I’ve had my FitBit Alta for a couple years now and really like it. I wear it on workdays to remind me to get up from my desk and walk around more. I also love wearing it on trips where I can track the ridiculous amount of miles I end up walking.
I have this one, which came with a blue band. After a couple years of wearing it with the blue rubber band, I realized that they have much better brand options out there. I don’t know why this didn’t really register in my brain before, but why was I wearing a rubber wristband when I could have ROSE GOLD?!
I asked my mom for this rose gold band from Target for Christmas and OH MY GOSH, it is so pretty! The clasp is magnetic, so it’s super easy to slip on and adjust on your own. The only drawback is that it is SUPER magnetic, so when I tried to wear a long necklace it kept getting stuck to my FitBit band until I got frustrated and took it off.
I love the way the new band makes my FitBit look shiny and new though. Now it looks less like a step tracker and more like a fancy watch, so I really love the change. I kept the blue rubber band to wear on my runs, but I think I’ll be rocking my new rose gold version for my workdays! Just not with a long necklace…
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I intended to be prepared. I mean, I had my goal of running 100 miles this year, so running a 6.4 mile race should be easy-peasy. You know, if I hadn’t basically stopped running in August. I did a 5k in October though, so I counted that as ‘training’…
I spend the night at my friend Lindsey’s house, since she lives much closer to where the race starts. We had an AMAZING dinner and then watched Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel before snuggling up for some sleep. #girlfriendgoals Oh and Lindsey’s dog is internet famous and you can totally follow her on Instagram here. So basically I slept with a celebrity. Boom.
Anyways, we got up and I chugged a half cup of coffee before we Ubered to the race start area. But it wasn’t actually the start, because you had to line up and take a bus to the actual start and then stand in a corral before getting to the start line. It was QUITE a process, but they actually did a great job getting 20,000 runners over the bridge and back.
Neither Lindsey or I had prepared at all, so we figured we’d just do a mix of running and walking the whole way, with some stopping for picturesque selfies, of course. Bring on the selfies!
Here’s one that Lindsey took where you can see the bridge really well:
Courtesy of @StarfishJones
There were also photographers posted throughout the run, so I can’t wait to see any ridiculous photos they captured of us. Basically every time we saw one, we’d start leaping around and flailing our arms around for the picture…
The race was a bit crowded in areas, but we mostly were able to find little pockets where we weren’t too squished. The beginning of the bridge is all on an incline until you reach half-way and it starts going back down. It was a surprisingly easy race. I usually run straight though, so by running with short periods of walking I was able to take some pressure off my knees (which usually start aching on hills). Also, instead of jamming out to music with crazy jazz hands, Lindsey and I talked on and off the whole time… so it went by really quickly.
The medals were pretty darn awesome too. They are actually puzzle pieces and each year the medal will fit into the last year’s design.
At the end of the race they had $10 wristbands for all-you-can-drink beer and a bunch of food options. You would be surprised how refreshing a couple Shock Tops are after running 6 ½ miles! After the race was over, I felt like I could totally keep running another 6 miles. My body felt mostly great and I still had a bunch of energy. Lindsey and I even talked about possibly doing the Disney Princess Half Marathon… mostly so we can wear costumes.
After we left and I drove an hour to get home, it was a different story. I made it through dinner but afterwards I stretched out on my bed and accidently fell asleep until I realized I needed to put Jack to bed at 8:30. Today my body is definitely feeling it, so I’m going to rescind that I could have run 6 more miles. That might of killed me.
All in all, it was an awesome race and we are already planning to run it again next year!
After years of doing the Baltimore Running Festival – whether it be the 5k or the Team Relay Marathon with my siblings – this year was super special. Jack had been asking to do a fun run race for a couple months and we decided that this would be a great first race for him. The races for the Baltimore Running Festival tend to be towards the more expensive side, but the Kids Fun Run was actually quite a deal. For $15, Jack received an Under Armour running shirt, his own crab medal and snacks at the finish line.
It was a super early morning and we got to see the sun rise over the Baltimore Inner Harbor on our way to the start line.
I ran the 5k first with Travis and Jack cheering me on. It was an okay race for me and I finished 3117 out of 5344 participants. This was also my first time running as a 40 year old, and I placed 162 out of 314 in my new category of Females 40 – 44. Here’s a look at how incredibly crowded it was at the start of the race:
After I wiped the sweat off me, we made our way over to the other side of the Inner Harbor with plenty of time to spare for the kid’s run. Kids 8 – 12 ran the longer .38 mile course and age 7 and under ran the .14 mile course. There were a ton of kids there, so Jack decided that he wanted to hold my hand and run the race together.
It was a total mess at the beginning with kids running every which way. One kid decided a few steps in that she hated running (I hear you girl…) and collapsed to the ground crying for her mom to pick her up. Once we broke free of some of the pack, I asked Jack if he wanted to go faster… which he did. So, we kept going faster and faster until he was basically flying at the end of it. He was super proud of himself and VERY happy to have his own medal like mommy’s!
And of course, I needed a photo of the two of us to celebrate the moment!
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Jack has already asked when he can do another race, so I think it’s safe to say he will be doing the Baltimore Running Festival again with me next year. Race season in Maryland is coming to a close, but I will definitely keep my eyes open for some more fun run’s in the spring!
