Product Review: Aftershokz Trekz Titanium Wireless Headphones

I'm really excited to say that I was picked as one of the weekly winners of Bibchat, and received a free pair of Aftershokz Trekz Titanium Wireless Headphones Click to go to Website. I really had fun during Bibchat that week so to win was very cool. So you definitely have to join us for Bibchat every week if you don't already! It's on Tuesday's 3:00pm Hawaii time (with the current daylight savings).

The topic of that week was running awareness and how headphones tend to lower our awareness of our surroundings. These headphones are the solution we have all been looking for: the ability to listen to music while we get our workout on, while still being able to know what's going on around us.

It's really easy to just plug in your headphones and tune out the rest of the world while we are running or biking.  But how safe is that really? One of my more infamous stories was the time I was running on my usual trail which is a retired golf course, very overgrown with tons of plant an animal life. Well I was plugged in as usual and heard a weird sound coming from my right. I figured that it was some kind of phone alert, but then I realized that the alert would have come through my headphones, duhh! That meant that the noise I heard was loud enough for me to hear over my music, so I stopped and looked to see what it was. I was face to face with a wild boar, like tusks on the nose Pumba status wild boar. But then the funniest thing happened, we both mirrored looks of utter terror, I screamed, and then we both ran in the opposite direction. So in the end nothing bad happened to me, I wasn't trampled, but the point was clear: I need to be more aware when running!
 
When I first got these in the mail, I dropped everything a got ready for a trial run, pun intended. Naturally I had to go to that same trail I saw the boar on just for that sake of proving a point to myself. At first I wasn't quite sure how to wear them or arrange them on my ears. Upon fidgeting with them I found what felt alright, then realized that there was an instruction sheet about how to place them. Silly me, but I had placed them properly on my ears.

During the run I noticed many different things than normal, sounds mainly but also animals too that I would have otherwise ignored. I was bombarded with the sounds of nature that are normally non-existent with my other headphones. Birds were chirping, crickets buzzing (it was close to sunset), the wind was howling, so many things that I had been deaf to, had been present. It was so relaxing to be so intimate with nature while running.

Next stop was to take them on the beach-path in Kaanapali. For some info on this area, the beach-path starts in front of Honua Kai Resort and continues south for 3 miles to Canoe Beach just past the Hyatt Regency with about 6 other resorts in between. Aka tons of pedestrian traffic of people on a morning walk, other runners, people heading to the beach. As I was approaching the first traffic jam as I call them, or couples taking up the whole path themselves *sigh*, I did my usual "Excuse me, on your left," and realized how much of an ass I sounded like, but could never hear. I felt horrible, then realized why I always got so many nasty looks from people, because I was the one who started off sounding hostile. So they were definitely a blessing for me.

My last test with them was race day, which is why this blog post has taken so long to write, I have been waiting to finish a race with them to give a perspective from that. Here is where they became my downfall, by no fault in the product mind you. The race I ran them in was all hills and the weather was very stagnant and humid. While trucking up those hill I was more aware of runners who were passing me, making sure to give them room. I think that was so helpful. But I could hear my breathing while running up the hills, more so than usual because of the dense humidity. So I was working harder than usual because of less oxygen in the air. Hearing my breathing I thought that it sounded different from normal, which it was, and tried to change my pattern to something forced and not my natural reflexive pattern. This caused some cramping and a lot of walking in my future. Even more reinforcement that they bring more awareness while running.

I don't consider that a negative aspect by any means, but as a reminder that your perception of things will be different with these headphones. I have found no issues with them whatsoever! They are very comfortable, I actually wear them while cleaning around the house, talking on the phone, and just listening to music while hanging out at home. I think they are a must have for any runner for a.) to be safer and more alert on the road or trail, b.) to open you eyes (and yes ears) to how you come across to others, and c.) to broaden your awareness to nature and enjoy the little things that we take for granted.

Mahalo nui for taking the time to read my blog, I hope you found this useful. Please feel free to leave any comments for me, I'd love to hear what you think!

Race Recap: Kahakuloa Half Marathon & Relays

This is one of my favorite races of the year! It's a great time of year to be running, it's a super scenic course, and it's a great training run for my fall marathons. For my full race review on Bibrave click here. Proceeds for this race are donated to on organization that is restoring the Hawaiian Congregational Church in Kahakuloa. So running for a cause was just another reason for me to sign up.

I have to admit that I didn't train as hard as I should have for this race. I had recently started a new job and my training had been put on the back burner. But I got in a 10 miler with all hills a few weeks before and I felt confident enough that I would do great, maybe not beat last year's time but at least still do good.

I carbed up nicely the night before, got a great amount of sleep, and was all prepared for my 4:15am alarm. I had to arrive at the race by 5:00am to receive my bib and shirt as I couldn't make it to the expo the night before, due to my new work schedule. The only unforeseeable element was the weather. It was a cloudy day, so I was super stoked. More on this later.

My race buddy was a fellow co-worker and marathoner Lisa (middle lady in the picture to the left), and she was equally feeling slightly unprepared but ready to tackle it anyway. We lined up for the start and before we knew it we were off. To explain the course a little it is a constant battle of uphill and downhill along route 30 until you hit the town of Kahakuloa. There is maybe a quarter mile throughout the course that is relatively flat, then rest is all hills. For this reason there is also a 2 person and 4 person team relay available. I think the worse part about having the race be full half and relay is that there always seemed to be people blowing by me with so much energy because they were just starting. They didn't have to conserve their energy for 13 miles but could breeze through their 3 mile leg. But it was good to add the relays that so that the race would appeal to more runners and therefore more money raised for the Church Restoration.

I was keeping up with Lisa for the first 3-4 miles around the Honokohau valley, the steepest hill of the course. Remembering from last year breathing was key going up hill. I made sure to have certain songs on my playlist to help me keep my breath regular. I also was wearing my Trekz Titanium headphones. Where I love these headphones in every other instance this is where they were my downfall. The idea of these headphones is to leave the ears open to hear the surrounding as they play the music into you cheek bones. That meant that I could hear my breathing, I thought that it sounded different than usual so I changed my rhythm, WRONG. That with a combination of the humidity of the cloudy weather and lack of wind was a recipe for cramping as I wouldn't be able to supply enough oxygen to my muscles.

At about mile 9 I reached that point and everything was getting so tight that I had to reduce to walking. It was utterly defeating for me to have to walk because I know I can do better. For the remaining miles I ran downhill when I could and continued my power walking up the hills. I really did get to enjoy the scenery more than I anticipated this way. It's a route that I don't usually take so the view was very excited to me.

As I rounded the corner of the finish line I was so happy, I just wanted to sit down and stretch my cramping legs out. I finished in 2:26:26 which was 24 minutes slower than last year. But I was greeted with a glass of champagne from Lisa and my friends. Lisa who actually won the race for females placing 7th overall. I finished, so it is a victory for me, and I will be back next year with a vengeance to do better! Lessons learned is that I need to be prepared for different weather than I have trained in, and to stick to my training plan for the best results.

Race Recap: Fun in the Sun Ohana Run

I'm so fortunate this week to have my parents visiting me here on Maui, all the way from upstate NY. We have been planning this trip for months, what activities we are going to be doing, what restaurants to eat at, etc. But the thing my mom wanted to do that most was to run a 5K with me.

To give a little background on my mother, she had gastric-bypass several years ago in response to some health concerns: diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and obesity. The procedure took care of all of that, helping her to drop about 120 lbs and made all her health problems vanish. It was after the surgery that she got into running, never really thinking that she would be able to run a mile in her life. Now she loves to run and cycle whenever she has the opportunity.

Ever since I moved here she has been dying to run a 5K on Maui because of all the pictures I post of my races, and since we have never run a race together before. So I was on the prowl looking up races on Maui trying to see which ones would be great. To our misfortune the time she is here is right between races, and we would miss them just by a few days.

But that didn't stop my mom! She told me that if there weren't any races then we are going to make our own. My first reaction was to laugh at her because she was so determined to do this that I almost thought she was joking. Boy was I wrong! Then next phone call I got from my mom in February was her inquiring about my shirt size and the sizes of all my friends. Me being Sammi-skeptic asked her why, and she said "Well we can't make our own race unless we have some racers too."

At this point I realized she was getting down to business. So I gathered all my running friend's shirt sizes, and to my surprise a box arrived at my door in about a week. A big box from Rockford, Illinois. Me not ordering anything, carefully cut around the tape and opened the box slowly waiting to be pranked. To my utter surprise and shock it was full of race shirts for me and all my friends. My first thought was "Holy shit my mom wasn't kidding."

So at this point it was just about a week out before my parents arrived. I was busy making plans for when they're here and all I had left to do was to create a 5K course. There were so many things to consider that it was almost overwhelming. Where to run? Should there be hills? Should we run on the beach? Trail run? Morning run? Night run? Sunset run?

It was at this point that I was cruising around Twitter and saw a post from @nuunhydration asking for the best cross training tips. My response to that was to make your cross train workout a destination activity, so make a coffee shop or restaurant your ending location as a reward for your efforts. Then it hit me, we could run the beach walk on Kaanapali and finish at Duke's Beach House for brunch afterwards. The next phase was to figure our a day that all my friends and I were off so we could run. Much to my surprise, the star aligned and we all had a Sunday morning off. Perfect! It took me months for me and two other friends to have a matching day off, so for four of us to have the same day off while my parent were here was like a miracle, star aligned, hallelujah choir singing, totally meant to be.

On race morning we all met at the parking lot at Duke's and then car pooled to Canoe Beach Park for our start. Figuring to leave the cars at the restaurant so they would be there when we finish. We couldn't have asked for better weather: no vog (volcano smog), a nice stead breeze, sunny with a few clouds, and tons of waves. The course itself was very easy and simple: follow the beach walk path, led by signs, all the way to the end which is at Duke's.

It ended up being one of those fun group runs where we all took turns running in the front and back, and with different people. It made it so much more fun that way. My dad would occasionally sprint ahead of us so that he could get action shots of us running down the path. Then we all let my mom win the race, of course.

To our dismay Duke's had no power due to a car accident, so we went elsewhere for brunch. We drove up to Seahouse which has great food and is right on the shores of Napili Bay. So we still got our ocean view with brunch. AND we still cheersed to our victory with a round...or two of mimosas!

Cheers to the beautiful end of creating my own 5K and running my first race, and hopefully not last with my mother!

Race Recap: Valley to the Sea Half Marathon

Let's start off by saying that this is one of my favorite races of the year! It's a chance to run on the other side of the island, which is great because most of the training I did was on the west side where I live. To check out my Bibrave review of this race click on the following link: http://www.bibrave.com/races/valley-to-the-sea-marathon-and-half/4755?tweet=1#.Vu7UbfkrKhc

Since we are starting from the beginning, I don't feel like I trained as strongly as I did in the past for a race. After my 10K back in January it was a struggle to get back out there, work got a little busier and I had to put running on the back burner. But I finally got my sh!t together and got in some decent training.

Something that is always pretty cool was that packet pickup was at our Sports Authority. So we take advantage of that to grab some final supplies for our race. Alicia got a variety of gels, jelly beans, and blocks, where I continued using my Arbonne Fit Chews as I did in my training. Then as part of our racing tradition we always go to Mokeypod Kitchen, one of our favorite restaurants in Wailea, wither before or after a big race. We chose before this time, a great time to carb up! We love to eat family style, ordering many things and sharing them all. Our indulgents that night were Mahi-Mahi fish taco (shown below), jalapeno mash potatoes, roasted Brussels Sprouts, fresh veggies with a baba ganoush dip, and a kalua pork saimin bowl. Monkeypod is famous for their desserts and we couldn't decide on one so we got two: strawberry cream and chocolate caramel peanut (shown below).

We got home around 9:30pm and got our bags packed for the morning. I had feeling of excitement and dread as my alarm went off at 3:00am. I chugged some water to get everything working and got dressed. We carpooled to the race and I was the driver. Tracy and I got Alicia at 3:45 and Amie at 4:00. I was a quick be relaxing drive to Kihei. We had to park about a tenth of a mile down the road from the finish in free parking on the side of the road.

The race provided a shuttle to the race start up in Iao Valley. I was relieved to see charter buses this year, as they were school buses last year. After our comfy ride up into the valley we departed to the cold and misty morning.

The line for the port-a-potty was pretty long but we got in right before the race start. It was gorgeous up in the valley, a waterfall was running to the south and a light rain kissed us.

However it was pretty dark at 6am, sunrise wasn't until after 7am. We had been dreading the final .25 miles across the sand and were relieved when the race director said that it had been canceled and we would finish on pavement. I'd never heard so many happy runners after hearing that.

The race was then off at the sound of the gun, which was timed to match the full marathon start in Kihei. Due to the rain the road was pretty wet which made me very nervous. I kept quick feet as I made my way down the valley trying not to slip which I thankfully never did. It was hard not to go out to fast on an initial down hill but I realized I needed to slow my pace after my second mile or else I would burn out too quickly. The first three miles were all down hill then we crossed the road onto route 30 and we had flat ground for a little bit.

At this point I felt very comfortable with my pace and continued on faster than expected. I knew that there would be an uphill incline approaching so I popped a chew in. To my advantage it kicked in just in time. The hill wasn't steep but was long, so it felt like it took forever to get to the top. An aid station at the top was a sight for sore eye. I grabbed a Gatorade which was so strong that I needed to drink some of my reserve water that I brought with me. But I knew that it was all down hill from this point, literally.

As with my training, I was popping a chew every 2-3 miles depending on how I felt as the chews are not calorie dense. But at mile 10 another super strong cup of Gatorade really upset my stomach. I decided not to eat anything else. I checked my time and pace at mile 11 and if I kept it up a PR would be in sight. I had to skip a few songs on my playlist until I found my power songs to help me maintain my pace. Right before the last turn there was a small bridge over a creek and that's when I gave everything for my final sprint. I zoomed down the chute and got my medal. Much to my dismay and my sore legs, my running app still said I had .1 miles to go. So I gathered my strength again and ran circles in the grass until I hit 13.1.

I wasn't sure of my exact time but was curiosity was sated when the award ceremony began. I knew I was in the 1:40-1:50 range and when my age division came up and third place was 1:43:37 I was really defeated because I was determined to place and knew I couldn't have been faster than that. To my relief I had places second with a time of 1:43:01! My trophy was is hand carved frog that's hollow so it can make a traditional Hawaiian drum sound (shown right) SO cool right!

Then the rest of my friends finished! They all did so great and loved the course. I think that was the best part, having my friends enjoying my favorite race as much as I had had!


Cheers to a fantastic race and start of my running year!

Taper Madness

It's real people, taper madness! What is it you ask? Let's ask the experts at Runner's World. "Taper, or tapering, refers to the reduction of exercise before a competition or race. Tapering is believed to be essential for best performance and can take from as little to a week to two or three weeks" (http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/tapering). Taper madness is the plague of ideas and urges that you go through in this time frame.

Does this sound familiar: "Nobody touch me, I can't afford to get sick now!" or "I just want to keep running!" or "Why does my leg hurt? Am I injured? What if it doesn't heal in time for the race? I put in so much effort training, I can run through the pain right?"

If any of these have happened to you, remember you are not alone. Training for any race is an accomplishment in itself, but to start slowing down after you worked so hard to get your speed up, or long more miles can be extremely difficult. Especially since we know our bodies can handle it, I mean we just did weeks and weeks of it right?

Going the extra mile, literally and figuratively can be detrimental at this point. Tapering gives your body time to repair from all the work its been putting in. That way when it's time for race day you will have fresh legs, not legs that are sore. Let's face it we all want to preform best on race day so why do something that could be a detriment?

One thing I do when I notice some muscle pains during tapering is to stretch it out a little longer than usual. If it's tight then it's probably unhappy, so give them a little extra love. I try to add in a yoga class in the week of the race, the day before if it matches up, so that I can give my whole body the good stretching that it needs.

The getting sick part is a real mental game for sure. When you cut down your mileage you have extra time on your hands, so what better to do than to worry right? Wrong! Turn that negative into a positive, if you're worried about getting sick then take extra precautions. Drink more water; we all know our bodies could use more. That's going to be the biggest help in preventing illness and helping with repairs.

But with all the negative aspects of Taper Madness we easily over look the positive. You might be asking yourself what positives could come from such a horrible two or three weeks?! I know I've asked that to myself several times too. The answer is: Carb Loading! Races require a lot of energy so this is the time to start taking in more carbs to store up. And let's face it, who doesn't like carbs anyways? So take this time to enjoy the pleasant things in life like pasta and pancakes!

*Please note that I am not a doctor, and none of my advice should be taken without consulting you doctor first.*

PhytoSport by Arbonne

My best friend and running buddy Alicia asked me recently how I have the energy to run as much as I do and still work 40+ hour a week at the restaurant. It's very simple, if you put in clean things into your body then it will function better.

*Now please remember that I'm not a doctor by any means so always consult your physician before trying any kind of new product*

I was introduced to Arbonne back in January and I knew nothing about them. A bunch of friends met up for a happy hour a one of my favorite hotel restaurants so my fellow marathon runner, Lisa, could share these amazing products with us. A little background on Arbonne is that they are a 36 year old Swiss company that makes lifestyle products: skincare, hair care, baby care, nutrition care, and more. What peaked my interest was that all their products are vegan (so no animal byproducts either); made with all non-GMO ingredients; contains no dairy, gluten, soy, or refined sugars; and no artificial anything, just good plant-based products.

Now I am not a vegan in any sense however I do respect the philosophy. I limit red meat consumption and try to eat as many vegetables as I can because I know that's going to be beneficial. I was vegetarian for over two years, but once I started running I knew I was going to need to start eating meat again to help my muscles repair. I know being a vegan marathon runner is totally doable, but it just wasn't my thing.

What's awesome about these products are that they can be bought together for one complete set or individually. There is the Prepare & Endure, Complete Hydration, and After Workout. So I tend to use more Prepare & Endure than Complete Hydration, so it's nice that I can just buy more of one without having to buy them all.

The Prepare & Endure, tropical berry flavored, is used to maintain energy levels throughout your workout, and tastes like Orange Pineapple. It has good carbohydrates in it that release slower into your body to prevent the ups and downs of energy crashes. Amino acids are added to help support the production and circulation of nitric oxide so that your organs can get more of what they need and get rid of what they don't. It also contains a mixture of Cayenne (no spice flavor at all!), ginseng, turmeric, and pomegranate which are all antioxidants to help prevent free radical damage during exercise.

The Complete Hydration is designed to be consumed during or after exercise. These are pre-portioned packets that you mix into water. I like to mix mine in warm water that way it will dissolve better. It contain 6 electrolytes to support optimal hydration in muscles, as well as Vitamin C to prevent free radical damage, and good carbs to sustain energy levels. I will take it with me while I run most of the time because I'm running in the Maui heat so I need the extra electrolytes. However I do drink it after a shorter run when I'm not exposed to the elements.

The After Workout is my favorite of the three products. Its a delicious mixed berry flavor and the pomegranate really comes out. This one is also super essential after a long run too because it has a 2-1-1 amino acid chain to help start the recovery and repair process right away. Again the ginseng, turmeric, and cayenne are added to help relieve muscle soreness and prevent free radical damage.

The first race I ran while using these products was the Run for the Whales 10K back in January. If you've read my race review at the following link :http://www.bibrave.com/races/run-walk-for-the-whales/4539#.VtyDDfkrKhc then you will know that this was an intense race for me. I missed the halfway point turnaround and returned with a vengeance finishing 11th overall and 1st in my age division. I can honestly say that these products kept my body working and running properly the whole time. I even managed a PR of 48:19 as well! So that was enough for me to put my faith in these products.

If you're interested in these products you can find them using the following link: http://ChristopherMcmanus.arbonne.com/ then in the nutrition tab. on the website.

2016: The year of new opportunities!

After an incredible 2015 I didn't think that this year would be able to match it in any way! Way back in December 2014 a coworker and I got talking about running, Alicia. I loved running but had fallen off the wagon since running my first half marathon in September earlier that year. Suffice it to say that race took a lot out of me, being a novice runner and all.

There was something about her story that inspired me. Alicia had recently lost 30 pounds and all because of running. It was the spark to my fire, and like that we started booking races. Together we ran the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Run/Walk for Hope 5K in January, the Run for the Whales 10K in February, and a the Valley to Sea Half Marathon in March. I ended up placing 3rd in my age division during that half, which was a shock because I didn't think that I was even capable of that.

But I wasn't done there, I signed up for a very challenging race, the Kahakaloa Half Marathon. This extreme race took us up route 30 around the top of the west Maui mountains to the village of Kahakaloa. The road follows the cliffs weaving in and out of the valleys with some of the worse hills I have ever run up. Again I placed 3rd in my age division. Now it was time to get down to business, next stop Maui Marathon in September.












However in July a perfectly timed vacation gave me the opportunity to run the Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon with one of my great friends and fellow marathon runner Eric. I made a slight adjustment to my training schedule and made this race be a perfect long run in the middle of my plan. It was my first and definitely not last destination race and I had an absolute blast. This had been by far the biggest race I had ever run in, and here my eyes were truly opened to how big the running world had become.

We had a terribly hot and humid summer in 2015, which made training much hard but at the same time it was good to train in the weather that I would be running in. The weather didn't disappoint and the Maui Marathon was one hot race. But I did finish, and Alicia was even at the finish line with a lei for me. To my surprise I placed 2nd in my age group too! See my review and a more detailed experience of my race  by clicking the following link: http://www.bibrave.com/races/maui-marathon/4606#.VtjmuvkrKhc




After a few burned out days I started right back up again. It was back to the hills again as I trained for the Xterra Kapalua, a 5K that my restaurant participates in. This was a race through the Kapalua Village Trails which are very hill heavy. We have this competition between the four restaurants on island on who has the fastest team, by averaging the top 5 finishers time. Usually the training falls to my coworker and fellow marathon runner Lisa. But this year she was determined to place in the top three overall in the 10K race at the same event. That meant that the training was up to me. It was a big responsibly to have, but a privilege too. To add icing on the cake it was a Halloween race too, so we decided on a group costume: Where's Waldo. Though we didn't win the fastest restaurant trophy I still managed to place 3rd in my age group, and one of my runners placed 1st for women who live on Maui. With that in mind I still call this a victory!

The training never stopped as I prepared for the Honolulu Marathon in December. I was very hesitant to run another marathon so soon but I was determined to do better than I just did. I happened to come across a 16 mile Turkey Trot that was designed as a preparatory race for the Honolulu Marathon by the Valley Isle Road Runner, a local running group. This race was different than a normal race in that GPS and tracking devices were prohibited and you made a guess on your finish time before the race started. The winners were the runner who finished the closest to their predicted time. It was a beautiful run in upcountry Kula but a lot of hills. Somehow I won second place, finishing within 3 minutes of my prediction.

Come December it was off to Oahu for the Honolulu Marathon. The course was scenic and very fun with it's own set of challenges, like the mile hill climb around Diamond Head twice. What was neat about this race was there was no maximum number of participants, which means that there was an infinite number of supporters on the sideline supporting the infinite number of runners. It's hard to remember a spot during the race when someone wasn't cheering us on, with all that motivation it was easy to keep going. The almost mile long final stretch was wall to wall with supporters giving you that final push to the finish. For more details about my race and my review of it you can click on the following link: http://www.bibrave.com/races/honolulu-marathon/4603#.Vtmr8_krKhc


Phew what a year! It was every runner's dream, to run in so many race and place in my division so many time. I set a super high standard for myself. However if you haven't gathered this yet, I never stop pushing myself. So I wanted to make 2016 even better. This year I'm given the opportunity to do something positive with my running, help beat cancer. I joined the DetermiNation Illinois chapter of the American Cancer Society, a running group dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. I get to fund raise money and in exchange get a guaranteed spot in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. You can check out my fund raising page at the following link: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=77063&pg=personal&px=42085449


That for me is going to be more rewarding than anything, to be able to help people doing what I love! So bring it on 2016 I'm coming in hot!