A fresh look from a different perspective can open a lot of eyes and provide an education on something you might not know. It's also motivating to get tips and tricks from those we look up to, who inspire us. This is a reason I decided to start guest posts. I have gained many friends through sports and racing, many of which are serious competitors and have great things to share, so we can all learn from them and improve.
I met Chris Champagne almost a year ago at the Owl's Head Spartan Super/Beast/Ultra Beast. He has completed many ultra beasts (each around 50km) as well as OCR World Championships (as mentioned below!).
Being a vegetarian, I don't have much knowledge surrounding animal-based protein, however I am always open to hear other opinions, and know that many readers eat meat and can relate. Chris goes into detail about supplementation VS. diet and if shelling out cash on expensive products is really necessary. This is a great topic because eating a diet without chemicals and byproducts can do a world of good to the body, and many vitamins and nutrients that our bodies need can easily be attained through eating whole, real foods. You should always be aware of what you're ingesting and Chris provides an awesome description on this topic.
Supplements VS Real Food
Which is more optimal for your body? I tend
to see a lot of people out there posting their “POST WORKOUT SHAKE” because
they don’t want to miss out on that magical 30min life or death window… I also
see people taking BCAAs to stimulate muscle growth and improve recovery after
workouts/long runs . Folks are shelling out big $$ every year on these
supplements but are they really as good as marketed compared to a well-balanced
diet?
NOPE.
First off, supplements are not
regulated by the FDA and when reviewed by independent studies have REGULARLY
been shown to not have the ingredients listed on their labels. But I digress…
Let’s look at two products… Optimum Nutrition (ON)
Gold Standard 100% Whey & ON
Gold Standard BCAA… VS… 6oz of steak.
At first glance.. ON recommends taking
their BCAA product 2-3 times a day (pre/during and/or post training). Based on
their nutrition label you get 5g of their BCAA blend per scoop (roughly 10-15g
per day if you’re doing 2-3 scoops).
ON also recommends taking “1 rounded
scoop” of their protein powder post workout… which, based on their label,
equates to 24g of protein.
Both of these products include ingredients such as…
“Natural and Artificial Flavors” (red flag #1... when a generic “ingredient” is
listed instead of the individual compounds that are ACTUALLY in it), Sucralose
(studies have linked this artificial sweetener to cancer, diabetes, gut issues,
etc… red flag #2), “Blue 2” (what?).
Now… let’s look at a 6oz flank steak. Ingredients…
steak. One 6oz serving of steak provides 36g of (complete) protein with roughly
6.2g of BCAAs.
Doing a little math here and using myself
as an example… If I’m consuming my MINIMUM daily recommended protein, 88.5g,
with steak alone (most studies show .5-.8g of protein per lb of body weight is
ideal) … I am getting slightly more than 15g of BCAAs from about 14.75oz of
steak WITHOUT all the processed powders with harmful chemicals (where does one
find the “Red 40” & “Yellow #5” tree by the way?).
Studies have shown that supplementing with
BCAAs when you are getting adequate protein intake from complete sources is a
WASTE OF MONEY because there are ZERO additional benefits. So combining this
knowledge with knowing that your body will not cannibalize muscle until AFTER a
72hr fast… Why are we wasting our time and money with supplements that do not
provide our bodies anything, really, besides harmful chemicals?
Chris Champagne
Avid nutrition/fitness nut, Pokémon master, and outspoken New England sports fan. He started racing in 2013 at the Boston Spartan Sprint in Amesbury, MA. Ever since has completed 5 collective Spartan Race trifectas, x3 Ultra Beast finisher, & two time 5 lap block earner from F.I.T. Challenge. He is also a passionate food connoisseur and self appointed master chef.
To visit his instagram click HERE!
Side note: as I am primarily plant based, and assume some readers may be as well, click here for a post about substituting animal meat for plant based awesomeness while still getting your protein.
If you're plant based like myself, you may have heard MANY times "but, where do you get your protein?!" *Insert eye roll here*
Replacing animal protein with plant protein is way easier than it seems! Especially with all the new products becoming available daily for vegetarians and vegans. Eating a plant based diet is better for you, and can aid in preventing and treating many illness and diseases, if done right. Balance is key.
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of protein is 0.8g/kg/day for adults. For someone who's 150 pounds, for example, would have an RDA of about 55g of protein a day.
If quitting meat is something you're interested in, or you're simply wanting to keep your meals interesting, heres some simple whole foods you can swap out, while still keeping up protein intake.
1. Beans - this is a common one. Beans are so versatile, and can be eaten with basically any meal. Breakfast, lunch with wraps or fajitas, or even supper on a stirfry or in a salad.
1 cup of black beans will give you over 15g of protein.
Plus you can bake it into amazing treats, like black bean brownies!
2. Tempeh - I like to call this tofu's lesser known cousin. Tempeh has a great texture, different than tofu, and is made up of fermented whole soy beans. Its delish on its own, or even on top of a bed of rice. This means that it retains more vitamins, and protein, in fact, one cup of tempeh has over 30g!
3. Tofu - many people have a problem with tofu.. I believe that this is because they had tofu that wasn't cooked properly. Tofu is made of soy milk in block form, either soft, firm or extra firm. When done right, tofu doesn't have a spongy texture, you can actually make it firm and rich with flavour. I recommend pressing a block between heavy books for 30 mins to squeeze out water, than marinating similar to a steak. With the excess water gone, this leaves the tofu able to absorb all the amazing flavour and taste from the marinate. Tofu can be great in a scramble (replacing eggs), on top of pad Thai or stir fry, or even sliced thinly on sandwiches. In 1 cup of tofu there is about 20 g of protein.
4. Chickpeas - also known as garbanzo beans, are lentils. Most of you know, chickpeas make up hummus. That itself should convince you how yummy chickpeas are! These are great baked with spices (think cinnamon/sugar, garlic/cayenne, or just sea salt), in salads, or even a side with beans.
1 cup of chickpeas is almost 40g of protein.
5. Edamame - almost 20 g of protein in one cup, these cooked soybeans are a great snack or side dish at meals.
6. Nuts/almonds/cashews/pumpkin seeds - very protein rich in a small package. Great for snacking and easy to access. Protein depends on type of nut.
7. Broccoli - 1 cup of these little trees gives almost 3g of protein. Great as an addition to meals, if you're into broccoli ;)
8. Spinach - also great in addition to meals, have a 2 cup salad with spinach and you're adding almost 3 g of protein, while getting your veggie intake up. (Beer optional)
9. Kale - delicious in salads or baked with oil and sea salt, or even blended into a smoothie.
1 cup gives you 3 whole grams of protein, plus tons of vitamins.
10. Chia seeds - these are a protein and vitamin packed superfood, great in smoothies or added to oatmeal in the morning. 2 tbsp adds 4g of protein.
Replacing meat with plant based foods is simple and provides just as much macronutrients, without all the fat and cholesterol ;)
Now, if you're vegan/vegetarian and someone asks "but where do you get your protein?!" you can answer with a list of 10 protein packed awesome foods!
Enjoy,
The Rural Runner
Replacing animal protein with plant protein is way easier than it seems! Especially with all the new products becoming available daily for vegetarians and vegans. Eating a plant based diet is better for you, and can aid in preventing and treating many illness and diseases, if done right. Balance is key.
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of protein is 0.8g/kg/day for adults. For someone who's 150 pounds, for example, would have an RDA of about 55g of protein a day.
If quitting meat is something you're interested in, or you're simply wanting to keep your meals interesting, heres some simple whole foods you can swap out, while still keeping up protein intake.
1. Beans - this is a common one. Beans are so versatile, and can be eaten with basically any meal. Breakfast, lunch with wraps or fajitas, or even supper on a stirfry or in a salad.
1 cup of black beans will give you over 15g of protein.
Plus you can bake it into amazing treats, like black bean brownies!
2. Tempeh - I like to call this tofu's lesser known cousin. Tempeh has a great texture, different than tofu, and is made up of fermented whole soy beans. Its delish on its own, or even on top of a bed of rice. This means that it retains more vitamins, and protein, in fact, one cup of tempeh has over 30g!
3. Tofu - many people have a problem with tofu.. I believe that this is because they had tofu that wasn't cooked properly. Tofu is made of soy milk in block form, either soft, firm or extra firm. When done right, tofu doesn't have a spongy texture, you can actually make it firm and rich with flavour. I recommend pressing a block between heavy books for 30 mins to squeeze out water, than marinating similar to a steak. With the excess water gone, this leaves the tofu able to absorb all the amazing flavour and taste from the marinate. Tofu can be great in a scramble (replacing eggs), on top of pad Thai or stir fry, or even sliced thinly on sandwiches. In 1 cup of tofu there is about 20 g of protein.
1 cup of chickpeas is almost 40g of protein.
5. Edamame - almost 20 g of protein in one cup, these cooked soybeans are a great snack or side dish at meals.
6. Nuts/almonds/cashews/pumpkin seeds - very protein rich in a small package. Great for snacking and easy to access. Protein depends on type of nut.
7. Broccoli - 1 cup of these little trees gives almost 3g of protein. Great as an addition to meals, if you're into broccoli ;)
8. Spinach - also great in addition to meals, have a 2 cup salad with spinach and you're adding almost 3 g of protein, while getting your veggie intake up. (Beer optional)
1 cup gives you 3 whole grams of protein, plus tons of vitamins.
10. Chia seeds - these are a protein and vitamin packed superfood, great in smoothies or added to oatmeal in the morning. 2 tbsp adds 4g of protein.
Replacing meat with plant based foods is simple and provides just as much macronutrients, without all the fat and cholesterol ;)
Now, if you're vegan/vegetarian and someone asks "but where do you get your protein?!" you can answer with a list of 10 protein packed awesome foods!
Enjoy,
The Rural Runner
You are not alone. I promise there's more than a million of us. We're newbies, weekend warriors, the couch potato turned athletes. We're slow. And that's nothing to be ashamed of. We still get out there, we still wake up early. Sweat. Suffer. We still try our hardest. Even if our hardest, is a 20 minute mile. Even if our fastest, is someone else's slow. Even if your running is someone else's walking. We all start somewhere. It takes time and effort to work your way up to greatness. It takes rising with the sun, commitment, and pushing yourself into an uncomfortable place, to make yourself better. And sometimes our better is being able to run a kilometer without stopping, or climbing that hill we've been struggling on, or running a pace we originally never thought possible. Accomplishments don't have to be huge for you to be proud.
I always cheer harder for the slow runners. They're the ones who could have said, no not today, I'm going to skip this workout, I'm gonna sit at home and stay in my comfort zone... but didn't.
I am a slow runner. I know how it feels to be pushing, heart rate high, sweat dripping, struggling to breathe, only to look down and see the last km took 8 minutes. I know how it feels to cross that finish line knowing you came in last place. To feel embarassed because you took the longest at a race, and got passed by everyone out there. There have been many dark holes that I have had to mentally pull myself out of, while running. So much self-doubt, disappointment and defeat. Thinking that your best, just isn't good enough. Well guess what - it is, and you are good enough. You might have finished that marathon last, but billions have never ran one at all. You took that risk, you pushed through that pain, and yes it might have been slow, but you did it.
Someone always has to come in last, the beauty is in knowing that you still finish and put in that effort, because guess what.. One day your best is going to get better. Your current fast pace will eventually feel like an easy jog. You last place finish will turn into a top 50% win. And you can feel proud in knowing where you started from, and how far you came. Don't quit just because you run slower than someone else, don't waste your potential. You just have to keep going.
"A river cuts through rock, not because of its strength, but because of its persistence."
Keep running fellow turtles.
The Rural Runner
I always cheer harder for the slow runners. They're the ones who could have said, no not today, I'm going to skip this workout, I'm gonna sit at home and stay in my comfort zone... but didn't.
I am a slow runner. I know how it feels to be pushing, heart rate high, sweat dripping, struggling to breathe, only to look down and see the last km took 8 minutes. I know how it feels to cross that finish line knowing you came in last place. To feel embarassed because you took the longest at a race, and got passed by everyone out there. There have been many dark holes that I have had to mentally pull myself out of, while running. So much self-doubt, disappointment and defeat. Thinking that your best, just isn't good enough. Well guess what - it is, and you are good enough. You might have finished that marathon last, but billions have never ran one at all. You took that risk, you pushed through that pain, and yes it might have been slow, but you did it.
Someone always has to come in last, the beauty is in knowing that you still finish and put in that effort, because guess what.. One day your best is going to get better. Your current fast pace will eventually feel like an easy jog. You last place finish will turn into a top 50% win. And you can feel proud in knowing where you started from, and how far you came. Don't quit just because you run slower than someone else, don't waste your potential. You just have to keep going.
"A river cuts through rock, not because of its strength, but because of its persistence."
Keep running fellow turtles.
The Rural Runner
When I'm craving something salty, FAST, nothing is better than a fresh batch of kale chips. These are a great alternative to store bought potato chips, and save you the fat and calories, all while increasing your veggie intake. They're super simple and take a maximum of 20 minutes.
Here's what you need:
- 1 bunch of fresh kale
- Oil (olive, coconut, personal preference. Coconut gives it a nice sweet and savoury flavor)
- Sea salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 and cover baking sheet with tinfoil or parchment paper
- Rinse the kale and allow to dry (always wash your veggies folks! Don't know who had their hands on it at the store)
- Remove the leaves from stems of the kale and discard the stems.
- Tear leaves into bite sized pieces (keep in mind they shrink a tad when cooked)
- Put kale leaves into a large mixing bowl
- Add oil (I use about 1 tbsp per bunch of kale. It's all up to your preference
- Sprinkle on sea salt. I prefer Himalayan pink salt, and use about 2 pinches worth
- Toss mixture to evenly spread
- Spread out on pan
- Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes (depending on how crispy you like them). Be sure to keep an eye on them as they can burn fast
- Enjoy!
Happy eats!
The Rural Runner
One of my favorite sweet treat recipes for a while now have been black bean brownies. These babies are DELISH, you literally cannot even tell there is beans in there, it's amazing! I add arbonne chocolate protein powder to increase the chocolatey taste and make the macros even better. Their product is the most delicious, smooth VEGAN protein powder I have ever had. Click here to purchase a bag of this amazing stuff! It's called arbonne essentials. Ps there's vanilla too!
Really, with all the healthy, whole ingredients in them it's hardly a cheat! Plus, there's no milk, eggs, or flour!
Guilt free protein rich black bean brownies!!
Maybe keep it a secret that there's beans in them until after your friends try and LOVE them haha.
Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 9-12 depending how small you cut pieces
Ingredients:
- 1 can of black beans (about 1-1.5 cups) rinsed well
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1- 2 scoops Arbonne Essentials chocolate protein powder
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or apple sauce
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of almond/soy/non-dairy milk add to create smooth batter consistency
Directions:
- preheat over to 350
- combine all ingredients to food processor (I use my ninja blender and works like a charm) and blend until smooth.
- pour into square 8x8 greased or lined pan (they will stick if you don't!)
- bake in oven 18-20 minutes
- refrigerate and enjoy!
Happy not-so-cheat meals ;)
The Rural Runner
Really, with all the healthy, whole ingredients in them it's hardly a cheat! Plus, there's no milk, eggs, or flour!
Guilt free protein rich black bean brownies!!
Maybe keep it a secret that there's beans in them until after your friends try and LOVE them haha.
Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 9-12 depending how small you cut pieces
Ingredients:
- 1 can of black beans (about 1-1.5 cups) rinsed well
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1- 2 scoops Arbonne Essentials chocolate protein powder
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or apple sauce
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of almond/soy/non-dairy milk add to create smooth batter consistency
Directions:
- preheat over to 350
- combine all ingredients to food processor (I use my ninja blender and works like a charm) and blend until smooth.
- pour into square 8x8 greased or lined pan (they will stick if you don't!)
- bake in oven 18-20 minutes
- refrigerate and enjoy!
Happy not-so-cheat meals ;)
The Rural Runner
Today I ran the Hypothermic half marathon in Moncton, NB. I had been planning on attending this race since about December (without really committing to a training plan.. stupidly).
Lesson one: if you decide to run anything more than 5k without training for it.. it will more than likely end horribly. (Just for some foreshadowing).
This has been a goal race for me since 2 years ago when I watched Kirk run it in Halifax on the Chain of Lakes Trail. Last year I completely trained for it, only to end up not running on the official day (myself and Kirk ran it for fun the weekend before anyways.. and you can read why in my recap here). Anyways, long story short, I saw his beautiful medal and decided on a new goal.. to earn a medal that represents each season. I already have a fall medal from the Valley Harvest half, so the next was a winter themed one, and this snowflake/abominable snowman medal was perfect.
Kirk and I left for the 3.5-4 hour drive to Moncton, hoping to make the kit pickup at the runners room. Luckily we got there before it closed and we're able to get the race kit? Which consisted of our bibs, a magazine, some snacks, an awesome runners room backpack (that I'm totally using as a day pack in Ecuador in 2 weeks!!) And a running toque. While at the store I bought a fleece buff for the race (since there was a 25% discount, and it's MUCH colder in Moncton than it was in NS.
After we picked up our race kit, we headed straight to the hotel to unpack our things. We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott which happened to be only about 6 minutes from the race venue.
Shortly after, we found an amazing vegetarian restaurant called Calactus and ate our faces off. The Supreme nachos were delicious and then I had a black bean burrito. I would have taken a picture, but we were so hungry after a long day of driving that we ate too fast to get our cameras out! Also as per tradition, we each had a pre-race day beer.
The next day we got up early, ate some oatmeal at the hotel breakfast then headed to the race. Turns out the race is in an industrial park.. which we hadn't realized.
Lesson two: pay attention to the race route and plan accordingly.
For some dumb reason I was thinking that the route would be similar to the Halifax hypothermic half.. with it being in a trail. Boy was I wrong! Neither of us brought road shoes and we seriously suffered.
Lesson three: trail shoes DO NOT work well for road races.
The race started at 9am sharp, with the Runners room maintaining prefer timing, as usual. They're so organized and it makes race day go SO much smoother.
Anyways, we started out with a great group of people following the 2:15 pace bunny. It's a jump, considering I hardly trained for this, and my fastest half is currently 2:20. The first 8km were going very well. I felt amazing and full of energy, was keeping up no problem with the pace bunny.. on perfect pace for a new half PR!
Somewhere around 8-9km in, I started to feel a familiar pain. The dreaded awful hip pain I know too well. I have been healing a stress fracture for over a year now and in my long runs sometimes the pain comes back to torture me. I think it was a combination of not being used to the repetitive pounding on the pavement, not wearing the proper shoes and the cold weather. It was minus 20°c and that made the joints super stiff. Safe to say, my knees and hips were hurting.
At work when someone is in pain, we have them use a pain scale. 0/10 being no pain, 10/10 being the worst pain you ever felt. By the time we reached around 17km I was at an 8/10 on the pain scale. At this point 2:15 was way out of reach, and I just wanted to finish the race without an injury.
Luckily Kirk was there to distract me with conversations about timbits and summer to do lists, because I couldn't have finished strong without him.
Lesson four: when the going gets tough, the tough rely on their running buddy. What you didn't know that's how the saying goes??
Overall we weren't last, and we certainly weren't in the top half, but I worked my butt off to finish. These hard races.. where we struggle to get through, to break through our walls and ignore the pain, these are the runs that cause us to grow and become stronger.
Lesson five: earned, not given.
I come out of this race, not with a new PR, or even a great story about achievement, but rather with a shiny new medal and knowing that I fought for every step to earn it.
Keep pushing for those goals friends,
The Rural Runner
Lesson one: if you decide to run anything more than 5k without training for it.. it will more than likely end horribly. (Just for some foreshadowing).
This has been a goal race for me since 2 years ago when I watched Kirk run it in Halifax on the Chain of Lakes Trail. Last year I completely trained for it, only to end up not running on the official day (myself and Kirk ran it for fun the weekend before anyways.. and you can read why in my recap here). Anyways, long story short, I saw his beautiful medal and decided on a new goal.. to earn a medal that represents each season. I already have a fall medal from the Valley Harvest half, so the next was a winter themed one, and this snowflake/abominable snowman medal was perfect.
Kirk and I left for the 3.5-4 hour drive to Moncton, hoping to make the kit pickup at the runners room. Luckily we got there before it closed and we're able to get the race kit? Which consisted of our bibs, a magazine, some snacks, an awesome runners room backpack (that I'm totally using as a day pack in Ecuador in 2 weeks!!) And a running toque. While at the store I bought a fleece buff for the race (since there was a 25% discount, and it's MUCH colder in Moncton than it was in NS.
After we picked up our race kit, we headed straight to the hotel to unpack our things. We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott which happened to be only about 6 minutes from the race venue.
Shortly after, we found an amazing vegetarian restaurant called Calactus and ate our faces off. The Supreme nachos were delicious and then I had a black bean burrito. I would have taken a picture, but we were so hungry after a long day of driving that we ate too fast to get our cameras out! Also as per tradition, we each had a pre-race day beer.
The next day we got up early, ate some oatmeal at the hotel breakfast then headed to the race. Turns out the race is in an industrial park.. which we hadn't realized.
Lesson two: pay attention to the race route and plan accordingly.
For some dumb reason I was thinking that the route would be similar to the Halifax hypothermic half.. with it being in a trail. Boy was I wrong! Neither of us brought road shoes and we seriously suffered.
Lesson three: trail shoes DO NOT work well for road races.
The race started at 9am sharp, with the Runners room maintaining prefer timing, as usual. They're so organized and it makes race day go SO much smoother.
Anyways, we started out with a great group of people following the 2:15 pace bunny. It's a jump, considering I hardly trained for this, and my fastest half is currently 2:20. The first 8km were going very well. I felt amazing and full of energy, was keeping up no problem with the pace bunny.. on perfect pace for a new half PR!
Somewhere around 8-9km in, I started to feel a familiar pain. The dreaded awful hip pain I know too well. I have been healing a stress fracture for over a year now and in my long runs sometimes the pain comes back to torture me. I think it was a combination of not being used to the repetitive pounding on the pavement, not wearing the proper shoes and the cold weather. It was minus 20°c and that made the joints super stiff. Safe to say, my knees and hips were hurting.
At work when someone is in pain, we have them use a pain scale. 0/10 being no pain, 10/10 being the worst pain you ever felt. By the time we reached around 17km I was at an 8/10 on the pain scale. At this point 2:15 was way out of reach, and I just wanted to finish the race without an injury.
Luckily Kirk was there to distract me with conversations about timbits and summer to do lists, because I couldn't have finished strong without him.
Lesson four: when the going gets tough, the tough rely on their running buddy. What you didn't know that's how the saying goes??
Overall we weren't last, and we certainly weren't in the top half, but I worked my butt off to finish. These hard races.. where we struggle to get through, to break through our walls and ignore the pain, these are the runs that cause us to grow and become stronger.
Lesson five: earned, not given.
I come out of this race, not with a new PR, or even a great story about achievement, but rather with a shiny new medal and knowing that I fought for every step to earn it.
The Rural Runner
2017 has already been pretty great!
It started out with an email before NYE, informing me that I've been accepted as a Pro Compression Ambassador! I applied for this before Christmas and then kept my fingers and toes crossed that they would consider me. Finally the big day came, and I learned that I was chosen as a #RunHundredAmbassador ! AKA one of only 100 people they chose! Im so excited to be able to represent this company that I've loved and worn for quite a while now. I started with calve sleeves for OCR races, and now progressed to being obsessed with their over the calf socks! This is a product I personally use and LOVE LOVE LOVE. Not once have I ever gotten a blister, not even in my first marathon ran in September while wearing these socks. Plus, they have beautiful designs that I've never seen on other compression products. They're so incredible and I can't wait to share my love of them with you all!
My new winter faves - The Ugly Sweater Sock!
Black and white stripes are also a go-to colour for me, since they match everything. Keep your eyes out for posts on discounts, etc!
For example, the new Sock Of The Month is beautiful.. I may have already ordered both colours ;)
Hope everyones New Year was incredible as well! For now, I will be writing new goals for the year, (click HERE for some goal setting tips) and continuing training for my first half of the year coming up in February!
Happy Trails,
The Rural Runner
It started out with an email before NYE, informing me that I've been accepted as a Pro Compression Ambassador! I applied for this before Christmas and then kept my fingers and toes crossed that they would consider me. Finally the big day came, and I learned that I was chosen as a #RunHundredAmbassador ! AKA one of only 100 people they chose! Im so excited to be able to represent this company that I've loved and worn for quite a while now. I started with calve sleeves for OCR races, and now progressed to being obsessed with their over the calf socks! This is a product I personally use and LOVE LOVE LOVE. Not once have I ever gotten a blister, not even in my first marathon ran in September while wearing these socks. Plus, they have beautiful designs that I've never seen on other compression products. They're so incredible and I can't wait to share my love of them with you all!
Black and white stripes are also a go-to colour for me, since they match everything. Keep your eyes out for posts on discounts, etc!
For example, the new Sock Of The Month is beautiful.. I may have already ordered both colours ;)
Use code "Wings" for 40% off AND free shipping (to the US, sorry Canadian friends.. but good news is shipping is only like $9!)
Second awesome thing so far is that I started off New Years GREAT by running the Johnny Miles New Years Eve Resolution run with Kirk! He came first (typical haha) and I dressed up in lights and decorations, played some music and had a BLAST! This is typically how we run races haha, he wins and I bring the excitement. (Plus I wore my awesome Christmas socks!)
Happy Trails,
The Rural Runner