The Oscars/Academy Awards: The Running Edition 2014

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Last year I wrote this post and I thought I'd make it a yearly tradition!

The award for best 'actress' in a supporting role goes to:
The panache sports bra! See my post evaluating several sports bras for more information.

The award for best 'actress' in a leading role goes to:
I love love love sparkly soul no-slip headbands. I wear them when I'm running and even when I'm headed out for date night!

The award for best 'actor' in a supporting role:
Skratch! I've recently become a big fan of scratch labs and much prefer that over any other hydration alternative. It's free of all preservatives and unnecessary ingredients and it's delicious!
I still love Sport Beans, but I'm also enjoying Honey Stinger chews on my long runs.

The award for best 'actor' in a leading role:
Last year at this time, I was still using a fuel belt. Since then, I have discovered hydration packs and I haven't looked back. My all-time favorite pack is the Nathan HPL 020 TorchLight:

The award for best 'director' goes to:
Definitely still my Garmin 610. I love my Garmin. In a way, it is my coach. It keeps me on my pace and tells me where I need to be.

The award for best 'sound mixing' goes to:
My Ipod shuffle, which I find a lot more convenient than listening to music on my phone. Though I love my Yurbuds, I keep losing the little covers for them so I switch between a few different pairs of headphones.

The award for best 'makeup & hairstyling' goes to:
I have given up on Bodyglide and now use this Lanacane gel for preventing chafing. Works like a charm! I don't normally "do" my hair for a run, but I've found that the best hairstyle to keep it from getting tangled and in my way are braids.

The award for best 'costume' goes to: 
This one hasn't changed too much. I still love my Nike Pegasus shoes and my CWX pro 3/4 compression tights (recently featured in Runner's World latest issue). I also love Pro Compression socks, I currently have a long wishlist of new designs and colors.

My barefooters also deserve a mention here. There's nothing better than taking my running shoes off after a long run and sliding these on!

The award for best 'documentary' goes to:
My blog! Without it, I wouldn't have reached nearly as many goals. Documenting my journey has helped me improve and motivated me to continue.

The award for best 'production design' goes to:
I've learned to love my treadmill for what it is; it's a tool to help me achieve my goals and I've found many ways to make it more interesting.

The award for best 'picture' goes to:
Friends, family, & spectators, all the people that allow me to continue doing what I love. Here's one of my favorite pictures from the last year featuring some awesome running buddies!

What's on your "best of" running list?

An InLinkz Link-up

My Running Essentials: The Oscar Edition

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So today I decided to write about my favorite running essentials; the things I need to get through a long run or a race. Because it's the night of the Academy Awards I decided to do it Oscar's style.

And the award for:

1. Best Essential in a Supporting Role goes to:

Jelly Belly Sport Beans
$2.29 ea (I bought an entire box on Amazon, if you're going to buy a whole box I recommend the mixed flavor)
I love these! On long runs they truly make a difference for me, what could be better than candy with electrolytes?!

2. Best Essential in a Leading Role goes to:

Fuel Belt 2 Bottles (with straps over caps)
$43.00 from the Running Room
This is my 4th running belt, it took me that many to realize that I need to have one with the straps over top otherwise the bottles fall out as I run, though it must be where I wear my belt because I haven't met any other runners with this issue. My favorite thing to fill my bottles with is the lemon-lime Gatorade mix.












3. Best Costume goes to:

Nike Air Pegasus
The price varies between US/Canada $75 - $130 (go to an outlet)
Obviously footwear is the most important thing for a runner. I've tried other shoes and brands but these work the best. Also I've found that alternating between two pairs allows for each pair to last longer.
 







I have to say though these are a close second to my running shoes now:

CWX Compression Pro 3/4 Tights or "Magic Pants"
$89.95 (only available in the US right now)
I had mixed feelings about these at first but now I love them, I happened to not wear them for my run today and I totally missed them, I can't wait to get the full length tights for the cooler days.






4. Best Makeup & Hairstyling  goes to:

  

Lululemon Ear Warmer/Head Band & Body Glide 

For these cooler runs you truly can't go wrong with an ear warmer and some gloves, they're easy to remove as you get warmer and I am a much happier runner without frozen hands/ears.

I am not and will never be the type of runner who gets all dolled up for a run so the closest thing to makeup that is a running essential is Body Glide, it's the most common anti-chafing remedy out there. I put it on my feet, under the band of my sports bra, anywhere where you might be bothered during 21k of running.

5. Best Sound Mixing goes to:

YurBuds Inspire Duro
$49.99 at the Running Room
Despite their odd shape, these are AMAZING. I've had a lot of trouble with headphones falling out of my ears or getting wrecked from sweat/rain, these have solved both of those problems. So comfortable, a must-have.





6. Best Director goes to:

Garmin 610 w/HRM
$399.99
This is by far my most expensive item that I've bought for running but it's pretty cool! I hate to admit it but I've never actually used the Heart Rate Monitor part of it, I'll have to try that out. It catalogs and saves all my running data and automatically uploads it to my computer when I get within 3 meters of the syncing USB stick. I love coming home and seeing the graph and my progress. It also must have huge memory because I hadn't used the computer part for a long time and it saved over 30 runs.











 7. Best Picture goes to:

 (Left to Right: Nikki, Solana, Me, & Hilary)

Running Buddies
$PRICELESS
Best Picture, the one everyone waits for. By far the biggest running essential is running buddies. I have major difficulty doing any training runs over 10k by myself. Attending run club and all the races have lead me to meet some amazing runners and friends that are irreplaceable. The picture above is from the Vancouver First 1/2 Half Marathon. I also have many friends at the Running Room whom I don't have photos with like Tracey, Marijke, and Janette! Also, it's always nice to have someone to get a coffee with after a long chilly run!

I hope you've enjoyed my Oscar Edition of my running essentials. I'll be watching the Academy Awards tonight and eating leftover meatloaf for dinner, mmm!