Month: January 2019

The story of nuun

Published on by saraandhersolesLeave a comment

I’ll never forget how embarrassed I was on the drive home from my first half marathon. It was in San Francisco – about 3.5 hours away from home. My boyfriend came with me to be race support. We had been together for about a year. After I finished, we grabbed the shuttle bus back to our hotel. En route, my stomach was screaming to be let out of the bus. I did my best to maintain my composure (and avoid having anything other than sweat in the nether regions). Our post-race plans included brunch and football at a bar down the street from our hotel before we headed home. While I went to our room to shower, he headed for kick-off which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as what happened in that hotel room after, shall remain in the hotel room.

When I thought I was safe, I headed to the bar. One bite into my breakfast and …. nope.

I told him I wanted an entire bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for the drive home because I’d sure as hell deserve it. Screw the medal, I want the chocolate and so it was such. Stubborn me put the morning with the porcelain throne behind me. After a few, my stomach was revolting. I don’t know where exactly we were, but we weren’t near a bathroom and luck would have it, there was a shitload (no pun intended) of traffic. We finally made it to a Carl’s Jr. – which I will never step foot in again.

After that day, I thought my boyfriend would never find me attractive again. (Side note, we just celebrated our sixth anniversary).

I almost never wanted to run a half marathon again. Forget the chafing. Forget the amount of training. Forget the early mornings. Forget the distance. Forget the black toenails. Dealing with that amount of stomach issues from running was a deal breaker.

After I recovered and did some research, I found this miraculous Nuun Hydration product. As a kid, we were told to drink Gatorade for stomach flu and as a college student, Pedialyte for a hangover. The problem with both of those is the amount of sugars and unnatural ingredients weren’t worth it. Nuun is none of that. Nuun comes in delicious flavor tablets, is gluten, dairy and soy free and packed with electrolytes to keep you hydrated. Given my post-half marathon stomach pain was as bad as the stomach flu or a hangover, I was willing to give it a shot. Hands down, its one of the best products I’ve ever discovered and one I can truly say has kept my desire to distance run alive. I do not run a distance greater than 10K without a tablet the night before and the morning of.

This morning, I powered through a 5K at the gym and came home to an email that I had been selected as a 2019 Nuun Ambassador. And while it brought me flashbacks of this first half marathon, it was one of the most exciting things I had read in a long time. I’m super proud to represent something that has truly changed the way I think about preparing for a run.

For more information about Nuun, visit www.Nuunlife.com. Stay hydrated! 

A few of my favorite running things

Published on by saraandhersoles2 Comments

I hate being all preachy, but I love preaching the things and people I truly believe in. As I spent much of 2018 expanding my running world and making hundreds of new running friends (i.e. you reading this), I latched on to the products you all promoted and even discovered a few on my own. Here are a few of my top running finds of 2018:

  • Goodr sunglasses – polarized lenses so the sun doesn’t blind you, that come in gorgeous colors and who’s ‘mission statement pretty much says what (they’re) about: We’re recklessly committed to fun…blah blah blah, sunglasses.”
  • Sparkle Athletic Skirts – So I literally own a tutu in every single color. Half of why I became a runner was so I could prance around in a tutu. But sometimes they aren’t all that practical unless you’re running the Ultra on the Playa at Burning Man. Fast forward to multiple, sequin-filled dreams later, I now have a bit more practicality and a bit more sass in my running attire.
  • Science in Sport energy gels – because chewing energy gels is out of style and absorbing melted-jello is in. That may not be the most appealing way to describe these, but that’s why you’ll try them for yourself. And that is – I appreciate their liquid form vs. chewy cubes that have to be chased with water (multi-tasking is hard).
  • Pro Compression Marathon Socks – I wish I had actually discovered these while training for a marathon, but now that I have them, I can’t run without them. I feel like I’m floating on pillows and recovery is 10x faster. Side note – as of late, I’ve had a terrible obsession with buying expensive and colorful running socks. Like, its almost out of control.

And a quick shout-out to some of my favorites that I’ve been using for years: vaseline for chafing, Cyclecast for active recovery, Powerbeats by Dre for … sweet beats …, foam rollers for masochism, Nuun for helping me avoid runner’s trots and Saucony shoes for supporting my passion.

What do you recommend I check out for 2019?