Monday, April 29, 2013

Kona Kase!!!!!!!!

I have been enjoying my post marathon recovery week but have also been crazy busy with work and lacrosse and have no idea when I would have ran!

I received this in the mail the other day:
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I am beyond excited to share this information with you guys!!  Kona Kase is an amazing way to sample new products and have them delivered right to your doorstep.   Their mission is as follows:

Help athletes and active individuals more easily discover and experience nutrition food products. Each month we deliver a curated "kase" of awesome products right to our member's doorstep.  Think, "wine of the month club" for healthy nutrition food.

Love this little note!
I love this Fable!
I love this!!  I am a sucker for inspirational quotes and saying...so this one really made me smile!

Now for the good stuff!!
Instagrammed @DERUNNINGMOM
I love all the different products and samples to try...I don't know about you but I like to sample things before I buy a bunch of them!   This is the perfect variety and I am in love with everything I have tried so far!  The Justin's Honey Peanut Butter........OMG heaven!!  And the Sun Cups caramel cups!! Yum!! 

Kona Kase is a brilliant company and I highly recommend trying it out!  The owners Taylor and John have offered a special discount code for my readers!  So go over to Kona Kase, checkout what is in some of their past "kases" and enter code FF2 at checkout! 

I had to hide this box from my little guy because he was ready to dig into the yummy treats! 

Happy Running!

Thank you to FitFluential and Kona Kase for this opportunity!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The Elites...

This by far was one of the highlights of Boston for both myself, my hubby and my son..
 
Meeting Desi!!
Chase was nervous to talk to her and ask her to sign his poster...I think it was the whole she is an Olympian thing! ...I absolutely love Desi and how humble she is.  I cannot wait to see what her future holds and I know she will kick butt once she is fully recovered.  She is my idol for sure.

Love her!
Meb!!!
By this time Chase had definitely warmed up to the Elites!  Meb is truly an amazing person as well as runner!  He said many kind and encouraging words to Chase and spoke about his injury.  Truly a class act!  And he has superhero powers look at that glow on his chest...Haha!
Ryan Hall!!
 This was Chase's favorite!  Meeting Ryan Hall and having him sign his brand new Asics running shoe!  Chase was very excited for this moment and knew that Ryan is part of team Asics. 
 


INSTAGRAMMED @derunningmom


I cannot wait to see these three amazing athletes race in the future!  All three are incredible role models for our youth and this has sparked Chase's desire to run!  Yay!!

Olympic Gold Medal Heather O'Reilly
We were walking through the Prudential Center having mommy and son time when we ran into Olympic Gold Medal Soccer star Heather O'Reilly...So cool!  She signed a picture for our soccer star Cam!  Big brother points to Chase for having her make it out to Cam! 

Dean Karnazes
While walking into my corral who is standing there next to me...My good buddy Dean Karnazes!!  He is a super star ultra marathon man!  We chatted for a bit and he said he ran from the finish line on Boylston to the start in Hopkinton... yup he ran 26.2 to the start and then ran 26.2 back!   Amazing!!!!  I adore him and his abilities and this makes me want to run an Ultra in the future!

So as you can see we had an amazing couple of days in Boston and will cherish these memories and look at the good things we did! 

Boston Strong!

Happy Running!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Boston...Day 1: The Expo

Home Away from Home
The Lenox is seriously like a home away from home!  The staff here is amazing and will go out of their way to make sure you have the best Boston experience.  Our good friend Sid remembered us from last year and totally made my boys day by giving them goodies:
Sid!!!
A few Paul Revere look alikes
The Lenox is sponsored by New Balance and all the employees are decked out in their gear!  They all were wearing the office Boston New Balance sneaker which glows in the dark...Pretty Awesome.  Although I am a Mizuno For Life kinda gal I still enjoyed the look of the New Balance gear.   

After we got all checked into our room we then walked down to the expo ( about 2 blocks away ).  I was a little uneasy bringing the boys to the expo due to the amount of people and the bigness of the event.  Luckily my mom and dad where with us and could hang with one of the boys and help out.  I love this expo and feeling the energy from all the runners! 

I was able to meet up with Mary from FEETURES!  I will be doing a giveaway in the next few weeks so stay tuned!!
I LOVE this shirt.... The length is perfect and the material is lush and amazing!!  Proud to represent such a high quality company!!

Honey Stinger Boys!!
I was sooooooo excited to see this booth at the expo!  I have been using Honey Stingers for about 1 1/2 years now and LOVE all their products!  This is the first time I have seen them at an expo so of course I had to share my love and they shared theirs:
Honey Stinger Bars!
If you are training for a marathon or tri give these products a try...You will not be disappointed!

I also had to stop in and drool over all the Mizuno products!

Yup the whole family loves Mizuno!
I love that the Boston Marathon jackets and colors this year match the Men's Wave Riders...Now if my hubby only ran!

My boys were so excited for all the gear and free samples of products...I think Cam had way too many Gatorade chews and samples to even count!  Chase won a big box of brown rice...who knew!  Ahhh!

We also met some AMAZING Elite Runners and Athletes but I will put that in a separate post!

By the way...my pink shirt I have on is Oiselle and I want to live in this shirt it is so amazing!!

Happy Running!

Boston Marathon 2013....

I still cannot wrap my head around the past few days and the horrific events that have occurred.  I want to first send my thoughts and prayers out to the families of Martin Richard , Krystle Campbell , and Lu Lingzi and to all those injured by the bombings. 

I had finished the race with a time of 3:33:16 and was able to see and meet up with my hubby, little guy and Angel before heading into the massage/chiropractic area.  My oldest son and parents went up to our hotel room at The Lenox which is right there on Boylston St. with a view of the 2nd bomb explosion.  My friend Debbie was still standing on Boylston waiting to see our friend Dawn finish her first Boston Marathon and she saw everything.  I cannot explain to you the feeling I had when my husband told me there has been a bombing at the finish line and not knowing where my boys were at that exact moment and knowing how close my family and friends still were to the explosions.  I am so thankful that we were all able to find each other and be together as so many other families were not able to get ahold of loved ones.  Cell service was stopped and many of us had very little battery left on our phones.  Our hotel was on lock down as well as our car.  My #1 focus was to protect my boys and get them to safety...but also having the feeling that nowhere was safe.

The Boston Marathon emergency medical personnel and Boston Police and armed forces acted so quickly and calmly!  They are all truly hero's and went above and beyond to ensure safety!!! 

The past week of events has been unbelievable, scary and seems like a nightmare.  I have been glued to CNN and have not been able to sleep.  I am so glad they caught the one suspect and that he is alive.  Hopefully we can get some answers as to why they would do such a horrible thing to innocent people. 

Praying for Boston and all those affected by these two monsters!

Happy Running!

Praying for Boston....

I am sending thoughts and prayers to Boston and all those in Massachusetts involved in the past week of horrific events. 


The men and women of the law enforcement agencies and the medical staff truly deserve to be recognized!!  Our armed forces went above and beyond to protect us!

Happy Running!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Boston Bound

What a wacky week we have had here in DE... 80+ degree weather!!  I loved the heat but I forgot how much harder it is to run when it is 86* when you are use to 30-50* days.  We have had a few lacrosse games this week so that has been keeping me busy and my mind off of tapering!  I have to admit my body does not like taper week...everything starts to ache and I get very restless.  My left hip flexor has been on fire since Sunday's 9.25 miler.  I have been icing, stretching and foam rolling like crazy so I hope it holds out until after Boston on Monday!  I am all packed and ready to go but sad a HUGE part of Team Stacey Black will not be going to beantown this year!  We will miss you greatly Scott and Lauren but give our little man Luke a big kiss from us! 

I am super excited to meet my other Oiselle teammates as well as catching up with FEETURES! at the expo!  I will be stopping by Mizuno for sure to check them out and share my love for a Brilliant Run! 

Today I made sure to take it easy and do quick   slow 5 miles in 40 minutes then went to see my PT friend to get all fixed up before leaving.  Rock Tape followed by a massage at Camp Chiropractic is exactly what I needed! 

                                                        Instagrammed @derunningmom


Who else is heading to Boston??

Happy Running!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

National Beer Day...Don't mind if I do

After working the past 3 nights ( 2- 12 hr shifts and 1- 8 hr shift) and squeezing in 2 runs I was all about celebrating National Beer Day with a fresh ice cold brew! 
Troegs Nugget Nectar
And a massive Turkey Burger:
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I have definitely grown to love good beer since I started marathon running...There is just something about the ice cold refreshing taste! 

Prior to this I did make sure to get in a strong run and enjoy the AMAZING weather today...I did 9.2 miles in 68 minutes and everything just felt "right"!  Lets hope this same feeling happens in Boston next Monday!
Post run stretching!!!


I also squeezed in a quick 6.2 miles yesterday between my 12 hr shifts...I think I did 6.2 in 48 mins and kept it pretty easy. 

I am starting to get super excited for Boston and to meet up with my Oiselle teammates as well as other bloggers!!!  I also hope to catch up and see some Mizuno and FEETURES! peeps at the Expo too!

 I have said my prayers for amazing weather and an even better run! 

Who else is going to Boston???

Happy Running!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Photo's of the past few days and Boston Marathon taper...

My hubby made me this awesome MIZUNO Easter egg!!  We take dying Easter eggs very seriously! Haha...
Chia Pudding
I made some Chia seed pudding the other day and it was quite tasty....
1 1/4 cup Almond Milk
1/4 - 1/2 tbsp of honey
1/4 cup Chia Seeds
handful of raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon

I put it all in a jar and got to shaking to mix it all together...then placed in fridge over night and voila!!!

 

LOVE HER!!!
We went to play with baby Avery and her big brother Jordan...My boys are sooooo in love with Avery and they have adopted Jordan as their own brother!  haha...We are so lucky to have such an amazing group of friends!

So this week I have started my Boston Marathon taper...Sunday I got hit by the GI bug and felt like pure crap!!!   Monday consisted of running 3.5 miles with my girls lacrosse team followed by 6.5 miles of speedwork...I did 10 x 400 meter repeats and really pushed the pace ... 6.5 miles in 45 mins and the 3.5 miles with the girls in 26 minutes!

Tuesday was a much needed recovery and rest day ( I probably should have taken Monday off too ).

Today... after standing out in the cold for 2 hours I went to do my tempo run and felt so stiff,  I did a warm up mile at 8:06 pace then 6 miles at 7:18 pace then 1 mile cool down at 7:35 pace.  My left leg felt very stiff and "off " the beginning few miles so I increased the incline from .5 up to 3% and this seemed to help out! 

Now it is time to taper, rest and hydrate before the big day!  My boys have been on spring break this week and this mama is ready for school to be back in session... They have been coming to lacrosse practice with me this week and my goodness do they showoff for the high school girls!  

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Anyone else love/hate tapering?

Happy Running!