Questions for Those Wiser Than Moi & Allied Medal Display Giveaway

I actually had a whole different post coming up for today but I could not help myself as I wanted to get other people's thoughts and opinions who are much wiser than me like you all!  We are 2 days post 15 miles and I guess I am still feeling it, not that it was an easy run to begin with I remind you, give me a break lol.  My ankle is doing ok which is good but today's five miles was still pretty hard.  I kept lowering the speed and while overall it was not too bad, my legs were not having anything to do with me and my running.  Plus, even though I am chugging water and some nuun I absolutely think I am still dehydrated from poor hydration during the past two works outs (even though Liz did an awesome job of filling me up with water).  To add things to the pile, last week I went for a massage and we found a nice big knot in my right hammy.  The massage therapist worked on it a ton but I think it hurts more now than before. Eeeekkk. 

I have been running competitively for about 3 years and I am only a week into hardcore marathon training as the coach calls it and can you already tell my mind is spinning!!  I guess that leads to the wiser people noted in the title of the post.  I need help my fellow readers!  Tell me what you think?  You all always have such wise and thoughtful suggestions and I would love to hear them

1)  How do you recover from your long run/do you feel it in your workouts the next few days.  How do you deal with it?
2)  How is the best way to stay on top of hydration during your runs? This sounds like a silly question, I try to drink a ton but it is just soo hard! 
3) What is your vote on the hammy...do I allow the massage therapist to work it today, or give it the week off and work it again the next week or never again?

I can use your help!  But all this is not for nothing I promise, that's right you know it,  Giveaway time.  I am so psyched about this giveaway because I love love this thing.  It is an Allied Medal Display.  I am sure you have all heard of this before.  But if not and you  are wondering what to do with all your hard-earned medals  this thing is the answer.  It allows you to display your medals with pride by hanging them on your customize medal rack.  You can put any saying on it! They already have awesome ones like "Marathon" "Always Earned, Never Given"  or do your own like mine, "Stephanator," my coach's nickname for me  It does NOT get better than this.  I don't have a ton to say about this thing, because it speaks for itself.  It is an athlete's dream allowing you to really show off all that you have done. You NEED one of these, I am telling you ;)

Anyway how do you win this?

1)  You must be a follower of my blog (mandatory)

2)  Tweet about this giveaway:  "I want to win an allied medal display from @26runforfun2 http://tinyurl.com/3d6vg59:

3) Answer one of the three questions, or all noted above (1 entry per each)

4) Like Allied on Facebook and tell them I sent you (1 entry)

You know the rules, one comment per each entry please.  This giveaway will last to next Tuesday!  In the meantime, can't wait to hear from all of you!  Sorry for the quick post, crazy day.  Can't wait to catch up with everyone, have a wonderful week in the meantime.

Blogger Love and My First Trip to 16 Handles and a Stuffitts Giveaway

Aaron and  I have been in NJ for ooo 4 days and the stats have changed since Sunday... as of today we have

- been to two pizza different pizza places

-  met two different blogger buddies

- paid $60 to have access to a gym for the week (even though we have a new one at home now)!!!

- bought one car

- paid $32 to take a trip into the city

- visited with countless relatives

- drank 2 glasses of wine

-and enjoyed way too much good food (thanks Aunt Debbie, more on that later) & company

Ok time to break it down a little bit more than that!  First off I have to point out how much I love blogging again. How can you not when every time you go a different place you get to meet up with awesome "strangers" and do amazing things.

This week has been no different. It started with a trip to NY to have lunch with Liz from RunBakeRace and my first trip to 16 Handles.  Overall - impression, hmmm...maybe I went a little overboard....oops!!! I was so excited to meet Liz and she was too sweet and too cute.  Definitely go check out her blog if you have not yet.  We met, hugged, and dug in.

 Oh yea and Liz was too sweet bringing me cookies from her favorite bakery.  They were huge and yummy!!!  Check these babies out:

Now many of you are not from NY but I am sure you hear about 16 Handles a ton but, if you are like me, and have never been there, you have no clue what it looks like.  Aaron equated it almost to a bar....take a look for yourself.

 Who was the genius who thought of chocolate covered pretzels yummmM!

Nothing is complete without sprinkles!!

Anyway, as you may know it is self serve, soft-serve.  And boy did I serve myself, 11.8 ounces worth (I swear the other scale said 10.4), can you tell which one is mine?  What a lunch!!!

Ok maybe I went a bit overboard, I had a stomach ache for like two days.  I don't blame 16 Handles, I just could not help myself - I tried Red Velvet, Mango, and Cookies and Creme.  Ali always mentions on her  blog mixing too much is a rookie mistake, sorry Ali, better next time I hope!  Overall, Liz and I had a great time and began planning our stake out to watch NYCM together and cheer everyone on.  If you are running, let me know so I can cheer you on and if you want to be a cheerleader with us, please join, the more the merrier!

Fun blogger time did not end there.  Yesterday, Keri from Blueeyed Runner and I met at my childhood home and ran 4 miles together.  It was a beautiful day although we both concluded at the end that we were a sweat mess due to the phantom humidity....anyone ever had that? You start, not humid.  Then, you come home and your run was hard as hell and in comes the "oh it was humid."  Well, I swear it was!! Anyway, Keri and I had a great time chatting away.  Well, she chatted and I tried my best to get out words through my huffing and puffing.  At the end, I could not respond to tell you truth. I had a really bad stitch in my side and just dug deep and concentrated on finishing the run.  The past two  runs I keep getting these really painful stitches in my side.  I think it might be all the random extra eating adventures. I am really not sure but I am hoping it does not stick around for long.  When I first started running, I used to get this but I have not in years - anyone every experience this?  Overall,  I loved running with Keri.  My ankle did not hurt (knock on wood), my blister bandaides worked their magic (thanks Lindsay) and I had a great time talking with Keri.  I wish I was closer to run with her more.

Ok so the giveaway. I swear I will tie this all in.  When I got home from my run I was a sweaty mess, my shoes were wet and smelly and there was only one thing to do.  Get out the Stuffitts.

 Source

Ever heard of these?  I had not, until about a month ago when I was going through all my shoe dilemmas.  Check them out more here.  The website informs you that:

Stuffitts is a soft, form-fitting shape that is inserted into shoes after wearing. Combining new fabric technology, a unique foot-shaped design that maximizes point-to-point absorption, and soft cedar inserts – a pair of Stuffitts can help extend the life of your shoes significantly by protecting your shoes from moisture and odor! Stuffitts work effectively in all types of shoes, boots, and cleats…they also come in sizes to fit men, women, and children. They are made from 100% natural cedar and are 100% reusable.

On my end, I will tell you that these things are amazing.  You put them in your shoes post run and they absorb moisture and make your shoes smell all nice as well as dry them out.  They also keep the shape of the shoe.  The whole process takes as little as 40 minutes (for me anyway) but you could leave them in as long as you want!  Even better after you take them out, your shoes are like new they smell great and feel dry.  Even the actual Stuffitts still smell good - but if not you can throw the covers in the wash!

I was really nervous about using them thinking they would stretch out the shoe but nope they did not as they are form fitting!  Also, if you have trouble keeping your shoes together or carrying them, they have their very own carry strap that connects the shoes together and allows you to keep them together or move them, pretty cool huh?

Ok so how do you get your hands on these puppies?

Here we go....

How to Win these Stuffitts Shoe Savers (please leave a comment per entry)

1) Be a follower of this blog (mandatory)

2) Tweet about this "I want to win Stuffitt shoe saves from RunforFun @26runforfun2

3) Follow me on Twitter @26runforfun2

4) Follow Stuffitts on Twitter

5) Blog about this giveaway (no blog, put it on your facebook page)

Ok that is it for now.  There will be more ways to win all week.  This closes next Thursday morning the 25th :)

Alright off to eat more food, more exercise, and the best yet day with Mammy and Poppa (my grandparents silly, don't you all call your grandparents Mammy and Poppa - story for another day.  Besides they are getting great at the computer, maybe Mammy will tell you herself, she always told the BEST stories)