Field Trip! Lululemon Outlet and Summer Lovin’ Tote Review

Posted by hellyontherun in Clothes, Running, Shopping and tagged with gym bag, lululemon outlet, MRTT, Shopping, Summer Lovin' Tote, workout clothes June 30, 2015

A member of my Moms Run This Town so graciously informed us last month that a lululemon outlet was opening at an outlet in the Phoenix valley.

Now I’m not a die hard lulu girl; I only own one shorts from there. In fact, I’m not particular to any brand. If it fits the way I like and the fabric seems legit, then I’m good.

But I love shopping and getting a deal, so when the news came out a lot of us got excited about what we might find.

The catch? It’s a 30 minute drive.

You see, Phoenix is huge. And there’s a whole bunch of other huge cities surrounding it. It’s basically divided in halves. You live in the West Valley or the East Valley. The outlet is on the westside and guess where I live? Yup, the east side.

We thought it would be fun to take a MRTT field trip out there but unfortunately, when the day came, everyone got caught up with life and couldn’t make. So yesterday I decided to go solo–I mean, my curiosity had been piqued; I had to go see what the hype was all about.

Traffic was flowing and I made it there pretty quickly considering the hike.
I was on a mission and didn’t go to any other stores (I actually live close to an outlet mall on the east side) and went straight to lulu. Except I didn’t know where it was at lol! I finally asked a girl carrying a lulu bag and sure enough, I had walked pretty much the whole mall and had to go back lol! Luckily, I didn’t mind since I needed to meet my 10k steps goal anyway 🙂

Then, I saw it.

Thankfully, I missed the grand opening craziness

I was a little underwhelmed as it was a small store. At first, I thought it was bigger than what it was because there was a huuuuge mirror at the back wall reflecting the shop so I totally thought there was more store in the back. I ALMOST WALKED INTO THE MIRROR. I’m not even kidding. Luckily, I saw my reflection and was like, “Wait a minute? I know her!”

The store was organized by size so they had a 4 section, a 6 section, etc. Most of the stuff was winter gear–long sleeves, jackets, capri pants–and because of the 112 degree heat outside, I couldn’t even fathom purchasing any of those things. Tanks and shorts selections were slim….

… and then I saw it.

My bag.

It was the only one hanging and it looked so lonely. I decided right then and there to give it a home.

Summer Lovin’ Tote=Gorg.

It’s such a great bag. It’s got a yoga mat/towel holder, a plastic zip case inside for wet gear, an extra inside pocket, an outside water bottle holder, and an outside pocket for your phone/keys. The bag itself is deep and roomy enough for running shoes and clothes. Oh, and it comes with a shoe bag!

I love it.

Towel/mat holder

Left: Inside clear plastic zip case; Right: Inside pocket

Left: Shoe bag; Right: Water bottle holder and phone/keys pocket

So even though the store was on the small side with limited selections in my opinion– there were only two bag styles and mine was the last one of one of the styles; there were head band accessories but not as many options, and really there were no better deals than what the clearance sections in regular stores have. Yet, despite all of that I still considered the lulu excursion a success — I mean c’mon, didya look at my bag 😀

I hope everyone is having a Terrific Tuesday!! ❤ , helly

–Do you have a favorite gym bag?

–How far will you drive to go shopping? lol!!

–Are you a lululemon lover?

Plan shlam! My running weekend

Posted by hellyontherun in 5k, Running and tagged with Asics Kayano 20, Flying Ponytail, Marathon Training, New Shoes, Running, Shopping July 14, 2014

So you all know I’ve been very badly following the Run Less, Run Faster plan for my fall marathon. Yeah….I haven’t been doing a good job of running less or running faster.

Saturday was long run day and I set out and 5 in the morning for an 8 miler. I joined up with with my running club for this one and lo and behold, Running Schlub was there! I “met” Richard through one of my other fave bloggers, Piratebobcat. Richard visited my page when I wrote about my hate for the Heat (Miami, that is) and we’ve been blogging (and now real life!) buddies every since. Funny, because during our run, we never talked basketball lol! He was nice enough though to run at my pace that morning–I was struggling 😦

And in typical Helly fashion, I forgot to take a pic–I’m so bad at the picture taking…

Me and the Running Schlub

8 miles, 10:00/avg. mile

Sunday according to my plan is a cross training or rest day. I did neither.

Instead, my running club and a local Roadrunner Sports were hosting a Fun in the Sun 5k–nothing formal or timed, just a run to get us all together for a run and enjoy some sweet shopping discounts after.

Some of my friends wanted to get out there early for extra miles so of course I said yes. We got started at 6 and this was what awaited us:

at SIX in the morning!!!!

Needless to say, this was not the best of runs 😦 We I drudged along for 3 hot miles.

And after that, I did it all over again with the rest of my running group!

Double duty Sunday

That’s me on the right with my flying ponytail 😀

I mentioned sweet discounts–I got myself some new shoes!!!

My new beauties ❤

I’ve been currently rotating my Brooks Ravennas and Asics GT2000s but missed my Kayanos of old. I have the old 18s that I use just when I’m out and about because they’re way long over used on mileage. But I had been wanting to try out the new model for a while so I can’t wait to break them in!

I’m not overly brand loyal–I typically stick with Brooks and Asics for shoes. How about you? Are your brand loyal?

–How was your running weekend? Anyone race?

–Does your ponytail fly all over the place like mine does?

–Do you stick with your training plan verbatim or break the rules like I do?

Run Janji {Review}

Posted by hellyontherun in Running, Shopping and tagged with Giving Back, Help Others, Janji, Product Review, Running, Shopping June 24, 2014

I discovered a new running clothing line (Seriously, running + clothes = heaven) from my friends at It’s a Marathon AND a Sprint called Janji. They did an awesome review on it that really made me interested to try their clothes out.

I’ll give you a very short run down, because I honestly feel like Colby and Tina did a great job going over the company’s philosophy so I’ll let you head on over and check out their review.

*With every Janji apparel purchase, you help give food and water to someone in need. In the U.S., that’s a meal to an American in need; in Haiti, that’s nutritional medicine to a child. In Peru and Tanzania, it’s drinking water.

For something we would do normally, buy running clothes, we can do it and help someone else. That’s where their motto “Run for Another” comes in. I love it.

The shorts fit great, were lightweight, and of good quality. Plus, I felt good knowing that with my purchase, I was giving back. Win.

Janji shorts
Swirlgear top

I was not asked to do a review. I purchased the shorts myself and all thoughts and opinions are my own 🙂