Deva by Definition

Let's Get Our Run On: The Relay

When we last left off, I was talking about my sleepless night before the race. After sleeping a mere two hours before the race, I woke up very sleepy and very unsure of my ability to run. We had a four am wake-up to be at our buses no later than six. We had about a mile to walk to get to the buses and wanted to allow plenty of time to get there and get situated. If any of us missed our final bus, we were in big trouble.

After suiting up, downing some breakfast, and gathering up our exchange-point bags, we set out to our buses. Sheena made her way to the starting line, and The Boy and I stood and chatted for a few minutes after Erica left for her starting point, and then we split up, got on our buses, and went our respective ways. I knew that we would have a while to wait - I was the third leg and he was fourth, so I settled in at the exchange point to trouble shoot my Garmin and check the weather. Rain was in the forecast and I wanted to see how long we had before getting soaked.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

Not long after reaching my exchange point, the race began, and the people around me and I started talking about the leader, who was averaging around a five-minute-mile pace. We expected to see him right around when I expected Sheena to reach Erica at the first exchange point, so we were eagerly following updates on the leaders from Twitter, Facebook, and various local news sources. I ate a few orange slices, not wanting to overwhelm my stomach (I do not have an iron stomach and before runs can typically only tolerate some jelly beans or gu), but knowing I had about two hours from race start until my leg would take off.

Not long after we saw the leader pass us by, I got a text from Sheena. Erica had reached her exchange point and was on her way. It was chilly and humid, and I was texting The Boy about the possibility of running in my fleece hoodie, knowing very well that in the humidity this would be a bad idea. The excitement in the crowd around me was palpable, as the first relay runner came in not long after the first marathon runner reached our exchange point. Every runner was announced by bib number, and the excitement as timing chips were passed from runner to runner was great. I was grinning, cheering people on, and eagerly awaiting Erica's arrival. I couldn't wait to be off and running through Mt. Lookout and Mariemont.

When I thought Erica was about a half an hour out, I started getting ready - situating myself in my mini pigpen (which were ordered by bib numbers). I did a lot of jogging in place to warm up, stuffed my hoodie into our exchange-point bag, and had some gu. My exchange point was right at mile twelve of the marathon, so when Erica texted me from mile eleven, I was able to tell her exactly where I would be, and I immediately kept my eyes peeled, scanning the massive crowds of runners for her. Not long after, I saw her running toward me in the distance. Rather than wait for the announcers to let me know she was here, I started waving - and she waved back. We both were grinning ear-to-ear - we were almost halfway done!

Before I knew it, I was being passed the timing chip. I handed over the exchange bag and took off at a 10:30 pace, knowing based on our training that I could only sustain at that pace for so long. I ran into Hyde Park down a very long hill - misleading, as I knew my portion of the course was both long and hilly, though the elevation chart didn't look it. My first mile went by quickly, and I was shocked when I reached the first water station and timing clock at mile thirteen just over ten minutes after I left.

The next few miles went quickly. I had no plans to stop for water or gatorade until I was about three miles into my seven-miler. The humidity was making me very warm, and I almost regretted my choice of a long-sleeved tech tee and capris for the run. The course itself was gorgeous, and since I love running hills, I really enjoyed the ups-and-downs my part of the relay took me through.

Around my fifth mile, I developed a sharp stomach cramp. I was also in the heart of Mariemont, where countless people had come out to cheer the marathoners on as they ran through the square. The motivation was fantastic, and I knew that I didn't want to walk - I wanted to do my best and didn't want to let my team mates down. I did my best to run through it, but struggled, and ended up pausing and walking through the next two water stops, in hope that a few sips of gatorade would help. Fortunately for me, it did, and I was off and running a slow and steady pace in no time. I knew that I wasn't going to make up lost time, so I kept at it, running down onto wooster pike just over an hour after I started my run. As soon as I reached the marker for mile nineteen it started to rain. I pulled my phone out long enough to text The Boy that I was almost to the exchange point and he needed to be ready, and then I started to book it into Linwood and to the third and final exchange.

As soon as I saw the signs pointing toward the exchange point, I started getting ready for the hand off. I was shocked that I was almost done - it seemed like I had just started my run! The rain wasn't steady yet, but was about to be. I pulled off and reset the Garmin for The Boy to use, and readied myself with the timing chip in hand, ready to be passed off. Eventually the corrals came into view and the moment I saw The Boy I had to resist the urge to sprint! I was so happy to see him and so excited to be able to send him off for leg four. Our exchange was smooth and fast, and soon, I was on the bus to the finish line, eagerly awaiting updates from The Boy while I watched the rain fall steadily outside.

Getting back to the finish line was a bit of a challenge, and when The Boy texted that he had made it to mile three, a mere 28 minutes after the exchange, I was worried I would miss him cross the finish line. Fortunately, that was not the case. I made it to the finish with time to spare (though not much). I had enough time to grab some water, my medal, and mylar blanket before setting up in an area where I could see The Boy and get photos of him finishing the race. One hour and seven minutes after he started, and four hours, forty-two minutes after the race start, we were finished, happy, and soaked. We did it! We are still thrilled with our accomplishments and are eagerly refreshing the page at MarathonFoto awaiting our race course photos.

The crazy part? We were both incredibly sore on Monday, and I was done with running  - at least then. Now? We're discussing a half marathon in the fall. We will see!

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The Road to the Relay

A year ago, I ran a half marathon on a humid and hot May day. I struggled to finish in three hours, and didn't come close to making my time goal. Crazily enough, I thought I might like to run the very same half marathon again this year - making training, nutrition, speedwork, and sleep priorities. All of this would be done while planning my wedding, and the race? Twenty days before my wedding. Friends both encouraged me and called me crazy for wanting to set aside twelve weeks for training, complete with long runs, cross-training, and, if possible, speed work.

Internally, though, I was hemming and hawing. Last year I registered for the half marathon in November. Of 2011. For the 2012 race. I was excited, right up until I got achy, came dangerously close to having a stress fracture, and got sick enough to have to miss a full week of training. I was waiting to register for the half marathon, until a friend said she'd run it with me. Then, a conversation on a trip home from the grocery store happened, and The Boy said he would run in the relay with me, if we could get a team together. In this, an idea and a relay team was born. The Boy, me, and two of my bridesmaids would run the relay in the Flying Pig, and we would do our hardest to finish in under 4:45.

From the get-go 

The Boy, having only run up to 5k distance before, wanted a training plan that would be doable for him. Me, wanting to support him in his efforts, agreed to do the same plan, and we opted for Hal Higdon's novice 15k training plan to get us going. It combined three days of cross-training with three days of running, was balanced, and looked to be the best plan for us. I hadn't run more than a 10k since the RedLegs 10k in June of last year, and I was worried about stamina. After our training fell apart at the end of last year's training cycle, I wanted something I would stay committed to. This plan was easy to commit to, broke down nicely, and kept our evenings full of exercise.

Not surprisingly, we both lost a little weight training. Our eating habits straightened up - more fruits and veggies, fewer sweets, and more water were key to keeping us energized for our daily workouts. We had some struggles in the beginning - our long runs were hard, when previously for me, four and five miles had been easy. Two new pairs of shoes (one for me and one for him) later, we were out and running easily and comfortably.

From the beginning, training was easy. I am a person who commits easily to a goal and will do everything I can healthily do to accomplish my goals. For this, it was to hopefully finish running just under eight miles in about ninety minutes. After running the 7k in September, I knew it was a possibility, but I didn't want to push myself to injury. I knew that the other folks on our team were working hard to accomplish their goals, and being part of a team was an even bigger motivator than I could ever had thought. None of us wanted to be a weak link, and we were all having fun training up to reach our pace goals.

Dealing with Injury

Right up to our eight-week mark, things were looking good. Our training plan was ten weeks long, with the final week ending in the race. Week eight was a seven-miler, and we set out in the late afternoon after my bachelorette party weekend ended, planning to go strong. Four miles in, The Boy started having some severe IT band pain. What started out as a strong and easy run ended in a slow walk home. This wasn't anyone's fault, but we worried that this meant bad things come race day. A week later, we had the same issue when trying to run seven miles again. This time, we stopped at our local running shop and asked for advice. They were able to offer concrete examples for stretches to do, and we decided that all we could do was our best to get The Boy's leg healed enough to run or walk his leg of the race. My IT band was acting up at this point in time, so rather than push it, we both decided to take a good long week off from running.

Making it to race weekend

After a week off from running (well, I decided to run three miles one evening as a way to relax), we both felt strong going into race weekend. Saturday we were up earlier than we might otherwise be, to finish straightening up the house for guests and to be ready to go to the race Expo. As soon as our friends arrived, we headed into downtown and the Duke center to pick up our packets, explore what there was to get at the expo, and figure out our race-day strategy.

At the expo, the energy was incredible. Erica stopped to buy a Boston Strong tee-shirt while The Boy and I explored the Asics booth. I looked for a 13.1 finisher's hat and browsed the other booths. We looked at other races, the corral maps and relay exchange maps, all while discussing the best means of carrying and passing our timing chip - which was the relay baton, so to speak. None of us have ever run a relay before, so this was all new to us. On an impulse, I bought an ArmPocket at one of the expo booths - My iPhone's armband was no longer any good, and we all wanted to carry our phones to keep in touch and to be able to find one another quickly at the end of the race. It was another way to keep track of each other while running, so we could be ready at the relay points.

Saturday night we made our way back home, with plans to meet up by 4:30 the next morning to be on buses on time. After enjoying a pasta and garlic bread dinner, we all headed to bed early, bellies full, adrenaline starting to race, ready to get our run on Sunday morning. My night was pretty sleepless, and when I woke up on Sunday morning after only getting two hours of sleep, I worried if I would be able to finish.

To be continued...

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A Crazy thing Happened Thursday

As The Boy and I reach the halfway point in our training for the relay, I’ve been working on pushing myself harder and harder. This has been challenging, especially since we’ve been doing a lot of runs on the treadmill over the past few weeks. The weather last year at this time enabled me to run outside most days, but the past couple weeks have been full of very unspringlike temperatures and weather, including more snow than we’ve had all season (or in the past two years).

On Thursday, however, we had the opportunity to run outside for the first time since the weekend and our step-back run. So we took it, both running in shorts(!!) and long-sleeved tops. We started at a conversational pace, but before we reached the halfway point of our three-miler The Boy was starting to pace ahead of me – something that most days I don’t mind. Thursday, however, it bothered me. So I decided to do something about it.

As soon as I decided to do something about it I realized that he was about 50 yards ahead of me and gaining distance, quickly. When he gets into the zone he goes fast. When I get into the zone, I have a tendency to slow down. Getting faster means staying out of the zone and actively pushing myself. I started to work on speeding up, slowly, and as we reached our turn-around point, The Boy paused to get a drink of water, allowing me to catch up with him: a blessing.

For the rest of the run I made an effort to match his pace, which was challenging, and I could tell by my hard breathing. It wasn’t challenging to the point of discomfort, but I could definitely tell that I was pushing myself to my limits. Neither one of us wore the Garmin (the battery was mysteriously dead when I went to fire it up), but based on the distance we planned to cover and when we left the house, we were averaging at best a 9:50-10:00 mile. A pace I almost never maintain.

As we neared the end of our run (or so I thought), The Boy asked if I wanted to tack on another half-mile to the end. I shook my head but said I would try, and off we went. Five minutes later we were done. I was breathing hard, but I wasn’t out of breath. I felt great, though my legs were starting to feel a bit like overcooked pasta. We checked the time and mapped our route when we got home, to find that we had covered nearly 3.6 miles in 35 minutes.

It was my fastest run to date. I am proud that I pushed myself to succeed. Our next run is a long one, and I’m hoping to get it done at a 10:20 pace at most. We’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, I’m going to continue to be proud at pushing myself and not giving up, and hope I can keep improving.

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Can I call it the best run ever?

Weekend Recap, March 9 and 10

I had a busy but fabulously fun weekend! So much to share, but not many photos - I was too busy having fun and getting ish done this weekend - and there was a lot to be done.

For starters, it was my brother's birthday this weekend, and he and my parents came into town because he had a couple hockey games to play. It was fun to have a full house and we spent a lot of time Friday night and Saturday giggling over so much - from joking about teenaged boys to enjoying birthday cake, going to two hockey games and eating Indian buffet with my parents, it was a busy Saturday for sure! Because my brother was going to be here for his birthday I baked him a yellow cake with cream cheese frosting at his request, and decorate the top with sanding sugar.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it before we covered it with candles and then dug in. I have maybe 1/4 of a cake left at home, and I plan to share what is left with some coworkers. The Boy isn't the biggest fan of cream cheese frosting, and I have a bridal shower this weekend and anticipate a lot of cake. Yum-tastic. After my parents left on Saturday, The Boy and I ended up watching some TV for the rest of the night, catching up on "Bleach" and "Naruto" on Cartoon Network, while I worked a little more on the playlist for the wedding and set all the clocks forward an hour before heading to bed.

Sunday was less busy, but really relaxing. The weather for the first day of daylight savings time was fabulously warm - in the mid-sixties. The Boy and I slept in, got up, and went for a very hard three-mile run. I struggled to finish as my asthma was acting up and my feet and shins hurt. Before we'd set out for our run I had looked at the tread on my shoes, which I've had since just after the half-marathon last May. It was pretty worn down, and the cushioning in my shoes was showing signs of compression.

As The Boy and I walked back to the house, I told him I wanted to go buy new running shoes. It wasn't an impulse buy, I knew I was going to need shoes soon, and the pain in my feet and shins indicated that "soon" was actually "this week." Running shoes cost way less than injury or long-term physical therapy, so not long after we got home, we headed right back out to the running spot, where I replaced my Asics Gel Kayano 18s with the Gel Kayano 19s, in some incredibly fantastic colors.

 I love the black, neon pink, and bright green colors on these shoes. When I got them, I was still dressed from my run - in black, neon pink, and green capris, a reflective pullover, and a Reds hat to guard from the sun. These match the capris almost exactly, and the minute I slipped them on I could definitely tell a difference in the cushion between my old shoes and these. I cannot wait to get out on my first training run in these bad-ass shoes!

Saturday afternoon, after the trip to the running store for shoes, we spent a lot of time enjoying the warm weather in the back yard, taking care of some yard work and enjoying our back patio. There were a lot of birds out and it's finally starting to feel like spring, which is exciting. When we finally went back inside, I set to work inviting our wedding invitations, and by the end of the night had all but three ready to go. The three I'm waiting to address are folks who have moved since we sent our save-the-dates out, and I want to be absolutely sure I have their addresses correct.

I'm excited by how much we got accomplished this weekend, and how much resting we go to do on Sunday. It was a fun, busy, but relaxing weekend, and I'm already looking forward to next weekend, which will be jam-packed with guests, cake, and even more fun.

What did you get into this weekend?

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Work It Out

I am jumping on a bandwagon of sorts to share what my workouts were last week, and a loose idea of what is happening this week in terms of working out. We are just over eleven weeks out from our wedding, and about ten weeks out from the relay. Not only are things getting a bit hectic up in here with plans, but we're also budgeting a lot of time for working out, running, and generally staying in shape in the coming weeks. 

Last week I was sick with a cold that kicked. My. Butt. I was tired and couldn't blow my nose enough. My early week was shot in terms of workouts becaue I couldn't muster up enough energy to get off the sofa and go do anything, so on my butt I sat, for a good three days. It being the first week of relay training was a kick in the pants, and by Thursday I was back out running. 

I am honestly thrilled to say that I was able to get in two runs and one trip to the gym for some cross-training last week, and this week I hope to get into the swing of our training plan. Our plan includes strength-training, cross-training, and stretching in addition to the running, and I'm excited to see how my fitness levels change in the coming weeks leading up to the race.

Yesterday, in anticipation of all of the stretching exercises we'll be doing, I bought a yoga mat. My first mat in ten years. I also downloaded a few podcasts from YogaDownload.com and checked out a few books from the library. I've been doing yoga off and on for a few years now, but have decided to commit to it as a form of stretching to keep limber through all of the other training I do. I'm looking forward to my first yoga session this evening.

What workouts are you getting into this week?

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Can I call it the best run ever?

The Boy and I are starting to gear up for the Flying Pig Marathon Relay. We have been out running more regularly, working on figuring out what is best to eat before running, and what’s not (hint: sage sausage, not so great). Since it’s been a while since we’ve been running with regularity, we’ve been heading out for shorter trips – around two miles, with focus on getting out, getting moving, and building speed.

Wednesday night we went out for one of our best runs yet. It was only for a two mile short trip, but we were going for speed. The weather was chilly, but not unbearable. We went out and walked for a brief period, but it wasn’t long before we were off and running, discussing our day as we raced through our neighborhood. My legs felt fresh and fast, and I realized that all of the stretching and lifting I have been focusing on at the gym may be helping just a bit.

Eventually, we reached a few hills, and even as we were climbing the hills, we were picking up the pace. I went out on this run with the goal of keeping up with The Boy, who can easily maintain a 9:40 mile with no issues. Before I knew it, we finished our first mile in just over ten minutes, with my Garmin beeping to let us know. By know, we were on a downhill, and still going strong. I was easily keeping up with The Boy, and a half-mile later looked at the Garmin to see that we were easily maintaining a 9:20 mile pace. I felt great, but knew it wasn’t a pace I could continue to maintain.

This became obvious about a quarter mile later when I had to stop and walk briefly to catch my breath, and at this point we were on our way back. The Boy stopped to walk with me, and after about 100 yards of walking, we were off and running again. I wanted to try to get back into that groove we had maintained so well for the first half of our run, and it was easy. My workouts at the gym lately have involved a lot of time on the elliptical, and I have noticed more and more that I am maintaining a higher speed at high resistance on the elliptical, and wanted to bring that effort to the street while running. I knew that our run was almost over, so I pushed myself for our last half mile.

Pushing it that last half mile was amazing. My legs still felt fresh, and I wanted to keep going, but it was time to start our cool down and our trip home. Our second mile was finished in just under ten minutes and I felt great! It was one of our fastest runs yet, and I am still excited about it. I told The Boy as we headed home that my goal for the relay is to get down to a ten-minute mile, which at this point shouldn’t be that difficult if I put the work in. I have a long segment of the race, and it’s full of rolling hills, so I know there is going to be a lot of running, hills, and speedwork between now and then. Coupled with planning a wedding, it may be hard, but I think it will be so worth it.

Have you had an awesome workout lately?

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Working Out–Getting Motivated

Ever since The Boy and our friends decided to run the Flying Pig Relay, we’ve been dedicating a lot of time toward gearing up for training. Getting back into a running groove has definitely proved difficult. Last year when I was training, the coldest temperature I went out in was around 25 degrees, with no wind. This January, we’ve had many days where the temperatures have not gone above twenty, and with wind chills? It’s brutal.

Needless to say, getting back into a running rhythm, well, we’ll just say we are doing our best. After struggling to finish the half last year, I want to do better. My training toward the end of my 18 week period last year was lackluster, so I know that moving into training for the relay, I need to be better and get motivated. The Boy and I are both planning to do the same 10-week training program that is designed for folks who are planning to run a 15k. My part of the race is just under 8 miles, and The Boy will be running just over 6 miles. It’s going to take time, dedication, and motivation.

That being said, Thursday? Was cold. It was gray. Blustery. When I left work it was maybe thirty degrees out. My gas light was on before I even got on the highway, and I shivered the whole time I was filling up my tank. I walked in the front door and did not want to work out. I didn’t want to run, or lift, or get on an elliptical – all of which were options (today was a cross-training/free day. We haven’t started our training plan yet so running is planned for at least three days a week, and today, I had options). BUT. Because I was a little crabby (it’s cold! I want cocoa!), and because I was so excited to get a workout in, I got changed, grabbed my stuff, and headed out to the gym.

Days where I am lacking for motivation, I tend to flit around the gym and never really settle on one activity or cardio machine. Thursday could have been like that (it almost was), but when I walked into the gym, I promised myself I could make one change but I had to stay with my second choice. After running a brief mile on a treadmill, I found my rhythm, but on an elliptical instead. There, I was able to get about twenty-five minutes of cardio in, all while watching a fairly interesting episode of NCIS.

When I finished? I felt a lot better – less like I’d been inside all day and more like I’d had a really good workout. I was hungry, ready for dinner, and ready to round out my night with some fun stuff on TV, playtime with the cats, and time with The Boy. Now, I know that getting motivated to go to the gym in the cold isn’t the same as needing to get motivated to go run when it’s freakishly cold outside, but it’s a start – and I need to remember to stay motivated as we move into our relay training and race season.

Do you ever bounce around at the gym when you aren’t sure what you want to do?

All About Those Workouts

I realized it has been a while since I blogged about a workout. Mainly because my workouts lately haven’t been much to discuss – I don’t start training for the Relay for a few more weeks, and most of my exercise has been happening at the gym.

However, I am getting married in a few months, and while I am in great shape, I want to keep it up, so I have been working on stepping it up at the gym. My routine is simple and is what works for me: weight training, cardio, and occasional yoga.

Recently, I’ve been following the lifting program in the New Rules of Lifting for Women. This book is actually what got me into weight training five years ago, and it’s one I turn to repeatedly when I want to mix it up at the gym, or want a prescribed routine for just weights. Supplementing it with elliptical time, running, and yoga has been keeping me happy, and I am loving the changes I am seeing in my arms. They have been a bit neglected since I started training for the half last year. My gown is strapless, and I want my back, shoulders, and arms to look their best (and to be able to keep my dress up without backaches!).

Of course, staying motivated to workout in this weather has been challenging. We are having a very typical winter for our area with days alternating between hot and cold, rainy and dry, cloudy and sunny (if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was living in a Katy Perry song). Lately, I’ve been using my workout bag as motivation: every night I pack it up and put it by the front door, and every morning it’s the last thing I grab when I head out the door. It’s hard to skip a workout when I have everything right there with me, and it adds extra motivation to get my tush to the gym!

What about you – what workouts have you been getting into lately?

Here We Go Again...

A few days ago, The Boy and I were in the car, talking about our plans for the upcoming year. We have a lot on our plates, especially where wedding-planning is concerned. I wanted to add to those plates by training for the Flying Pig Half again. Except I was nervous, unsure of the time commitment necessary to train, and feeling lazy for not wanting to sacrifice sleep to go running in the morning.


Then I remembered: back when The Boy started running in the spring time, he brought up an interest in running the marathon as a member of a 4-person Relay Team. So, I said it: "We could run the relay with Erica and Sheena." Thus, an idea was born. To run as a relay team instead of training for the half. Sure, it's a similar time commitment in terms of training, but we will be sharing the experience. The Boy and I would be training for our first big race together, giving us a way to let off steam while planning the wedding.


So, I sent a few text messages and Facebook messages, and had my answer: May 5th, I will be running the Flying Pig as a member of the greatest 4-person relay team ever. My leg is the longest leg, at 7.67 miles, on a part of the course I haven't seen before. The Boy is running the fourth leg, and will be our relay member to cross the finish line. Sheena and Erica are taking the other two legs of the race, and we are all pumped up to get this going and to start training.


Of course, this means training. Goal-setting. After the heat of last year's half, I know this year I need to be prepared for anything, heat, cold, even no water on the course. The Boy and I want to get down to 10 minute miles for the race, and we both need to work on training for hills. Am I excited? Yes. Terrified? Of course. Looking for the ultimate "runaway bride" tech tee? Absolutely!


Mostly, I am just excited to be able to take a part in the Flying Pig a second time. It is an experience that I loved last year, and I am eager to get involved this year.


Have you ever raced as a member of a relay team?

Just some Asics Running Crops (A Review)

Ever since getting seriously into running last year, I've been working hard to figure out how to dress in the temperatures where it's too cold for shorts and a tee, but too warm for pants. Most of the time I've gone out in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt for outdoor runs, but sometimes I want more coverage, especially when it's windy out. Additionally, I've been looking for ways to increase my visibility when out running after dark or when it's cloudy and the light is low.

During our last trip to the Running Spot, I was browsing and stumbled upon a pair of Asics brand Lite Show Capris. They were all black but with very bright flat stitching around the legs. Impulsively, I snatched them up and bought them on the spot - they were exactly what I was looking for to somewhat bridge the gap between shorts weather and pants weather.

Later that afternoon, The Boy and I set off on a chilly, rainy-day run. I decided to wear the capris along with a long-sleeved pullover. It was damp enough outside that I wanted to run the risk of being too warm than too cold. The first thing I noticed about the capris when I pulled them on was how light they felt and how comfortable they were. They hugged my legs without being too snug and fit around my waist without pinching.

I also found that I liked the length - they came just over my knees and while they bunched up a bit while I ran, they never rolled up above my knee, instead staying pretty firmly around the top of my calves. I loved the mesh inserts along the sides of the capris for ventilation, because while I got warm, I never ran the risk of over heating in them, especially considering my pull over! The flat stitching was a definite plus - I never felt like the pants were chafing me anywhere because of the stitching, and the built-in pocket at the waist will definitely come in handy in the future. For this particular run I had on my Spi-Belt and stuffed all of my essentials in there.

My favorite feature, however, is the bright and reflective stitching. I am all about doing whatever I can to increase my visibility, and the reflective stitching is definitely noticeable. My favorite pull over has reflectivity built in, and I never go out for a low-light or no-light run without adding a reflective vest and possibly reflective tape, depending on my route.

If you are in the market for a new, fun pair of running capris, I would definitely recommend trying out the Asics Lite Show ones. They're lightweight and comfortable but warm enough to take out on a cool fall day. These have definitely become a favorite in my closet!

*Note: I bought the Lite Show capris with my own money and loved them so much I thought I'd share! I was in no way asked nor compensated for this review and all opinions are mine.