yurbuds got my running friends together!

Yes, Frankenstorm is on it's way.  But that won't deter my Frank from celebrating Halloween.  He decided to dress up as Jaws this year.

Just FYI, I love my friends.

Especially when they are runners!

When I run with music, I use my ipod, along with a pair of earphones that are so old, the comfy squishy part is worn away, and they make an extra noise every time the cords hit my chest.  So obviously I was excited when yurbuds contacted me about their new line of earphones made specifically for women.

I invited some of my girlfriends over to talk about running, while checking out yurbuds, Sweaty Bands, and Luna Bar!  The yurbuds come in a range of colors, including purple, red, lime green, orange, and yellow.  Mine are light blue:  

As I was getting ready for everyone to come over, I thought of ways we could talk about what inspires us to get out there and be active.  I kept up the blue theme, and asked the girls to write down their training mantras, if they had one.

Along with their favorite running songs.

We had some healthy snacks (along with a splurge, featuring cheese and bacon, which I was too busy munching on to take a photo of).

I asked the girls to wear their favorite race shirts.  Here we are checking out the goodies.

My friend Kelly completed her first 140.6 distance this fall, and she is thoroughly enjoying her off season:

Everyone took home a set of yurbuds, and were very excited to try them out. I myself wore mine on my run the other morning.  I like how you kind of twist the yurbuds into your ear, they really do stay in place. I've also worn them while I bopping around my kitchen cleaning up after dinner. The sound quality is fantastic!

I got some feedback from the girls.  Alissa is in the middle, she just ran her first half marathon! She thought that the yurbuds made her music sound "crisp and clear."  Jeannine and I ran our first marathon together, and she used them on a treadmill run, she "loved them, they didn't slip at all and fit in my tiny ears.  I really liked that the part that goes in your ears is flexible and rubbery. I think that helps to keep them in, especially if you get sweaty.  Thanks for these!!!" 

My friend Heather is in the middle, she has a marathon under her belt, is ready for another, and this is what she had to say about yurbuds: "I was very happy that they stayed in place even when sweating a great deal.  They were very comfortable and the sound quality was great. I found on one occasion that there was a mechanical noise, either rubbing from the cord or something in the earpiece on the left side. It was quite noticeable, but I'm hoping it will work itself out."

My two time marathon runner friend Norine is not pictured, but she "loved them, the sound was amazing! My ears did get a little sore. but I just think I need to get used to them.  They stay in my ears the whole time, which is a bonus." 

If you're in the market for a new set of yurbuds for yourself, or someone else (yes, the holidays are on their way!) you can find the new yurbuds line for women at Target.   

*please note, we received these products as part of a promotional program with yurbuds.  The thoughts on the product are our own. 

I got my groove on, so let's have a Sunglasses Shop Giveaway!

The inserts came in.

And I ran in them!

Not far, I walked a half mile, ran a mile, then walked a half mile home.  The inserts felt different than my others as soon as I tried them on.  I have to ease into wearing them, I was allowed to use them for three hours today, then increase the time by an hour each day.

Can you see why I felt a difference?

Seriously, my old "custom" inserts look like I was running in heels!


This is probably the last hot day we'll have for the rest of the year (it will most likely snow in a few weeks) so I decided to head towards the golf course with my ipod to see if I could run.  As soon as this song came on I was ready to go:




I'm a happy girl, so to celebrate, let's have a giveaway, courtesy of Sunglasses Shop!

I was sent two different pairs of running type glasses, I tried both of them on before heading out but decided to run in the SXUC 7504's:

They are very light, I barely noticed them while I was running, they block out the bad sunlight, but it was just the right amount, I could still see all the colors of the sky and the trees, but no glare.


The SXUC 7277's mirrored lenses reduced the sunlight dramatically, I could see, but it was almost too dark for me.

Want to win a pair of the SXUC 7504's?  To enter, please follow SunglassesShop on twitter here, and like them on facebook here.  Then leave me a comment letting me know that you did so.  I'll choose a winner on Friday November 2nd using random.org.

Happy Weekend!


*Note: I was sent two pairs of sunglasses for the purpose of this review, my opinions on them are my own. 

Where There's A Will There's A Way

At my last chiropractor appointment, I was measured for my new inserts. I thought it through before hand, I'm well aware of the benefits of walking and running barefoot, that less support in a shoe is better etc. and so on.  But due to the way I was made, I need inserts to line myself back up. 

I showed my custom inserts to the Doc, and he said they were useless, and annoyed that my podiatrist charged me so much for something that wasn't helping me.  Then he had me stand on a box, which was basically a photocopier for my feet.  It records your measurements, and the inserts are made by using a laser.  After my measurements were taken, I sat down with the Doc, and looked at the images on his screen.  

Holy cow. 

I almost asked him if I could take a picture for my blog, but then I felt silly so I just looked and listened.  The first image was a normal human body, with my body image next to it.  I'm not kidding, my image looked like the elephant man.  Because my left leg is longer than the right, my left shoulder is higher than my right, the left side of my pelvis is tilted up higher than the right side, and my right leg turns inward.  

Then we looked at the pictures of the bottoms of my feet. The first image was a foot that had the arch highlighted in red, which looked okay to me. When I looked at my foot, pretty much the entire middle part was red, I know I overpronate, but this is ridiculous.  

I should have the inserts early next week, but I really can't wait any longer to go for a run.  I have my Mizuno's sitting next to me, insert free.  The sun is shining, and the high will be 77 degrees, so I have to get out.   And stretch my mis-matched legs. 

Every once in a while, we need a boost to get us out the door and moving.  A high school friend of mine is battling brain cancer, and I wanted to share one of her tweets from last week

"R had long day of treatments yesterday. 

In NYC for avastin, back to li for radiation 

then she went for a three mile run. Go r" 

No excuses, just go. 

The glass is half full.

I never gave much thought to the "glass half full/half empty" saying, until today.  

I always looked at it as half full, unless I poured a big glass of water, drank it, then it was half empty.

But it's still half full.

I woke up this morning at five, too excited to sleep.  Today was the Empire State Half and Full Marathon, and I was so ready to get out and cheer on the runners, especially since I had friends running the half and full distances.  I wasn't running (boooo!) but I still had the happy race day vibes kicking.  

I was volunteering with my running bud/friend bud Norine, we were at the 12 mile mark of the course, which was a pretty good spot right in town, next to the river, and more importantly, next to Dunkin' Donuts for a convenient caffeine fix when needed.    

We had to point runners in the right direction, and I was having so much fun.  I had my cowbell, and made sure I stuck to saying things like "looking good runners, keep it up!" and not "You're almost there!!" One older gentleman blew me a kiss as he ran on by.  

There is nothing like watching a marathon, and knowing exactly what these runners did to get to that point,

to give you a big dose of motivation.  If my heel would let me, I would have taken off after them to join in the fun. But it still made me happy, inspired, and excited for what I can do once I'm back in my running shoes. 

Well, I'm still wearing them, just not running in them.  

But I will. 

Because the glass is half full.

Lego's and Straight Leg's

I was putting dinner on the table last night, when I heard Luke coughing in the living room. The kind of coughing that you expect to hear during the height of flu season.  I called out to him, and he said he was okay, but that he needed to go lie down for a minute.  So I followed him to his room, where he started crying, and when I asked what was wrong, he said he swallowed a Lego!

Neither one of my kids have ever swallowed anything other than food, so I was really surprised that at eight years old, Luke managed to make this childhood milestone.  Apparently he was using his teeth to pull off the top of a block that he made, and it came off into his mouth, and down his throat.  He's fine, and he learned a big life lesson.  After he started eating dinner, he looked up at me, and said, "well, I'm still a little upset, because now I only have three of those little blocks left!"


In other news, I have now been to my chiropractor eight times in the past three weeks, and I have shown major improvement.  My pelvis is now aligned, and my foot is now pointing straight out, instead of turning in. Which doesn't sound like a big deal, but the tendon in my foot was pulled so tight, that I was walking/running on a curled foot. I noticed how straight it is while walking Frank yesterday, and I couldn't believe it.

The foot held up really well over the long weekend, we spent more time in the Adirondacks, and took a two mile hike with the kiddo's to a place called Windfall Pond.

Note my dry, blond leftover summer highlighted hair. After I post this I'm heading to the hair dresser for my "winter" color, chocolate brown. 

Lots of weekend walking in the perfect fall temps. 

Happy Weekend!