New gear! @NewBalanceCan sponsors the @RBCRunForTheKids Ambassadors
This is my second year now as an ambassador for the RBC Run For The Kids and New Balance Canada has stepped up their sponsorship game with a $250 gift card to spend on gear! This comes with the preface that we use this gear while training and post on our SM wearing the gear. There was no obligation for me to do a blog review and I do so at my own choice and offer my honest review here for your benefit.
Thanks New Balance Canada
Bayview Village New Balance
I chose to visit the Bayview Village location. The staff there were more than helpful as I explained what sort of items I was looking for. First and foremost I wanted a new pair of kicks! I showed the associate what I am currently running in so she would have an idea of what type of shoe I needed {she didn’t even mind that it was a competing brand ;)}. With the general idea in mind of what I wanted she still did a proper gait and walking analysis to ensure she would be bringing me the proper models.
My “Foot Print”
Just a small selection of the men’s shoes available
I was then presented with these shoes:
New Balance 880v5:
Vazee Pace:
Fresh Foam Zante:
While they all really felt amazing and gave me great support I found the Zante’s fit my foot the best. I prefer a shoe that doesn’t feel like it has a high sole and the Zante gave me exactly what I was looking for under my feet. I find with some shoes that the top sometimes is too snug across the top of my foot and the upper of this shoe wrapped around my foot like a grove. Since it fit so well I did not need it to be laced too tightly until I got to the last eyelets where I like the back to be tight around my ankle.
My new Zante’s in all their glory!
Along with the shoes I also picked up some sweet New Balance clothes!
Windcheater Jacket
Technical deets:
- Material: 100% Polyester moisture wicking fabric
- Athletic fit
- Lightweight performance woven
- Reflective logo
- Reflective tape at back
- Two zipper enclosed pockets
- V-fold binding at hem and cuff
- Water-resistant
- Wind-resistant
Accelerate 5 Inch Short
Technical deets:
- Material: 100% Polyester moisture wicking fabric
- 5 inch inseam
- Athletic fit
- Contrast color mesh insets
- Internal key pocket
- Reflective logo
- Sleek woven
My thoughts:
The shoes are amazing! The have performed exactly the way that I need my shoes to perform! They are not heavy and feel so light on my feet! The cushioning on the sole is exactly right. The upper is the perfect fit for my foot shape and requires little tension on the laces to keep my foot snug. The toe box is roomy and airy and with the all the vents on the shoe they breath really well! I never have any soreness on my feet from my short runs to my long runs. I have a really good feeling that New Balance is going to be my go-to shoe from now on!
The jacket and the shorts are both made with the same NB DRY material. They but work perfectly at wicking the moisture away from my body. I wore the jacket for a run along the lake on a windy but still very warm day. I found it worked very well as a wind breaker and at the same time did not find I was sweating or overheating any more than usual in the heat. The length of the shorts is perfect for me since I don’t like long shorts riding up and down my leg with each stride. They come with and inside liner which does exactly what I need it to do. The NB DRY material means all of the sweat I generate is quickly evaporated away from my body! I actually find myself reaching for these shorts over all my others now!
I am so happy with all the New Balance gear I was so lucky to have been given! I would recommend all these products to my friends when asked.
I want to send out a thank you first to RBC Run For The Kids for giving the opportunity to be an Ambassador again, New Balance Canada for sponsoring the run and providing the gift cards to the Ambassadors and to Fit4Balance for all their expertise and help with selecting and purchasing this amazing gear!
See you out there!
#KeepSmilin 🙂
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Profile Picture Auction
How would you like your logo or a picture of your choice to replace my Twitter profile pic? This past month my account had an impressions count of over 51k! Thats a lot of exposure! For the week starting at midnight on September 7th 2015 until midnight on September 14th 2015 I will auction off my Twitter profile picture to the highest donor to my current fundraising efforts for the RBC Run For The Kids! It’s simple just click on “DONATE HERE” below to make a donation and be the highest donor! It’s a win-win situation! You will be ensuring more youth get connected with the specific resources and treatment they require for their specific needs AND you get the chance to promote your brand!
DONATE HERE
All images will be reviewed and approved by me prior to posting. I will need to screen the submitted picture to ensure there is nothing illegal or damaging to my own personal brand. I am confident that what is submitted by the highest donner will be perfectly fine to post but I do reserve the right to reject the image based on its content up to and including but not limited to: vulgarity, nudity, discrimination, harassment, and or anything illegal.
Here’s how it will work! During the contest period noted above, you can make as many donations as you like and I will add them together. Who ever has made the highest total combined donation at the stroke of midnight on the 14th will win and I will notify them via the email address they used to donate on the morning of September 15th 2015 and ask for an image to be submitted. I will then use that image as my Twitter profile image for the duration of one week commencing 9 am September 17 2015 and ending 9pm September 24th. During this week I will also post the image to my twitter 3 times announcing the winner.
So good luck everyone and I cant wait to see who wins!!
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Sunshine Blogger award
WOW! I’ve been nominated for a Sunshine Blogger Award! Natalie Harris nominated me on her blog Paramedic Nat in this post here. On her blog Nat is currently chronicling her mental health journey to recovery. Part of it acquired while working as a paramedic. I highly recommend following her both on her blog and on Twitter. Her goal is to educate and help people (not just paramedics) with mental illness to seek help and to know they are not alone. She is very candid in her posts and is such a better writer than me! Every chance I get I try to read her posts in the hops that I can learn something from her!
Here’s how the Sunshine Blogger award works:
- Thank the person who nominated you
- Answer the questions they gave you or the same ones they answered
- Nominate other bloggers
- Notify the bloggers
Here are my answers to Natalie’s questions
What is the most important thing to you?
The most important thing to me, you guys may already know, is my family. I will drop anything to spend time with them. They are the light of my world!
If you could go anywhere in the world right now where would that be?
Well that’s easy!! To a Disney park! Maybe to one I haven’t been to before, though, like Disneyland Paris. They now have a runDisney event out there that is on mine and my wife’s bucket list.
What’s your favourite thing about blogging?
It gives me a chance to share a piece of my life with you. It’s been helping with my writing, which never was very good (I always hated English classes! lol). It has made this world a whole lot smaller and connected me with so many new friends!
What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
This is not an easy question for me to answer. I’m not sure I have a favourite thing ….. I always find it difficult to sing my own praises so I think I’ll take a by on this one 😉
What has been your biggest challenge in life so far?
Parenting! Trying to teach young impressionable minds and have then turn into well mannered, smart, morally sound, productive members of this crazy world is no easy feat!
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Yes! I believe there is that one perfect person out there for everyone! Thankfully I am fortunate to have found that!
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Wow 10 years? That means my daughter will be 18 and my son 16! That’s kinda scary! Funny how when you become a parent you start relating things to your children like this. So in 10 years I will most likely be driving my daughter off to a post secondary institution somewhere and teaching my son to drive! I will hopefully have run many miles with my amazingly courageous wife and many more upcoming!
How many languages do you speak?
Unfortunately just English. I really wish my parents had taught me Dutch when I when I was a kid but I only know a few words and can pick out some words of it. My kids are in French immersion at school so I am hoping to pick up a little more of that through them.
What do you think is your best post so far? Link
My best and most favourite post so far is a post I wrote reviewing my 10k run with the Justice League Runners. It was such an amazing experience for me and I can’t wait for the next! https://paramedicmike.ca/2015/04/22/running-with-the-jlr_toronto-for-a-special-kind-of-personal-best/
What’s your favourite quote?
Pretty much anything that came out of Walk Disney’s mouth lol, I wish I was around when he was alive! My favourite, though, is “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them” Walt Disney
If you could recommend one fellow blogger to me who would it be? And Why?
Carrie Burrows: From www.CarrieBurrows.com I never can sing her praises enough! She is the one who has mentored my wife and I from the very beginning on our health and fitness journey. Plus she is also one of our Disney peeps so there’s bonus points for that! 😉 I highly suggest you hit her up, she loves to answer your questions and ensure you are the best you you can be!
So now onto my nominations!
I’d love to see what guys have to say and hopefully learn a little more about you.
#KeepSmilin 🙂
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Review @TeamTiux Compression Socks; not just selling socks but doing social good as well!
reblogging to tell you that I’ve been given a discount code for 10% off a pair of Tiux compression socks valid until July 31st! Share with your running friends!
Review @TeamTiux Compression Socks; not just selling socks but doing social good as well!.
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Review @TeamTiux Compression Socks; not just selling socks but doing social good as well!
Have you heard of the compression sock company Tiux? Well don’t be worried if you haven’t because I didn’t either up until a few weeks ago! That’s when Heather Gardner from Run Soul Cycle held a give away on her Instagram profile to win a pair!
https://instagram.com/p/4W66q-mZjR/
TBH I had only entered the contest to support Heather, totally not even thinking I would win! But low and behold a few weeks later I was notified that I was the winner of a pair of their socks!
https://instagram.com/p/4cQJCfGZpc/?taken-by=runsoulcycle
I immediately went to their website to see what they were all about and what colors they had. Except when I got there I didn’t immediately go to the shop section of the website. Right away I was drawn to the Tiux 1% Social Mission section. I am a big fan of companies doing social good and love supporting the ones that do! So when I read that Tiux:
will donate 1% of our revenue to help save lives and protect communities from landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other weapons remaining after conflict
by partnering with MAG (Mines Advisory Group), I was even more happy that I had won these socks! Mind you since my socks prob came from their marketing budget I don’t think the 1% came from my socks; I am hoping that by writing this some of you will check out their socks and buy a pair 🙂
Now onto the socks! After a quick look at their “Why Graduated Compression Socks” you can see that they provide:
- Muscle Stabilization
- Enhanced Proprioception
- Increase Arterial Inflow
- Increase venous return
After reading this I don’t know why I didn’t try compression socks before. Seemed like a no-brainer to me! The Tiux business model is a little different that some other fitness apparel companies that you may be used to. Everything they do is centered around keeping the cost to the consumer at a minimum. They offer 3 colors Black/Neon Yellow/Dark Grey, Neon Yellow/Blue/Black, and Pink/Neon Yellow/Lavender. They sell directly to you online (you wont see them in any stores) and they cut out the wholesalers and distributors. The best part is they don’t charge you shipping! So what do you call that? A win-win-win? lol
As for my experience, I’m not gonna lie, I was was checking the mailbox like everyday to see if they’d shown up! lol Then the sexy black box finally showed up! Not gonna lie I was super excited to finally give these things a whirl. I tried them first while doing 10k on our local high school track then a few days later on a 15k long run. At first I thought that since they were such a slippery material that I would be sliding out of my shoe. I did have to tighten my shoes a little more than usual since they are a little less bulky than my reg socks but not once did I never slipped out of my heal. Once I had them on they immediately felt like a second skin to me and my lower legs felt more stable and secure. I am very lucky in that I have never had issues with my arch, tendons, or my calf’s but I would imagine that these would work extremely well for that with their added stability. Running with them on my long run felt extremely well. My legs felt lighter and it was like I couldn’t really feel them at all but not in a bad way, like they were going numb or something, just like they weren’t there. I usually don’t have any issues with recovery I guess because my long runs really haven’t gotten that long yet but I’m really confident in the science behind these that It will aid me in that department.
I am really looking forward to future runs in these socks and I anticipate buying another pair in the future!
Do you own a pair or compression socks? What do you think?
If you do buy I pair od Compression Socks from Tiux I’d love to hear what you think as well!
Until then run happy and #KeepSmilin 🙂
This just in!!! I can offer all my readers a discount of 10% off your next purchase! But hurry this code is only valid until July 31st 2015!
Click here!
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Discount code: BAMIKE
Paramedic Mike 