What I’m Drinking Wednesday–Hydro Coach App Review

Posted by hellyontherun in Healthy Eating, Running and tagged with Agua, App, Apps for Android, H20, Hydration, Hydro Coach, Tracking Water Intake, Water, Water Intake January 7, 2015

I swore I’d never do any of those What I Ate Wednesday posts–
But, this is a “What I”m Drinking” post 🙂

I’ve gotten tons of people asking me about the app I downloaded that helps track my water intake. I realize I should’ve posted the name of it when I first mentioned it lol!

It’s called Hydro Coach and surprisingly, it’s only available on Android phones. Usually, I’m the one bummed because most apps I want are/have been iPhone only–woohoo, for not having an iPhone this time (not that I want one–I’m def an Android girl lol).

Sue was sad that it wasn’t compatible 😦 Hugs, Sue! ❤

It’s a very simple app. This is a def plus because I’m not good with numbers, technology, and anything that has a lot of complicated steps.

Once you download the app, it will ask you a few questions like your age, sex, weight, and what’s your measurement of preference–I chose ounces.

It will ask you if you work out and how much and put that in the equation to determine how much water you should drink. It told me I needed to average 69 fl. oz. so a little more than half my body weight in ounces (it added about 10% because of my exercise regime).

The app asks you what time you wake up and what time you go to sleep and at first, I was like, um, why?? But it takes those times into consideration as that would be the range they’d work with to send you alerts. Smart!

I entered 5 a.m. as my wake up time and 9 p.m. as bed time (Yeah, I’m 80). The app sends me alerts/reminders about every 4 hours. I entered that my typical water intake is 16 ounces (a bottle of Dasani) so about every 4 hours, I should be drinking that amount (and a little 5 ouncer at the end).

Once you entered the necessary info (which took like two seconds) you’re ready to start drinking!

There are different measurements of water that you can click on to add to your total. So if I drank 12 oz instead of my typical 16, I would click on that option.

It will add it to the goal and tell you how much you have left to drink and how much you’ve drank so far.

If you miss an alert/reminder to enter, then it will add it your next check-in goal. So if I miss my check-in of 16 ounces, I’ll “have” to drink 32 ounces to make it up.

I have 12 minutes left to drink 16 ounces. If not, I’ll need to 32 by the next check-in.

At the end of the day, if you reached your goal, Mr. Water Drop comes out to party!!!

Party Drop 😀

But if you don’t, then he packs all his stuff together and threatens to run away 😦

I feel so guilty for having let down the poor water drop :(

😦

If you get close, Mr. Water Drop is left reminiscing about the party days of yore….

Don’t you want to party?

Mr. Water Drop is the sole reason I’ve been pushing to make my daily goal. I mean, did you see his sad face!!?? I just can’t do that to him. And I also don’t like leaving people hanging….

You can also see a chart of how you’ve done that week:

You can also share you day with friends on social media 😀

Because everyone needs to know how much water you’re drinking

I hope this information has helped. So far I’ve really liked the app. There is an option to go “Ad free” for a small fee but the free app has worked well and I don’t mind the sparse pop ups that happen.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Bottoms up!!!

❤ helly

–Do you track your water intake?

–-Would alerts/reminders help you drink more water or would you just ignore them?

I was not asked to review this app or given free water by Hydro Coach. All opinions expressed in this post are solely my own.

Week 8 Marathon Training Recap–Halfway there!!

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon, Running and tagged with Beast Mode, Frozen, Hydration, Marathon Training, Phoenix Marathon, Running January 5, 2015

Wow. Time has been a-flying!

I can’t believe I just finished week 8 and am now counting DOWN the weeks til Phoenix Marathon!

#itsgoingdownatphx

I’m pretty pumped 😀

So, this was my last week of vacation from work and again, I took full advantage of the time off.

Monday, I got in a tough 6 miler on the treadmill. It’d been a while since I’d gotten on one of those things and I could definitely feel it. I still was able to maintain a good pace at 9:22/mile though which pleased me.

I took the day off on Tuesday but I wanted a good last run of 2014 so on Wednesday I headed out for a neighborhood run..

my adios run to 2014

With two kids, very young kids, we were in bed on New Year’s Eve at 9. We try every year to make it to 10 to at least see the ball drop in New York but this year, it just didn’t happen. We were out! And sure enough, at 5 on the dot, my son woke up and woke us up for the first day of 2015 🙂 So, Thursday I hung out with the fam, relaxed, and welcomed the new year.

My kids went to school on Friday and I took advantage of a free morning to get in a cold 5 miler with friends.

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#frozen

My buddies made me work! I don’t know why this pace was so hard; I’ve done it before, but I was def lagging behind them on this one. I’m blaming the cold.

I was worried running, and running so fast, would mess with my long run planned the next day. It was my dreaded 16 miler that for some reason has always given me trouble. My last 16 miler when I trained for MCM was very respectable at a 10:06/mile pace but when I get to mile 16 in the marathon (the two that I’ve done) it’s where I start to go downhill–and not good downhill lol.

But this time I was ready. Like I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I’ve really been working on my fueling and it was on this run that I really put it to test.

So Saturday morning, my alarm went off at crazy o’clock (4:15) and I met up with some friends (aka: other crazy people) who I was able to convince to meet up at 5 to start our long run.

It was effing cold (I wore 3 layers) and we didn’t chat much but got straight to it.

I was doing great, the miles were going fast, and at mile 6 we met up with our other run club friends who were starting at 6 a.m. Here, I made a pit stop to use the potty.

As I got back into the run, I took my first Gu. The whole thing. At mile 12, again, took my second planned Gu. All of it.

Other times I’ve barely squeezed out half of one in a long run such as that.

But this is a new and determined Helly–I ate all that shi-stuff.

By the time I got to mile 14, I was so pumped that I had made it that far and only had 2 miles left. I was rocking this long run!

And then I was done!

I totally felt like a BEETH after finishing that run 😀

On Sunday was my usual Bun Day (and leg). I’ve been working my quads in prep of that eternal downhill that is Phoenix Marathon…I did take it easy though because I was suuuuper tired from Saturday.

Overall, this was one of my best running weeks ever! Each run I was able to keep pace and feel good. I finished off December with 103 miles and the year with exactly 1000.

Total mileage for this week: 34.09

Oh, and I’m happy to report that I met my water goal the last three days. After seeing the poor water drop’s sad face I couldn’t let that happen again lol!

Happy Mr. Water Drop! Or as Salt refers to him: Party Drop 😀

How was your running week?

When’s the last time you’ve felt like a BEETH?

Ultimate Direction Wink Hydration Pack {Review}

Posted by hellyontherun in Product Review, Running and tagged with Hiking, Hydration, Hydration Pack, Product Review, Rim to Rim to Rim, Running, Trail Running, Ultimate Direction, Water, Wink July 22, 2014

I’ve been complimented and asked several questions on the type of hydration pack I use. I’ve been meaning to write a full review on it for quite some time and today is finally the day. If you’re in the market for a hydration pack, or just like reading about them, here you go!

The hydration pack you’ve seen me use in my pictures is the Ultimate Direction Wink (the Wink is the women’s version, the Wasp is the men’s).

Wink Hydration Pack

I bought the pack when I was in the middle of training for my first marathon. A lot of my girl friends in my running club have the Wink and raved about it–knowing I’d also be trekking the Canyon, I figured it’d be a great purchase.

When my marathon came, I went back and forth a million times on whether or not I should run with it. I had trained all the way leading up to the big day and many of my running buddies said I should stick with what I had trained with, so I did. In retrospect, I think I would have done things differently. By mile 18, my shoulders ached and were slumping forward (of course, this isn’t only because of the pack but because I was dying of exhaustion) and all I wanted to do was rip the pack off. When my husband reached me at mile 20, I unclipped it and handed it over. I did feel a lot lighter.

What I recommend: If you want to run your marathon with a pack, I suggest a lighter one with a smaller bladder.

However, I absolutely LOVED the pack when I did the double crossing of the Canyon. Like, I thank all the heavens above I had the Wink.

One of the things we were told in preparation for Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim was that we had to have ample space in our packs for all our gear (food, flashlight, sunscreen, poles, etc. and of course water). The Wink has amazing space. AMAZING.

Canyon ready!

When I was training, I’d practice weighing it (by that I mean making it heavy to mimic how it’d be when I crossed the Canyon). Despite it’s weight, it was super comfortable. The straps do not dig in to my shoulders, the pack does not bounce, and it is super easy to refill the water–which I had to do multiple times.

When I crossed the Canyon, I had an orange, four rolled up tortillas, a bag of pecans, a bag of beef jerky, 1 Honey Stinger waffle, a bag of Oreo cookies, 2 Gu packs, a bag of salt tablets, sunscreen, a flashlight, Chapstick, my phone, hair ties, bobby pins, band aids, my EPI pen, a towel, a jacket, a walkie talkie, and my poles. Oh, and with the reservoir filled up to the 70 oz mark.

Whew! But everything fit perfectly and I was actually super comfortable!

With my poles attached to my pack

at the finish line of the Canyon 🙂 45 hours of wearing the pack

I used it for when I did the Adrenaline 27k Night Run and it worked perfect for that race. I was really glad I had it then too.

Adrenaline 27k

And I also used it this past Sunday for our under 3 mile hike up Camelback Mountain. In this instance, since it was a strict hike and no running, I didn’t mind using it at all for this short of distance. Loved it!

Sunday’s #RunEatTweetAZ hike

In short, here’s a PRO/CON rundown:

Pros:

Large reservoir of 70 oz/2 L
Very, very comfortable (designed for the women’s body)
4 front pockets for easy access (this was a big plus for me because I didn’t have to keep taking it off for items I needed often)
Simple refuel process (another major plus)
Does not bounce
A lot of storage space (there are 3 main zippers–a small one for an ID and money, a large one that holds the bulk of your stuff, and side zipper for extra storage)
Easy to maintain care

Possible Cons:

I think it’s best for longer runs where there might be a shortage of fueling stations. A smaller pack is ideal for distances shorter than 15 miles in my opinion.
The velcro clip that attaches to the tube fell off relatively quickly. I just tucked the tube under one of the front straps and went about my way with zero problems (like in the last pic).

I hope you’ve found this review helpful! Let me know if you have any more questions about it 🙂

Do you/have you run with a hydration pack?

Ultimate Direction did not compensate me in any way for the write up of this review. I purchased the Wink and opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.