Disclaimer: I received the OOcloog Luxe Project Pink Clogto review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!
Three months ago I tried on my first pair of Oofos. I wrote about this experience in my first Oofos review that you can read HERE. When I had the opportunity to try a different pair of Oofos, I said, “Yes, please!” I already knew how blown away I was by the comfort and recovery support this shoes provided!
My first time around, it was the women’s OOriginal sandal. As for this time around, I decided to opt for women’s Oocloog.
The description of this shoes found at oofos.com states, “[The Oocloog Luxe] shoe soothes and reinvigorates your feet after a workout, so you’ll be ready to do it again tomorrow. With patented OOfoam technology, the OOcloog Luxe absorbs impact, cradles your arches and allows you to move naturally. Your feet will know the difference.”
My shoes never seem to last me more than a year or two no matter how much money I spend on the shoes. Check back in with me in a year or two, but I see my Oofos lasting quite a long time. One of the questions addressed at Oofos.com is, “How durable are OOFOS?” The answer: “OOfoam support and cushioning last for the life of the shoe. OOFOS don’t lose form as quickly as typical EVA foams. Wear tests show that OOfoam experiences lower abrasion because it moves with the ground and your foot at the same time. It is working “with” hard surfaces rather than against them, which reduces the wear you would see on a normal outsole.”
My two pairs of Oofos are always downstairs (most of my shoes and stored upstairs in my closet) on the shoe rack. Why? Because after a long day as a 5th grade teacher standing on my feet, I want to slip into something that’s comfortable and helps my feet recover. I especially love wearing my Oofos while I’m in the kitchen cooking.
The Oocloogs that I received are unique because they are a part of the Project Pink collection – a range of products that provide donations to Breast Cancer research ALL YEAR AROUND. Through this collection, OOFOS donates $10 of each Project Pink shoe to Dana-Farber breast cancer research. The fundraising for Breast Cancer research is close to home for the brand as Duncan Finigan – Head of OOFOS Marketing was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in October 2014. You can read all about Duncan’s story here.
Last weekend I traveled to Denver for the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon (read my race recap HERE). I made sure I packed my Oofos because I knew my feet would be ready for some rest and recovery. Since I put on my Oofos after my half marathon, my feet didn’t hurt at all! Bottom line? OOFOS have amazing OOFoam tech in their shoes which makes them the ultimate recovery shoe – you can find the info here: https://www.oofos.com/pages/your-feet-earned-this
If I had anything negative to say about my Oofos Oocloogs, it’d be that my feet get a little sweaty while wearing them. My feet, however, are abnormally sweaty. Even as a baby, I was not able to wear footsie pajamas since my feet would get too sweaty. Would a normal person’s feet be as sweaty as mine? Probably not. Could I wear socks to help my feet from getting too sweaty? Yes. (See above picture.)
Check out what my fellow BibRave Pros had to say about their Oofos!
My first Rock ‘n’ Roll experience was amazing and left me wanting more! It all started Friday, October 13th with a flight from Sacramento, California to Denver, Colorado.
Immediately following work on Friday (I’m a 5th grade teacher), I drove to the airport to catch my flight. It was an uneventful two hour flight. I passed time by watching the movie “Tallulah” on Netflix that I had downloaded the night before. When I arrived in to Denver, my aunt and her friend, Brenda, were waiting for me. We all headed to my aunt’s house, chatted about running for a bit, and then went to bed.
Before heading to bed, however, I laid out my clothes for the 5k the next morning and snapped my #flatrunner pic.
The next morning, I was so excited to participate in my first Rock ‘n’ Roll race! I was glad there was race morning bib pick up since I wasn’t able to attend the expo on Friday. I was also glad that the 5k started at 9am. It was chilly, but manageable since the sun was out.
The 5k on Saturday was relatively small. There were only 961 participants. I went into the race with no expectations. I wasn’t sure how my body would respond to running in the mile high city (5,280 ft. elevation). My hometown’s elevation is 59 feet.
I’m happy to report that I ran the entire time (besides the short walk during the water station at mile 2) and I finished in 30:16. A far cry from my 24:16 5k PR, but I already knew my 5k time wasn’t going to be fast. One of the pieces of motivation I had during the race was knowing my aunt was right beside me. I didn’t want her to see me walk nor give up. I wanted to prove I was strong. (Speaking of strong, can I take this moment to give a shout out to my aunt who finished 5th in her division! Way to go Margie!)
Want to know what it’s really like to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll 5k in Denver? Check out my video and SUBSCRIBE!
While Margie and I waited for Brenda to finish the 5k, I headed to the beer garden to enjoy my complimentary beer. (Brenda was recovering from an injured hamstring, so she had to walk the course. Normally, she’s a fast runner. A super fast, Boston Qualifying runner!)
After enjoying the 5k course and finisher zone, we drove to the expo to pick up our half marathon bib and packet.
The expo was held at the National Western Complex and was amazing! There were over 60 exhibitors represented at the expo! I could have spent hours upon hours at the expo! Even though the expo was HUGE, it remained well organized, runner-friendly, fun, and informative!
Some of my favorite parts of the expo included checking out the Rock ‘n’ Roll race area (still trying to convince the hubby to let me run RnR Las Vegas… every year it falls on his birthday weekend and he doesn’t want to go to Las Vegas for his birthday), getting a pic of me holding my half marathon bib, and finding the SPIbelt booth. (Use code STEPHANIE2017 for 15% off at SPIbelt.com.)
Finally it was time to head back to the house, shower, and enjoy the rest of our day by visiting the town of Boulder, Colorado. While in Boulder, we walked along Pearl Street, an outdoor shopping mall. We spent about an hour in the Boulder Book Store. It was wonderful to browse the books, relax, and get lost in a few good titles. One book that I picked up was “What Made Maddy Run” by Kate Fagan, the heartbreaking and vital story of college athlete Madison Holleran, whose death by suicide rocked the University of Pennsylvania campus.
We browsed a few other stores and then made our way to Japango for some sushi and wine. This is what everyone eats the night before a half marathon, right?! 😉
It was a full day for us, so once we returned to my aunt’s house, we chatted for a bit and then headed to bed. Once again, I had to first lay out my #flatrunner pic.
Sunday
The moment I had been waiting for finally had arrived! My first Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon! I was told that the half marathon would be bigger than the 5k and they weren’t joking. The 5k had a little under 1,000 participants and the half marathon & 10k combined had a little under 7,000 participants! The race started at 7am and we arrived to the starting line a little after 6am. I tried staying in the warm car for as long as possible before I had to meet up with my fellow BibRave Pros.
Andrey, Katherine, and I finally all got together at 6:50am, Katherine & I then ran over to the drop bag area to drop our bags off, and then we quickly ran to our corrals. It was 30 degrees at the start of the race and 39 degrees when I finished the race about 2.5 hours later! Needless to say, it was cold! I’m so glad that I decided to wear tights and put my long sleeve shirt on under my BibRave shirt! I couldn’t feel my hands the first 3 miles of the race! Even though it was cold, I still sweated throughout the run. I was glad to have my new Boco Gear visor! (As a local Colorado based company, Boco Gear knows how to make comfortable and versatile headwear. I wore my visor the entire 13.1 miles and was able to easy throw it in the washing machine when I got home.)
Overall, I was pleased with my half marathon performance. I had run a local half marathon two weeks prior with a time of 2:19:34. My Denver finishing time was 2:21:27. (Again, a far cry from my half PR of 1:52:32.) Considering I was running a mile higher than I normally do, I was pleased.
I felt the lack of oxygen in the air more during the 5k than during the half marathon. This was partly due to the fact that I was so cold during the half marathon, my whole body was numb! I couldn’t feel anything! I can’t remember the last time I ran 13.1 miles in a long sleeve shirt and tights! (Can you tell I’m a California girl or what?!)
I had about a hour to enjoy the finisher zone before Brenda and Margie would finish the half marathon. First, I picked up my Remix Challenge medal (a special medal you earn when you participate in both events on Saturday and Sunday), then I headed to pick up my grab bag, and finally, I made my way to the beer garden. I was especially looking forward to the beer garden because I had not one complimentary beer ticket, but three! (Brenda and Margie both gave me their beer tickets. :))
After warming up in the sunshine with three beers and a solar blanket, I walked towards our meetup spot and quickly found Brenda and Margie. We snapped a quick jumping pic, and then drove to the house for me to shower, eat lunch, pack my bags, and then go to the airport.
It was an amazing whirlwind weekend in Denver! I am so thankful for my aunt who opened up her home to me, ran with me, and was a generous hostess. She even made a special, super tasty veggie lasagna since she knew that I am a no meat athlete! Yes, I am blessed!
It was another uneventful flight back home. I was thankful for my Oofos because my feet were ready for some much needed rest and recovery! If given the opportunity to run another Rock ‘n’ Roll race, I would do it in a heartbeat! So, so, SOOO much fun!
Have you ever run a Rock ‘n’ Roll race? If so, which one? What was your experience running the race? If not, is there a Rock ‘n’ Roll race that’s on your bucket list? Tell me about it. I’d love to hear from you!
Happy October! Where did September go? When life is full of family, work, and fun, time seems to just fly on by!
Just because I haven’t been blogging, doesn’t mean I haven’t been running. Just the opposite, in fact. I am happy to report that in the last two weeks, I’ve ran 12 out of the 14 days! 😄
Today, one week out from the Denver Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon I’m feeling pretty good. Last week, I ran a spur-of-the-moment local half marathon. At first, I was pretty bummed because my time was about 28 minutes slower than my half marathon PR from March 2016. (I was not expecting a fast time.) But then I remembered that my half marathon time was 20 minutes faster than the half marathon I ran in July! #progressnotperfection
Half Marathon 10/01/17
Half Marathon 07/16/17
Half Marathon 03/19/16
What are my goals for Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver this upcoming weekend? Definitely not expecting any PRs. (Oh, have I mentioned that I’m running both the 5k and the half marathon? I figured, why not? ) My goals are to finish and have fun!
Speaking of having fun, let’s talk about the two products I am testing out right now. The first product is this awesome Boco Gear Bibrave Visor I am sporting in the following picture with Christa of SweatingAwesome (this picture was taken right before Christa ran her first half marathon… woohoo Christa!).
The visor nicely stays in place, keeps the sweat from dripping in my eyes, and cleans nicely by just popping it in the washing machine!
The second product is a pair of Oofos from their Project Pink line. For every pair of shoe purchased from their Project Pink line, $10 is donated to breast cancer research! You might remember the Oofos I reviewed a few months ago that I absolutely loved. These Oofos are no different! I changed into these Oofos immediately following the half marathon I ran last weekend which provided my feet wonderful recovery thanks to their unique OOfoam technology.
You can bet that both my Boco Gear visor and my Oofos will be coming with me to Denver! 🙂
Denver, I’ll see you soon!
What race (or races) are you training for right now? Tell me about it. I’d love to hear from you!
Wow! My apologies for my blog absence over the last three weeks. If you are a teacher, were a teacher, or have a teacher in your family, then you know just how insanely busy the first few weeks of school can be! Now that I’ve successfully made it through the first 12 days of school, I feel as though I can now finally take time to sit and write a blog.
Before I get into the meat of this blog post, let’s first stop to appreciate my classroom. I had completely too much time on my hands this summer and totally revamped my classroom! I took out my teacher desk, removed the student desks, and added a bunch of different flexible seating options. Here’s a video of my classroom on the first day of school before all of my students arrived…
Training
Now, on to the reason I started this blog post… Half Marathon Training! Today was Week 4, Day 7 of my half marathon training plan. The training plan I am using for this go around of half marathon training is the New York Road Runners Moderate 10 Week Training Plan. I chose this plan mainly because it was one of the first plans that popped up when I typed “10 weeks half marathon training plan” into Google.
I haven’t been sticking to the midweek runs exactly as they are suppose to be run, but I have been consistent with hitting my long run distances. If you’ve been following my journey over the last few months, then you know that I just started running again mid July after taking a couple months off of running (Read THIS blog post to learn more). I had stopped running not due to an injury, but due to other medical reasons. It’s been tough getting back into running, but I have noticed a big growth with the work I’ve been putting into training over the last four weeks.
Those of you who are moms and/or dads with full time jobs know just how difficult it can be to find time to run in the midst of household duties, making dinners, helping kids with homework, kids’ sporting events, etc. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, 4:30am works for me and seems to be the best time to run! Everyone is still sleeping, I feel refreshed after a good night’s sleep, and the weather is nice outside. (I especially enjoy running in the early am hours when I have friends to run with!)
Goal Race
Just this past Tuesday, I officially purchased my flight to… DENVER! I am so stoked to be running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Denver on October 15th! Not only will this be my first time running in Colorado, but this will also be my first Rock ‘n’ Roll series race! In a mere 6 weeks, or 42 days, I’ll be crossing the finish line on my umpteenth half marathon. (Ok, maybe not umpteenth, but I really have no idea how many half marathons I’ve ran since I first started running in 2011!)
Want to know what else is exciting about running Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver? I’m running this race as a Bib Rave Pro, so I get to proudly run in my bright orange BibRave shirt! As a Bib Rave Pro, I’ve got a discount code for YOU so you can join me in Denver! Use code BIBRAVE15 to save $15 off of your half marathon registration. (Insider bonus information: You can use this code for other RnR races too!)
One of my other reasons for being stoked about running Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver (I know, so many reasons), is that I get to visit my Aunt Margie! Not only does she live in Denver which provides me a place to crash for the weekend, but she is also a runner and will be running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver half marathon too! SO awesome!
To continue following me on my half marathon training journey, be sure to check me out on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (if you’re not already doing so). 😉
What are you training for right now? Are you also an early morning runner? If not, when do you prefer to run?
Disclaimer: I received a pair of Oofos to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!
I don’t know about you, but the first thing that I want to do after a run, is take my shoes off (not to mention also taking off all of my sweaty clothes)! After I take my shoes off, the question then becomes, “What do I put on my feet?” Before Oofos entered my life, I’d normally just throw on any ‘ol pair of sandals. Now, however, with my Oofos, my body can tell a difference and its thrilled!
Makes you say, “Oooo”
Oofos slogan, “Feel the Ooo”, is so appropriate! I can guarantee that the first time you put on a pair of Oofos, you will make an audible, “Oooo” sound. Here’s a clip of my 12 year old putting on a pair of Oofos for the first time. (Note: When he says, “It feels weird,” what he really means is, “It feels so amazing!”)
My husband also tried on my Oofos. After trying them on, he quickly hopped online to purchase himself a pair. Here’s my husband and son discussing how amazing the Oofos felt and trying to decide which color to buy.
What’s so great about Oofos?
ABSORBS MORE SHOCK THAN TRADITIONAL FOAMS – Traditional athletic shoe foams are designed to “rebound” and propel you forward. With OOfoam, however, it does the opposite, absorbing 37% more shock with every step than traditional footwear foam.
REDUCES STRESS ON SORE FEET, KNEES AND BACK – Your feet and joints take a pounding on hard surfaces everyday. Slipping on OOFOS after a workout, provides them with relief and a chance to recover.
CRADLES YOUR ARCHES – Unlike flip-flops, the OOFOS patented footbed is designed with tremendous arch support to take the pressure off of ankles, knees and hips, as well as your lower back.
ENABLES MORE NATURAL MOTION – Biomechanically designed, OOFOS flex with both your foot and the ground. The soft, flexible OOfoam material enables your foot to articulate the way nature intended. (Oofos.com)
An Everyday Shoe
While testing out my Oofos, my husband and I traveled to Cancun, Mexico. Yes, my Oofos most certainly came along with us! Here’s my Oofos on the beach.
Here’s my Oofos on our kayak. (The Oofos are made with a moisture resistant closed cell foam which is shower-ready and machine washable!)
Here’s my Oofos during a relaxing morning by the ocean with a mimosa in hand.
After spending a whole day walking around with my brown sandals on, I could not wait to put on my Oofos to finally feel some relief from my tried feet, ankles, knees, and back!
Although my pair of Women’s OOriginal Sport Sandal may seem a little big, it’s amazing how lightweight they are! They provide the support my body needs while adding minimal weight to my feet!
One Monday evening, while at my friend’s house to watch the Bachelorette, my friend asked, “Are those Oofos really as great as you say they are?”
I then took off my Oofos, handed them to her, and said, “Try them on for yourself.”
As soon as she put them on, she giggled and said, “Wow! These are amazing!”
Recently, while at the Oakland Town’s Half expo representing the California International Marathon, I spotted some Oofos for sale at a booth across from me. I so badly wanted to purchase a pair of the Women’s OOlala sandals, but I was a good girl and kept my wallet put away. (I’ve spent way too much money lately for my classroom!)
In the end, I’d highly recommend that everyone own at least one pair of Oofos. Wear them before you workout, after you workout, and even on your rest days like I did below.
Check out what my fellow BibRave Pros had to say about their Oofos.
Do you own a pair of Oofos? If so, what do you think about them? If you don’t own a pair of Oofos, what do you normally wear after a hard run / workout?
Here’s my 
