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Showing posts from February, 2019

For The Dogs & Their Running Humans | Stunt Puppy Review

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Disclaimer: I received the Stunt Puppy Stunt Runner Leash  in exchange for my 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! Just in time for Valentine's Day, a little something arrived in the mail for our special four-legged family member: Our border collie, Saul, has been my running partner since he joined our family in 2014. Granted, he was running a lot faster four years ago. Now at 12 years old, running slowly around the block or a nice long walk is his exercise of choice. The old retractable leash we used was guaranteed to wrap around either his legs, the stroller or one of the kids on our family walks or runs around the neighborhood. As a BibRave Pro, I was then introduced to the Stunt Runner hands-free leash from Stunt Puppy and it has been a game-changer! Hands-free? Really? YES! The Stunt Runner connects human to dog with a strong yet stretchabl

Super On-The-Go Snacks | Food Groove Mission Review

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Disclaimer: I received a variety box of Food Groove Mission's Super Food Bites in exchange for my 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! Life seems to be always on the run doesn't it? The kids and I are often grabbing a snack to take with in the car here or there. Sometimes it's crackers and peanut butter, other times it's granola bars or dry cereal. Planning ahead with a snack for the road is smart though these snacks seem to lack much "substance". As a BibRave Pro, I received a variety box of Super Food Bites from Food Groove Mission and they happened to arrive just as we were off to Urgent Care when our middle son was sick (he's 100% recovered now, no worries!). After reading the nice little note from the FGM Team, I grabbed a bag of the "Nutty Adventurer" flavor and ran out the door, Kleenexes and all. This combo

Race Report: Frozen Feat 10k 2019

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When I find a race I like, I keep coming back year after year. The Frozen Feat 5k/10k in Grand Forks, ND is one of those races! I returned to run this race for my third consecutive year because it's close to home (only 45 minute drive), parking is easy, the race is well-organized and the weather in February is about as close to gambling as I ever get. The 2017 race was around 40°F, making an icy, slushy mess. The 2018 race was about 18°F above zero; just right if you ask me. And this year... the 2019 race ended up being -16°F actual temp with a windchill I'm not sure of. Though that didn't set any race day temp records. It has been colder! On race morning, I took off at 7:45 am and drove to Grand Forks by myself. Whoa. My husband and the three boys had some "man time" at home while I was off for a "relaxing" mom's day out. Relaxing ;) I cranked the tunes on the way to the race while sipping coffee and enjoying the absolutely perfect driv

Finally Forced Outside

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This week went by in a blur . A blur that included more crazy cold temps, another blizzard and the sinus cold that just won't quit. The Frozen Feat 10k was this Saturday and I felt very tempted to DNS due to being sick lately and to the crazy cold weather... Against my better judgment, I put on my big "Midwest runner" pants and showed up anyways and I'm SO glad I did! The actual temp at race time was -14°F with a 4 mph breeze, so I bundled up and ran the distance. In the right running attire, these temps weren't so bad minus my face mask continually freezing up over my nose and mouth and my husband's ski goggles fogging up. My full race report is coming up next week! Weekly Wrap: Fargo 26.2, W4 SUN: Off - Recovering from being sick; sinuses stuffed up and my husband has the flu. The kids came with me to teach Sunday School and we went home after that, called it a day. MON: (Treadmill) Easy 4.33 mi, 36:58 @ 8:34/mi feeling better but still we

Chillin' in the Polar Vortex

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Hey all! If you're reading this post, that means we have survived a water outage, sick kids, the Polar Vortex 2019 and more sick in our house. Whew. It's been a long two weeks and I'm breathing a sigh of relief as it's time for the Weekly Wrap  link-up! I am excited to have the opportunity to guest co-host this week :) Check out the link-up at the bottom of my post and here's my wrap up for (technically the past two) week(s). ..................... As you have likely heard (and felt) week, the good ole' Polar Vortex put the Midwest in a deep freeze on Tuesday and Wednesday. Brrr. Seriously. BRRR! In our part of northern MN, the worst we saw was a windchill of around -57°F; a low that hasn't been touched in at least a decade they say. Honestly I don't remember the last time it's been this cold! While the water was out for 24 hours in our neighborhood during this past two-week stint, thankfully our electricity stayed put and our houses