CLIF Organic Energy Food Review and Giveaway

I was super excited to try the new CLIF Organic Energy Food pouches through my awesome local AZ Run Group, RunEatTweetAZ.  Clif is my most trusted brand for fuel during my long runs.  I have a very sensitive stomach, but one of CLIF's other products, is my go-to for long run nutrition (their Shot Bloks) so I was stoked to see if their new product would be another fueling option for me.

According to thr brand, these new energy food packets were "Inspired by the home recipe's of our Team CLIF Bar athletes."  They created a "line of performance food made with real, organic ingredients...Each recipe is designed to deliver a combination of nutrients, giving you energy to perform your best."  These were designed to be eaten DURING runs as an alternative or addition to gels and chews.

The ouches themselves look like those squeeze fruit sauce pouches that have become common over the last year or so (my son LOVES them!)  The sizes of the CLIF foods range from 3.17-4.23 ounces. 

I first tried the Banana Mango Coconut flavor during a particularly hard session of mountainside hill repeats.  It hit the spot and went down so smoothly.  The all Organic ingredients were amazing:  Organic Banana Puree, Organic Mango Puree, Organic Coconut Cream, Organic Coconut (there were small coconut flakes in the puree!), Sea Salt, and Citric Acid.  Calories came in at 100, 2.5 grams of fat, 15grams of sugar, and 65 mg of sodium.  This was in a 3.17 ounce pouch.

I also enjoyed the other Banana Beet and Ginger flavor.  I tried this one chilled and took it with me for a long 10 mile run this last Sunday.  I found that these smaller 3.17 ounce sizes fit well into the side packet of my Orange Mud Handheld water bottle that comes with me on every single run I take.

CLIF made two other flavor, Margarita Pizza and Sweet Potato with Sea Salt.  I think these pouches would greatly benefit long distance ultra and trail runners because they contained more volume (4.32 ounces), calories ranging from 160-200, and sodium ranging from 540-600 mg). 

As I continue to train in the heat in hopes of a big PR for my Fall Race, I will rely on the CLIF Organic Energy Food to help me reach my goals and run strong!  RunEatTweetAZ has an awesome giveaway on their Facebook page right now so you can try all the flavors for yourself, head over today.  Which flavor are you most excited to try?

Go Macro Bar Review

Thanks to my awesome local Arizona run group RunEatTweetAZ, I was able to sample some GoMacro Bars recently. I was super excited!!

Could you tell how excited I was to try the GoMacro Bars?!

 I had seen these bars at my local Sprouts store, but had not tried them yet because I couldn't see what they looked like through the package. Is that weird?  Am I the only one that likes to know what their food will look like before purchasing/eating it?  Any, stay tuned, I'll show you what they look like so you too will have no excuse to try them too!

Two things I loved about these GoMacro Bars even before trying them:  their small size (they sent a box of the mini sized bars which were perfectly sized and about 100 calories each) and the very simple, real food ingredients, nothing fake, nothing weird.

Loved the mini sized bars!

I have been focusing lately on having me and my son eat whole clean foods. The kindergarten he is going to in the Fall is a strict, junk food free campus (LOVE this!) and I am starting to enforce the healthy habits now.

There were about 10 different flavored bars to try.  My son and boyfriends favorite was the Peanut Butter Chocoalte. I loved the Granola Coconut, cherries and Berries, and Banana and Almond Butter.

Alllll the flavors!! 

 Together though, we devoured out box of mini bars, either paired with a banana as a quick breakfast, slipped into my purse as the perfect min morning snack, or eagerly eaten in the afternoon as an optimal pre-workout snack. We are a huge on the go and snacking family and these smaller sizes were just perfect for us!

Oh, and the bars LOOKED as good as they tasted too!!  you could see all the real food ingredients like berries, seeds, nuts, and butters in the bars.  Nothing fake or weird, only good wholesome ingredients, LOVE.

See?  Awesome real ingredients!

I can't wait to get more!!  The super generous folks over at GoMarco have allowed RUNEATTWEETAZ to host a giveaway on their FB page and have also extended an amazing 40% off coupon code (BLOGGER) on the GoMarco website!!

 Good stuff, I recommend the mixed box of mini bars, you and your family can have fun sampling and choosing your favorites too!

The Night Run Race Recap

On May 9th we ran The Night Run in Tempe.  I was super excited to run this race, after being run in Old Town Scottsdale for 30 years, this was the first year that it was in Tempe, so I was excited to see how the race would "run" in its new location.  It did have a few slight growing pains (which I'll point out as our story unfolds) but none that would scare me off from running tis race every single year.  This is race is without a doubt one of my two favorite shorter distance races in Arizona.  (In case you were wondering, my other favorite is the Esprit de She in October).

We signed up to run the Kids Dash and the 8k distance (the other option was a 5k distance).  The race location was stunning, right along the Tempe Town Lake  We arrived about 2 hours early to insure we had plenty of time to pick up our packets, visit the vendors, use the port of potties at least twice, and really just take in the beautiful scenery. 

Bray and Adam goofing around while we waited to run.  Proof that the BOB can handle kids of all sizes!

 The Kids Dash started about 30 minutes before our race started.  We were unclear as to the exact starting location of the Kids Dash, and I think everyone else was too because we asked about 4 different volunteers and everyone either gave us the incorrect location or did not know the answer!  So we just decided to mill about and follow anyone else that looked like they had kiddos running the race as well!  The actual kids dash was great, they had each age go separately (aka "all 5 year olds, gooooo!") which worked out well.  The kids all ran about 100-200 yards  There was some confusion at the end if the kiddos actually got the finishers medals as advertised on the race website, but the organizers later cleared up the confusion and allowed the children to get their earned neck bling.

There's my little 1560.  He found a new friend at the start line.  Their conversation was probably like, "Your shirt has no sleeves?  My shirt has no sleeves too!"  haha

And they were off!  Love watching little kids run  There determination and spirit is always so impressive! 

After waiting in line (again) for the port of potties we made our way to the start line.  it was a mass cattle call start.  5k, 8k, walkers, runners, strollers, all start at the same time together.  We chose to run with the stroller, which going in I knew would be tough with the crowds, but we knew we were fast stroller runners, so we weaved our way to the front of the pack.  IT is much easier for runners to go around a stroller then for us to be nipping at the heels of slower runners at the back of the pack. 

By the time the race started it was dark and it was fun, we had lit up our stroller with tons of glow sticks and for the most part there was pretty adequate street lights on the course.  We got to run over two lighted bridges going over the lake twice, which was super pretty!

Running across one of the bridges.

The course route was laid out that everyone, the 5k and 8k runners, ran almost all of the first 5k together, with a split at the end for the 5k finishers, and then almost another full lap round the course for the 8k runners.  That second lap around is where things got a bit hairy.  There were quite a few walkers in this race, and when the faster 8k runners took their second loop through tighter course areas like the bridges, we were often halted dead in our tracks by the leisurely walkers.  I had Adam running with the stroller, so at this point in the race, we knew were making awesome time and really wanted to ensure our first place stroller finisher status (haha).  I positioned myself running in front of him, paving a clear path free of people the best I could by yelling at the top of my lungs "Stroller coming up behind!!"  Most people moved right out of the way, we always try to be as courteous as we can when barreling towards a pack of people!  Some other fellow runners said that they encountered people stopping abruptly in front of them during the race to take selfies (lol) thank goodness this did not happen to us!

We did end up being the first place stroller finishers (one day there will be an official award/medal for this!) with an awesome time of 40:49 (8:05 pace for 5 miles).  We lucked out with the cooler temperatures that night, it really made for nice running conditions.

All smiles crossing the finish line!

 

After the race we collected our medals from a table nearby.  There were no volunteers handing out medals and a lot of fellow runners missed the medal table and the race actually ran out of medals for finishers!  The weather that weekend was uncharacteristically nice and there was a bunch of last minute day of race sign ups which attributed to the medal shortage.  The race directors  took everyone's information that did not get a medal that evening and I was told they were ordering more.  They are great glow in the dark medals which is very unique!

Post race "glow"  Lol 

We went out to celebrate our run afterwards with some of our friends from RunEatTweetAZ at a nearby pub.  We were able to walk there from the race because of the convenient downtown Tempe location so that was really nice! 

All in all a great, fun, unique race, that had a huge growth this year and will no doubt come back stronger and bigger than ever next time!  See you next year, The Night Run, Owl be There!!

M80 Roller Review

Through my awesome local Arizona running group, RunEatTweetAZ, I was recently given a M80 Roller to review.  I was actually given it the day before running the Phoenix Marathon, perfect timing right?!  I was so incredibly sore the days following the race, but was up and running pain-free merely 4 days later, and honestly I think I owe it to the M80. 

This thing packs so much punch into its 15" surface.  It's way different from traditional foam rollers because it is a plastic PVC pipe covered in thick foam ridges.  The plastic pipe helps the foam dig deeper and really gave a deep tissue like massage to my weary muscles.

 It is also available in a smaller 6" size and a larger 30" size, but I love the 15" one the best.  It's large enough to target all my leg and back muscles, but the size is compact so it is easily portable.  Or, if you're like me, you'll just keep it in your living room all the time.  Out of site out of mind, I need to see this so I'll use the roller on the daily. 

On their website, the M80 claims to "cut recovery time in half" and I believe this with me 100%.  Following the Phoenix Marathon, it was so darn painful to walk down stairs and forget about getting up from a seated or squatted position, no way, no going to happen, and not even worth it!  to aid in my recovery, I did about 15-30 minutes of yoga daily, followed immediately by 15 minutes of stretching and rolling using the M80 roller.  I had so much pain in my Quads so I spent the most time rolling those out, along the front and sides and then would roll all the way down my legs.

This is the toughest roller I have ever used, but it is by far the most effective.  I was worried at first that because the center was a PVC pipe and that the pressure the roller put on my legs was so intense (in a good way!) that it would leave me all bruised up.  I didn't get a single bruise from using this and in fact, it really did feel like I was getting a pretty amazing deep tissue like massage.  Lets not kid ourselves here though, I was still rolling out my muscles, so it still hurt, no it didn't feel like a trip to a luxury spa!  However, through gritted teeth, I was able to massage out everything, knowing that I was aiding in my recovery process.

While training for my first marathon I was sidelined several times with intense IT and knee pain  I only wish I had known about the M80 roller while nursing these injuries, as I am sure it would have helped tremendously in either preventing them, or getting me back on my feet sooner.

So thank you https://www.facebook.com/pages/Run-Eat-Tweet-AZ/1456447144643065?fref=tsRunEatTweetAZ and M80Roller for the awesome hook up!!  My non-sore legs thank you too!  IF you'd like to get your hands (And legs lol) on one of these sweet rollers for yourself, RunEatTweetAZ is giving away a roller everyday this week on their Facebook page!  Hope on over there an win one for yourself!!

My Oatmeal Review, Giveaway, and Discount Code

So the awesome folks at MyOatmeal.com hooked me up with a HUGE bag of custom oatmeal beacuse I am a CRO for the coolest running group around, RunEatTweetAZ.

What a neat concept this company has come up with  They allow you to completely customize your oatmeal.  They boast over 22 billion combinations of healthy oatmeal!  On their website, you can choose from 6 different types of oatmeal, mix in one of about 30 different flavors, and add in nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or protein powder.

I had my son help me pick out my healthy oatmeal combination since he loves oatmeal too.  We chose to flavor our quick rolled instant oats like cake batter, and added in dried peaches and apricots, and whey protein powder, and brown cane sugar crystals.

Ok seriously this is the best bowl  of oatmeal I have ever had!!  Tastes so good, like dessert.  In fact, I have been having it often as a mid afternoon snack too, and because of the (genius) addition of the protein powder, it completely helps give me enough energy and keeps me going until dinner time.

I also think it's super cute that they allow you to customize the name on your oatmeal bag.  I chose to name mine Go make oatmeal Fast Mommy, get it?!

I'm already contemplating what flavor combo I want to order next.  I have been eying the Old Fashioned Glazed Donut and maybe Eggnog, what do you think?  What combination would you create?  The awesome folks over at MyOatmeal.com gave us a discount code, RETAZ15 for 15% off your bag of oatmeal.  Also, head over to the RunEatTweetAZ Facebook Page for a chance to win a customizable bag of your own!

Esprit de She 10K Race Recap and Cocogo Review

On October 2 I ran the Esprit de She 10k race.  This race was an awesome evening run (it started at 7pm) at the super pretty Mesa Riverview Park, which is adjacent to the Cubs Spring Train facility.  I had never been to this park before but it looked amazing and now that the weather is nicer, I cant wait to go back to play!

The park playground

This was a really pretty fishing lake we got to run around twice during the race.

The Esprit de She race was a super fun girl power race (I LOVE girlie races!)  They had race packet pick up a few days agead of time at one of my favorite local running stores Athleta where I ran into my fellow RunEat Tweet'er Kristin and we of course left the store purchasing super cute matching running skirts!  What can I say, she's got great taste in running clothes?!

We also got our swag bags with our super cute race tanks!!  I love mine and so wish that other races would give out tanks instead of technical t's!  Another fun swag item, was that all participants get a 12 month subscription to Self magazine!  This race for sure gets an A+ in my book for awesome freebies.

Ok, so now on to the race.  The Esprit de She was a 5k and 10k course with the 10k'ers just doing 2 laps.  Some runs may not like this setup, but I actually appreciated knowing exactly what to expect for the last half of the race.  The race allowed strollers, so I took ran with Brayden in the Bob.  It was a perfect way to practice for our first half together next week!

After some music to pump us up and the national anthem, they had us 10k runners tart 5-10 minutes ahead of those running the 5k.  Since I had the stroller I was supposed to start at the back of the pack, but I was lucky enough to sneak up front to start, because honestly, I think it is more annoying for all the people that I am running behind to constantly here me yell out "Stroller coming up behind, thank you!"

 So after barreling down weaving around some runners I settled into what felt like a comfortable pace for me about 3/4 mile in.  I looked down at my pace and gasped 8:03, way too fast for me.  I am someone who runs at 9:30 pace and calls that fast!  My internal dialogue was something like "Amy, you are going way too fast, you need to slow down or will boink at the end"  "But wait, this feels ok, Im not tired, I'm not struggling, I feel gooood!"  "Ok then, here's the plan, Amy.  Just keep running at this pace until you need to slow down."  And keep running I did, all the way to a big fat almost 15 MINUTE PR from the last stroller night 10k run I did back in mid May.  So crazy, right?

Immediately after the race.  I was sweating up a storm, but so happy!  I almost cried happy tears at the end!

So what attributed to my crazy huge PR?  Well for one thing, the course was SHORT!!  Almost a half mile short.  I had several friends running the race too and all of them tracked the race at about 5.8 miles too.  Still, this was by far the FASTEST time I had ever one a race or ran this distance in so it is still a HUGE personal victory for me!

The official race results on the left and my own timed distance results on the right.

I also loved the crowd and fellow runners support!!!  I was lucky enough to be running this race with a couple of my RunEatTweet AZ'ers, Corine and Kristin and seeing them several times on the course was super motivating for me!!  

Me, Kristin, and Corine

Also, the crowd and fellow runners support was amazing!  I played my music out loud from my phone so didn't have earphones in and I must have heard "You are so awesome!" screamed at me at least 100 times that night!!  Even a group of 10 year old boys on skateboards yelled that to me, which made my night, haha!

The after party for Esprit de She was super fun!!  They had a beauty bar where they were doing complimentary hair braiding and mini manicures, they had a station where we could plant flowers in cute little pots to take home, and they had tons of free wine sampling with custom engraved Esprit de She stemless glasses.  Such a fun night!!

Since I had little Brayden with me, I sadly did not get to partake in any of the complimentary wine tasting, but I was super excited that I brought along one of my Cocogo packets to have post race!

I don't know if it was the real fruit hydration, or the coconut water that is used to make cocogo, but this drink really hit the spot after my hard run!!  It was not too sweet at all and didn't irritate my stomach like a lot of other electrolyte drinks do!  I appreciated the portability, how it was easy to just stash one of these single serve mix-in packets in my jog stroller.  I also loved the fact that they were only 37 calories!  I don't want to be drinking in tons of calories post run, when I'd much rather EAT those calories, lol #runnerproblems :)  The other thing I appreciated about these is that each packet contains 500% of my daily allowances of Vitamin B12 and I have been hearing a lot about lately how that particular vitamin is great for boosting your mood and energy levels!  Huge score!!

This last Sunday I met up with my RunEatTweetAZ run group for a big group run and I brought my Cocogo with me again.  I ran 10 miles at 8:58 pace which is a HUGE PR for me (again!  my legs have been so fast lately!!)  

Again, thanks so much to Corine for pacing me during the run!!

Usually after I do a long hard effort run I get a MASSIVE headache for the rest of the day.  I think its because I'm usually dehydrated.  So I chugged some of the cocogo after this hard effort run, and no joke, I did not get a headache later on, not even slightly!  Loved that so much!

I will continue to drink the cocogo, especially after hard runs, I love how it doesn't upset my stomach, how it gives me a good energy burst, and helps hydrate me post run so that I don't develop a dehydration headache.

Interested in trying cocogo for yourself?  You can use discount code RUNEATTWEETAZ to save 10%!  Score!!

NuttZo Review and Giveaway

The awesome folks at NuttZo recently sent me a Peanut Butter Jackpot!!!

I'm sure runners everywhere I drooling now!

As a busy mom of a preschooler, I am always on the go and as a runner, I am always hungry!  This is why I loved the NuttZo To-Go Packets, especially the 70% Peruvian Dark Chocolate one, because, CHOCOLATE.  This one tastes amazing and only has 1 gram of sugar! Last week we had a lunch birthday party at McDonald's to go to immediately after preschool and there was no way I was putting that garbage in my belly!  NuttZo To-Go to the rescue!!  I tossed a couple of packets into my purse and was able to curb my appetite for a couple more hours.

#peanutbutterselfie  We were stopped at a red light, don't worry!

Since I workout in the morning I need something that is filling, nutrient dense, and easy.  My newest favorite breakfast is Organic NuttZo Seven Nut & Seed Butter and Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter spread on a piece of Dave's Killer Bread toasted with a side of fruit!  Seriously so good!!  I had it every morning last week  :)

The PERFECT post workout breakfast!

I love the Seven Seed Butter because it contains flax and chia seeds mixed in in addition to the other nuts.  These two nutrition powerhouses are things I know I should eat, but don't know exactly how to incorporate them into my meals, know what I mean?  Like any good runner, I have large bags of both chia and flax in my pantry, barely used, because I either forget to add them to a recipe or don't know how!  This NuttZo Seven Nut & Seed Butter takes all the guess work out for you, which, for someone like me who is not all that confident in her culinary skills, appreciates very much!!

Want to try some Nuttzo for yourself?  The awesome folks at Nuttzo are giving away a big old jar of my favorite NuttZo Seven Nut and Seed Butter and 24 To-Go Packets to one lucky winner!!  To enter, head on over to the Run Eat Tweet AZ Facebook Page and give the post a LIKE and tell us what you'd like to spread your Nuttzo on!!

*This giveaway is not associated with Facebook in any way.