PRRacer Announcement - The Convertible HDL!

I'm totally living in #ragover life over here - oh, Monday, why you gotta be so cruel? I've got tons and tons of photos and fun to share, but I'm excited to share something else cool first. In fact, so cool, I wish it existed already and then I could have used it at Ragnar this weekend because it's pretty much everything I could have ever wanted/needed/not-needed-but-carried-anyway on my runs through Southern California this weekend.

The Convertible HDL from PRRacer is a runner's dream come true: a headband that converts to a skull cap, carries a high definition camera and an LED headlamp that can illuminate even the darkest of runs (see! Ragnar perfection). While headlamps and cameras like this aren't new, the Convertible HDL brings them all together in an easy to use, comfortable to wear way!

Now there's no more stopping mid-stride to get that essential mid-morning sunrise photo, no more fidgeting with your phone while you run (totally guilty), and now you can carry all your gadgets in one tool rather than in your waist belt, pocket and armband - it's all in one! 

From PRRacer themselves:

The Convertible HDL offers three distinct features, each designed with the runner in mind:

• Convertible: This is the lightweight, moisture wicking, fashionable headband that converts to a skull cap. Perfect for any climate, it is the Convertible that is the base of our new technology.
• HD: The camera allows you to capture your run in FHD (1920x1280) or HD (1280x720) format with still photo capability. In addition to video, you can take photos using single shot, burst mode, or time-lapse mode. In addition, the camera carries a GPS, altimeter, and accelerometer to capture all the vital statistics from your run.
• L: The headlamp shines at more than 400 lumens, ensuring your path is clearly lit, during even the darkest runs. This high-powered light also makes it possible to catch clean video during dawn, dusk and nighttime runs - something no wearable camera offers.

Check out more about it:

How freaking cool, right? But there's one catch - like I said, this baby isn't available yet BUT their Kickstarter campaign launches TODAY! So now you can help get in on the action and make this amazing headgear come to life - I know I'm jumping at the bit to get my hands on one. The first 50 people to purchase will get 50% Off retail pricing!  There are three levels of pledges for the Convertible HDL ($149, $179, $199), so jump quickly. The first two levels are limited quantities so click and buy early!

But - while we wait for this amazingness - PRRacer is cool enough to let me giveaway some awesome stuff in the meanwhile! Lucky you, right?

• Either a Convertible HDL t-shirt or RUN t-shirt
• A RUN hat
• And performance decals for 5K, 10K, 13.1, and 26.2 distances.
• Winners would need to provide the state they would like on the RUN t-shirt (if chosen), state they would like on the RUN hat, and finish times for the race decals

Are you in?

a Rafflecopter giveaway Contest runs 10 am Monday, April 4 through 11:59 pm Friday, April 8, 2016.

No purchase necessary.  Void where prohibited. 1 winner will be selected via the Giveaway widget.  Open to Residents of the US only 18 years of age or older. Winner must have a valid email address.  

Winner will be notified via email (if available) and/or blog post and/or Rafflecopter display, and will have 24 hours to claim prize via email.  If original winner does not claim prize within 24 hours, an alternate winner(s) will be selected via Rafflecopter. All winning entries will be verified as completed. If a winning entry cannot be verified as completed, a new winner will be drawn.  Winner will be provided the prize directly from PRracer.

This post was sponsored by Fit Approach and PRracer but all opinions are my own!

Weekly Workout Recap #13

March 27 - April 2

Join the link up each week and join in the fun! I'm hoping to hold myself more accountable to my training plan and I know that putting it out there each week is going to help me do that! Join in, link your recap and connect with other friends to hold us all accountable too!

Sunday | 20 miles 
Monica and I had planned a few weeks back to make this a long run day together, since she's training for Eugene (also May 1) and our training schedules are more or less in sync. Meeting at 5:30 am was a doozy, but as soon as we were out, we knew it was going to be an amazing. Bunnies everywhere (appropriate for a sunrise Easter morning run), though it was humid! Monica was planning for 16-18, and with Ragnar coming up for me with 22 miles Friday-Saturday, I decided 20 wasn't in my best interest and we went for 16 instead. Perfect miles, feeling totally accomplished... a full day later we were still talking about how good we felt throughout the run and afterwards. Success!

After our run, Doug had made me pancakes (I think I'll keep him) and I went to the kiddie pool in our complex for a quick 10-minute ice bath. Perfection. A few hours' of naps later and then we were off to my parents' for Easter and a last Sunday Funday at Mad T at Disneyland with Jacky and Darrell.

16 miles, 2:37:44 / 9:55 pace

Monday | 5 miles + strength
I was all pumped on Monday throughout the work day - still on the high from the 16 the day before - and by the time I got home, I totally crashed. I didn't quite get the answers I was looking/hoping for on some health stuff and it got to me more than I expected. After work, I took a 30-minute nap and then got up and got my time in on the treadmill. Better late than never, right?

5 miles, 48:23, 9:40 pace

Tuesday | 6 miles
On my way home out the door from work Tuesday night, the sky opened up and all HAIL broke loose! It was pouring - and naturally, I didn't have my umbrella, so used one of my two jackets as a makeshift umbrella. Ran to the car, and as soon as I got on the freeway, it started hailing - so loud, I swear it was raining rocks, not ice. Terrifying! I finally made it home and wouldn't you know, my home area (all of 15 miles away) was sunny and dry, with one large stormcloud looming over. I wanted to get some miles outside, so I changed quickly and sprinted two miles through the neighborhood before I hopped on the treadmill for the rest. Done and done!

2.07 miles, 17:37, 8:30 pace
4 miles, 37:03, 9:15 pace 

Wednesday | 5 miles + yoga
I was up at 2:30 am on Wednesday morning, totally restless, and tossed and turned for a while. My alarm was set for 5:15 to get these miles in anyway, and at 4:50, I finally gave up and got to the gym before my alarm even went off. 5 miles done before the sun even woke up!

Yoga didn't happen this week only because it was the Mad T Party band's last night, last show EVER, so I took off from work, bolted to Chino and Jacky's and we bee-lined our way into the parks for one last night of dancing and singing along to my favorite cover band ever. Yoga next week will be great to keep stretching out post-Ragnar!

5 miles, 50:16, 10:03 pace

Thursday | 45 minutes tempo
Though I had a 45 minute run written in, given my long run on Sunday, and heading in to Ragnar weekend, I opted to make this a rest day instead! Lots of last errands and chores to do, so this was a good move on my part!

Rest! 

Friday | Rest
Well, we all know I didn't rest on Friday - it was the first day of Ragnar! Squee! I was runner 11 in Van 2 this weekend, so my first miles weren't until 4 in the afternoon. 7.5 miles of some hills through south  Orange County and just gorgeous!

7.5 miles, 1:11, 9:23 pace 

Saturday | 6 miles

We also then knew that this weekend brought a lot more than 6 miles on deck! Good thing I was scheduled for 12 today, so I made up for it all really early in the weekend instead. ;) My second run was through Vista and San Marcos (northern San Diego county) at 1 in the morning. No better way to wake up than to get 5.8 miles in on the day! My last leg (womp womp) was 8.7 miles from downtown San Diego all the way down to Chula Vista - on what I'm calling the ugliest leg EVER - but at least flat and fast and easy, even though on tired legs!

We did it! Just wait for the recaps in the next two weeks. You won't wanna miss 'em!

5.8 miles, 52:02, 8:58 pace
8.7 miles, 1:26:41, 9:32 pace 

All in all, that's a 53.98 mile week, making it my HIGHEST weekly mileage EVER - badass, if I do say so myself. I call that a great marathon training week. :)

How was your week? Make sure you link up below!

San Diego or Bust!

Goooood morning! As of 5:30 am PST, we are officially en route to San Diego, via miles and miles of road, sidewalk, beach trails and highway shoulders through an adventure called Ragnar So Cal. 

Team #SWAGNARstrikesback got started with Marco, one of our first-timers (!), leading us off. I'm in Van 2, so I have time to chill and cheer people on as we get set. I'm also runner 11, so even once Van 2 starts, I've got a bit of a wait ahead of me. I've been in Van 1 enough that I'm used to having the fun early on in the day, so this will be a challenge in controlling my antsyness in wanting to get started already! Yipes!

Follow the team along at #SWAGNARstrikesback  + cheer us along! Be sure to also follow me for all the in-between fun too: @runmeganrun // @__MeganJohnston // Run Megan Run

March Recap

Total run mileage: 126.47. New highest monthly mileage EVER! Booyah! 

Highest weekly run mileage: 45.47. That was an awesome week.  

# Runs: 21.  

# Rest days: 9. Fully intentional - I'm feeling outstanding, and even took two rest days last week that were unplanned. Rockin' and feelin' good.

# Cross-training workouts: 6. Yoga five times (four at Fleet Feet and once in my living room) and one decent day of core + strength work. Pleased. 

# Races: 

     - Dairy Aire 5K
     - St. Patrick's Day Half Marathon (2:15 pacer)

     - Hot Chocolate San Diego 15K (9:30" pacer)

Favorite run: Amazingly enough, I'm going to say my 16 miler with Monica last Sunday. We headed out before the sun was even up, were greeted by some nasty humidity but a gorgeous sunrise and tons of bunnies everywhere (how perfect for Easter bunny morning!). ROCKED our 16 miles at a 9:51 pace overall and we felt amazing - even come Monday when we both said, "I don't feel like I ran 16 yesterday!" Fantastic long run to get me psyched for Ragnar and another 20-miler in a few weeks! 

Hardest Run: Hot Chocolate was a toughie - that course is certainly no joke, with 80% of the 9 miles on uphills, it'll certainly test ya. But also one of my favorites, as so many folks were telling me that I was keeping them on their goal pace and that I was a "GREAT pacer!" and I just loved being out there. If you're going to run this one in the future, be prepared for that hill work! The good news is that the last 1.5 flatten out and have one reallllly good downhill to push you along into the finisher chute.

2016 Beast Pacing Hot Chocolate San Diego 15K team!

Current need: To get over this "flu-like" whatever that's been plaguing me. I woke up yesterday (Tuesday) with a migraine about 1 am, didn't go to work because of a significant lack of sleep and that eventually turned into feeling chills, body aches, and other issues. After Doug got home from football practice, we went to urgent care... sooo... you can see where that leads. Hoping I can shake it off enough for a decent enough run at Surf City on Sunday. :( 

Current favorite: Abundant Heart, because this: "Abundant Heart: the belief that fitness should be FUN; combining inspiring mantras with lively colors to make any workout, event or everyday experience more abundant." Perfection, right?! AH is my newest favorite tank company (they do sweatshirts and stuff too) thanks to Shelby. I wore AH tanks for both Surf City and Phoenix, and they are some of the softest, most comfy, cute and hilarious tanks ever. Both mine are burnout tanks, and you can be I am eye-balling this one, too: 

{Abundant Heart}

Current goal: Finish the last four weeks of OC Marathon training strong and on point. Getting in my yoga, stretching, foam rolling and making my runs count. I'm honestly just looking forward to beasting that race and showing myself what I am really capable of! 

Month Goals: Post-Phoenix recovery was awesome, but by the time Dairy Aire rolled around (re: my first run in a week, very intentionally) I was itching to run... which also told me I was ready and that I did recovery right! I feel like I really kicked some major ass and made some mega-progress this month and am excited to jump into April with Ragnar and my last month of OC training! 

Goals for March:
- 110 miles - Done! 
- Incorporate strength training at least 1-2 times per week - I did it once. All month. 
- Add another yoga day in for at-home practice (so 2 times per week) - Achieved one week! But never missed a sesson! 

Goals for April:
- 125 miles
- Add another yoga day in for at-home practice (so 2 times per week)
- Intentional stretching/foam rolling as miles increase these next few weeks heading into race day

March was awesome. I'm on such a high right now and that's mostly thanks to the last week or so, where I feel like I've just nailed my runs, nailed my workouts and am doing it all right. With many thanks to Jacky and My Fitness Pal, I am at least paying attention to what I eat and take in each day (even with just estimates) and that in just two and a half weeks of tracking my food, I lost 2 pounds. That's far more than I've done in a while, and I am looking forward to dropping some more weight before OC (goal: another 6 pounds). I think I can hit that goal in 4.5 weeks, so ready to make it happen! 

What are your biggest accomplishments from this month? What are you looking forward to next month?

A Ragnar Packing List

Running a Ragnar relay is unlike any other race experience you've ever had. While your team has a start time, the time you actually start running might be one, five, eight hours later, so you're kind of all-day prepping for a race start. You could run at 8 am and 3 the same afternoon and then again at midnight, so how do you fuel up? When do you sleep (spoiler: not much, if at all). 

There are enough logistics to throw a race-day-prepper for a total loop, so how on earth do you keep yourself straight when you're out of whack with your normal race morning prep? My best advice: make sure you've got it all - everything you'll definitely need, everything you think you'll need, and everything that you've never thought about needing because at some point, it will come in handy. Trust me. 

I created this Ragnar packing list for you to help keep yourself straight for 20-something hours of fun. Link leads to downloadable PDF - share away, I just ask that you keep my handle and info on the page if you share/re-post the images! 

Downloadable here. 

That's about it. I'll also add to the Van Supplies a food list for your team. Consider community snackage over everyone bringing their own thing (and therefore more coolers). Team essentials will vary team to team, but I've always found myself with tons of leftover snackage for drives/flights home, which is never a bad thing in my book. Better to have too much food that to wake up starving in a van driving through Maryland countryside at 2 am with nothing open, right? 

Good luck on your Ragnar adventure!