Coffee Meets Protein: Click Powder

I had a pretty intense struggle going for awhile when I started training for half marathons. In the mornings when I'm not training, I almost always have a travel mug full of coffee. But when I'm training, I drink a protein shake for breakfast 5 out of 7 days a week. It seemed impractical (and kind of wasteful) to make a protein shake AND a mug of coffee - so I was stuck compromising. On days when I had my protein shakes, I was almost ALWAYS dragging a little bit in the morning because I didn't have that jolt of caffeine like I was used to.

So let me show you about the face I made when I discovered that there is a PROTEIN POWDER that TASTES LIKE COFFEE with THE SAME AMOUNT OF CAFFEINE AS A DOUBLE SHOT ESPRESSO.

That face. That is the face I made.

Let me introduce those of you who aren't familiar to this miracle product from heaven. CLICK Espresso Protein Powder comes in Mocha & Vanilla, is packed with 15 grams of protein, two shots o real espresso coffee, and 23 vitamins & minerals. Whether you drink protein shakes in coordination with your training or your diet - this is an absolute MUST HAVE for anyone looking for a perfect morning meal replacement.

I even got a fancy 20 oz. Click blender bottle (which is slightly smaller than your typical blender bottle) that is perfect portion-wise. They do have these on their website, as well, for $7.99.

I tried both the Mocha & the Vanilla Latte flavors. I truly have the say that I enjoyed both of them, but I love chocolate so Mocha was my favorite. I want to note here that these do not have a weird artificial taste to them at all. There's no weird aftertaste or bitterness to the coffee flavor because it's ACTUALLY coffee. That was my main concern for this product, and I'm happy to say that I genuinely enjoy drinking it because it tastes so good. 

This is the Mocha powder itself. Each canister comes with a scooper & you put two scoops into your water to make a single shake. You can really get fun with your recipes, too. Mix it with ice, heat it up, add in other flavors... the possibilities are essentially the same as you'd have with your typical cup of coffee. The Click website actually has a ton of really awesome recipes you can test out, too.

My favorite way to drink it is to blend it with cold water (you can see the powder sitting on top of the water here before I shook it up) & then add some ice. The ice kind of freezes it a little bit and gives it kind of a watery slushy consistency. I have to note, as well, that this keeps me full until lunch time, as well. It's not a huge portion by any means, but it's 100% effective in terms of getting you your caffeine fix and filling you up.

If you're interested in buying or trying Click (sample packs of 3 are available for just $4.95), you can visit their website here. I have to note that it's also available in decaf if you're one of those people who starts tweaking if they have too much caffeine :) 

Big shout out to Click for being so sweet to me & for making a product I can truly say has become one of my daily staples! You guys have a great thing going.

Keep Running,

Kelli

Kell On the Run: Squarebar Review

This time of year is incredibly crazy for me. Between training for races, running races, working, & gearing up for my studio's annual recital in June, I find myself multi-tasking quite a bit. One of these multi-tasks involves eating in the car, and this becomes a heck of a lot easier when I have convenient foods to eat in said car.

In the same sense, I don't want to go through a McDonald's drive-thru. As convenient as chicken nuggets may be, I try pretty hard to behave myself during the week & stick to eating healthy. So as my quest continues to bring you healthy, quick, on-the-go-solutions - I present to you the Squarebar:

Three different flavors available: cocoa almond, cocoa crunch, & cocoa coconut (my personal favorite). You can get Squarebar's through Abe's Market in packs of 12 for $35. 

If you're a chocolate lover, you will really love these little devils. All of them are coated in organic dark chocolate & contain no artificial flavors or colors. They're also only 200 calories a bar, which makes them great for before the gym or to hold you over before dinner or whatever. I also have to note that they're totally organic, don't contain any gluten, soy, or dairy, and they're also Vegan friendly if that's your thing.

I think their size is perfect, too. I run into a lot of nutrition bars that are either too big or too small and I end up either wanting more or wadding up the portion I don't want to eat in the wrapper and forgetting about it in my car for a week. That's usually a fun surprise when I go to clean my car out and find a rock hard piece of granola bar in my center console.

The texture of these is pretty unique, as well. This one (the cocoa coconut bar) has visible pieces of coconut in it which I really liked since I am such a coconut fan. But they're not really chewy-chewy OR crunchy. It's kind of a soft solid (I hope this is making sense), so have no fear if you're not a fan of those overly stick-to-your-teeth chewy or crumbs-all-over-your-car-seat crunchy bars. It's unique, but really good.

You can also keep up with Squarebar via their website and facebook page. I'm always thrilled to find these companies that started in someone's kitchen and evolved into a really great product for healthy, active people. Big thanks to Andrew for hooking up Runkellirun.com & introducing us to a seriously great product!

Keep Running,

Kelli

5ks with Rainbow Leopard Legs

It's really unfortunate that I'm writing this post right now about how I just ran a 5k in beautiful weather last weekend and now it's quite literally raining ice outside. Pittsburgh weather has been so up and down lately, and it's such a bad time of year for that. I am totally over running on the treadmill every single time I train :( Breathing the hot, smelly air of the dude next to you running in a sweatsuit is not nearly as enjoyable as breathing fresh, Spring air. I have high hopes for next week.. hopefully this all goes away.

So anyways, I ran a race last weekend to benefit the Athletic Trainers Association here in Pittsburgh. It was along the river, which was pretty nice, except for the fact that it smelled like Seaworld in certain areas. It was like 50 degrees, though, so I honestly was just so thrilled to not need 18 layers.

I tried out my new leggings from B-Skinz during this race and it allowed me to win the award for the most awesome bottom half.

There wasn't really an award for that, but I would have won if there was.

These are their capri length rainforest leggings

They're $26 through their website

If you're into bright colors and crazy prints, you definitely should check out B-Skinz. They have ankle length leggings, capri length leggings, shorts, sports bras, skorts, and more. I also like their stuff because it's high-quality, and most of the crazy leggings I buy are from Wal-Mart and have a hole in them after a couple runs. I also have to add that they make crazy leggings for guys, too - so if you're a male runner who wants to run with Cheetah print legs, they totally have you covered. 

I really enjoyed the fact that we were able to hang out in the Steeler's indoor training facility before and after the race. It's an awesome building, and the turf was nice and comfortable to stretch on before the run. This race was very well-organized (which we all know is one of my major pet-peeves) and there was a station for everything both before and after the run. They had a silent auction and some raffle items, and I think my mom was slightly devastated that she didn't bring any cash or a check book with her, making her ineligible to bid on the sweet Pittsburgh Penguins stuff they had up for bid. Either way, it was a nice little set-up and there were about 300 people there.

I would post the picture they took of me crossing the finish line in this race, but I look like the biggest idiot on earth. So unless you want to dig through the archives and find me, that one will remain in the vault.

I did, however, PR for 2013 running it in 25:48. 11th in my age group, which surprised me, but there were a ton of serious runners in this race and less of a "let's do this for fun" crowd. Either way, I was happy to run it in under 26 and I am hoping to keep shaving time off from there. It's amazing what a difference the warm weather makes.

Keep Running,

Kelli

Win A Sparkly Soul Headband!

When I wore my Sparkly Soul headband to dance last week - all of my girls basically looked at it like this:

I'm not gonna lie, when I got it in the mail I kind of had the same reaction. I have been really into non-slip headbands lately, and finding a brand that makes them in pure glitter form is pretty exciting. Aside from the fact that they have the ever-important velvet liner, these bands are a little bit different than most non-slip headbands. Instead of having only one small elastic portion on them, the entire band stretches.

I actually really like the light purple/rainbow color combo, and you could even reverse the band if you wanted to. The glittery side is slightly textured, so it would have the same "grip" quality as the velvet side. I also had a couple questions when I wore it as to whether or not the glitter would flake off. I have to note that this is not actual glitter glued to the fabric. It's actually just textured metallic fabric that has the look of glitter. It's really quite pretty in person, and I don't think the pictures do it justice!

My band is rainbow with a light purple liner, but they have a ton of different colors to choose from. I also prefer thicker bands (mine is 5/8 of an inch), but they also have thin bands that are 3/8 of an inch. Even if you're not a runner, these are great for dance, cheer, gymnastics, yoga, etc... It's really just a cute way to spice up your hair when you're too lazy to do anything too exciting :)

Now that I think about it, this would actually be perfect for a St. Patrick's day run!

Sparkly Soul (who you can find on Facebook & follow on Twitter) was nice enough to offer Runkellirun.com readers the chance to win a free headband of their choice. All you have to do is visit the Runkellirun.com Facebook page to enter. Make sure you check it out before Friday, March 18th. That's when a winner will be contacted!

If you want to visit the Sparkly Soul website in the meantime to check out their full selection, you can find them at Sparklysoul.com. Thanks a bunch to Sparkly Soul for hooking me up & I hope that you all add a little sparkle to runs this Spring!

Keep Running,

Kelli