Savannah Trip, 5k recap, and ENERGYbits review!

I'm back from spending a great weekend in Savannah with one of my younger brothers. :)  J went to a paintball tournament down in Florida with a group of guys he used to play with back in the day, so I opted not to go and visited my brother instead.

I got there at around 11:30 Thursday night and we just went to bed.  He had to go into work for a few hours, so that gave me a chance to sleep in (as late as Guinness would let me), get ready for the day, and play a few games of Mario Kart on the Wii.  When he got home we went to Fleet Feet to check it out.  I swooned over the shoes I want as my next pair and picked up a couple of Luna bars to eat before the race the next morning.  After we left, we went down to River Street and grabbed lunch at Vinnie Van Go Go's.  Great pizza, but make sure you have cash!

River Street is a neat part of Savannah.  There are tons of little shops, bars, and restaurants to check out.  You must go to the Savannah Candy Kitchen and River Street Sweets (they're owned by the same people).  They make amazing pralines that you can sample as soon as you walk in as well as homemade taffy

We picked up some sweets and headed back to his house to hang out before going to dinner.  One of his favorite places is Cheddar's, so he took me.  They have good food for great prices, and their drink menu is extensive and cheap!  I had a skinny sweet tea and it was sooo tasty.  We got home, watched a little TV, I laid out my race outfit and we went to bed.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head to Armstrong Atlantic State University for our 5k race.  We got there about 20 minutes before the race was to start.  Last week i got a sample of ENERGYbits to test out so I waited until the race to see what they could do (review to come at the end of the post.  As they lined us up to start the race, I realized that it was a VERY small group of runners.  They sounded the horn and we were off.  

The course was really nice...it took us all around campus, and having never really been there before other than going to my brother's graduation a few years back.  They had students from the PT department all along the course cheering us on and making sure we stayed on track.  The race went by pretty fast for me.  I usually use my interval timer but thought I'd try something different - I ran as far as I could and then I would take a walk break, set a landmark to start running again, and repeat.  It seemed to work pretty well, so I may try that technique this week in my training runs.  Soon, I rounded the last corner and was on the home stretch.  The students were cheering and I looked at my iPhone and realized if I really kicked it I might have a chance to PR, so I booked it to the finish.  I felt nauseous as I ran, but I refused to stop until I crossed the finish line.  As I crossed, the student keeping time called mine out - 34:16...a new PR!! I was so happy!  I walked over to my brother then grabbed a water and chatted with him and some of his coworkers.

Shortly after, they announced the age group winners for the 5k.  I was running my mouth and didn't hear them call my name out, but yes...I won my age group!  Now...I'm no fool and I realize that normally in my age group my time would be nowhere close to the top, so I'm enjoying the moment while it lasts because I know it probably won't happen again.  My brother also won his age group with a time of 30:03 (he's 26).

We stayed until the last 10k runner crossed the line, then we headed back to his house for some breakfast.

I went and showered and Chris laid down on the couch during College GameDay and took a little nap.  Then when he got up to shower I stole the couch and got a cat nap in of my own.  He woke me up hungry, so we went and got food to grab for the grill to eat before the UGA/FL game.  Can I just say HOW 'BOUT THEM DAWGS!!

Source

After the game, we went out to dinner with a 4-H friend of mine that happens to live in the same complex as my brother.  It was so nice to hang out with her and catch up.  We saw each other at the UGA/USC game a few weeks back but actually had time to chit chat without being rushed.

Sunday I slept in while he went to church, we had lunch together once he got home, we watched a quarter of the Falcons game and then I started the long, 4.5 hour drive home.  He was a great host and it was really nice to spend some one on one time with him.  Thanks Chris!

So onto my review of ENERGYbits...since this blog post is long enough, you can go here to read the benefits of taking spirulina algae.  As I said earlier, Jonathan at ENERGYbits was nice enough to send me a sample to try out on my own.  Since I was only running a 5k, I only took half of the recommended dose (30 pills).

They smell like fish food, and you can either swallow them whole or chew them up.  I don't do too well with taking this many pills at a time, but it seemed like the better of the two options as I have read it can get stuck in your teeth if you chew them.  So I took them, one by one, about 20 minutes before race time.  I'm not sure if that was a little late or not.  As the race went on, I didn't feel as winded when I stopped for my walking breaks and felt that I had more energy when it was time to run again.  I feel they did give me a boost of energy, albeit not as much of one as it could have been had I taken all 30, but I still felt good.  I think my only critique is to maybe do a few larger pills so you don't have to swallow so many at one time.  

I know the month is almost over, but ENERGYbits has a coupon code you can use on a bag of them!  As we all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this horrible disease is actually how ENERGYbits was created.  When you buy a bag of any of their four types of bits, use the code BREASTCANCER to receive 30% off!  This offer is only good until October 31st, so act fast!  You can also check out how algae can help protect women against breast cancer here.

Lastly, I have created a Facebook fan page and would love to get more "Likes", so feel free to check it out, "Like" it, share it, and I'll be sure to check your page out if you have one and if I haven't already!

https://www.facebook.com/hellofitnessjen 

Until next time, 

Jen

Disclaimer: ENERGYbits provided me with a free sample of this product to review. All opinions stated here are completely my own.