Healthy Swellness: My Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water #evenbetter goal

A couple of weeks ago, I challenged myself to get #evenbetter with my running, specifically in terms of improving my pace. And to help me reach that goal, I had a few tactics in mind, including hydrating with Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water, which contains the #powerof50 cranberries.

I suppose I should remind you that speed work is not my favourite. Nor is sweating. But I’ve been down about my pace slowing significantly so my hope was that this goal would give me the push I needed to kick-start my training for a fall race.

During my two weeks working on my goal, the weather was hot, I traveled both to New York City and Sayulita, and life was, as usual, just plain hectic. But having the goal to work towards, as well as clear strategies to get me there, worked. In NYC, having not run in a day or so, I committed to getting out of my hotel before 5 a.m. for a short sprint, and this night owl managed to do it.

On a warm Saturday evening, I was very close to putting off my tempo run, but I knew that’d set me back from meeting my goal, and so I ran just as the sun was setting.

And on a particularly hot afternoon, when I would’ve normally eased into a comfortable pace, I was lucky to have my running buddy with me, and she motivated me and helped get me through this run in which we ran tempo and then fartleks.

Hydration also played a key role in helping me working toward my goal. I’m a heavy sweater so I should hydrate more than I do. With a supply of Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water it was easy to keep hydrated throughout the day since it’s tasty (I always resist drinking plain water as I’m simply not a fan), and the subtle flavour worked well as a drink during my training as it didn’t bother my stomach (always key during a run!). My favourite flavour was Cranberry Pomegranate for running, but I did enjoy having a variety of flavours for sipping when not training.

So did I achieve my goal? While my comfortable pace is still slower than I am happy with, I did learn that when pushing myself to run faster for a shorter distance than I usually train for, I am not as slow as I think I am. When I ran with my friend, she was checking our pace to make sure we were on track and she had us rein in our pace at one point as we were running a sub 5 min/km pace, and that was a nice surprise.

I’m happy to know, thanks to this #evenbetter goal, that I can reach target speeds when I set my mind to it.

Being well-hydrated is always a good idea, so I think being able to enjoy low-cal, tasty Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water set me on a good track both for my goal and my overall wellness. If, like me, you haven’t been able to get on the water train because you find it bland, you might have more success hydrating with Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water.

So that’s my #evenbetter goal completed. How about you? What small goal will you challenge yourself to?

Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water is a tasty and low-calorie way to hydrate in a more meaningful way. Packed with the power of 50 cranberries, PACt® Cranberry Extract Water delivers unique cranberry health benefits. Visit http://pact.oceanspray.ca to learn more and find out where to buy PACt® water at a store near you.

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Ocean Spray® via Mode Media Canada.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Ocean Spray®.

1 Comment July 20, 2016

Healthy Swellness: Challenging myself to be #evenbetter with Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water

It can be hard to adopt a healthy new habit. I feel as though I’ll never develop a regular sleep schedule, for one. Getting faster at running is another biggie. I’m still trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. And now, I’m kicking off marathon training with a focus on improving my speed so that I’ll at least be able to match the pace I was setting a year ago. (I’ve slowed down in the past while due to a hectic schedule, which has made training difficult, along with being under the weather and some lower back pain). My comfortable pace a year ago: about 5:30. (It varies depending on factors like distance and temperature.)

My approach?

Add tempo runs and speed work to my training. Rather than doing my usual comfortable 10k run, I’ll swap in shorter distances but at a faster pace.

I’ll get better rest. I’ll try to get at least seven hours a night.

Hydrating well. I can hardly expect my body to perform well if I’m dehydrated.

This last strategy, regarding hydration, is a toughie as I don’t like to drink water. To help me get over that, I’m going to start to regularly use my bottle that keeps drinks cold. (It has helped a friend get better at hydrating.)

Also, I’m going to try hydrating with Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water. It’s a low-calorie (only 10 calories!) water with the power of 50 cranberries. The taste is subtle but much more flavourful than plain water, so I think that may help me learn to drink more. And I’ve got three flavours to try, so my taste buds won’t be bored: Cranberry Pomegranate, Cranberry Mango Passionfruit, and Cranberry Raspberry.

What makes them good for the body are the PACs (or proanthocyanidins) Ocean Spray® PACt® waters contain; these are elements extracted from cranberries that help protect against certain harmful bacteria from sticking in the urinary tract. Other factors that interest me about these new beverages? They’re naturally sweetened, their colour comes from – you guessed it – cranberries, and they do not include genetically modified ingredients.

Will these strategies help me be even better at training for a BQ? Come back to the blog in a few weeks to find out!

Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water is a tasty and low-calorie way to hydrate in a more meaningful way. Packed with the power of 50 cranberries, PACt® cranberry extract water delivers unique cranberry health benefits. Visit http://pact.oceanspray.ca to learn more and find out where to buy PACt® water at a store near you.

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Ocean Spray® via Mode Media Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Ocean Spray®.

1 Comment June 27, 2016