As you know, I ran a half marathon this summer. I ran on it on August 2nd, and I started training on June 1. It's definitely my biggest running achievement so far. It's kind of like doing an internship if the half is the internship and the full marathon is the job. If you do a half marathon and know that's your limits - just stick to 10 milers, 5Ks, 10Ks, and halves. If you think to yourself "I could do that twice", then get ready to train for a full marathon. I had that thought at the end, so looks like I have my work cut out for me. 

Of course, I picked up some tips while I was in training to share with my fellow runners. I'd love to share them with you guys through a few posts. First, I'd like to share with you guys how I ate!

Half marathons are way different than 5Ks, not just in distance, but also in fueling. Instead of making sure you carb up the night before and have your energy before the race, you have to be on a hydration and nutrition plan. 

During training: Training for a half marathon can be 2-3 months long. Staying on a totally strict diet can drive anyone crazy for that long. Let yourself have your "cheat meals" and a few alcoholic beverages, if you drink, every once and a while. You WILL run it off. I alway say I'm  in a constant state of hunger, and that's because I'm a runner. You may feel a little ravenous, but that's because you're burning way more than calories than usual. One thing I learned in exercise nutrition class is that if you don't give yourself back the amino acids you lost in training, your performance will not be as good the next day. The golden rule with exercise is carbohydrates before the workout, protein after. 

Food on a training day (options):

Pre-run: Banana | Luna bar | Belvita | Peanut butter on whole wheat bread

Post-run ( big breakfast): Egg white scramble w veggies and 2 pieces of whole grain toast | greek yogurt with peanut butter on whole grain toast | Veggies, chicken, and quinoa or whole grain pasta | meat, veggies, and mozzarella on whole grain bread

Lunch/ snack: Veggie chips | grapes | apple | cottage cheese | 

dinner: Chicken, rice, quinoa or whole grain pasta, goat cheese, veggies | whole grain pizza crust with veggies and chicken | salmon and veggies

post-dinner snack: "nice cream" | frozen yogurt | veggie chips | boom chicka pop

The night before: CARB UP! This is your pasta party. Have a pasta dish with veggies and chicken or fish. Veggies are carbs, too! Bread is also good to have too!

The morning of: I personally had a bagel with cream cheese. Some people say dairy before a race is a no-go, but I'm always fine with it. If you want to spread peanut butter on your bagel, go for it! I had this about 3 hours before my race. I drank two bottles of water before my race, too. Hydration before is more important than during. A half hour before my race, I had some energy beans.

During: In my flipbelt , I kept a pack of energy jelly beans, and a pack of energy chews. They also had gatorade, water, and BOOM! energy gels at every water stop, which was every 2 miles. I had my first boost at 7 miles. I had an energy chew. Then, at 9 miles, I had some energy gel. Around mile 11, I had some more chews. These really helped me during the last four miles.

What are your favorite foods to fuel up with?

It's been a long, hot, productive summer. I'd be lying if I said this wasn't if not the best summer ever, the best summer in a very long time. What's even better is that I have an even more exciting schoolyear to look forward to. The only word I can use to describe these past couple months is BLESSED! So, heres my summer recap. Please comment or tweet me (@n_vergako) or post yours on my facebook wall. I'd love to know yours. Even better, if you make your own recap tweet it to me and I'll share it!

Remember...

When David and I waited through a Never Shout Never-esque set (with sweaty, pubescent scene girls surrounding us) just so we could be FRONT AND CENTER FOR AARON WEST AND THE ROARING TWENTIES at warped tour...

When I got a really uneven sunburn at the beach thanks to aerosol spray sunscreen...

When I saw Say Anything and Modern Baseball at the House of Blues #WhateverForever....

When I spent four hours scouring the NEWSEUM in DC...

When I got a tour on Boston Harbor Cruises...

When I made Summer Sessions my new favorite spot on Route 1A in New Hampshire.

When I ran a 5K in memory of my best friends grandfather...

When I walked on the Boston Common to WAGE HOPE for an end to pancreatic cancer...

When I came across the Lilly Pulitzer truck and the Vineyard Vines whale on Nantucket... #ACKCity

When I relaxed at my favorite spot on Cape Cod, the Judah Baker Windmill...

When we all twinned with our vegan dishes at Life Alive...

When my fellow PRSSA Eboard members and I pulled off a killer Paint Nite fundraiser and raised SO MUCH money for National Conference!

When I got up close and personal with Niagara Falls...

When I fell in love with Toronto...

When Dom and I took too many cute intern pictures at the State House...

Share with me your summer adventures!

Last up on the "Talk Shop" series was blogger networks. I was very impressed with the amount of data I gathered and the opinions I got. I'm hoping to get the same amount this time! So, what's next for my number-crunching laboratory? "Dee Dee, get OUT of my LABORATORYYY"

No, not Dexters's Laboratory, but it's sponsored posts! I want to find out what us bloggers are getting paid or if, how their relationships with brands are, and more. I asked how often they do sponsored posts, if they only do monetary compensations, how their experience with brands has been and what their favorite brands to work with were.

I've been paid to do sidebar advertisements and social media posts (instagram/pinterest), but not a blog post. I have two other jobs, so my main income isn't blogging. However, If I could make blogging my main income one day that would be absolutely fabulous. I'm very happy, and blessed, to have been granted the gift of receiving product compensation. I've received clothes, makeup, a Keurig, and more. I've also gotten to try two teatoxes. 

My goal is to get a big fan base so I can create a big-time media kit with prices. Maybe I should just make one so it looks legit, right? That's for another talk shop.

For a reference for these results, my small but sturdy sample was 6 bloggers.

Three bloggers do sponsored posts every two months, three of them do them more than twice a month. This could average out to once a month. This can depend on many things including how often bloggers reach out to brands, how often brands reach out to bloggers, and how picky bloggers are. As for me, I'm definitely on the every two months scale. It;s safe to say that bloggers with bigger fan bases do more sponsored posts, simply because there's more people to be exposed to the product and that's what outreach employees like to see.

I dream of the day that I only do paid opportunities. However, you have to do some freebies here and there to build trust and relationships. It seems here that the majority of the bloggers surveyed only did paid sponsorships.

It looks like there aren't any bad experiences here!

Thanks to all my lovely participants!

Adriana Renee http://alaskarenee.com

Lena www.lenatalksbeauty.com

Brittany www.southernsoulblog.com

http://thewhisperbox.com

Becky Winkler http://www.acalculatedwhisk.com/

Morgan Timm http://www.mostlymorgan.com