iRun Like A Girl.....Giveaway!

When I was at the Expo for the Boilermaker last weekend, I was excited to see a booth for iRun Like A Girl.  If you haven't seen their line of running gear, it includes skirts, hoodies, tees, and even jewelry for women and girls.  I have my eye on a hot pink hoodie for Eliza, it would be perfect for her upcoming birthday!

But what I really like about iRun Like A Girl is their message, they "celebrate the ageless girl spirit in females of all sizes, all ages, and all fitness levels. We believe that the spirit of a girl is what runs her thru life successfully, literally and figuratively."  Pretty great motto huh?

 

I'm excited to give you a chance to win something from iRun Like A Girl, the winner will be given a choice from a few options, depending upon your preference. 

 

To enter:

 

1. please visit iRun Like a Girl, then leave me a comment. 

2. for extra entries (please leave a comment for each that you do) you may:

   *be a follower of my blog or become one

   *follow iRun Like a Girl on twitter
   *join the iRun Like a Girl mailing list

   *let others know about this giveaway via blog, twitter, facebook

 

Giveaway ends at midnight EST on Sunday August 1.  

Weekend Comparisons

I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to put a new blog header photo up, and for some reason Blogger keeps making the photo huge.....so I'll just get to my post. We headed up to the Adirondacks this weekend to spend time with Mike's Mom and Dad, take the kids to the water park a couple of times, and fit in a long run for me. 

When we got on the road I kept feeling like we were forgetting something, loading up the car seemed a bit too easy.  Until I realized we didn't have the usual baby crap, pack n plays, potty seats, etc.  The kids are really kids now, no more being slaves to nap time, and they're easy to port around.  After the first day of exploring the water rides, I commented to Mike about how easy it is having just two kids. There is one for each of us, and since Eliza couldn't go on all the rides, Mike and I took turns taking Luke on the bigger, scarier rides....and let me say, I screamed like the girl that I am on several of them.

It wasn't so easy packing my own bag.  Back in the days when my weekend runs were rarely over six miles, I could easily throw my running shoes, cotton socks, worn in cotton tshirt, sports bra, sunglasses and shorts into my weekend bag.  This weekend I had a 12 miler scheduled, and ended up packing a bag just for my running gear.  Which included:

running shoes

special running socks

Glide

running skirt

wicking tank with built in sports bra

sunglasses

sport sunscreen

sport chapstick

ipod/ipod holder/ear buds

G-unit

running visor

nuun

GU

fuel belt with four water bottles

power cords to charge ipod and garmin

foam roller

calve stretcher

16 oz pink nalgene bottle with a flower on it

I'm so high maintenance now I hardly recognize myself.

The 12 mile run was kind of hard.  I set out at 9:30 in the morning, and it was already pretty hot out, I followed the hilly route I did the last time I was in the ADK.  I did well on my shorter runs this week, on Tuesday I managed a 5 miler in 46 minutes, so I decided to stay at nine minute miles for the first half.  I passed the Donut Shop (I honestly think these are the best donuts I've ever had, especially when they're hot.  I used to put plain donuts in the toaster oven, and these remind me of those, but better), then switched onto a snowmobile trail for another two miles.  I kept my eye out for charging bears and deer, but the most I got was a few butterflies whizzing around.  I came out into the sun and it was HOT.  I sucked a GU, and turned on my ipod, but I still wasn't feeling it.  I didn't bring nuun with me, I think because it's fizzy it tends to leak out of the bottle as I run, at any rate I definitely missed it. 

Once I got into town I walked a bit because of the crowded sidewalk, and I didn't mind at all.  There was so much up and down with all the hills, I was almost bored during a flat stretch of road.  At mile 9 my ipod got all wonky, then it crapped out.  Anyone familiar with my track record with ipods won't be surprised. Not only does mine turn off during runs in 10 degree weather, my nasty sweat soaked arm causes the same issue.   I made it to the point where I was going to meet Mike for a ride home, and realized I still had about a mile to go.  He pulled up in the Jeep, I jumped in the back and had him drop me off at the campground where I usually run, figured I could bang out the last mile quickly....until half a mile in and realized the run back out was Up. Hill.  Enough already!!!  I finally finished with two hours and two minutes. 

After that we all went out on the boat and into the lake (which I count as my ice bath)  then later Mike and I went out for some beers (I tried Bud Light Lime and it hit the s.p.o.t.) at a bar we like to go to, which has a dock that you can sit out on and stare at the lake.  I had Mike take a new photo of me, since the header on my blog is from two years ago, after my Adirondack Deer Run 10k.  I thought it was fitting to take it after my 12 mile run, twice as long......not that I can make it to work right now.

Holy cow, do you remember Trapper Keepers????? Mike's Dad went to a garage sale, and came back with a box full of coloring books, paper, games, and......a heart and rainbow Trapper keeper.  It was the EXACT same one I had in Junior High.  It's mine now.

I also got a new phone this week.....it's some kind of android.  You know what that means.....blogging on the go Baby!

Jump Start Review....and Giveaway

I'm going to switch gears for a moment, from my usual dialogue about my love of running and food, to my main love in my life.....my kids.  For this review you'll have not only my opinion, but Luke (age 6), and Eliza's(almost 4) as well.

We had the chance to review Jump Start, which is a browser based virtual world of learning and games.  This is an educational website for kids age 3 - 10 where they learn how to navigate among the many areas such as The Neighborhood, Town Square, The Jungle and The Beach, along with additional games that you can download.

The three of us had a great time with this game.  There are so many different places to play, the number of choices is almost overwhelming, but there is a dog named Frankie to help you navigate through.  Right off the bat I noticed how L&E interacted with each other while they explored the different areas, they weren't competing against each other, they played together, with Luke helping Eliza with the more difficult parts.  They laughed out loud at certain things, like the Matching Duckie game, and both got excited about hatching a baby dragon in the Enchanted Sanctuary.

To play the game, the kids made an avatar, as they played games they acquired coins that they could redeem in different stores, like the Pet Store.  There is a star in the top corner of the screen, showing what level they had achieved in the game.  In the lower left corner is a map icon, which brought them easily to whatever part of the game they wanted to be. As they played there were other avatars running around, of other children playing the game at the same time.  Through facebook you can link up with other players, although we didn't do that, it helps to earn more coins.

Luke is a great reader, it's easy to challenge him just by picking the right level book.  Right now he's learning basic math skills, which he was able to work on with the Stadium games, such as Basketball.  You can choose addition, subtraction multiplication or division, there was a question written on the basketball (ex: 5+1) and Luke had to click on the correct answer to keep the ball from falling. 

Eliza is all about her Littlest Pet Shop games and dancing, so she loved Storyland, and making her own houses. We started playing Jumpstart last month, and it was neat how they had Fireworks go off in the Main Street section for the Fourth of July.

I found the blog for parents helpful when we weren't sure how to proceed with something, a perfect example was when the kids wanted to venture to the Enchanted Sanctuary, to raise their own dragon.  They first had to earn enough coins, then within the Sanctuary they had to find and capture 15 hearts.  They competed with other avatars to get the hearts, so that caused some excitement.  After finding the hearts, they were told to look for an egg.  It took a while to find one, but once they did a Fairy told them to bring the egg to a hatchery.  They were able to choose the gender of the dragon, and the colors.  We had to check back a few times to see if it hatched, once it did they had fun feeding and bathing it, watching it grow, training it, and letting it fly.

I realize that technology is a big part of the kids lives, it's pretty much unavoidable these days.  They play Wii and Playstation for entertainment, but what I liked about JumpStart was that they were being entertained and learning at the same time.  Luke can navigate my laptop very easily now, a couple of times he took over when I was trying to get the avatar to swim or jump, he especially liked the Launch Pad that allowed the avatar to fly.  Overall, the three of us give JumpStart a thumbs up.

Now the fun part.  If you would like a chance at winning a three month membership to JumpStart, please leave me a comment, telling me what kind of games you enjoy playing with your kids. 

For additional entries:

1. let me know you are a follower of my blog, or become one, and let me know in a comment.

2. spread the word about this giveaway, any way you choose, via blog, twitter or facebook, and leave me a comment.

Giveaway ends at midnight EST on Wednesday, July 21.

Disclosure: I was provided with a JumpStart membership at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Boilermaker...Year Four

This is how the past four years of running the Boilermaker have gone:

2007....1:39:39 (scary hot and humid)
2008....1:38:39 (weird, exactly one minute less)
2009....1:37:05 (could have done better)
2010....1:33:39....

Yup! Finally, a decent PR!

Today was a really great race, everyone I know did really well. 

We were up and on the road by six a.m., since we had my brother in law driving, he dropped us off right at the start, with plenty o' time to hit the porta potties.  It was really crowded, from what the announcer said, over 13,000 people registered, which made this year one of the largest 15k's in the country.  The weather was decent though, some clouds, warm, but not humid at all, and at times we felt a breeze.  I wasn't nervous at all, and I kept my eye out for J, Katie, and Nicki, but it was hard to look in that sea of people.

Gun went off, took about ten minutes just to get to the start line, but then we were moving, if you can call it that.  Lots of dodging and weaving around people, we said a quick hello to a fellow Lake Effect Group runner, then everyone was just off.  We all had a goal in mind, and had to try and do it.  My goal was to do under 1:35.  After mile one I started running on the grass alongside the road just to get my pace up, and barely noticed the bands and dancers and crowds alongside the course.  I kept my eye on G-Unit, didn't want to go over a ten minute mile, at this point I was about a 9:30.  Kept this up until mile 3, when I saw my friend C, who ran Boston for the first time this year, and whose training plan I'm following for Rochester.  We chatted a bit about our time goals, and how we might have to adjust them based on how many people were out there running.

Around mile four was the first hill, and let me tell you, the first time I ran this, I was scared of the hills.  This year, every single hill was just a blip on the radar to me, I've been doing so much training on inclines these past six months, that I sailed up and over every one today.   Took a gel at mile five, and kept cruising along, my plan was to kick it up at mile seven, as it was I kept going back and forth between 9:00 and 10:20 minute miles. 

Mile seven came and went, and it was almost mile eight.  I wanted to try and pick it up, and came to a corner near a bunch of warehouses, where the first year I ran this, I got a little loopy in the head because of the heat, so I always have flashbacks to how lousy I felt that year.  I got nervous and just kept steady, saw the Mile Nine sign, and next thing I knew, I was done.

Then it was time for beer, which wasn't doing it for me, so I made due with a snow cone.  Then we took photos of us in our running skirts, Jeannine and I matched in our camo skirts (on sale to boot!).  Looking back at my race, I played it safe again, but I'm testing the waters.  I'm proud of myself for running strong, not puking or letting my head get to me, and still finishing faster than last year. 

Now I can look forward to the next race on the calendar......Rochester Marathon on September 12. 

Gulp.

Non numeric five for Friday

The temps have been in the 90's all week, with high humidity.  We lost power twice, which is nuts, in the five years we've lived here we only lost power two other times.  With the Boilermaker coming up on Sunday, I thought I should try and acclimate to the temps in case we have nastiness race day, so I went out into the soupy heat on Tuesday for a five mile run.  It wasn't the greatest idea, I left at three o'clock, 93 degrees.  Tried to stay in the shade as much as possible, but by mile 2 my water was almost all gone, and I had to walk for a minute.  By 3.5 I decided this was stupid, so I went home to bang out the rest on the treadmill.  Experiment over. 

I'm really excited for the Boilermaker on Sunday.  I have a goal in mind, but I'm going to be flexible about it, it will depend on the heat, humidity, and crowds, there are over 13,000 people registered for it.  I had a conversation with my friend Heather, as well as Mike about my running.  They both think that I'm holding myself back, that I could run faster if I wanted to.  I do run faster on the treadmill, because lately my outside runs have been about building mileage, so I don't push my pace.  I formulated a plan, so we'll see what happens.

I have two giveaways coming up.....one is of a fitness nature, the other is for kids.....if you have one. 

Now the meat thing......I realize that I eat meat once a day.  As for for not eating it, I'm going to just take baby steps.  If we have pasta Mike usually grills some sausage or chicken to go with it, so he can still do that for himself, I'll just pass it up.  I'm also looking at my dairy consumption, which I've felt uneasy about for a while too.  I use Coffe Mate in my coffee, so I'm going to switch to either soy or rice milk.  I bought some Earth Balance spread to replace my butter, and it's actually really good.  Mike gave it a thumbs up, and Butter is one of his favorite things in life (other than me).   I love love love cheese, that's going to be harder to replace, so I'm going to wait on that one.

Speaking of cheese, I can't get enough of fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil.  I don't know what my Italian sister in law does to her salad, I use the same ingredients as her and I can never get it to taste the same.   Yesterday I broiled the tomatoes with some ground pepper and kosher salt and layered it with the basil and cheese on a baguette.  So good that I had it again today....for breakfast.

Beef, chicken or fish?

Note to self: no more pedicures until after September 12.  My toes look cute right now, but I need those calluses to keep running blisters at bay.

I had a great run Saturday, we had 15 miles on the schedule.  I think I have my energy routine figured out, I've been using a fuel belt, with three bottles of water, and one of nuun.  I took a gel (I've been favoring the lemon/berry flavors, the vanilla and chocolate ones make me gag) at mile 6, and mile 12, before I felt like I needed it, and sipped water when I wanted it.  I got into my little zone around mile 13 which is the most boring stretch of road, just kept my head down and kept at it.  We took a turn that added more mileage than I thought it would, so we ended up with 15.67 miles, it took 2:40:24, with an average pace of 10:16.   Not bad.

During the run J&N and I talked about compression socks and ice baths and running in general, after they left my house I decided to try out an ice bath.  Took six ice packs and threw them in the tub of cold water....and EEEEEYOOOOWWWW it was ccccccold.  Soaked for 20 minutes, Eliza tried to keep me company but she decided to put on her elephant costume and go play, so I had time to read my new Marian Keyes book.   I think it worked, I wasn't sore at all later or the next day, so I think that's going to be my new habit after the long runs.

I'm having an issue with meat. As in, I don't know if I want to eat it anymore.  I've always eaten meat, but until I met Mike, it had to be very well done for me to do so.  I like burgers and bacon.  And lamb chops.  Not a huge fan of chicken, I can barely cook it, and when I do I have it in something like enchiladas or mole.  Or I bake the hell out of it.  I don't do ham.  When I was pregnant I couldn't look at or smell any kind of meat.  I'm a fan of veggie meals, I usually choose the vegetarian option at weddings, or order fish when we eat out.  Love sushi.

I made my Healthy Helper this week with ground beef, and I housed that because it's mixed in with the pasta.  I ate that rotisserie chicken, but not much of it.  We had ribs on Friday, and I picked at them and around them, and ate most of the black bean salad, slaw and corn bread instead.  So I don't know what's up, I just don't want to eat it, and this isn't the best time to experiment with my diet since my mileage is going up every week.  So I have a conundrum.

As you can see by the photo, I like to play with food, as I did with the kids dinner the other night, when they requested smiley face breakfast.  Take away the egg and sausage and I'd be happy to eat the bagel and strawberries.  Which I kind of did, I'm still picking at their leftovers.....

Mid Point

I  have a new favorite running song.  Neutron Star Collision by Muse, it's from the Eclipse Soundtrack.  Yes, I've read all of the Twilight books. Yes I've seen the movies.  And Yes, I am Team Edward.

It's midway through the year, six months until Christmas!  I finally broke 100 miles in June, 102 to be exact, with 612.8 to go towards my 1,000 mile goal.  I just have to keep it up, for the rest of the year, which I think it completely doable.  I've been doing yoga for cross training, but I think I'm going to throw some Jillian Michaels into the mix, her workouts are on our Exercise on Demand channel.  One of my BFF's, Jenni, has been doing the Jillian workouts three times a week for the past few months, when I saw her last month, she looked amazing.  Well, she always looks amazing, but she's in the best shape of her life.  She's got three kids (one set of twins) so she's my newest inspiration.

Mike finally got his Father's Day gift up and running this weekend, a rotisserie for this grill.  The weather on Sunday was supposed to be nice, so he prepped a chicken to roast, along with some Pecan Grilling Smoke that I got from Brad.  Five minutes after he got it going, dark clouds rolled in and it started to rain, so we dragged the umbrella from the patio set over to cover the grill, and we were all set.  Not to sound all Frank Perdue, but it was the juiciest chicken I've ever had.

I do not have a green thumb, but I'm proud of this little pot of wheat grass that I planted with Luke as part of one of his craft projects.  It's just enough for a shot of wheat grass juice, if I had a juicer around. 

Found Muse on YouTube.....Happy Fourth!