A Case of the Runs

Over the years, I've learned a lot about website optimization, SEO, and all the things I should have been doing with my blog to increase its hits.  Also during that time, I've encountered many blogs that are "well-optimized," and boy, do they feel impersonal.  So that means, I'm just going to carry on however I want (it's not like I'm making any money here [anymore -- yet??])! I'm going to review a few things, not because I was sent anything (though I'm still happy to do that -- contact me !), but because these are things that I use, and if you are so inclined, so should you! I will probably be adding more reviews here, since, let's be honest, they are what bring hits to the blog, and I want people to come and read so I don't feel like I'm writing to a cyber vortex! Invisibobble Hair Tie I have been using this for close to two years now, first tipped-off by a video by one of my favorite YouTube creators, FrmHeadtoToe .  Th...

It has been a while since I've done a gear review here, but I am excited to write this one.  The reason for my excitement is that I have had terrible luck with wireless Bluetooth headphones, and the product I'm reviewing not only fits that bill... it does so much more! The Jabra Elite Sport headphones have good sound quality, stay in my ear well, and has a heart-rate monitoring function!!  This means carrying one less device when working out. Official description: Jabra Elite Sport  is the most technically advanced true wireless pair of sports earbuds available. The fully sweat proof and waterproof Elite Sport is the ultimate training aid that delivers freedom of movement on any terrain. When paired with the Jabra Sport Life app, the earbuds deliver the most comprehensive range of audio training tools, including an in-ear heart rate monitor, in-ear intelligent coaching, VO2 Max fitness testing, automatic repetition counting, a race-time predictor and a recov...

The holidays are upon us, and consumerism is now at its peak.  I am not ashamed to admit that I love holiday shopping, especially now that I have nieces and nephews, and yes, a lot of that shopping are gifts to myself.  I usually save a lot of self-related purchases for this time of year.  I know deals can be found all year long, but I am often not in the mood to shop during the year.  Also, I usually just stock up on things that pretty much last me until this time for year, anyway. Anyway, along with the backlog of shopping, I also have a backlog of product reviews, some of which would make great gifts for yourself or someone else this holiday season.  I will try to summarize some of my favorite gear of all time in a formal holiday post soon, but I'll start with the below: Wimi Patella Knee System I am not sure if it was the turning 31, having a baby, or stopping my glucosamine, but my right knee has been particularly finicky over the past several month...

Hey, a picture of me, finally! I'm not sure why it is that I rarely turn the camera on myself these days.  It must be something about busy hands and focusing my camera on food and a certain toddler. Late one night, with toddler asleep and husband away, I was clicking around on my AppleTV out of boredom and decided to watch the Apple press conference that had taken place the day before.  I normally watch these each year, but I couldn't look away, particularly from the new Apple watch.  When the first Apple watch came out, I was pretty much like, "that's nice to have, but I have no use for it."  Then I got a FitBit , which turned out to be a fail for me.  I then just got an old-school watch and had been happily using that (mostly at work) for over a year.  Yes, I did not wear a watch before then -- never needed to because I would either check my phone or be in places with a clock. What is it about this watch drew me in?  Well, the water-resi...

I'm back!  I miss the days when I had infinitely more time to blog, as it really is more fun to express myself in complete sentences than to scroll through social media where I generally default to "Emoji-glish."  Growing up, writing was one of my favorite hobbies and an area in which I excelled at school.  In fact, I can probably attribute many of my life's decisions to my passion for writing.  Over time, I became too mentally drained to write (thanks, dissertation!), and then I started spending most of my days writing e-mails at work, which has comprised most of my written expression for many, many years outside of this blog.  Anyway, I find myself struggling to write, even in this casual medium.  I have picked up in my reading again, which is no problem for me, but I guess it will take a while for that to translate into more coherent writing.  I'm pretty convinced that nobody wants to read coherent writing anymore, right?? Speak...

Whew, it has been a long time since I've posted, and July is already nearing its close. In a nutshell, I've been playing a lot of Pokémon Go this month (my computer just auto-corrected the "e" in there, wow!) since it came out in early July.  Since I downloaded this game, I've been more casual on my morning runs and taking the appropriate walk-breaks to catch the creatures I've known for... wow... close to two decades.  Running is excellent with this game, because before you know it, you've gone the 2k, 5k, or 10k needed to hatch eggs and hopefully encountered a lot of new Pokémon or PokeStops along the way.  Let's just say I hardly use the treadmill anymore, and I have a gnarly PokeTan now. I should add that my playing has slowed way, way down over the past couple of weeks because I got what I wanted:   Right around the corner from my house!  It was meant-to-be!! Anyway, I'm still on a strength-training kick.  I usually go to th...

My birthday is this week, and the first thing I have to say about that is... ...wow, that came up quick(ly).  Pretty sure that's going to be my reaction every year from here on out.  I'm not sure if it's my aging brain or the whirlwind of parenting that is making time pass disproportionately quickly compared to my younger days. Speaking of younger days, here's the little one, who is 17 months today!  Lately, he's been refusing to let me feed him, so there are a LOT of messy times.  This picture below is slightly dated, and he is actually much, much cleaner about it now.  Other than that, he's started saying some words and thinks that the world is his oyster. Oh, so back to 31, the number of flavors they used to have at Baskin Robbins .  I am definitely feeling like I am getting "up there" in age!  I am also somewhat embarrassed to admit that I've hit up this establishment a couple of times this past year... alone! Looking b...

I remember when "checking in" meant finding your current location on Foursquare , but since those times, the app tanked, and ain't nobody got time to check in everywhere anymore. There really isn't a lot of "everywhere" to check into, anyway.  I'm usually either at home, at work, at the grocery store, picking up Baby Tuesday, or taking him to a select number of places that I wouldn't care for people to know, anyway. March is nearly over, and for a month that normally is as slow as molasses, it has pretty much just come and almost gone.  In about a month, I will be 31.  I wonder if 31 will "hit" me hard, since I was still is a postpartum whirlwind when I turned 30 and had it not been for the date on the calendar, I would not have known that this went by.  I definitely feel a lot older than I was, though.  Most of the time, I am tired and feel unfit and a piece of work in general when I don't really have the time to work on mysel...

Everything is pretty much a blur here lately, so it's pretty hard for me to believe that we are already in March.  I have to think reallllly hard to recall the last couple of months, or even the past month. I was generally feeling a lot better about life in the second half of February, partly because I got to finally race again.  I've been sleeping a bit more lately, which makes all the difference in the world. For Valentine's Day, was a bit industrious and made tea sandwiches, biscuits, and chocolate-covered strawberries for "The Ukrainian" and Tuesday.  Well, the baby ate the blueberries and some plain strawberries instead of chocolate, but he enjoyed the tea sandwiches and biscuits that were made with him in mind.  If you're wondering that that means, it just means that I used relatively healthy bread and no raw veggies or overly salty things.  I find I barely touch the salt shaker anymore since I've started accounting the baby into my batch cooki...

When you aren't constantly going to a bunch of race expos or reading running magazines anymore, it's hard to tell what's new in the world of "gear."  Then, when you obtain said-gear, it takes a while to test because it's not like I'm running very much lately.  In fact, prior to this week, I hadn't really run in over a month.  Then, I ran twice in a week out of the blue.  I'm hoping I will keep at it. Meanwhile, here are some fitness-inspired items that might spark some holiday gift ideas! Milestone Pod The testing of this thing has been pretty slow due to a lack of running, but I strung this onto my new shoes and love that it is basically counting the miles for me!  I used to be more paranoid about tracking the mileage on my shoes as an indicator of when to change them because I injured easily.  This also syncs with your phone via an app, though I was more interested in a simple mileage count than anything else.  When I tap the scree...

As you know, fitness trackers are all the rage lately.  I haven't been able to commit to one for very long, mostly because I don't like wearing things on my wrist. A while back, I reviewed the Omron Alvita Pedometer , which was a great pedometer because it was no-fuss, automatically resetting itself each day and only counting legitimate steps instead of just shakes. I was given the chance to review a next generation of this device, the Omron Alvita Wireless Activity Tracker .  It uses similar technology but now interacts with your phone! Tracks steps, aerobic steps, distance and calories burned Wirelessly syncs your data to our free Omron Fitness app Tap on screen for easy access to current day’s data Calculates stride automatically based on height and weight input for easy set up Battery saving mode turns screen off after 20 seconds of inactivity; continues tracking all activity Displays current day’s activity and stores up to 14 days in memory The a...

July has been going well, fitness-wise. Late in May, I joined a gym and started working out at lunch .  My goal was to work out three or four days a week and be "active" on at least one other day.  Most weeks, I get in my three, sometimes four.  They don't always happen at the gym or during the lunch hour.  Sometimes, if I'm not on baby-pickup duty, I will squeeze it in after work.  Once in a while, I get to work from home and do it in the morning or mid-day.  And sometimes, when the baby wakes up at an odd hour and I can't go back to sleep before I must wake for the day anyway, workouts have happened on my driveway in the dark. Along with trying to find balance, I've been able to try out more of the things that have come my way, as well.  I took these Tiger Lady claws on a run recently.  Pepper spray is kind of the normal thing to carry, but I'm always freaked out that I'll set if off accidentally, so these also give me some sense of se...