GU Review

A couple months ago, GU sent me some gel packets to try out in exchange for a blog review.  I had only tried the power bar gel and you can read what I thought about that HERE.  I had seen the word GU all over the blogosphere so I wanted to see what all the hype was about.  Well, they sent me 4 different flavors to try! With not being able to run for 2 weeks before my half marathon, I didn’t get to try them all out before hand, but just recently tried the last flavor this past week!

A little about GU (from their website)

GU is simple. Simple is fast.

Simple to take, simple to digest, GU Energy Gel provides just what you need for premium exercise fuel and none of the extras that slow you down. GU takes you where you want to go, fast.

Launched in 1991, the world’s first energy gel is still the most efficient sports fuel available today. GU’s carbohydrate blend delivers high-quality, easily-digested and long-lasting energy for athletes in every sport and at all levels.

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The packets say to take a GU 15 minutes before and then every 45 during and to follow up with a swig of water.  I didn’t take a gel before my half marathon because I had eaten before so I didn’t need it.  Also, on my long runs, I tend to take a gel every 30-45 minutes or every 3-5 miles depending on how I’m feeling.  Now, on to my thoughts about the different flavors!

 

Mandarin Orange (w/caffeine)

 

   This flavor is relatively new.

   To be honest, this was probably
   my least favorite flavor out of the
   four that they sent me to try.

   It was, in my opinion a little too
   citrusy and the texture seemed to
   be a little thicker than the others. 

   click the image to enlarge nutrition

 

 

Vanilla Bean  (w/caffeine)

   I actually liked GU’s Vanilla gel
   better than the power bar gel that I
   tried a while ago (see above).

  Vanilla Bean is actually pretty good
   and kind of reminds me of frosting
   a little bit.

   I can see myself adding this flavor
   with others in the future in my GU
   Gel flask for a new interesting 
   flavor

   Click the image to enlarge nutrition

 

Mint Chocolate (No caffeine added)**

 

   I really liked this flavor!

   Mint Chocolate reminds me of the
   little Andes mints you get at Olive
   Garden or sometimes in hotel
   rooms

   It’s like downing candy during a
   long run!

   Click the image to enlarge nutrition

 

Tri-Berry  (w/caffeine) 

   This is my absolute flavor that GU
   sent me to try out!

   I ordered some of the Tri-Berry gel
   after i tried it and used it for my
   half marathon in September

   Usually I tend to prefer chocolate
   flavors over fruity flavors but I
   loved this flavor!  Unlike the
   Orange, I didn’t think that this
   flavor was too much of anything!

   Click the image to enlarge nutrition

 

I never once had any issues after downing a gel.  It never made my tummy hurt or made me feel queasy and I can honestly say that I can tell a difference when I use GU on my long runs versus not! 

I have since acquired more GU and it has become my go to fuel for my training and will be my go to fuel for my races! It is highly unlikely that you have not heard of GU, but just in case you haven’t, if you would like to learn more or order your own gel GO HERE!  Thank you GU Energy for allowing me to test your products!

Do you use GU or do you use something else to fuel during those hard/long training runs and races?  If you use GU, what is your favorite flavor?

 

If you would like to host a review/giveaway on my blog please feel free to send an email to Zaneta at runners.luck@hotmail.com

** In case you didn’t read the nutrtion label for the Mint Chocolate, it contains a small amount of caffeine already due to the dark chocolate ingredient, but has no added caffeine other than that 4mg per packet

5 Miles of Fun!

Well, it seems like forever since I’ve blogged… and especially about running like actually feet hitting the pavement running.  So I’ll do that tonight and then I’m heading to bed early because I’m exhausted and I have the Grace Race 5k in the morning! :)

I actually got off work a little early yesterday (Thursday) and had enough time to run 5 miles before I had to be at job #2.  It was chilly… about 53 degrees and pretty windy.  I threw on the outfit I thought I’d want to wear for the race and grabbed my handheld and ipod and gulped down a Mint Chocolate GU, then headed out the door.

Despite being chilly, I had such a fun time and the outfit is my new favorite!  The views from my route were beautiful!  The hills were fun!  I felt really good and I was lovin’ it!  Around mile one I saw a house all decked out for trick-or-treat later that night.

I saw chickens crossing the road to get to the other side… apparently the answer to why they do this is to eat… cuz that’s what they were doing lol…

I saw cows and a big lazy dog and a HUGE mean scary looking dog behind a fence that said “beware of dog”… I was sure it could hop the fence if it tried just a little harder.  Then around mile 4 I saw a CD hanging on a tree and that made me laugh lol…

All-in-all, nothing significant happened on this run… I just really enjoyed it and felt good and I’m pretty sure I was smiling the entire time I was running… I even sang along to a couple songs.  I think it was my turn around point… from running because I thought I had to after my half marathon and REALLY wanting to get out there and pound the pavement!  It was wonderful! 

To top it all off I thought I would definitely be sore today because the last 800 or so meters, I really picked up the pace (or so I thought lol) and I only stretched a little before heading back to work.  I did wear my recovery socks, but today I am not sore whatsoever! :D  Does this mean I’m more in shape than I thought I was?  Or possibly I didn’t run as hard as I could’ve?  Whatever… I dont care because it was FUN!!!

**Run Stats (Just for FUN)**

Date:  October 28, 2010
Time:  4:01pm
Temperature:  53 Degrees

Distance:  5.02 miles
Time:  48:39
Average Pace:  9:41/mile
Fastest Pace:  6:03/mile  (pushing it home)
Slowest Pace:  26:18/mile (waiting to cross an intersection)

Elevation Min:  879
Elevation Max:  1025
Ascent/Descent:  177/-177

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List of things I want to start doing:

- Yoga
- More weight training
- Going to bed earlier
- Looking at races for 2011
- Specific Hill Workouts
- Eating more veggies and fruits again
- Do a little research on running form, terminology, and technology
- Start changing around the blog background, header, and tagline
- Finishing up my Christmas shopping
- Read more of ‘Born To Run’

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Alrighty… off to bed I go with dreams of less hours of work next week! lol… My 5k is at 10am, thank goodness because it’s supposed to be another chilly one! Race Report to come!  Although I’m not holding my breath that I’ll hit my goal of sub 25 because I just haven’t been running enough to do that.  But I always look forward to races!  I hope you all have had a lovely week!

I’m Legit!!!

I am seriously a legit runner now!  I feel like I’ve gone through initiation and am now a part of the “club”.  Well… you know that nasty blister on my toe that i got from my half marathon? First it turned into a black toenail, and

IT FELL OFF TODAY!!

So thank you fellow club members for letting me join the club! I’m so excited to be an actual member now!

And Yes, I showed it to my family like it was a trophy or something to be proud of and every single one of them declared that it was nasty, disgusting, or gross.  I knew that I could share with you guys and get a completely different reaction ;)  Although… yeah it’s still kinda gross haha… but I’m so proud of being toenail-less! ;) 

PS- I wont share a picture (and no i didn’t take any pictures lol) of my feet just in case you get grossed out easily lol

Thursday Thoughts and Fuel Belt Winner!

First of all, wow!! 96 followers?!  You guys ROCK!!  Hello and thank you to all of my new followers!  I love making new friends! :D

I had 131 entries into my giveaway!!  I plugged the numbers into random.org and this is what it came up with:

Congratulations Alanna!!  Please shoot me an email with your address sometime this weekend!  I hope to get your handheld and GU to you sometime in the next week Lord willing! :D   runners.luck@hotmail.com

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Now onto the “Thursday Thoughts” portion of this post!  I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately and don’t really have time to write about all my thoughts.  Of course, a majority of my thoughts are about running and blogging and everything else life has been throwing at me!

1.  I have been working extra hours the past couple weeks… 15/week to be exact and it leaves me with no time to do anything unless I stay up late.  Which I did on Monday.  4am late to be exact and mostly because I was too lazy to get up out of the recliner from watching tv with my dad to walk back to my bedroom to go to bed.  I can’t be the only one that does this right?!

2.  I’ve been feeling crappy lately.  I do believe it has to do with a lot more than just the late bedtimes.  It took me a week to get back to running after my half marathon… A WEEK!!  And still… I can probably count on one hand how many times I’ve been running since then!  It’s pathetic really.  It’s not that I don’t want to.  I really don’t like getting up early.. I’ve never made it a habit to because I didn’t have to.  My work schedule allowed me to run in the afternoons or evenings most of the time and now since I’m working more, the only times I have to run are early morning or late night… ugh!  So, that has a lot to do with why I’ve been feeling crappy PLUS I’ve been eating crappy too!  You are what you eat right?!  Ok, so I did have an excuse for last weekend because of the fair… but seriously… I  haven’t been eating any veggies or fruits and I’ve been eating on the go … ie: fast food!  GASP!!!  so… lack of sleep, lack of running/exercise, more hours of work, and a crappy diet have all come colliding down on me this week and I’ve felt like a bad human being lol…

3.  It’s not like I don’t have any motivation… ok, I don’t have any lol.  I do have a race on OCT 30th and my goal time for 5k is sub 25 right now and I really want it in my head lol… but I still don’t have any motivation… and its probably because of #2!  So I have decided to stop wallowing in my self proclaimed laziness and business and make some changes!

4.  Not only am I making healthy living changes, but I have thought a lot about changing around my blog.  First of all  I don’t believe in LUCK… I never have.  I believe that everything happens for a reason because God has a plan.  So… I have no idea why my blog is named “Runner’s Luck” other than it sounded cool and I had ZERO creative juices flowing the day I created my blog.  Also… I ran my half marathon on September 25th!  I think my blog needs a new tagline!  I also want to give my blog a little makeover starting with a cool picture header… except I have no idea how to do that … help?!  And maybe a new background?!  What do you all think?!  I would appreciate any opinions you guys have about changing anything on my blog or any help you can give me on creating a photo header!

So those are just A FEW thoughts I’ve had… I’ll save some of the others maybe for greater in-depth posts…  As always I love advice/opinions/comments from  you all! :D  I know a lot of you feel somewhat like I have after running a big race… I think making healthier choices will make a HUGE difference in the way I’m feeling though!  So starting tonight… I’m going to bed before midnight!! :D 

Giveaway Reminder!!!

This is the last day you can enter my giveaway!!  The winner gets a Fuelbelt handheld and GU!! Seriously, if you haven’t already, go enter! :D  You really have until tomorrow evening when I get off of work!

ENTER NOW!!!!

ok… off to job #2 of the day!  I better see more entries to the giveaway when I return later tonight! ;)  I hope everyone is having a great day!

A Little Friday Fun

Last Friday was such a fun day!!  My boyfriend and I had plans to go to the country fair Friday night after he got off work so I was so excited!! Something about fair food… yum!

I didn’t have to work so I had made plans to run with J in the morning.  I woke up around 7am and it was raining, but a little rain never hurt anyone right?!  Well I got a text from J that said she didn’t want to run in the rain so she would meet me at the Y.  I don’t have a membership to the Y and I have a treadmill here at home.  But I didn’t really want to run on the treadmill… I hate treadmills, they make my knees hurt for some odd reason.  So we cancelled our plans and I crawled back in bed under the covers to relax a little and catch up on some blogs before I got ready for the day.

Then my boyfriend text me and said he was going on lunch around 11 and wanted to know if I wanted to meet him so of course I said yes!  DUH!!  Time spent with the boyfriend is rare now-a-days since he has school and work and I have work and work.  We don’t live together so we get to see each other a day or two on the weekends.  So I drove to his workplace and when he went on lunch we walked over to the grocery store and then walked to Wendy’s.  It was a fun time especially since the rain had subsided.

It had stopped raining around 9:30am and I had decided before I left my house that I was going to run after our lunch date because I could walk from his work to the bike path.  So, after he went back to work I grabbed my SPIbelt with my cell phone and my Fuel Belt handheld and my IPod and my gum and  my chapstick…… wow, so does anybody else feel like they run with a lot of stuff?! lol

I had decided that I wanted to run about 5 miles.  I haven’t run a whole lot of mileage since my half marathon… anywhere from 1-3 miles at a time, so i just wanted to take it easy.  It had turned into a nice brisk fall day… just beautiful!  I had decided to wear my new NIKE running capris that I had bought for $6 at finish line (due to gift cards and rewards from the boyfriend… he’s the best!)  I really really like the capris!  They’re really comfortable and do keep the legs warm.  My route took me around a park and I loved the scenery!  I ended up running 5.49 miles in 56:34 so a 10:18 pace.  I did stop to take some pictures and stretch out a couple times… yowsa!  Getting back into running after my half has not gone so well lol… but maybe I’ll save that discussion for another post!  It was actually a fun run and it was nice to get out and get moving on a beautiful path!

 
Then after getting cleaned up and doing some work around the house, I went back to meet my boyfriend at 6pm to head to the county fair!!  We had so much fun!  We ate a lot lol… but I dont feel guilty!  IT’S THE FAIR PEOPLE!! Gyro’s, Philly Cheese steak, corn dogs, crazy taters, chocolate covered cheesecake on a steak, and cotton candy!  sounds gross now, but at the time it was delicious!!  And of course we had to ride the ferris wheel… its a 4 year tradition now! :)

View from the top

 
A fun board we saw on our way out

It got cold, and we had conquered everything we had set out to do, so we decided it was time to leave. (plus I was a little sore from my run)  yeah I know… I’m a total wimp lol!  BUT, I ran the farthest since my half marathon, so I was happy and I had gotten to spend some quality time with my man… EXTRA HAPPY!!  At the fair… Bonus happy points!! ;)  So in case you didn’t catch that, I was happy! :D

Do any of you have a hard time getting back into the swing of things after races?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!  You have 1 more day!

Saturday in the park…

Last Saturday, my family went on our “Annual Family Picnic”  and it was beautiful outside!  My youngest sister was home from college on fall break and we were joined by mine and my twin’s boyfriends.  We had a blast!  Here’s a picture I took of our beautiful surroundings… aren’t you proud Neil?! ;)  ok so its not as cool as his awesome photos but I thought it was beautiful!

We ate and then went on a hike and played on the playground… I guess the best way to explain to you the fun we had is in pictures… so enjoy! :D

My parents and I

 
Why yes, I am wearing my BIC band I won from Running Diva Mom.  If you dont know about BIC bands please click the words to read about them!  They are seriously awesome!  I wore it all day and it didn’t budge!  It was so comfortable I forgot I was wearing it and usually I have to keep rearranging headbands on my head because they keep falling off!

 

The Self-Timer is our friend lol

 
yes, my family is goofy lol… it makes for fun times!  AND YES, we are all adults… but we act like kids when it comes to play time!! ;)

It was a fun weekend!  I always enjoy spending quality time outside with family!  Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!  Can’t wait to read all your race reports!! Also, don’t forget to enter my Fuel Belt/GU giveaway HERE!

Three Things Thursday

1.  Jodi over at RunJodiRun has a weekly “Thumbs up Thursday” where she spotlights a runner by interviewing them.  This week she honored me by asking if she could interview me and I said yes!  Jodi, Thank you so much!  It honestly made my week!

SO… go check out her blog post featuring me and say hi to Jodi!

 

2.  I wanted to remind everyone about my Fuel Belt, GU, and chocolate #9 giveaway!  If you haven’t already entered, CLICK HERE!

 

3.  When it comes to blog awards, I am a terrible receiver!  It takes me forever to write about them and pass them along so without further ado…

The most recent award I got was the Versatile Blogger award from One Crazy Penguin!

*Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award
* Share 7 things about yourself
* Pass the award onto other bloggers who you know are fabulous

1. My name is Zaneta
2.  I LOVE ice cream!
3.  I spend too much time blogging
4. I have 3 siblings
5.  I secretly miss school
6.  I wish NIKE would sponser me!
7.  I don’t wear makeup

Another award that I received way back at the beginning of September (whoops!) was the Happy 101 Award from Char over at My Life’s a Marathon!

*Thank the Giver
*State 10 Things you like
*Give this award to 10 other people

1.  My family
2.  My boyfriend
3.  Sunny warm days
4.  Ice cream
5. Running
6. Laughing
7.  Knitting/Crocheting
8.  Fall weather!
9.  Realizing that I am growing as a person
10.  My blogging friends!!

Thank you so much ladies for the awards!  It really is an honor and makes me happy to know that people read my blog and like it enough to give me an award!

Seriously… I follow and have MANY amazing followers!  If you feel like grabbing one of the awards (or maybe have nothing to blog about or are having writers blog) than feel free to grab the awards!  You all deserve them! :D

What makes you happy?!

OH MY GOODNESS, I’M SO EXCITED!!!

I came home from job #1 this afternoon and found this on my kitchen table!!!

Guess what it contained in all it’s cardboardy goodness?!

MY DIPLOMA!!!

If I was excited about graduating this summer… this is 100xs more exciting!  This made it feel “official”! :D

Now I’m off to job #2 for the rest of the night!  Just had to share my excitement with you all! :D

Edit after I got home from job#2:  This may just be more exciting than the buckle that EMZ got ;)  just sayin! tehe!

10-10 Virtual Race Report

Click on the picture to go to the race website (or Neil’s blog)

Ok, Sorry Neil for being late on my race report!  BUT here it is in all its glory boringness! I know I already wished you a Happy Birthday, but I wanted to say it again cuz it looks like you had a wonderful birthday celebration with family! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL!!!

On to the race report!  On Saturday 10-9-10 I went on a run after work and the day was beautiful!!  I originally signed up to do a 10k but I’ve been sick so I decided to run the 1/2 10k race!  Here’s me before the start:

I ran my 1/2 10k (or 5k if you wish) and although I felt terrible… I enjoyed the run!  I don’t know how fast I went, I can tell you it wasn’t very… maybe just under a 10min/mile pace?  I just enjoyed the view on the bike path and when I got home, I found out that I had only done 2.8 miles… whoops!  But it’s the effort right?!  So, here’s my finishing photo (official of course):

And, because you can see that I used my Fuel Belt Handheld in the picture, I have to promote my giveaway!  If you want one for yourself and a couple GUs as well CLICK HERE to enter my giveaway that ends on 10/20! 

Lesson Learned – Fuel Belt Giveaway!

Well, after dragging out my race report for two weeks lol… I decided you guys deserved a giveaway! Aren’t you glad I told you about my weekend in 5 posts now?!  No, the giveaway isn’t one of the “I <3 Zaneta” Bracelets! 

Remember how I learned some lessons after my race?  If you don’t remember, that’s ok, I’ll refresh your memory!

Lessons Learned:

1) Don’t wear new shoes to race in!
2) Grab the first flavor of GU available just in case they don’t have the flavor you’re waiting for!
3) Take flip flops with you in your after race bag
4) Don’t start out to fast so you have energy at the end and can take pretty finishing photos
5)  Register with just a “Z” as my name if it’s going on the bib so that people can cheer for me by name too!  (only one person tried, and she did get my name right!)
6)  Take a handheld or belt next time because I got a little thirsty in between stations and it would’ve been nice to be able to drink whenever I wanted

Well, the reason I refreshed your memory is because this giveaway has EVERYTHING to do with those lessons.. well a couple of them anyways!  The winner will receive:

1) One Fuel Belt 10oz Sprint Palm Holder in the Surf Blue Color
2) Two Tri-Berry GUs (because 1 just isn’t enough)
3) Three Chocolate #9 Gels (I actually haven’t tried them yet, but chocolate is always good right?! Click HERE to find out more about them)

*I was not contacted by any of the above companies to do this giveaway, I purchased the prizes on my own with the intentions of giving them away… with the exception of the Chocolate #9 which I won, but have a butt load of so I decided to share.

Now you can learn my lessons too!  Awesome right?!  You have until 10/20 to enter, the winner will be chosen using random.org or something equally as random on 10/21 and posted right here on my blog.  So here’s what you have to do to enter (leave a comment for each entry):

Mandatory Entry
- Be or become a follower of my blog

Extra Entries
- Leave a comment telling me what lessons you have learned while running… it can be anything from lessons like I learned or life lessons
OR
Tell me how you like to stay hydrated during races; do you use a belt or handheld or something like that

- Link back to this giveaway on your blog.

- Follow me on twitter HERE

- Tweet about this giveaway.  You can copy and paste the following phrase to make it easier.

Checkout the @Fuelbelt and @GUEnergyLabs #giveaway @superwoman4002 is having on her blog!  http://tinyurl.com/3yvxs6c

 

If you have an awesome product that you would like me to review, or would like to host a giveaway on my blog please send an email to runners.luck@hotmail.com

Who Loves Me?!

So… I decided to type my name into Google and see what popped up…

“Zaneta” + ENTER = a lot of results lol

BUT my favorite one was THIS ONE!

Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas?!  That’s right!! 

I LOVE ZANETA BRACELETS!!!   ;)

What’s that??  You want something bigger to display your love for me?!  You’re buying the hooded sweatshirt?!  GEE… I love you too! ;)

 

*Yes, I am aware that these products are probably for the place Zaneta, Iowa… which I hope to visit someday :)

Women’s Running Magazine Half Marathon Race Recap Part 4: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

 

In case you missed the other parts of my LONG race recap/mini vacation report let me refresh you!

Part 1:  Traveling and the Expo
Part 2:  Before the Race
Part 3:  The Race

Also, I had posted about something very saddening that I saw while I was getting ready to leave the race:

ANY day can be thanksgiving!  Click HERE to read the post.

After I took an ice bath and shower and ate some lunch, my parents and I decided to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I loved how the windows were like the keys of a piano! so cool!

 

These were some quotes on the outside of the building before you got to the stairs.  You can click the image to make it larger.

 

Here are pictures from inside the museum:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

My dad had said that he wanted to meet Elvis while we were in Nashville and we saw this:

So my dad got his picture taken with Elvis for proof that he met him! haha

    

This is the huge wall of records… there were TONS more I couldn’t get in the picture!

 

The Hall of Fame:

 

Then my dad dressed in his nicest cowboy get up (in the gift shop):

 

After we left, we walked around downtown Nashville for a little bit and saw the Ryman Auditorium but it was getting late, my legs and feet were killing me and we were all tired and hungry so we headed to Red Lobster (all 3 of our favorite restaurant) and called it a day!  What a fun day it had been!

The next day, Sunday, my mom and I headed down to the free hotel breakfast and ate waffles and fruit and muffins… yum!  We took my dad a plate back to our room and then we finished packing and headed back to Ohio.  We hit some traffic right before crossing over from Kentucky to Cincinnati and went about 6 miles in an hour!  I once again whined to my dad that I had to pee.  He told me that we had passed a PortaKleen truck about 5 minutes ago so it was probably just a few feet back and I could go hitch a ride.  Which was funny, and even though I knew the traffic was so bad we weren’t gonna move, there was no way I was gonna ask the driver if I could use the toilet on the back of his truck! haha!

We ended our mini vacation with dinner at one of my parent’s favorite pizza places and my aunt and uncle had said they would join us there.  We didn’t stop all the way back, so when I tried to get out and move my legs, I seriously had issues! lol, i was so sore and I felt like an old woman trying to get my legs to work!  The pizza and salad were amazing and we couldn’t have ended the vacation any better way!

BEST VACATION EVER!!! 

Ok, maybe not ever but I haven’t been on vacation in forever so it was pretty much an amazing weekend and I’m glad my parents got to come with me!

So whats next?

I have registered for another 5k and have 2 more that I am planning on doing this year.  I really did enjoy the half marathon so will be looking for another one to do in the future.  Also, I may or may not be looking for a marathon to run in 2011 and I may or may not be making plans to run it with a bloggy friend!  Nothing is planned yet, or set in stone… just an idea for now :)  But will definitely keep you all posted!! :D