Kudos For You!! {Review & Instagram Giveaway}

Posted by hellyontherun in Giveaway, Product Review, Running and tagged with , , , , , ,

Hope everyone stateside had a Happy Thanksgiving!! So Americans know the day after Thanksgiving is a big shopping day….well, here on my blog, today is all about things FREEEEE!!!!

I was given the opportunity to try out a product called Kudos Coaster and I have an extra one to giveaway to those living in the contiguous United States!! This giveaway is on my Instagram only, but I made a blog post to really give you info on the product:)

We all wonder what to do with the medals we accumulate, and the people at Kudos Coaster thought of a GENIUS idea to use them for something productive! And while runners/athletes can use the coaster for medals, there are SO many other uses.

Of course, I went the medal route 😀 Lucky for me, The box has thorough instructions as does the website on how pull it together. I didn’t want my medal to rattle, and I saw that adding enough inserts would make it snug enough.

The hardest part was really choosing the medal, lol! You can see that it has to be a certain shape/size and a lot of race companies are deviating from traditional round medals. Yet, I still had quite a few to choose from:)

 

For details on how you can win a FREE Kudos Coaster Plus, head over to my Instagram page at @hellyontherun! If you don’t want to wait to see if you win, well, it is Black Friday 😉

Deal only for 11/23/2018.

–What are some fun ways you’ve re-purposed your medals??

–What is your current favorite medal?

 

2018 3TV Phoenix 10k

Posted by hellyontherun in 10k, Race, Running and tagged with , , , , ,

This was my first time participating in Phoenix’s longest running 10k so I was super excited to cross it off my list.

The course is great–flat, fast, and PR friendly. And yep, I certainly benefitted from it finishing in 45:41, over a minute and thirty seconds improvement from my last 10k two years ago!

Thank you, Athlinks!

I was ecstatic, obviously, to PR and meet my time goal (which was 45:xx), PRs getting harder to snag and all. But, I have to admit that I was disappointed in my execution.

Oh, Helly….

The plan was to start at or around 7:25 and try to progress from there, but yeah, that didn’t happen. Of course, like most people say when they start out too fast, it felt good at the time, lol! And honestly, I didn’t look at my watch so I didn’t really know how fast I was going until the mile split rang. I knew 6:54 for a first mile was ridiculous, and I did try to slow down, and felt like I did–only to see mile two ring in at 7:01.

I knew I was in trouble then.

It never crossed my mind that perhaps I could maintain that pace. I knew I would slow down and I wanted to try my hardest to soften the damage, PR still in mind.

And sure enough, miles 3 and 4 were a struggle but nothing compared to miles 5 and 6 where I felt like I was running with sand bags for legs. I kept trying to surge, maintain frame, and not fully lose control. But it was hard.

When I turned the final corner (there were a lot of them), I saw the clock and saw that 45 was still there. I ran with whatever was left in me to squeeze in. And I did it!! Some how, some way I managed to not completely fall apart! #WIN

So while I am happy I met the 45:xx, 7:15 avg pace goal I had, I am a teensy bummed it was so ugly, lol! And not even pretty ugly–you know what I mean? I know the rules, I know better, so it’s hard for me to even say this is a lesson learned because I. already. know. this. lesson.

My husband, gosh I love him, told me, “Hey, if you reverse the miles and go backwards, you would’ve loved the splits!”

Which is true–so in my mind from now on, I’ll read the splits in reverse. Ha!

And yes, I will still gladly accept my new 10k PR, Athlinks! ❤

PR!!!!

–Have you gotten an ugly PR?

–Do you suffer from starting-out-too-fast syndrome?

Athlinks sponsored the 10k for me but I assure you, all thoughts and opinions and ugly splits are my own.

 

Progress, Not Perfection

Posted by hellyontherun in 10k, Fitness, Healthy Eating, Race and tagged with , , , , , ,

Welp, I’m T-minus 3 days for race day!! I mentioned a 10k I have planned for on Sunday and my intentions are to run it FAST. I’m a little scared, lol!!

Truth be told, I really want a PR. And considering I haven’t actually raced a 10k, a PR isn’t too farfetched. I last ran a 10k about two years ago when my friend Amber visited me to do an Arizona race. I recommended Lost Dutchman because of its beautiful desert scenery.

Except it was cold, cloudy, and torrential down pouring that day 😦

Fun times

Despite the awful weather, we both had decent races. She placed 5th female overall and 2nd in her age group for the half marathon and I placed 1st in my age group for the 10k (even after stopping to tie my shoe!).

Amber the Runner and me ❤

I ran a 47:14 with a 7:35 average pace.

Fast forward almost two years and I feel like I can beat that…

…but by how much?

That is the big question.

I have a number goal in mind…an ambitious one, but my hope is to run the race HARD, whatever that might produce. I know my “hard” is different than my “hard” from two years ago so I’m curious to see what I can make happen given good race juju.

I’ve had some pretty good training runs lately that has boosted my confidence. But, my diet has still been realllly bad #storyofmylife

I was invited to work with a trainer at a gym called PNP Fitness (Progress Not Perfection) and while at the beginning I thought we’d be talking more things fitness, our conversations have turned to all things diet.

You all know I’ve struggled with food/eating healthy for a looooong time. I feel like each time I try and change my habits, I fall back to the same unhealthy patterns.

Meeting with Will from PNP these past few weeks has been some good tough love I’ve needed. He’s really made me confront some of the reasons I go to fast food and convenience.

Some things I already know:

-I know fast food/take out is expensive.
-I know fast food/take out is for the most part unhealthy.
-I know I’m not teaching my kids healthy eating habits.
-I know that some home cooked meals can be quick if fast and convenient is what I’m looking for.

I know those things, but I really don’t care or as bad as it sounds, care enough to change.

And that’s pretty much the honest truth right there. I don’t care enough to change my eating.

The dreaded ‘why’ question

Will started breaking out the ‘why’ questions. And I hate them, they’re annoying, but only because they make me think about something I don’t like thinking about.

He asked me why I qualified for Boston. This was interesting because it wasn’t how.

I qualified because I worked really hard, trained really hard, wanted it really bad.

I cared.

Post Boston I don’t really have anything I care about as intensely. Will asked if I wanted to get faster or if I was satisfied with where I was.

I don’t know. Sometimes I want to get faster, and sometimes I don’t care.

Will I be bummed if I don’t PR on Sunday? Yes. But I have to realize that just focusing on running can only get me so fast. At some point, other aspects of my training will have to change.

Like my diet.

Do I care enough?

.

.

.

–Is your diet an area you struggle with? Have you ever talked to someone about your diet?

–Do you struggle with caring about things?

Check out my Instagram on Sunday to see results from the 10k–wish me luck!! xoxo, helly