Disclaimer: I received a pair of Knockaround Sport Edition Fast Lanes 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 may have a problem. Maybe. But I don’t think so.
There were 2 missing at the time of this photo too😹
I didn’t need BibRave to introduce me to Knockaround, as you can see, I had a pretty extensive collection already.
I love Knockaround for a variety of reasons. The fun colors, the polarization, the comfort and the price point. Let’s face it- I am Destructo Girl I’m so many ways I don’t want to pay $$$$ for sunglasses I will inevitably break because I always do. Or drop down a port-a-potty but that’s another story.
The newest addition to the Knockaround line is the Sport Edition. The Sport Edition is all polarized and comes with those grippy nose pads so your glasses don’t slide down your face when you get all sweaty. The Sport Edition is currently offered for the Premiums and The Fast Lanes.
I was excited for my new shades to arrive. And maybe did a happy sunglass dance when they arrived. I received the Sport edition Fast Lanes in Clear Grey frames and Green Moonshine lenses. Love.
The Fast Lanes are one of the larger frames that Knockaround offers… at least in my opinion. I own other Fast Lane frames too and while I love them, I realized I forgot something at ordering.
I have a small head! Between my hats, my sunglasses and my Aftershokz, there is not a lot of space left on my head. Which is why I don’t usually run in my Fast Lanes. Oops.
That being said- these glasses do not move. I ran in them with a hat and without a hat. Wore in them 100 degree days without a hat when I turned into a nasty, sweaty mess and they didn’t budge. They also never fogged up on me either on some humid runs.
I’m sold! In fact, I’m probably going to buy a Sport Editon of the Premium’s too. Now if only they would make a Sport Edition of the Paso Robles, my favorite style. That’s ok, I’ll console myself with a new pair of Premiums while I wait.😂
Want your own? Use code BIBRAVEKNOCKS3 to save 20%!
Then I spent the first few months of the year more sick than not and things got put on the back burner. Well, the race dropping my distance and changing locations and dates didn’t help either but that’s another story.
Then I circled back around. Why not? Let’s do this.
And that is a 50K.
Some of you are possibly saying hell yeah! While others are saying, yeah no, you just need to stop.
I do love dirt.
Don’t get me wrong- I am not aiming to run this thing tomorrow, or even next month. I realize this is going to take some time. I need time on my feet, miles under my belt, mountains to climb.
I also need to practice my fueling. Because well, I don’t. I may have been able to skate through 2 marathons that way but that won’t work if my aim is for dirty trails and steep climbs.
I will have time to practice my fueling over the next few months. As I have more than a few races planned that I’ve not yet mentioned.😆
At this point I am tossing around 50k races happening early 2020. Typing that year was kind of scary. Makes the race seem less frightening, ha! However that means I have a few months to get my act together. Which is good as some my options are BEASTS.
Disclaimer: I received a Sidekick ID from Road iD to review 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’ve been a fan of Road ID for years. I’ve had the Sport ID and one of the silicone Stretch ones. I loved the changeablity of the Sport ID but it’s no longer offered. And that’s ok. I’ve bought ones for both of my parents and recently upgraded Zoey’s dog tags.
What is Road iD? Road ID offers a variety of ways to carry ID outside of your actual license. Wrist ID’s, shoe ID’s, dog tags, kid’s ID, medical ID’s, etc. They offer a variety of band types for the wrist ID’s as well as decorative tags. As runners, it is important that we carry ID as we never know when we might need. We all hope that we never will but it is better to be prepared.
from the website
There was a time when I never ran without my RoadID. And I have proven that it does work, like the time I accidently dropped it getting into my car post run. A nice stranger found it and called my mother with the number on it. Which as you can imagine had her very alarmed until we worked it out.
Then came the last 6 months. Things I never forgot I was leaving behind. I forgot my hat numerous times. Water bottles were an afterthought, forgot my headphones numerous times, and my Sport Road iD? I started forgetting it so much I don’t even know where it is.
I started looking at the Sidekick ID a few months ago. I even went so far as filling in all my information and putting in the cart but never checking out. I should just look for mine right? Then the possibility opened with BibRave and I jumped on it.
The Sidekick ID is designed to slip right on the watch band of your Garmin, Fitbit or Apple Watch. I chose the 19mm size and was able to fit 6 lines of information on it. Name, Location, Emergency Contact 1, Emergency Contact 2, health info, and a motto.
It arrived and I eagerly opened the package. The Sidekick slides over a piece of industrial fabric with 2 bands to loop around your watch band. It also came with a secondary fabric piece for the just in case moments. It was super easy to slide onto my watch. Then I could just forget about it.
From then on I always had my Road iD on. At work, around town and on the run. Once it was on my watch, I never even noticed it- it didn’t add to the weight at all. I no longer had to worry about forgetting it, yay! I also no longer had to worry about dropping it when my hands swelled on hot runs. Like the above mentioned incident. My only wish is that I had purchased the Rose Gold faceplate instead of the black but I figured I was already pushing the limits on the professionalism of my watch, ha! So I made Zoey’s new tag Rose Gold. It all works out.
Want your own? Use this link to save 20%! https://road.id/BibRave How do you carry ID on the run?
I love getting toys and things for my dog. Seriously, she has way too many toys. And I love buying her new collars.
But she does not get walked enough. And we are both getting a little fluffy. Most of it is my bad but part of it is that finding a harness that doesn’t drive her crazy. She doesn’t play well with the just the leash- ok, well she’s not the best behaved on the leash.
I’m not sure about this…
Put a harness on her and she looks like she is being tortured. Seriously, the woe is me look is priceless. She’s tried on numerous harness’s at Petco- yeah, sorry about that- but no luck. And the one she does have? She runs when she sees it in your hands.
When it arrived, she was super excited like she is anytime I tell her I got her something. Then she saw it was a harness. Then I put it on her. Cue not happy face.
It was a few days before I got her outside with the harness- thanks 108 heatwave- and at first she was her usual sour puss self, Then it was like she realized she didn’t find it annoying and looked at me like “let’s go!”. So we went.
The next time I brought the harness out she actually looked excited and ran towards me and stood still while I put it on her. Say what???
Now, I am not saying it’s all sunshine and roses now. She still comes to a dead halt to sniff something and I have to literally drag her away. But she no longer reacts like she choking when I muscle her away from whatever “awesome” scent she is smelling.
Now, it’s been hot hot hot here, so full disclosure we haven’t been on that many walks in the short time we’ve had it. However I am looking forward to more. I really need to work on getting up in the morning and taking her, but well, me and mornings are not the best of friends. She actually came running into the room one morning last week and I think she wanted to go for a walk but I told her no. I’m sorry!
For reference- Zoey is around 65 pounds and wears the large.
I am looking forward to more walks with Zoey- maybe I’ll turn her into a runner someday.
Disclaimer: I received coaching from Endure Strong 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.
Lord knows, I could use some guidance. Left to my own devices I might just sleep all day and eat pizza. Which is counter productive to that lovely goal of breaking 2:00 in the half. That one I set ummmm, 5 years ago? However I’ve done nothing but get slower in the last 4 years.
Boo. Training plans and I don’t often get along. I’ve looked into online coaching but could never seem to take the plunge. So when the opportunity arose with Endure Strong through BibRave, I was more than a little intrigued. Throw in actual conversation with Jared Ward and I was in.
It all started with an email from Andrew- the main guy with Endure Strong– in which I was welcomed to the team and asked to create a Final Surge profile. Final Surge is the platform that Endure Strong uses to pick training plans, schedule runs, have group chats and reach out to the coaches.
Plans were organized by race distance, weekly miles and skill level. Being that I knew I was out of shape and carrying an extra 40 pounds (more on that sometime) I chose a beginner 16 week plan with a peak of 25 miles per week. Doesn’t sound like much but it was more than I was running. Plus the idea of 6 days a week kind of scared me. So much so that I kind of freaked out and emailed Andrew in a panic. I had just transferred into my position and had no idea how that transition was going to go.
A week in May where I moved a run.
The way my plan laid out, the days didn’t work me. It started with Mondays as a rest day and then 6 days of running- I needed it shifted up a day. Yes, Final Surge has a drag and drop capability but that would be tedious moving every single workout for 16 weeks. Andrew was able to make that happen and I calmed down a little. Whew.
Then it came time to run. It broke down with 3 easy, short runs, 2 speed work outs and a long run. Simple enough, right?
Morning wake up text
I was putting in the miles- mostly- and hitting the paces- mostly. Denial is a wonderful place. I was attending the bi-weekly training calls with Jared and the team and I was getting those green boxes in Final Surge.
Then the rosy glow faded a bit and I slammed into a wall of reality. Your workouts are set to specific zones. The zones are set in the account setup according to your goal race.. I picked a race time of 2:12 for Oaktown Half. See a problem?
That’s 20 minutes faster than my recent times. Over reaching much? I was paying for it- I was exhausted, hurting and flaming out in most runs. The good thing is you can adjust your zones. So I went in and reigned it in. Notice I am saying I.
Here’s where I was feeling dissatisfied. Yes, I reached out on the social wall and would get feed back from the other members and the coach but I was feeling a lack of direct feedback. I feel like a little more one on one would have been beneficial. The opening intro is all self driven- some interactions with someone smarter than me might have seen that I was over reaching. An occasional email or direct message from the coach checking in would have been appreciated.
I learned a few things while training with Endure Strong. I need some one on one time with coaching and it can’t all be me reaching out. To some extent I need a drill sergeant. I need someone to keep me accountable otherwise I either push to hard or not enough. I didn’t necessarily feel that here.
Apparently I took all my screenshots in May??
Now- I fully admit that is partly on me. I could have reached out directly more often. While the interaction of the social wall was great, I knew I needed more and I could have tried harder. It just felt a little one sided.
Time in zones for the last 30 days
However, I did like the plan itself. Except for the 6 day part- my body and my brain can’t handle 6 days a week. At least not now. #goals The amount of easy running and structured running was a good mix- I am not great at that by myself. If you are looking for a little direction and a great plan, under $40 a month is a steal. There are also the biweekly calls with Jared and you can send your questions in advance or ask them while the call is taking place.
Final Surge has a few quirks but that’s on the Final Surge end. I loved the morning texts and emails with my run for the day- I never had to memorize anything too far ahead.
Endure Strong is a great option for those with a little more self motivation then myself. However I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn this about myself. I also believe that I finally built a decent base- not the goal of my plan but still a good thing. If the bones are good, I can continue to build on that. My race is still 9 days away so I have another few weeks of the training plan to go- wish me luck!
