She Runs By Faith

Disclaimer: I received a Pens & Paces Run Outside Belt Bag 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! I am a child of the 90's and was rockin' an acid wash fanny pack wayyyy back then, so this new trend just speaks to my soul! Carrying a belt bag as my purse has been a very welcome transition as my kids have grown out of diapers and life is only getting busier. Pens & Paces  was created to empower women in running, When they released the Run Outside Belt Bag this Fall, I had to try it!  First off, I absolutely love the olive color! I'm all about colors in the green family and find that this doesn't show dirt or wear-and-tear as easily as lighter-colored bags.  The Run Outside Belt Bag features an adjustable strap, plenty of inside room - to fit my wallet, resistance bands, snacks, keys, etc - and then an outside ...

Disclaimer: I received KINeSYS Active Sunscreen 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! Our school year ended, I raced the Fargo Marathon and, then BAM! , summer took off in full swing from there after! I hardly was able to even wear shorts outside while training for Fargo (maybe in the last two weeks or so of training?) and then Minnesota swung from freezing to a whopping 80-90°F streak!  My initial thought was, "wow, my Scandinavian legs will be glaringly white on race day"  (which they were) and, "I sure hope we don't burn like crazy once actual Spring shows up."  Transitioning from freezing temps to crazy hot is always a shock to the system.  This review opportunity with KINeSYS Sunscreens couldn't have come at a better time! Owners Wade and Lisa Heggie have each had past experiences with skin cancers, which led the...

Disclaimer: I received free entry for the Fargo Marathon 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! Here we are - writing the race report that I don't even know how to start. Training for Fargo went very well and I was able to run (and enjoy!) higher mileage than I ever thought possible. When I thought that training for Fargo in 2022 was the coldest, snow-stormiest I had ever experienced, I was then humbled by 2023. This training cycle included A LOT of speedy treadmill workouts and even treadmill easy-efforts and long runs. It was just cold, icy and snowy forever!  Somehow I managed to not get sick at all in this training cycle (after a run-in with influenza over Christmas). That's a miracle for any parent-runner!  The mileage progression went as follows:  01 - 45.0 02 - 55.1 03 - 60.1 04 - 64.1 05 - 55.0 06 - 70.2 07 - 70.4 08 - 75.0 09 - 70.3 10 - 60.0 11 - ...

Disclaimer: I received a personalized Handcrafted Coaster 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! Running is an odd sport or hobby, if you would call it that. For the marathon distance, you put in months of training, run your face off on race day and then, after grabbing your finisher's medal & some food, you head home. That's it! Hundreds of miles, weeks of training and the "big event" is over in a few short hours. Then you're back to the regular daily life, where I literally talk about running maybe 1% of the time - not including the blog or IG, of course. (That's literally why I use those platforms, for an opportunity to talk running!) If running does come up in casual convos, it's like "oh, you like to jog? " ... To which I would probably respond, "Yes, I guess you could say that! It's pretty...

Disclaimer: I received Knockaround Slingshot Snow Goggles 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! My 2022 running adventures have finally come to a close! It's been an amazing running year and also a pretty crazy exciting year as far as personal life goes as well. We moved to our dream farm in July, which was a lot of work and also so cool. The snow this winter has been intense but we love it out here. After running CIM in early December, I planned to take a solid two weeks off of running.  That turned into one week off going as planned and then 10 days of doing bare minimum childcare + laying on the couch with influenza. And THEN a sinus infection followed that! Thankfully the kids are super hardy and were only sick for a couple days; unlike me.  Finally, I made it back to running and realized I only needed to run 24 miles to "ru...

Disclaimer: I received free entry for the FM Halloween Run 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! This past weekend was full of racing and a lot of cousin fun! The kids and I headed to Fargo for the Fargo Moorhead Halloween Run weekend which kicked off with the Friday Fright Night 5k that night. The race started at 6:30 pm and I took my youngest with me to lessen the load on my kid watchers.  As we lined up, I was thinking "I wonder why I'm the only one with a stroller here" . Then we got running and I realized why. Ha. Scary people actually pop out of the woods while you run down the path during this race and, as the sun went down, it was pretty creepy! Thankfully my fourth born is my fourth born. He's a tough little stinker and said in a calm voice, "I'm scared" , and then he was good.  So maybe I'm the world's worst parent for ta...

Disclaimer: I received free entry for the Dick Beardsley Races 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! The Dick Beardsley Half Marathon has been a bucket list race for me and I was so excited to finally get there this year. Our family made this one last camping trip for the season and that went off without a hitch (minus blowing a tire on the way down!). My goal since racing Fargo this spring was to work on pacing smart - possibly even negative splitting :)  After parking the camper, I took a couple of the boys with me to the race expo. The expo was small and mainly featured packet pickup and the Friday night spaghetti feed. We went on a wild goose chase after packet pickup to find a new spare tire for the drive home. It took a while but we eventually found something that would work and then headed to supper. The night got late but eventually the crew went to bed. ...

Disclaimer: I received UCAN Edge Gels and Bars 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! After running my last marathon in May and with the goal marathon still months away, I have been switching up the race distances this summer.  I ran a local 5k in June, we moved in July (talk about cardio! :), and then I ran my first (and only) 10k for this year in August - the Grand Forks 10k. Racing and training through the summer has been a great opportunity to practice pacing and also to sweat my face off in the hot, humid midwest. It's wild how our weather contrasts itself through the different seasons! As a BibRave Pro, I have been given the opportunity to fuel with UCAN's Edge Gels and Energy Bars. I have been taking the UCAN Edge before heading into workouts this summer and eating the bars as a healthy snack. Their newest flavor - Pineapple - fits...