OOlala - Feeling the OOh with OOFOS

Disclaimer: I received a pair of OOFOS OOlala Luxe Sandals to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.comto review find and write race reviews! 

Second disclaimer: I LOVE OOFOS! Seriously, I am on my 4th pair of OOFOS. I have a pair of the Project Pink Sandals, OOriginal Sport Sandals, OOahh Slide Sandals and now I have a pair of the OOlala Luxe Sandals. And each pair has been more amazing than the last. 

Styling in Comfort right on the "podium"

Whenever I do a race, I always pack a pair to change into immediately after the race, not just for out of town races, but even local ones. Heck, I've even worn them up on the occasional podium because I just couldn't wait to relieve my feet after a race. Most recently, when I placed 1st AG at the Common Heart Firecracker 10K when it was time to receive my medal and photos, you guessed it, I was already in my OOFOS. And they were even the perfect color to match my race day outfit for a 4th of July race - Pixel White and Blue. 

So yeah, if you have ever considered purchasing a pair of recovery sandals, but haven't for some reason, I say to you wait no longer. You will not regret these. There is a reason they are sold at almost every local running store. And everyone I know of that has a pair raves about them. I've had a few now, and I will continue to purchase OOFOS for years to come. 

Want to #FeelTheOO for yourself? Check out their website: www.oofos.com 
And be sure to follow them on Twitter: @oofos
And Instagram:@oofos

And be sure to follow me as well if you do not already: Twitter, Instagram

Summer Running - Running on Vacation

Next week I will be going on my annual trek up to Pittsburgh, PA to visit family. 

Things I am excited about:

• Not working for a week
• Seeing family I only see once per year
• Being in Pittsburgh - it's a really cool city
• Going to Eat n Park (they have pierogies on the breakfast bar, yo
• Going to Kennywood - gonna ride the new Steel Curtain roller coaster until I throw up
• Running in much much cooler and less humid weather
• Numerous other things I am sure I am forgetting

And don't even get me started on Eat n Park Smiley Cookies

Things that I am not excited about:

• Trying to fit in trips to the gym and runs

But Lissa, you say, you are on vacation, can't you take a week off? Umm... no. I barely take a day off (seriously, my last full rest day was the day I flew back from Barcelona because I had to leave for the airport by 6 am). Call me obsessive, but I do not do rest days well at all. I am a creature of habit and need obsessive disciple, but mentally and physically. 

My regular Tarentum running spot along the Allegheny 

So I am already stressing about how I am going to fit in workouts. I've already pulled up the Burn Boot Camp locations and figured out which ones I'll try to hit on which days (Bethel Park on Wed, Thurs and Fri while in Bridgeville and Wexford on Sat while in Tarentum) and trying to figure out exactly where I can run. See I am staying with a cousin the first couple days that I've never stayed with so I am not sure of the surrounding areas. If I were in Tarentum every day like usual, no problem, I've got routes there all scouted, but new area means new scouting. Especially with the challenges of Pittsburgh terrain.

Ultimately, I would LOVE to be able to run in downtown Pittsburgh, especially since I will be running the Pittsburgh Half Marathon this coming May (stay tuned to more info about this soon) and would love to get some practice in on the course, but , the logistics of being a solo female runner come into play here - just where and when to run where I can guarantee safety. Hopefully I can find a park or something not to far from where I am staying. 

I mean - HELLO!? How pretty is Pittsburgh. And running over those bridges!! I WANNA SO BAD!!! 

What about you? Do you stick to your fitness/training schedule when you are travelling? How do you find safe routes while travelling? 

For the Gel of It: SiS Gels Review & GIVEAWAY

Disclaimer: I received a Science in Sport Gel sample pack 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!

By now I am guessing that if you are a runner, than you've heard the #1 rule for when it comes to racing- NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY! 

That is why I was excited for the opportunity to try of Sports in Science (SiS) gels. They are the on-course gels for the Rock n Roll races nationwide and I love running the Savannah Half Marathon each year (seriously, it's my favorite ever race). Last year I totally meant to grab a gel from an aid station to try it later (again, nothing new ON race day) but in the heat of the race, I was focused on finishing. Fast forward to now when the awesome folks at SiS gave me and some of my fellow BibRave Pros an amazing care package of goodies to try - 4 flavors in all, including their new GO Isotonic gels. 

Isotonic Gels?
What you may ask are Isotonic  Gels? Glad you asked. Basically with the SiS Isotonic gels, you do not have to chase with water. They are 100% effective just on their own. This is awesome because sometimes I find that after I take a gel and then wash it down with water, my stomach can feel not so great from going from nothing to gel and a bunch of water mid-race. These deliver 22 g of rapid absorbing carbs in a convenient 60 ml tube. I tried the Apple flavor and it was really quite good. Really hit the spot for me in the middle of a long hot and humid Sat morning run. I gave a few a to try as well and she texted me that she used her during a super hot 10K race on July 4th and really liked it. 

Other SiS Gels
I also tied 3 other types of SiS gels in my sample care package - the GO + Electrolyte (Lemon Mint), GO Energy + Caffeine (Double Espresso) and GO + Electrolyte (Salted Strawberry). I'll be honest, the Double Espresso was not my favorite flavor, but it really got the job done as far as perking me up. I recommend to take that one as a pre-run gel because it really gets you going. I'm more of a fruity gel fan, so while it wasn't my favorite, I think that was mainly because I don't do coffee, chocolate, vanilla and similar flavors for gels anyway. The Lemon Mint and the Salted Strawberry were both amazing. Really great flavor and textures on both and I will for sure be getting more of both. I've already packed a Salted Strawberry in my run belt for tomorrow's long run. 

The Gel Fairy

Run the Rock Sampling SiS Gels

As I mentioned above, SiS is the on-course gel for the Rock n Roll races, and there is a very large group of runners in my area that are running Rock n Roll Philly in Sept and some others running Rock n Roll Savannah with me in Nov. So last weekend at our long-run, I brought a bunch of gels for the ladies to sample. The gels received rave reviews from the Run the Rock ladies and I've already had requests to share more of my stash. Of course I will (except for the Salted Strawberry - those are mine!)  

GIVEAWAY TIME!!
And guess what?! I have more SiS GO Gels to give out and I want to give a 6-Pack box to YOU! To win one of 2 boxes of SiS GO gels, check out my Instagam post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz2tSjCHHis/ and follow the directions to enter. You can enter anytime between now and midnight on July 15th to win. Winner will be notified by Instagram DM. 

Or, if you are not a lucky winner (or if you happen to read this after July 15th) you can order from the SiS website and use discount code TRYSIS25 to save 25% off your gel order. 

To learn more about SiS, be sure to follow their socials here  - 
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook

So... I've Been Slacking Again

BUT! I kinda have a decent reason for slacking a bit. See I was just recently in Barcelona for a week for a work trip. And let me tell you, for a trip that I was not looking forward to, Hoo buddy, was it amazing.

First off, let me make 2 things clear:

1) I worked my buns off between the hours of 8:30 am and 6:30 pm. I was there for a trade show and we rocked it. Set up went off without any major hitches (there's always something, but solving that something is my job) and we spent 9 hours a week straight standing on hard concrete floors talking to hundreds of people per day. It was exhausting, especially the talking to people part for introvert-anxiety riddled me.

Our Trade Show Booth. My home for a week, during the daylight hours at least.

2) Outside of those hours, we played and it was incredible! Our hotel was 3 streets from the beach and 3 streets from the Rambla del Poblenou and I was sure to make the most of my time. I got up early each morning to run on the beach (except 1) and each evening we spent hours chilling at amazing outdoor cafes or the beach or bars on the beach. One evening, my brother (who tagged along for a few days using me as an excuse for a European adventure) took a Sunset Cruise out into the Mediterranean. I got to drive (captain) the boat for about 30 min and honestly, I almost didn't give up the wheel to come back in.

So basically, I'm going to post some photos of my adventures below as my love letter to Barcelona.

The view from my hotel room - 6th floor - 3 streets from the beach

Playa de Bogatell - perfect weather the ENTIRE trip

I only got to see the beach during the day one day - the day we arrived. Even so, this is around 5:00 pm

The street our hotel was on, the buildings were awesome

The Metro station at Plaza Catalonia - I love travelling by Metro

Fira Gran - where the trade show was

The boat we took out for the Sunset Cruise

My brother and I - he never went long without a Sangria in hand the whole trip.
Most of the time, he was on his own cause I was working, but we did get to share this adventure. 

Don't mind me, just hijacking a ship on the Sea of Monsters. 

Could totally get used to this... 

The sun finally setting. It stayed up until almost 10:00 pm!

Head for open waters and never come back!

Alas, we had to come back in at some point... 

Playing in the water in the evening with my friend, coworker, and Barcelona running buddy, Simon

Never did figure out what this was, but it was awesome and there were several up and down the beach

Can't go to Spain without eating Paella

Holy butts was the food amazing. So fresh and yummy!

Sangria anyone? Umm YES!!

Seriously, the food though... 

Okay, last food pic. Let me intro you to a Culinary Wonder of the World - the Sushi Burrito. 12/10

My morning run view. Who needs extra sleep when you could see this instead?

Simon and I knocked out at least 5K most mornings

I loved running though this tunnel of palm trees each morning!

The turn around point of our runs. Hated to turn back, but we were there to work afterall... 

I didn't get to do much touristing, but this building was near where we had dinner one night and was awesome.
It was designed by the artist Antoni Gaudi. And it was beautiful, the picture does it no justice.

In summary, I loved it. I would highly recommend going and would love to go back and do even more. Barcelona, you were AMAZING!!