PlowOn Gum Review

PlowOn Gum is caffeinated energy gum, designed to boost your energy before a workout.  The gum comes in packs of five pieces, and the instructions say to chew one piece for five minutes, and if you aren't feeling energized within fifteen minutes to chew one more piece.  According to the label, one piece has 100 mg of caffeine, or about the same amount as a cup of coffee or an energy drink.  It also contains taurine, ginseng, and green tea extract, with spearmint for flavoring. 

I won three packs of the gum in a giveaway from another site I follow: Melinda's Weight Loss Journey.  I gave one pack to Josh to try, since he likes energy supplements when he works out.  He reported back to me that he chewed some before playing football with his friends, and that it was "pretty intense".  When I questioned him later after I had tried it too, I found out he actually chewed three pieces at once when he was already "hyped up" to play football.

Teresa's weekend: Great Pumpkin Run and Tarheel Service Day

From Colts cheerleader to Roaming Advocate

I was very busy over the weekend, with The Great Pumpkin Run on Saturday morning and Tarheel Service Day on Sunday.  Both events involved a little wardrobe fun, too.

 

The Great Pumpkin Run

This is a Fall/Halloween themed trail run at The Appleworks in Trafalgar, IN.  I thought about doing it last year, but I didn't really want to drive all the way down there by myself.  It seemed like a race that would be more fun with friends, and I didn't really have many runner friends back then.  But now I do, and happily several of them wanted to do this race too.  It was a total blast!  Jana & Erin made super-cute Batman & Robin costumes complete with tutus, while Mel, Becky, Kathy, Alyssa & I went as Colts cheerleaders.  (Side note: I am a big fan of Sparkle Athletic's Sparkle Skirts for cosrunning.  I think they look great, and they are extremely comfortable too.)

Baby sis had a first (and probably last) this past weekend!

This past Saturday, my run club had their 2nd annual 5K, the WFAR Classic.  They had a 5 mile option this year, but I wanted to do the 5K again to try to improve over last year's time.  There are a few reasons that I didn't improve my time, but I will still call it a successful race!

Last year when I ran this race, I was near the end of my Couch to 5K training, and this year I have been quite slack on my training.  No true goals, I discovered during this run, is something that I need to change very soon.  But I am not using it as an excuse...sometimes life just gets in the way, and that is okay.  So lack of training on my part and not really paying attention to pace lately was one reason I didn't improve.  

Another reason I feel I didn't improve over last year's race is the weather.  Last year this race was in November, and I recall it being cool enough that I wore several layers, including long sleeves.  This past Saturday the temperature was in the high 60's and over 90% humidity and quite sunny.  I really thought I was done with high humidity running.  I should have hydrated a little better beforehand.

In addition to better hydration, I still need to figure out how to better fuel myself for morning races.  I am an afternoon/evening runner, and so I have no problem eating enough during the day for those runs.  I think I am doing fine with the meal I eat the night before, but I am still working on knowing how much I need to eat in the morning and how much time before the event is best for taking advantage of the energy.

So...my first?  Unfortunately for the 2 students this event raises scholarship money for, the attendance for this race wasn't all that great.  But I did benefit from the low participation.  I finished 3rd in my age group, earning me a $25 gift certificate from Sole Dimensions!  Yay for me!  I'll take placing in a race any way that I can!

Up next for me is Wicked 10K on 10/25.  My first 10K, but I already know I will be run/walking it, so there should be no disappointment.  Stay tuned...

Overheard at the Chocoholic Frolic

Chocolate Swag

Mmmm Chocolate

Last Sunday I ran the Chocoholic Frolic 10K, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  While I don't think we got quite as much chocolate as we were promised, it was a fun race with some nice swag.  Pictured at left is what I received at packet pickup.  After the race, instead of finisher's medals we got candy bars.  And there was a chocolate fountain, with bananas, cookies & pretzels for dipping.  Yum!

A New PR!

Although I have run this distance many times in training, this was the first time I've raced an official 10K, so it was an automatic PR.  But I also consider it a real PR.  My 5K PR is 34:38, and twice that is 1:09:16.  I ran this race in 1:08:45!  I didn't hear THE VOICE until mile 5, when it tried to tell me I had done just fine & it was okay to slow down a little now.  Whatever, voice!  So I sped up, & my splits show that last mile was my fastest.