3 Swag-filled Spring Half Marathons You Should Run with Me

It's a new year and while I'm a little late on planning my spring race schedule, I do have 3 half marathons set in stone so I better get running! These three half marathons also have awesome swag and medals so you should totally join me in running them if you are looking  for some fun east-coast races to motivate you through the winter. 

Last year I ran the inaugural Philadelphia Love Run and while the race was lovely the pouring rain weather was not (you can read last year's race recap here).  I'm determined to have a less miserable day to conquer this half marathon so I'm running it again this year on March 29,2015.  

The perks sound even better this year with a free Phillies baseball home game ticket (first 10,000 runners), commemorative mug, spinner finisher medal, and vanity bib. 

Last year's medal was almost the size of my face, and I still managed to give a thumbs up at the finish line despite the conditions. The course reminded me of the Philadelphia Half Marathon course with an Art Museum start and running along the river.  

Register here  ($92 through 1/31/15) for a great early spring half marathon in the City of Brotherly Love! 


Secondly, I'm proud to be an ambassador for the ZOOMA Annapolis Race Series on May 30,2015 in Annapolis, MD. 

I'll be talking more about the race series, but in short, it's a women's race series event (men can run if they choose) with a half marathon and 10K around beautiful, seaside Annapolis.  

Since it's all about the swag, this race's bag includes a women's tech tee, pair of Feetures! performance socks, ZOOMA journal, reusable bag, and awesome medal. 

The charm at the bottom is removable and can be added to a necklace or bracelet! 

Pair this fun race with the awesome after-party and it makes for a great girls weekend! The 10K gets a slightly smaller medal, but all the same swag and fun so it's a great event if you aren't up to training for the full 13.1 miles yet as well.  

Register here (Half-$105, 10K-$75) and use my ambassador discount code LAUREN15 to save 10% off your registration!


Pay attention to this third race because I'm really excited about this one.
The ODDyssey Half Marathon in Philadelphia has been on my radar for a while but totally became a must-race after it made Runner's World list of coolest medals in 2014.  They just revealed the 2015 medal, and it doesn't disappoint! It mounts to the wall, opens a beer, and the ribbon can be used as a lanyard!  

Goals for 2015 {and looking back at 2014 in photos}

I had goals for 2014, and didn't complete all of them. I find it not to be a failure, as it's always nice to strive for big goals, things change, and reflection & inspiration isn't wasted.  I did get to live more in the present, be bold, and travel more in 2014. I also definitely ate more greens and got a shiny new marathon PR in Chicago.  

2014 was a great year full of many wonderful memories. My first relay race, travelling literally across the country for Hood to Coast with Nuun, applying to graduate school, growing my blog, running the Chicago Marathon, taking a trip to Boston, seeing multiple friends get married, having the confidence to apply for opportunities (with most of them panning out!), and taking a little bit more charge in my own life. 

post-Hood to Coast party with Team Nuun Lemon-Lime

wedding fun

November Project Baltimore Positivity Award

NECDC Relay Fun with NP-Baltimore ladies

Focusing on Progress with Seiko

As the holiday season comes to an end, there is a lot of focus on resolutions and changes for the next year.  I prefer to first reflect and look at all the progress I made in the past year. As always, there is still plenty to work on, but I am proud of my accomplishments in 2014. 

To me, progress means celebrating your accomplishments while always striving for more. 

I  trained hard and PRed in my second full marathon, again almost hitting my goal time exactly despite setbacks.  I also worked hard on growing my blog and staying active in the Baltimore community. In 2014 I focused on networking with others, helping grow the November Project Baltimore tribe, and raising money for the Women's Health and FEED Run10Feed10 Campaign .  

As far as 2015, I want to only create bigger goals to strive for. 

It was fabulous to receive a watch from Seiko at the end of the year, especially since their message is about progress. 

I was sent the Seiko Core SSC877 which is a solar-powered chronograph watch with features such as split-time measurement, stopwatch function, and a date calendar. I usually take forever to replace a watch battery once it dies so I love that this Seiko model has a 6 month power reserve once fully charged by light.

Besides the innovation of the Seiko watch, I love the way it looks. It is beautiful and is just as much like a piece of jewelry as it is a functional timepiece. It mixes in well with my wrist full of various pieces and can be dressed up or down. 

Having it on my wrist during the holidays has been a great reminder of the progress I have made this past year. Despite a few missed workouts, many Christmas cookies, and a few lazy days, it is nice to remember how far I've come and to ponder what 2015 may hold for me.  

Disclosure; I received a complimentary Seiko watch of my choice through my partnership as a Women's Health Action Hero. I received no other compensation. As always all opinions are my own. 

Mint Chocolate Protein Bites and Winter Wellness with GNC PUREDGE

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by GNC PUREDGE. As always all opinions and thoughts are my own!

As a self-proclaimed sweet tooth, the holidays are a fabulous time for all sorts of treats. While I definitely don't shy away from enjoying Christmas cookies (okay,so really I seek them out), I love to make sure I'm getting some good eats in during the day as well to balance out my diet.  That usually means making sure I eat something green each day and get enough protein in during the holidays.

That's why I was really excited to try the GNC PUREDGE products. This line of products is a great source of whole-food-based nutrition that tastes great and makse eating healthy on-the-go easy during the hectic holiday season.  

I was always skeptical of products found in GNC because it seems there are so many things on the market today loaded with artificial flavorings, preservatives,ingredients I can't pronounce, and things as a chemist I know shouldn't be in food! 

I was really surprised by the ingredient lists of GNC's new PUREDGE line. 

The products have: 
-no preservatives
-no GMO1-added ingredients
-no wheat, yeast, fish or egg
-no sugar alcohols
-no artificial additives,colors or sweeteners
-no banned substances AND
-no gluten.   

Pretty much everything people look to stay away from, not that I know what else they could remove!

Christmas Sunrise Cocktail Recipe {made with Zevia}

Disclaimer:This post is sponsored by Zevia. I was given complimentary Zevia vouchers  in exchange for sharing a recipe on my blog.  As always all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Holy crap. I feel like Christmas completely sprung up on me. Thank goodness for online shopping- it helped me finish buying presents this past week. I totally have spent the last couple of weekends busy with holiday get-togethers, parties, and events. I'm really looking forward to spending time with family, sleeping in, and relaxing for a few days during the holidays.  

#Cheers to spending quality time with the ones you love without having work getting in the way.  

That also includes eating many Christmas cookies and enjoying  some holiday cocktails and big glasses of red wine, of course. 

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is Christmas morning at my parents' house with my siblings. We have a relaxing morning of opening presents, listening to Christmas music, and eating breakfast as a family with some mimosas.  I might have to switch things up this year with a different bubbly drink. 

I love Zevia soda because it has zero calories, no sugar (sweetened with stevia!), and no artificial sweeteners. I pick mine up at my local Whole Foods or Target. 

One of my favorite flavors is grapefruit citrus (it tastes just like Fresca!) and thought it would be perfect for a brunch cocktail. It's especially fitting because I usually start my morning with a grapefruit half with a maraschino cherry in the middle when I stay at my parents' house over a weekend-they always have them on hand for breakfast.

That's how my boyfriend, a craft cocktail connoisseur, and I came up with the refreshing Christmas Sunrise cocktail. It is bitter, sweet, festive and bubbly all in one simple drink.  I like drink recipes measured in parts instead of specific volumes because I can just as easily make one drink or a few drinks all at once. 

Christmas Sunrise

Ingredients:

• 4 parts Zevia grapefruit citrus soda
• 2 parts clear tequila
• 2 parts grapefruit juice
• 1 part lime juice
• splash of grenadine (to taste) 

Directions: 

1. Fill a highball glass with ice.  

2. Add the tequila, grapefruit juice, and lime juice. 

3. Fill the rest of the glass with the Zevia soda. 

4. Add a splash of grenadine and enjoy! 

As always, you can make it a mocktail by omitting the tequila.   

Zevia is spreading the holiday cheer this season! Follow Zevia on Twitter & Instagram and share the little moments that mean the most to you with #CheersTo for a chance to win oodles of prizes through 12/31! You can check out everyone's holiday fun in the gallery and see the daily winners. 

This post was shared at the Tasty Tuesday linkup!

Do you have a favorite family tradition during the holidays? What's your favorite holiday morning beverage?

Fit Fab Fuel Swap 2014 Reveal

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is giving and receiving cards and gifts.  Of course I was really excited to participate in the Fit, Fab, & Fuel Holiday Swap hosted by Running with SD Mom and the Naturally Fit Sisters.  I love trying new fuel and receiving new ornaments for my tiny Christmas tree. It also seemed like a great opportunity to make a new blogger friend!

Click here to see all the linkup of posts!

 I was paired up with Esther from Chocolate Runner Girl to virtually meet each other and then send each other our favorite winter FITness fuel and a FABulous ornament.  

Once I saw Esther's blog name, I knew we'd hit it off- who doesn't love chocolate and running?!

5 Last-Minute Holiday Hosting Must Haves

With the holidays comes lots of parties and lots of guests. I find that people are travelling, events are happening, and everyone wants to get together. Sometimes you will find out you are having people over a day before or a minute before! Here's a list of 5 things I keep on hand so I'm always prepared to have a party!

1. Wine. duh.
Not that I ever seem to run out, but I always keep a bottle of cheaper wine on hand for spur-of-the-moment guests to drink. People usually bring wine and whatever they are drinking over too so there ends up being plenty to go around. 

2.  A full supply of paper products. 
My apartment only has one bathroom so if guests are over, it's getting some heavy traffic. During the holidays I try to keep it extra clean and stock it with a festive air freshener, extra hand towels, and extra toilet paper. Having a sink full of dishes the next day is the worst part of hosting. I try to have some colored paper plates and napkins on hand for guests to reduce some of the dirty dishes. 

5 Gifs that Describe How it Feels to Apply to Graduate School {Friday Five 12/12/2014}

Right now, I'm in the midst of applying to graduate school programs for occupational therapy because like many, I need to go back to school for the career I want. I just want to help people!  Sadly, the graduate program application process is  torturous-especially during the holiday season. It's been consuming all my time and brainpower! And it's ridiculously stressful.  

Here's 5 gifs this Friday that perfectly describe the process of applying to graduate school: 

1. You usually have to take the GRE.

It's a 4 hour admissions test with verbal, quantitative (a.k.a math you learned in high school and don't use like figuring out the degrees of an unknown angle in a triangle), and writing sections. I took it after work one evening (WHY), and I hope I don't have to take it again. It's long, tiring, hard, and stressful. 

 4 hours in a testing room with nothing but the test on a computer made me want to ask: 

Seriously, I couldn't bring snacks or a drink inside. 

2. Why do I have to take out a loan just to apply to graduate school?

Seriously it costs around $75-100 to apply to each school.  After I already spent money to take the GRE, take pre-requisite classes at a community college, and now I need to pay a bunch more? On top of still paying off my undergraduate student loans?