America is Your Park!

As a runner and parent, I have a fondness for parks and all they have to offer -- running trails for people like me, biking trails, playgrounds, picnic areas, nature, the great outdoors . . . all that good stuff.

We love getting out to enjoy our local parks!

Fortunately, I live among several truly awesome parks here in upstate New York. Unfortunately, funding for parks is often at risk.

Right now, though, you can help your favorite park score some big bucks. Through Coca-Cola's third-annual America is Your Park campaign, people -- like you and me -- can vote for their favorite park to win one of three recreation grants: $100,000 for first place, $50,000 for second and $25,000 for third. Coca-Cola will also award a $15,000 grant, at random, to a park that comes in 4th to 25th place.

So, you're ready to vote, right? I mean, who wouldn't want to give their favorite park a chance to win this kind of grant? Exactly. So here are the details:

How to vote

Voting is super easy. Just visit the Coca-Cola Live Positively site HERE. Vote by searching for your favorite park using the interactive map, or by checking in via Foursquare. If, unlike me, you have such techie apps.

That's it! Easy.

Then, if you really love your park, tell you friends. And your relatives. Just vote between now and July 15, 2012.

I voted!

Of course, I wouldn't ask you to vote if I wasn't going to vote for my favorite park. I popped over to the web site (HERE!) and voted for Schodack Island State Park.

Why? Well, for starters, the park is in my parents' hometown. And it is right down the road from one of my best friends. And it has a nice playground, great trails and access to the Hudson River. It also hosts some good running races, like the Dodge the Deer 5K in April.

We even hit the park on cold days!

The 2011 Dodge the Deer 5K.

The park has also faced some closure threats recently, due to state budget cuts. It would be a shame if Schodack Island State Park had to close or cut services. So, yeah, it gets my vote.

What about you?

What is your favorite park? Give it some thought. And then go vote!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Only legal residents of the 50 U.S. (and D.C.) who are at least 13 years old and reside within the U.S. at the time of participation are eligible to vote for a Park. Participate on behalf of a Park by: July 15, 2012. The 3 most popular Parks will be offered a grant and there will be 1 Wild Card drawing at the end of the Contest to award an additional grant.  To participate, for Official Rules, and complete details including grant descriptions, visit www.LivePositively.com/parks.  Void where prohibited.

Vega Breakfast Challenge.

Have you read Thrive by Brendan Brazier? I read it a while ago and picked up several good tips and suggestions for dietary changes. Some of them I've made, some of them I haven't but I did find Brazier's story -- how his performance (he's an Ironman) improved after he became a vegan and eating whole foods -- quite interesting.

I try to eat whole foods as much as possible and in the past year or so I've tried to cut down on meat and increase my fruits and veggies. I've been eating a lot of chia seeds, ground flax meal and chlorella, all with the hope that they will support my overall health as well as my running performance.

So what does any of this have to do with anything? Well, I was recently invited to try the Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer, which is part of the Vega product line that Brendan Brazier founded. I was sent some samples of the supplement and information about and a link to the Vega Breakfast Challenge.

On the Breakfast Challenge page, you can compare your current breakfast with the nutritional profile of the Whole Food Health Optimizer.

Yeah, I guess my breakfast isn't quite as healthful as I thought.

It's not bad but it pales in comparison to the Whole Food Health Optimizer. Which is a bummer because I really thought my breakfast was healthy. Pretty much every day I have a smoothie made from plain organic yogurt, unsweetened frozen strawberries, unsweetened frozen blueberries, a banana and either some flaxmeal, chia seeds or chlorella. Take a look at how my breakfast stacks up against the Vega WFHO:

I have to say that think that some of the levels might be a little off -- my flaxmeal claims to contain 2400mg of Omega-3, for example, and the calculator puts my breakfast at zero. Also, I wasn't able to put in an amount less than one cup for my banana and I usually use about a half cup.

Regardless, the calculator shows how many more nutrients I could be getting if I used the Vega WFHO. And I'm all about getting more nutrients. So, maybe Vega will be my new friend. We'll see!

You can check out your breakfast by visiting the Vega Breakfast Challenge page HERE. It's pretty cool to look at the comparison. You can also learn more about Vega and Brendan Brazier at the main Vega site HERE and follow Vega on Twitter HERE. Even if you are not planning to become a vegan or adopt the total Vega way of eating, there are tons of resources on the Vega site. And one last thing: If you "like" Vega on Facebook (HERE) you can enter to win a trip to Hollywood to meet Brendan later this month! How awesome would that be? Very awesome, no doubt.

So, good luck and have fun with the calculator!

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After a T-O-U-G-H run of 9 miles yesterday I'm hoping for a more comfortable run this evening. Fingers crossed.

Have a good day!

~ Felice


Review disclaimer: I was sent four samples of the Vega WFHO to sample. I was not otherwise compensated and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Easy breezy running.

So, last week I was all about the hot weather runs. Heat? Humidity? Pshaw. What else you got, July?

Well, apparently, July has cooler temps and lower humidity and wouldn't you know it that means easier runs and faster paces. The highs this week have been only in the low 80s so when I went out for my run yesterday it was probably only about 81 degrees -- much cooler than my 90+ degree runs last week!

The result was 4.2 wonderful miles. I charged up my hills and flew across the flats. I barely felt like I was pushing my pace at all so I was surprised when I finished and saw my overall pace for the run was a hair under 8:30. For the longest time my easy-breezy go-to pace for my 4-5 milers had been 8:45. If I can keep it around 8:30, I'll be psyched.

Speed work tonight!

Totally separate:

The Gore-Tex TransRockies Run will be held this year from August 21-26. They are accepting applications for runners to RUN A DAY WITH DEAN. That Dean would be Dean Karnazes. Ultramarathon Man. Interested? Want to apply? Check out the details HERE. Go, go, go! And good luck if you decide to apply!

~ Felice

Mix1 review and a Pearl Izumi contest.

So my review didn't happen yesterday. Too much going on with the toddler birthday party in the morning and then preparation for a family party today. Life. It's always getting in the way of my blogging! Sheesh!

Today, though, I have a review of the Mix1 protein and antioxidant drinks. Mix1's PR person, Dina, sent me a huge box of the drinks and the first thing I thought when I opened it was that the packaging is fun! These bottles are just plain cute and colorful. But that's not what makes a drink so I decided that I would actually taste the different flavors in order to provide a thorough review.

And that's what I did. Before I give you my thoughts, let me share some information from the company. Mix1 calls itself an "all natural fast food" stating that "before or after your workout, mealtime, downtime, anytime -- mix1 provides sustained energy to get you through your busy day." The drinks are comprised of a 2:1 carb to protein ratio and contain antioxidants, fiber and the equivalent of 3 servings of fruits and veggies. There are also two new drinks -- the hi-antioxidant fiber drinks in dark-berry and orange-carrot -- that contain the equivalent of 9 servings of fruits and veggies. You can learn a lot more about the drinks at their web site here.

So how did they work for me? Well, pretty good. First, though, I have to confess that I have a weird thing with milk. I don't like it. It's the texture of milk that I don't go for and I just can't drink it. What does this have to do with Mix1 drinks? Not much, except that the "tangy and creamy" drinks have a texture that is somewhat close to, but not entirely the same as, milk. Once I got that in my head, I couldn't get it out!

I'm a wackadoodle, I know. This would not be a problem for anyone other than me and I wish I hadn't let the milk thing creep into my mind! But it did. I forged ahead, though, for the benefit of all of you out there in the internets and kept trying the drinks. Slightly creamy though they were.

The mix1 drinks are tasty! The dark-berry hi-antioxidant drink is really good. They were also the right amount of filling -- they seemed like they would make a perfect 4pm snack when I'm planning a 5:30 run. Oh, right! I actually tried that out and it worked. I had the mango drink around 4 one afternoon, when I normally have to eat a pre-run snack, and headed out for a run at 5:45. Worked like a charm.

As with most specialty drinks these days, they are a little pricey. I couldn't find actual store prices but I did see that they are for sale on Amazon here, 12 bottles for $25.

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You know what else Dina told me about? A Pearl Izumi contest! This is pretty cool. Pearl Izumi is giving away $250 worth of gear in their Animal Encounters Contest. They are looking for stories from people who've had encounters with animals while out on a run. You can post a video, photo or story.

The contest runs through June 15th. And, hey, you're chances are super good right now so check it out! Who wouldn't like $250 worth of running gear? I would love it!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

~ Felice

Get writing! And eating!

I know that this is a running blog but today I am going to encourage two other things: writing and eating. What pleasures, this writing and eating stuff. I think you should do more of it.

First, eating. Today is Cinco de Mayo so why not enjoy a little guacamole? Or a margarita? Salt, no salt, it doesn't really matter. Just enjoy. Please. Because I can't -- no avocados in the house (where was my brain when I went to the market?) and I have a meeting this evening (so the margarita is out). I did, however, have some hummus spread on a tortilla for lunch. That's gotta count for something, right?

Second, writing. Have you seen RunPedia at Runner's World? It's a running encyclopedia and anyone can submit an article. Check it out! Also, Saucony is holding a contest for $1000 worth of gear here. Put on your clever cap and give it a go!

And now running. Excellent run on Sunday: 5.2 miles at 8:57 pace. I'm getting much better at slowing my pace for the easy runs. Today's run? We'll see. Planning for a quick one during nap time, if I can get everything else done before that. Where did I put those balancing skills, anyway?

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

~ Felice