I decided it was time to take a look back at this past year. This is actually a post I was looking forward to writing, because when I thought about it, it was a pretty damn good year, now that I take a moment to stop and look at it. I've accomplished a lot, even if I didn't always hit my mark. Let's take a look at the year.
Running
I had a pretty good year running, even if it felt a little less busy when it came to races. Thanks in partial to my first challenge, some virtual races, and some fun runs with my daughter, I managed 11 races this year. I started the year with a 5K PR on the BRATS Frozen 5K, gritted my way through Rock n Roll DC with my sister when we were both undertrained, completed my first triathlon Memorial Day weekend where I also brought home my first age group award, and finally, completed my first multi-race challenge (and race for BibRave) where I PR'd my half marathon on the final day of the Runner's World Hat Trick. Finishing off the year racing with my daughter on New Years Eve for a 1K was the perfect finish to the racing year.
BibRave
My involvement with the BibRavePro program deserves it's own section in my year end wrap up. My first year as a BibRavePro has been HUGE!. I already mentioned my first race as a pro, the Runner's World Hat Trick Challenge. It was an all around awesome weekend, that I hope to repeat in the future. Where being a pro has really impacted me is right here on this blog. I've gotten the opportunity to try out a lot of great products, which has been a lot of fun but also has helped me with my blog. I've reviewed 11 products this year alone, with another 3 products currently being tested and reviews coming soon.
While I've really enjoyed what I've tested (and I've use most of it still on a regular basis) I feel like I have to pick some of my favorites. If you haven't read these, go check them out. First has to be my review of the Mizuno Wave Rider 18, including a fun little teaser video I made.
Next is one of my new favorite brands, Buff USA. Between the two reviews, I'm going to pick the UV Half Buff, because it has gotten so much use in my running and it has ponies pictures. How can you go wrong there? Of course, I also love the full Buff, and if you're looking for a belated Christmas present or a birthday gift for a certain blogger, might I suggest this one?
Rounding out the top 3 of my reviews would have to be my other new favorite brand, 2XU, with the 2XU Elite MCS Compression Tights. These were amazing and a huge part of my success to my Runner's World Hat Trick, in my opinion. I also reviewed these as my first video review, which was a cool step forward for me.
I'm so excited for being a BibRavePro in 2016 and can't wait to see what else I can share with you.
Team Nuun
It's been a really fun year being a member of Team Nuun. In addition to representing by simply doing what I enjoy and rehydrating plenty with Nuun, I've gotten to take part in some cool things as well. I ran in their first virtual race: Run Ride Hydrate. While that race was Team Nuun only, this year, they're putting on the Nuun Year Dash, which is open to everyone. I also got to be a part of their launch of a completely new product, Plus for Nuun. I used this to help my refueling during my Runner's World Hat Trick, and really liked how it worked for me. Plus, I've represented with some awesome Nuun gear, such as my tri kit or my running shirt.
Blog
All in all, this all has contributed to me having a really great year on my blog. I've written about some really great races I've experienced (and some not so great ones), lot's of amazing products, and some fun posts about my favorite place, Disney, in the Magical Mickey linkup. I feel like I'm almost getting the hang of this whole blog thing 2 years later. I've still got room to grow, but if I didn't, what fun would that be?