Last night I was invited to attend a blogger meet up at a local running store, The Running Center, hosted by my favorite Cuban runner, Jessica. I may have mentioned this before but I heart bloggers. The local Tampa Bay bloggers are a very sweet and diverse group. I’ve made quite of a few of them be my friends. I’m a friend hoarder.

This meet up was to learn more about the store as well as a couple of other local shops. There was a cell phone repair company and local brewer, Cigar City Brewing. We munched on pizza and were invited to try a few different beer varietys from Cigar City. I’m not a fan of hoppy IPA’s but the malty, nutty, dark beer they brew is delicious. (Photo credit to the Fat Slow Triathlete, JC.)

Photo stolen from JC

In addition to drinking beer and eating pizza I got a chance to peruse yet another awesome local running store (we are lucky enough to have quite a few good running stores). I was in need, yes need, of another 26.2 magnet (not pictured) because mine is all sorts of falling apart. I also wanted to test out a few different types of gels. I haven’t run a marathon since January 2012 so I figured now was a good time to try out new stuff.

I decided to try out Accel Gel and the Honey Stinger gels. I’ve tried the Honey Stinger gels before but they were mostly used on my bike. I’m not sure how they’ll settle in my known-to-be-angry-stomach for a marathon. They taste amazing. The Accel Gel just caught my eye so I figured, why not.

The other items were part of our goodie bags and I’m happy to test out those too. There’s a GUTR headband that you wear under your helmet to catch sweat. I totally needed this. There’s also some Blister Shield powder, also needed, and a cute orange and blue basic watch from Brooks, not really needed but super appreciated. I’ll keep you all posted on all of these.

Shout out to Jessica for inviting me and THANKS to the Running Center for hosting a fun event. Please go forth and blog stalk my friends. And if you are local, check out the Running Center. They have a shoe fit guarantee, you no likey the shoe, they’ll let you exchange it. That’s how much they care about proper shoe fit! 

L to R: Me, Jessica, JC, Genna, Meghan, & Caitlyn

P.S. Weird photo arm placement is for winners! Exactly, what am I doing?

P.P.S. Ever tried any of those gels abovie? Holla.