My New Trainer

Last month, I got some money in a few birthday cards, and I immediately knew what I was going to spend it on. With the addition of the Weasel into my life, I do not get to ride my bike nearly as often as I would like. If I want to ride, I have to strap the bike to the Subaru and drive 30 minutes (we live in the country!) to drop her off at the hourly care facility, and then drive 10 more minutes to a decent place to ride all the while stressed out that I won't get back to the car in time to pick her up. Or, I can pay our sitter $10/hour to watch the Weasel and try to stay alive on the 55 mph road that we live off of. Neither option is all that enticing, so my bike has been collecting dust over the last year. 


Well now I'm the proud owner of this:

Source

It's the Travel Trac Century V fluid trainer and I'm thrilled with it thus far. First of all, there are hundreds of options out there for trainers, ranging from $100 to $3000. It was not an easy selection. I happened upon this guy on one of our local yardsale sites and the seller was asking for $90. What a steal, right? Well, after much communication, I finally managed to meet up with him and handed him a crisp $100 bill. He only had a $20 for change, so I got the trainer at an even better bargain...$80!!  

I've used it twice (and I'm about to hop on it now before the Weasel is up for the day). It's much more challenging than riding outside in my humble opinion. My garage is like a small sweat chamber, but I kept myself motivated by watching Ironman videos on my iPhone:) I'm about to steal Jason's small laptop that he took to Afghanistan so I can watch DVDs while I train. 

Now I've just got to build up my biking muscles so I can ride for longer than 20 minutes. It's a great way to cross train during nap time and now I can sign up for a triathlon without worrying about how I hardly trained on the bike. 

Do you have a trainer? Do you have any great workouts you do on the trainer? 

Best Friend + Care Package = One Happy Runner

I'm hosting a baby shower for my friend, Lynsey, in May, and she wanted to get me a little gift just to say thank you. She veered away from the traditional hostess gift of a candle or bottle of wine, and instead, went out and gathered some awesome products that she thought I might like. Here's a peek at the care package:

I'm in love with all things Honey Stinger and Nuun, but Lynsey got me a Honey Stinger gel and a new flavor of their organic energy chews that I've never tried, plus a new flavor of Nuun! I've never tried the Hammer Heed products, but I just got a new bike trainer (there will be a post about that) and I'm itching to sign up for a triathlon, so those will definitely come in handy on future bike rides. What runner doesn't love great socks? I've got a pair of Balega's, but the other pair, Thorlo's Experia, are new to me and I can't wait to wear them. And best of all, she sent me a new Brooks running hat...and isn't it PRETTY?!

I seriously have the best friends a running gal could ask for! Thanks Lynsey...you're so thoughtful! Love you!

Care Packages for Deployed Marines

Yes, this is a running blog, but I'm going to take a little liberty here and go down a different path (I can do that, I'm one of the co-writers)!  As my company gets ready to deploy to Afghanistan, people are always asking, "What do you guys need?  What can we send you?"  In an effort to help, here are some ideas that I've gathered from other deployments:

Hygiene Items

Toothbrushes

Travel Sized toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner

Colgate Wisps (pretty much the greatest invention ever)

Baby wipes

Foot powder

Snacks

Anything home baked!  Homemade chocolate chip cookies can do wonders for morale!

Beef jerky

Sunflower seeds

Picky Bars (ok, this one's really just for me, but they are AWESOME)

Candy (not chocolate though)

Miscellaneous

Cards/Letters

Hand/foot warmers 

Phone cards (so the Marines can make morale calls)

Socks

If you want to send something to the Marines of 1st Radio Battalion, here are the addresses for the deployment and they will be activated on 5 January.  You don't have to know anyone in the Battalion, just address it to "The Marines of 1st Radio Battalion" and someone out there will truly be grateful for your kindness and generosity!  (There are three addresses because we have Marines at multiple locations.)

Rank Name

1ST RAD BN OCAC

UNIT 42605

FPO AP 96427-2605

1ST RAD BN OCE-1

UNIT 42606

FPO AP 96427-2606

1ST RAD BN OCE-2

UNIT 42606

FPO AP 96427-2607

Someone's joining the skirt revolution...

And it's me! Courtesy of my dear sister, Jessica, I am now the proud owner of a running skirt!

I'm not positive, but I think this baby will make me faster:) This awesome skirt is one of the designs by the famous Running Skirts, created by twin sisters attempting to add a little flare to our lame running apparel! 

These women are absolutely stunning and I can't wait to try out this skirt that has been featured in so many running magazines. They also included a pair of free gloves in the package and the skirt came in a great mesh bag that will be perfect for keeping my daughters socks together in the laundry!

So here's a HUGE thank you to my own dear twin and to this set of twins who are changing the look of women's running!

Surprise: An Early Christmas Gift

Yes, I know it's mid-November, but since Jessica is deploying to Afghanistan sometime in December, she sent me an early Christmas gift. She had always been a generous person. Whenever she finds something great, she typically buys two and sends me one! It's great to be the same size as someone else:)

This year, she outdid herself! We are always talking about getting the latest gear for running because in the back of our minds, we think that someone out there has created a product that will make us faster, make us run longer. And though in reality, we both realize these products don't exist, there are some things on the market that can improve our overall performance (or just make us look cooler).

Here's the loot:

Test packets of Ultima drink mix which provides electrolyte replacement with no sugar. Brooks bag for race day supplies. A tube of nuun drink tablets which we're giving away but I've never tried. Honey Stinger wafers and chews. Running Skirts arm warmers in an awesome paisley pattern! Full-fingered biking gloves. 2XU compression socks.

Seriously, BEST SISTER EVER! And I'm definitely going to be faster now!

Can't wait to try these. Jessica says they should be relabeled as "Crack Waffles" because they are that good!

I recently purchased what I thought was a pair of compression socks from Under Armour. When I put them on fairly easily, I thought it was a bit strange. Then I tried these 2XU socks and WOW...what a difference. I immediately noticed a huge difference in the level of compression. So here's a tip: save yourself the $20 on the great deal for Under Armour socks, and splurge for the real deal.