Category: BibRave

Going The Distance

Disclaimer: I received an entry into The Texas Distance Challenge as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

2020 and I have not seen eye to eye. I doubt it had with anyone really.

My motivation to run has tanked. I wish I could say I was one of those people who used the lock down to jump start their miles or start a run streak. The ones who are turning in more miles than ever before. But nope, I have run less miles this year than I have since my first year running. Ouch. I like to tell myself it would be different if I was working from home but am I just lying to myself? I mean going into the office everyday is normal for me, granted we locked our doors for a while but I’ve gone to work everyday and still helped numerous customers everyday. So, it sounds like not much changed… right? But still.

So I needed a kick in the pants. Enter the Texas Distance Challenge.

I’ve kind of always had a slight obsession with Texas… and London. I blame all those cheesy romance novels I read years ago. Anyways.

Did you know it’s further from El Paso to Texarkana than it is from New York to Chicago? And props if you know the completely random way I learned that.

Yes, I put it on my bear… not the first time, probably not the last either

The Texas Distance Challenge went live on July 1, 2020 and continues until April 30, 2021. The Run the Crossing challenge- which I signed up for- is 814 miles. Or as they sneakily tell you- only 19 miles a week.

19 a week?? That sounds totally doable- sign me up!
Except 19 miles is more than I ran the entire month of July. And August. Crap.

I still have 7 months right?? I can do it… can’t I?

Participants get to view their progress on a map as they complete the challenge. Y’all, I’ve barely left El Paso. I have already received some pretty sweet swag and I hope to earn even more as I journey on.

Challengers can also ride the crossing, or ride the loop (all around Texas) and there are various detours. I’ve committed to the run/walk of the crossing, so now it’s time to put up or shut up.

Come join! I need the moral support. I think I can, I think I can.

Giant Race SAn Francisco- Recap

Disclaimer: I received an entry into Giant Race- San Francisco as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Labor Day weekend was the San Francisco Giant Race. I was signed up for the Lou Seal Challenge- the 10K and the 5K. Had the race happened IRL, I would have been running both of those on the same day. Had the race happened IRL, I think my motivation to train might not have taken such a huge hit this year. But it did and I knew I did not have the fitness to “race” both on the same day.

One of the benefits of virtual racing is the flexibility. Can’t run them both on the same day? Then I will run them on back to back days. Well, at least that was the plan. Also, I appreciate the virtual races right now as they actually motivate me to get my butt out the door and move.

Race weekend was Labor Day Weekend and it was predicted to be a scorcher. Actually my town did break local records and hit 117 and 115 on Saturday and Sunday. So, I ran for the ocean. See what I did there?? Hehe. 🤣

I made it to the beach early for me and thankfully it wasn’t crowded. The downside was that it was high tide so that did put me closer to people that I had wanted. It also meant that the sand wasn’t as hard packed as I usually like. Oops, but still doable.

Ok, total honesty- I am really out of shape like I recently restarted Couch to 5K out of shape- so I knew there was no way this was going to be “raced”. So I told myself I had to run the 10k from start to finish without any stops- no breaks to catch my breath, no breaks to make my time look better- so in other words like a real race.

I started from the Dog beach and ran towards the pier. I was using Couch to 5K for the first 30 minutes and then just an interval timer for the rest. A 10K in week one? Why not?

I was slow which was fine, I somehow kept my heart rate the lowest it’s ever been for a 10K. So, yay?! This was also the longest I’ve run in months. I was slowing a lot by mile 5. I was also feeling like a blister was forming which has never happened on a beach run before. I walked the majority of mile 6, never paused, never stopped, just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

And then, finally, I was done. 1:29:32.

Whew, that felt like a workout. I then cooled off with nature’s ice bath.

However I was left with giant blisters. Those were one deterrent to me finishing my 5K, the biggest one arrived in the form of smoke from the fires. We haven’t seen the sun in a week. Until it the AQI drops under 100, I will not be attempting the 5K. Boo. However races can wait, the important thing is that we get these fires under control and out, this is kind of insane.

I will be running that 5K, I will. Makes me glad I have a little time before the medals arrive.

If virtual races are what gets me out of my chair, bring them on.

Giant Race San Francisco

This was the year. I was finally going to run The San Francisco Giant Race. I’ve been wanting to run this race for years. I am not even a huge baseball fan but I this race has been on my to-do list for years. Maybe it’s because the stadium was such a great thing to see during my first marathon. It meant I was close to the finish. Maybe because it’s a gorgeous park, maybe it’s because I grew up playing softball.

The idea of running a race and ending in the ballpark was awesome. Getting to explore the park? Even better. Count me in! Except every year the race was the same weekend as my mother’s tennis tournament. The one where I am always a chaperone. Grrr. So in the beginning of 2020, I told her she needed to find another chaperone, I was finally running my race.

You can all see where this is going. 2020. Yeah.
I even held off on posting something as I was afraid to jinx it. But nope, it went virtual around a month ago.

I had planned my vacation around it (granted that vacation originally started with a marathon too). I signed up for the Lou Seal Challenge and was going to run the 10k and the 5k. The plan was to take the 10K easy and try to race the 5k. Previously I had only a week to recover from the marathon now I have COVID induced laziness to contend with. Ha!

The beauty of a virtual race though is the flexibility. So instead of running the races back to back, I will be running them on consecutive days. Or slogging them, as it is. Let’s be real here… even back to back running on 2 days will feel hard. Tell you all about it next week.

But the swag-

I am not afraid to say, it’s all kind of awesome.

Looking for a virtual challenge this weekend? Join me (virtually) and use code Giants2020 for $10.00 off.

What virtual races have you done?

A Love of Socks

Disclaimer: I received compression socks from Extreme Fit as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I love socks. Short ones, tall ones, solid ones, patterned ones. I’ve been know to show up to work in a dress and mismatched knee socks. Especially in the winter. I always took them off and transitioned to heels but plenty of people probably saw me over the years. I literally have 3 boxes of sock in my closet.

A few years into running I started wearing compression socks- I rarely ever ran without after that. I’ve also been known to sleep in them. However as years went on, the ones I had relied on began not to work for me. I was looking for other options. So when the chance came up to try out Extreme Fit, I was all on board.

Extreme Fit makes various types of compression socks, sleeves, low socks, shirts, pants and of course- masks. Their have compression socks with multiple levels of compression- 15-20 mmHG and 20-30 mmHG, i.e, everyday wear vs high active wear. Plus they have awesome patterns.

Then the socks arrived- holy moly sock palooza! Various awesome patterns, multiple lengths and a mask. Woo hoo! I was stoked I received a pair of camo socks!

Now here’s where things get tricky. If you by chance read my last post, you know I have put on some weight. That includes my calves. Which puts compression socks and I in a complicated relationship. Knowing that I sized up to the L/XL.

The low socks were mostly comfortable but too big, well too long. My running shoe size is a 9.5 and I was able to pull the heel cup up to my ankle. Not a huge deal, I just threw them in the dryer. That helped for the most part but I am also still dealing with the fallout from those damn Cascadia’s. I had a bunion that never bothered me at all until those shoes and now it still gets a little angry sometimes. Stupid shoes.

Anyhow, back to the socks. Ok, let’s talk about the usual knee high compression socks. The patterns were so cute! I loved that the orange pair would match my Bibrave tank and thought the reflective socks were awesome. Also I like that these socks feel much softer than my other pairs of compression socks.

They get hung up right around the stripes.😢

Less awesome was that any one of the socks with patterns that involved different stitching didn’t fit. They would get to a spot on my calf and just stop. Boo. The pairs that were a solid tube of fabric did fit and felt good. They felt good on the run and post run. They were also comfy enough to pass my nap test- aced it in fact.

But the best thing- the calf sleeves fit!!!! I have never found a pair of calf sleeves that fit even when sizing up. Seriously, some brands calf sleeves look like they would struggle to fit my arm let alone my calves. I’ve actually cut the feet off multiple pairs of compression socks to make my own sleeves. I will probably be buying more of those as they were so awesome.

So while I liked the socks I could wear, I am bummed about the ones that didn’t fit. I mean, yes, it gives me more motivation to get my butt in gear but it’s also frustrating that there are less options for people my size or bigger. We like patterns too!

The socks are very affordable and I liked the compression level so I may by a few more solids as well.
If you want to try theme out, code BRP20 will save you 20% on $50 or higher.

Do you wear compression socks? How do you like them?

Other Pro thoughts-

Giant Race- San Jose

Disclaimer: I received an entry into Giant Race- San Jose as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I was so pumped to run this race this year.

Then came COVID and with it a complete lack of motivation to run or work out on my part. Which hasn’t been helpful for me at all. But that’s not the point.

I had orginally registerd for the 5 mile but come race day, I knew I was not there. Which is sad but true. So I dropped to the 5k. I would like to think I would have done the same if the race had still taken placed as planned but we all know I don’t make the best choices.

On race day of June 6, I laced up, geared up and headed out. The advantage to a virtual race is that you can pick a good route- i.e one with a downhill finish. And if you count my warm up and cool down, I did do 5 miles.

Ok, back to the “race”. I decided to attempt to run it at a race effort. Yeah, downhill didn’t help.

11:49, 12:32, 12:12 for splits and 38:00 flat for the 5k.

Slower then my very first 5K back in 2010 and I felt like I worked much harder. However seeing it on the tiny watch screen was a little depressing.

I am looking forward to receiving my race swag in the mail soon though. Based on what I got with the Sacramento race, I know I will actually wear this race shirts again.

That said I was glad I made myself make the effort. And this marks race 2 of the Giant’s series for me- I “ran” Sacramento in April. We’ll see what happens in September with San Francisco.