like somehow the thickness would make it stay on better or form an impenetrable force field that the suns rays could just not pierce.

There’s no weird sunblocky fragrance. There is a fragrance, but it’s very mild and doesn’t make you smell like you just left a tanning bed or something (not really sure why you’d wear sunblock to a tanning bed anyway, but I think you get my point).

Now, I’d already been running outside quite a bit, so I’ve got a nice (runner’s) tan going on which makes it highly unlikely that I’d get burnt (it’s just the way I am. But don’t worry I still wear sunblock anyway). So to fairly and accurately test out this product, I had to pull out the big gun (this is how much I love you all). I bared that blinding white rarely see the sun belly and ran in just a sports bra. But wait…because that’s not all. What I did was wear my shirt for about 7 miles to see if it would rub the sunscreen off, THEN I took off my shirt and finished the run.

Results? No sunburn. No running in my eyes. I’m sold.

And the lip balm? Goes on nice and smooth and flat out just feels good on your lips. Thumbs up on this one too!

RunDad Says:

“Sunscreen worked great. Stayed on during the entire 8 mile run. Sweat did not wash it into my eyes. Very waterproof.”

RunSis Says:

“Funscreen- Thumbs up- Just to let you all know, I am the whitest person EVER and have been known to get sunburned on a cloudy day. I used it before my 18 miler in the Great Sahara (of Michigan) and did not get sunburnt, not even when my run went horribly wrong and I cut my run SIX miles short and basically laid on a big hill and attempted to get a "suntan" while I waited for my husband to finish.”

So who wants some? Scape was nice enough to send me a second care package of sunscreen AND the lip balm to give out to one lucky reader. (Thank-you very much Scape!). So let’s have ourselves another little giveaway shall we? You all probably know the drill by now, but just in case somebody new is out there, let’s review what you need to do to enter. And in honor of blog reader Tracy, I shall tell you BEFORE you get to the methods of entry that you only need to leave me one comment instead of individual comments to let me know each way you’re entering. Think of it as my little gift to you :-)

REQUIRED ENTRY:

1. Become a follower of this blog or let me know you already are one via the comments.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

• Follow Scape on Twitter
• Follow me on Twitter
• Tweet about this contest
• Add Scape as a friend on Facebook
• Become a Secrets of a Running Mom fan on Facebook
• Suggest Secrets of a Running Mom to some of your FB friends
• Update your Facebook status about this contest
• Join me on the Daily Mile
• Add me to your blog roll
• Blog about this contest
• Send me something funny to post under Grins & Giggles at runfastmommy@gmail.com (family friendly please)

And as always if you are already a FB fan, Twitter follower, Daily Mile friend, or I’m on your blog roll, just let me know. That counts too. Same if you are following Scape or a friend of Scape on FB. All entries must be received by Thursday, August 5th at 11:59:59 PM. I’ll announce the winner on Friday, August 6th.

Good luck!

P.S. Don’t forget there’s still time to enter the giveaway for a running head band too! Click here for details.

Epic Fail

Don’t ever ask me to go with you to a casino. Unless of course you’re looking to leave a lot of cash one their tables. Then I. Am. Your. Girl.

Let’s just say my gamble with the weather this weekend did NOT pay off. I am currently 20less and you might have noticed no second contest has been posted yet.

Quick re-cap. Friday after my post weighing the options of running through a thunderstorm Saturday am or pushing it off to a more pleasantly forecasted Sunday and promising to post another giveaway later that evening, my family and I headed out for dinner only to have our plans thwarted by a faster moving than expected storm front. Yeah, when the clouds appear to start dropping down out of a nearly pitch black sky, it’s time to seek shelter. So we did at our nearest relative’s.

With two little girlies hopped up on an evening at Grandma’s and all the fun that entails, it was a late bedtime for them and alas for me, no second post.

Fast forward to Saturday morning, you know, the Saturday morning that I had decided not to run and the rain was…absent. Mr. weatherman got it wrong AGAIN. Yep. Nada on thunderstorms. Just a little rain on and off but nothing one wouldn’t run through. I’d like to say something here to the effect of on the bright side I got to sleep in, but my youngest got up at 5:30 am. So, not so much.

All day Saturday was spent grocery shopping and cleaning because we’re kind of sort of possibly planning on going out of town (going out of town = the one time I must have my house clean from top to bottom. Who wants to come home to rest from a busy vacation of resting and do it in a messy house? Who can rest in a mess?). But I began to notice a little twinge in my neck and it was progressively getting worse. By the evening it had spread to my shoulder and I was begging my husband to massage it.

So yada yada yada, I’ll spare you all the details of trying to get to sleep with a shoulder/neck in a great deal of pain (sort of similar to trying to find a comfortable sleeping position when 9 months pregnant). It just wasn’t happening. At 4:30 am I finally got up, scratch that, sort of rolled out of bed (the way you do when your neck is useless to you) to get ready to run.  At this point now, I can no longer really turn my head and I started to think running might not be such a good idea.

Now technically, I realize, you don’t actually need your head so much to run. Eyes ahead. Go. That’s pretty much it right? Though without the use of my head, I might risk being branded a running snob not being able to give the casual nod to my fellow runner passersby and all. But perhaps that could be overcome with a mild to moderate wave. But the shoulder, now the shoulder was going to pose a problem as my early morning pajama pretend running in the bathroom would attest. I couldn’t really swing my arm.

Having experienced before how 20 miles can turn something minor into something major (like say for example how a teeny tiny annoyance of a thread out of place on a shirt can turn into a serious flesh wound) I was more than a little nervous about what three plus hours of running would do to enhance an injury. So despite knowing exactly what skipping out on my morning run would mean (20 miles on the treadmill Monday morning after a visit to the chiropractor), I went back to bed.

And as if some grand sign from God, the skies opened up about a half an hour later with massive thunderstorms. Some of which I hear seem to be repeating themselves right about now. **SIGH** Looks like I’m cutting this one short tonight. Power off for me.

P.S. Really. Tomorrow. Review + Giveaway. Swear. It can’t storm all the time.

The Runner's Gamble: The Weather

And so I find myself here once again, staring at the weather for tomorrow weighing the options for my weekend long run. It is not looking good...at least not for tomorrow anyway.

Hot. Mid 80s even in the early am (and by early am we're talking butt crack of dawn early). And thunderstorms. To start tonight and hang around for most of the day tomorrow. And while this slightly excites me because I won't have to water any of my plants (it's the little things), it's not exactly the forecast you hope for when you've got 20 miles on the agenda for morning.

Now Sunday, on the other hand, Sunday's looking good. Mid to high 60's in the morning and not a storm in sight. I don't think you could ask for a better running forecast, at least not in Michigan at the end of July.

It's the great gamble. Do I re-arrange my schedule due to the impending threat of storms and push my long run off 'til Sunday? Mess up my training plan? Call in someone to babysit on Sunday? Risk a whole nother* day of life with the kiddos that provides a plethora of the unexpected with always the potential to get in the way of a run?

Or do I chance that the weather man might just possibly, albeit schockingly (in a world where even the most highly anticipated events are shocking), be wrong? I mean, I have afterall on more than one occassion found myself stuck on a 15+ mile run on my treadmill in the basement due to a gloom and doom forecast that turned out to be bogus all the while watching not a single drip drop fall outside my window (no, no, that wasn't frustrating at all.).

And it's not like I can just take a peek outside the window and decide in the morning, because first of all, who wants to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to check the weather? And secondly, I've got to make arrangements for the girlies. Lastly, maybe this is just me, but when I've got a really big run to do, I want it done not hanging over my head. It's almost as if at any moment I might lose my motivation. So I've got to get it in while the motivation is there before it slips away into the cozy comfort of my bed or some giant bowl of ice cream (nah...let's make that a slice of chocolate cake. I'm not a huge fan of ice cream). I love running. Really, I do, but I'm nearly always on just this side of skipping my run and letting the lazy side of me take control.

So it's a gamble. And here I sit, watching Beauty and the Beast silently debating whether or not running in thunderstorms would actually be THAT bad. Aren't the chances of being struck by lightening like one in a bazillion anyway? Hmmm....



P.S. Think I'll be posting another giveaway tonight. So keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, be sure to enter the giveaway for one of Kat's running head bands here.

*a whole nother: (adj.) completely or entirely another as opposed to half another or a part of another (come on you all know you say it or have heard it said).

Review Crew: Running Head Bands + Giveaway

Because I know you all want one, just like I did.

It’d been awhile since I last had a hair cut (not anymore. I am now currently chopped and blond and rarely resemble my profile picture), my bangs were at that long enough to get into your eyes but not quite long enough to get into your ponytail stage which is in other words insanely frustrating, especially when they’re all sweaty and in your face on a run.

Now, I’d seen some of those running head bands on people before, but just never really pulled the trigger on purchasing one for myself because, well, (brace your self for a really lame reason here) I didn’t really want to pay to have a single head band shipped to me so I could try it out. So, I just opted to wear a hat (which I just recently broke btw. How exactly does one break a hat? I have no idea but I managed to accomplish that feat. So say sayonara to the white Nike hat you see in all my pictures. Sadly, it is no more.) or on shorter treadmill runs I just dealt with the bang annoyance, since it seemed kind of embarrassing to run indoors on a treadmill with a hat on (should anyone happen to break into my house and wander down into my basement to say hello and actually see me while I’m running that is).

Now enter Kat. Kat is a marathoning mom who’s turned her passion for running into a new business. Scarlett Craft is her shop on Etsy. She started sewing head bands for her own workouts using hi tech wicking fabric and making them a little wider than your average running head band so they could stand up to the extra sweating that comes with distance running. She asked me if I’d be willing to test one out and gladly, I obliged.

The one I tested you see in the photo above and I’ll be perfectly honest. It was a major fail for me the first two times I wore it. I wore it once on the bike and then I planned on wearing it at the Rollie Hopgood 5K, but both times it slipped right on off my head at the 5K, during my warmup. I was sorely disappointed because I really really wanted it to work. Now my mom and my dad both had a head band to test out and they were loving it (more on their reviews here in a second), so I figured I must be doing something wrong. And turns out yes, the same woman who broke a hat also apparently can not properly apply a head band. I had put it on just at my hair line and Kat’s head bands need to come on down a little onto the forehead.

Armed with this new knowledge, I gave it another shot on a 6 mile run and am happy to report no slippage and no sweat was able to break through and trickle down into my eyes and let me tell you folks I am a SERIOUS sweater. In fact, it has crossed my mind once or twice before that if I ever got in a serious pinch on a long run, say perhaps there was a hole in one of my fuel belt bottles or some crazy electrolyte deficient cyclist rode by and just snatched one out of my belt and I suddenly found myself without enough electrolyte replacement fluid to get through the run, I could probably just lick myself and be fine. I am completely coated with salt crystals when I finish a long run and shirts are no good to me anymore by mile 8. I get that sweaty.

So yep. It completely works and she has tons of pretty styles (and neutral if you happen to be a fella) that you can choose from. She’s also willing to custom make them if you happen to have a uniquely sized head or if you would like it to say something like 26.2, Runner Girl, or whatever.

Oh and totally aside, my (almost) 2 year old LOVES it. She hardly has any hair, so I like to try and identify her as a girl (so people don’t get embarrassed when they get it wrong) with headbands and bows, but she never leaves them on. On a whim, my mom put her head band on her. Not only did she leave it on, but she kept walking up to people, touching her head band and tilting her head to show it off.

Guess you can say thumbs up for me and my 2 year old!

Mobile Mile Marker Says:

1. “I think I like it. No sweat & I didn't even know it was there.”

Runnana Says:

“I wore my headband while working out on the treadmill. I wore it just about a half inch below my hairline. I found that it really did keep the sweat out of my eyes, was soft and comfortable, and felt very light on my head. I haven't worn it on a run outside yet... I really don't like to have "stuff" on me when I run. I also don't like sweat dripping down my face so I'll probably try it. The one I wore was striped and very cute!”

The Spazz Says:

"Red headband made of moisture wick material ~6” wide and sewn together at the base. I like wearing hats and headbands but this one seemed to slide all over the place. I would suggest adding an anti-slip piece of rubber stitching every inch or so. (Like the sport headbands they sell in the hair-care isle.) I did however like that the moisture wick material didn’t feel rough on my skin and seemed to do a good job of keeping the sweat out of my eyes."

Now if you think you might want to test one of these running head bands yourself, you can hop on over to Scarlett Craft and order one up OR you can enter my giveaway! Kat has graciously offered to give away one head band to one of my readers. Here’s what you have to do to enter:

Required Entry:

1. Become a follower of this blog or let me know you already are one and you want in the giveaway.

2. Head of to Scarlett Craft and let me know which head band you would choose if you won. (Be sure to check out some of Kat’s other sweet stuff while you’re there).

Additional Entries: (Do as many or as few as you like)

• Follow Kat on Twitter
• Follow me on Twitter
• Tweet about this contest
• Become a Run Fast Mommy fan on Facebook
• Suggest Run Fast Mommy to your FB friends
• Status update on FB about this contest
• Come hang out with me on the Daily Mile
• Add me to your blog roll
• Blog about this contest
• Go post the funniest thing your kid has ever said to you (or someone else) on my funny kid post here.

If you are already a twitter follower, fb fan, daily mile friend or I’m on your blog roll, sweet! That counts too. Just let me know what all exactly you’ve done via a comment. One if fine, don’t stress yourself out trying to leave me a bunch of separate comments (unless you really really want to then by all means).

All entries must be received by 11:59:59 PM on Saturday, July 31st. Contest winners will be announced on Sunday, August (**GASP** I can’t believe it’s almost August!) 1st.

Good luck!

Grins & Giggles: Funny things kids say

I’m about to announce a new giveaway here in a few right after I get this last little darling to bed. In the meantime, here’s your mid week giggle:

http://www.davesdaily.com/funpages/funny-kids.htm

Hope a few of them made you chuckle! Feel free to come back and leave us a comment with the funniest thing you’ve heard from your little one. I’ll do the same…if I can narrow it down to one that is.

Um…so I have an idea…

Everyone just sit down and take a deep breath. It’s all going to be ok. But yes, I have an idea again. Last time this happened I believe I found myself riding a bicycle as fast as I could in my bathing suit trying to catch some woman with a black markered 32 on her leg at my first tri. It was fun, just not exactly something I pictured myself doing about this time last year (or, well, ever actually).

Now, I’ve got another one. And it’s hovering somewhere between really just stupid or maybe not so much. So who better to bounce the idea off of than my fellow running mammas eh? Bear with me, because it’s a work in progress, but here’s the idea:

I’m thinking of becoming a running coach. Not in the “hey you, runner there, let me tell you what I think you ought to do” sense, but the real I know what I’m talking about not only because I’ve done it, but also because I’ve studied about it and learned from Obe Wan Runner Kanobe (who’s name I’m sure I’ve spelled incorrectly ;-) ) and I actually have some form of credentials.

My thought is this basically: I love running (you had no idea right?). And running has done great things for me, as probably is true for many of you. I would really really love to share that with others in particular, other moms who would like to get started but don’t know how or maybe just need some encouragement and support to do so (feel free to insert my running story post baby numero uno here if you’re needing an example).

But what I don’t know or what I’m on the fence about is as my husband likes to put it: “is the juice worth the squeeze?” Is there a market out there for moms who want to run and are looking for a coach? Or is this just a big fat waste of time, money and energy that would be far better spent playing another game of dress up with my 4 year old?

So, I leave the floor to you, my blog family, any thoughts, opinions, advice, etc. on my little idea (Be gentle please if you are going to crush my slowly morphing dream here). Do I go break out the check book and sign up for coaching certification or put on a princess crown?

**SIGH** This has been on my mind solid, for a week now. Help please.

P.S. I PROMISE I won’t be integrating coaching with my blog. Other than perhaps asking for a few guinea pigs once certification is complete. I know you’re all here for my ridiculously random running stories (no Kelly. It’s the goods. The free goods you giveaway. Duh.) not running advice. I’ll form a separate site for that if I need to.

Grins & Giggles: Toddler Tri Training

A day late, but still worth a grin I do believe (will I ever get these up on Wednesday? Maybe I should just switch the day to Thursday).

Remember after the Iron Goddess Tri I told you I spent the rest of the day training my girls for their own? Well, one of my little girlies was taking that seriously…

I’ll be shopping around for a tiny wet suit and swim cap later today. I think the cycling shoes might be a challenge though ;-)

P.S. You might be wondering exactly what she is holding next to her cheek. That’d be broccoli. After all, what serious triathlete doesn’t bring a little broccoli to their competitions? Hers is just plastic though. Practice broccoli.

P.P.S. Don’t forget, if YOU’VE got something you think is worth a grin or a giggle that you’d like to share send it to me at runfastmommy@gmail.com.