DONE

Quick e-mail post now: my Internet is not working so I've been unable to write a blog recap of the awesomeness that was the Mt. Si Relay with Nicole, Lindsay, Lauren & Kerrie. We rocked the 59 miles in 8 hours 30 minutes and 14 seconds! HOLLA! The weather was not ideal for running, but beautiful nonetheless. I'm glad to say I'm now an official relay participant! :)

Full recap, and pictures, soon!

And now I anxiously await the Nuun Hood to Coast relay team announcement tomorrow!!!

Hmmm

After having a fun little afternoon shopping the outlet stores and eating pancakes with Kerrie & our little ones, I tweaked my back getting Goober into her carseat. :(  It hurt so much I had to ask Kerrie to wrangle Goob into the straps and buckle her in as I stood hunched over next to my car.  *sigh*

I've done this once before nearly a year ago...while taking off my super tight sports bra.  Tweaked the spot next to my right shoulderblade.  Ouch.  Dumb little mini injury.

So, I took it easy after the incident.  Ibuprofen, hot epsom salt soak and maybe a beer or so later...time for bed.  I AM going to run Sunday.  Nothing will stop me.  I can't wait to meet the other ladies on team Bloggers Do It Online tomorrow morning!!!

Last Minute Relay!

Looks like I'm running a relay race this weekend with some blogger peeps: Ricole, Kerrie, Lindsay and Lauren.  Since Tiffany is sick (feel better soon!) they needed someone to fill in, and I *gulp* volunteered.  OhmygoodnesswhatdidIgetmyselfinto?!?!  It's on Sunday and I'm running pretty much two all-uphill legs totaling 13.3 miles.  Oh boy!  Hopefully my two-a-days with running & swimming have been worth it!

Anyway, I'm excited to be part of team Bloggers Do It Online.  Holla!  I've already met Kerrie (well, duh, we run/swim/eat Greek food a lot together) and Lindsay briefly at the Run for Sherry a few weeks back...and although I swear I might've met Lauren last year at the RNR Seattle pre-race dinner, I might've been too nervous for my 1st marathon to be totally coherent (hey, I forgot where I parked my car that night).  And then there's Nicole/Ricole/aka Fellow HUSKY (hahahaha, Kerrie!).  This should be fun!  There's nothing I like more than being silly and goofy with fellow runnerds.

Oh, and since we ALL applied for the Nuun HTC relay team, I'm sure we'll be anxiously gabbing away about the team announcement the next day.  Squee!

This post contained a LOT of exclamation points!  I mean, for real!  No, I'm not excited!  Never!

Ok, I'm done.  I'm off to drink some chocolate milk after my hill repeat & lap swim kind of day today.  Cheers. :)

Since I don't like to publish blog posts without at least something fun to look at--here's a pic I took of a sad, lonely goose in a parking lot that Goober and I saw on our walk the other day.  This is dedicated to self-proclaimed "Goose Lover" Kerrie*...

At least he picked a good spot to hang out, right?

*This is a lie. Kerrie despises geese. And it's freaking hilarious!

It's Tuesday Night Already?

Nuun + Goober = smiles

If you didn't enter my See Jane Run Half Marathon race entry giveaway then, well, I'm sorry...it's too late!  BUT, I did receive an e-mail from Active.com with information about a discount code for the race if you are still interested.  You should be!  It's a fun race!  Just use code SJRSEACT at checkout for $10 off the race fee.  In these tough economic times, we all must be savvy with our money.

Since it's been a couple days since a real post, this is what's been going on.

FRIDAY:
Took advantage of the break in rain showers to go on a 13K run with Goober for Friday the 13th!  Ooooo!  Scary!  The out-and-back course was nice on the way out (4 miles with the wind) and then wicked tough on the way back (4 miles against the wind with a jogger that acts like a sail).  Exhausting.  But it did feel good to get in that long run with the Goob meister.

SATURDAY:
Swam for a bit, ran for a bit, took Goober to the local park.  Had a mini photoshoot with Goob and my Nuun tablet bottles.  She likes to "hoard" them and carry them around.  Went to a friend's house for a BBQ in the evening and took this video.

SUNDAY:
Kind of lazy day, but went for a quick run around the neighborhood after dinner.  Bad idea.  Dinner was too good (thanks to my in-laws) and I felt heavy.  Worth it though!  Mmmmm, mashed potatoes & turkey!

MONDAY:
Another two-a-day day!  Ran hills on the treadmill (10% incline) and then went to lap swim before bed.  Super tired!  Also took Goob to the pool for public swim earlier in the day--she sure does love the water! :)

TODAY:
"Active" rest day.  Walked with Goob for some errands.  Booyah.


These next 7 days or so are pretty intense.  I'm looking forward to hearing Nuun announce the 2012 Hood to Coast Relay Team! :)

Chocolate & Champagne - Are You IN?

Calling all the ladies out there that love running, chocolate and champagne!  And maybe not necessarily in that order. ;)  Have you heard of a 'lil race called See Jane Run?  You haven't?  Well, well.  Then here are some details:

See Jane Run Half Marathon & 5K comes to Seattle on July 15th for its 2nd year.  Since I had SO MUCH FUN (and PR'd) at least year's inaugural race I'm totally running it again this year.  AND, I want YOU *pointing finger at the screen* to come and run it too!  That's right...

I'm giving away an entry for the See Jane Run Half Marathon to one lucky gal!

Oh, you don't have to run with me, I promise.  ;)

Please answer this question in the mandatory "blog comment" entry:
What kind of chocolate would you run for?

Enter the giveaway via Rafflecopter!  All e-mails are kept strictly confidential and are necessary to win--you want me to let you know you won, right?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NUUN Hood to Coast MADNESS!

Here you go, folks!  I've compiled an {alphabetical} list of the Bloggers that applied for Nuun's HTC relay team for 2012.  Feel free to let me know if you should be added to this list!  Thanks!
Current Count: 66
Alanna* - Love My Runners - Video
Alisyn - RuninSyn - Video
Alma - AverageWomanRunner - Video
Alyssa* - Diary of an Average Runner
Amanda - Happy Mother Runner - Video
Amanda - Runninghood - Video
Barb - The Centsible Runner - Video
Becky - RunFunDone - Video
Canuck Mom - Journey Of A Canuck Mom On The Run
Caroline - Canadian Runner in Exile - Video
Carrie - Aunt on the Run
Celia - Running Seal - Video
Corey - Schnoodles of Fun - Video
Courtney - Run, Courtney, Run - Video
Dorothy* - Mile Posts
Elizabeth - Running for Bling - Video
Falon - Falon Does Marathon - Video
Harmony* - Keep On Keeping On - Video
Heather - Mile 26 and More - Video
Heather - Running With Sass - Video
Holly - Leaps of Faith - Video
Jess* - Blonde Ponytail
Jess - Run With Jess
Jessica - MORONS - MOms Running On No Sleep - Video
Jessica - Pace of Me - Video
Jocelyn* - Enthusiastic Runner - Video
Julie - ROJ Running - Video
Katie - Mom's Little Running Buddy - Video
Kayla - Running: My Anti-Drug - Video
Kelsey - Go Girl - Video
Kerrie* - Mom vs. Marathon - Video
Krissy - Shiawase Life - Video
Kristin - STUFT Mama - Video
Lar - Marathon Lar (Thank you for the RZR shout-out & displaying my super awesome trading cards!!)
Laura - Absolut(ly) Fit - Video
Lauren* - Health On the Run
Lindsay - Lindsay on the Go - Video
Mattie - Comfy & Confident
Meggie - The Thinks I Can Think
Melanie* - Tall Mom on the Run
Melissa - Love the Run You're With
MF Dre - The MF Dre
Molly - Mollyberrie's Hodge Podge
Nicole - The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie - Video
Rachael - Sunshine Princess - Video
Rachel - Running in Real Life - Video
Rena - Mile Hogger - Video
Ricole - Ricole Runs - Video
Robyn - Run Birdie Run - Video
Run In Boise - Running In Boise - Video
Sally - Sallaboutme - Video
Sandra - Organic Runner Mom - Video
Sarah - Once Upon a (L)ime - Video
Sarah - Running Starfish - Video
Slowly Growing Old Together - Slowly Growing Old Together
Stacie - Impossible Is Nothing
Susan* - Nurse on the Run - Video
Tasha - Healthy Diva Cooking - Video
Tiffany - Running Hutch - Video
TinaFab - Fabulosi-T
Tonia* - Racing With Babes - Video
Tricia* - Tricia Minnick - Video
Vanessa - Gourmet Runner - Video
Wymberley - A Taller Order - Video
XLMIC* - Taking It On
Zoë - Run, Zoë, Run! - Where else? :) - Video


* - Denotes Nuun Team Member from 2011

CanDo 5K Race Recap - Yeah!

This was the race that I didn't plan on "racing"....but somehow managed a freakin' SWEET 5K PR.  Say WHAT?!?! *happy dance!*

And this is BEFORE the race.

Travis and I dropped off the Goober Girl at her Auntie Karrie's house before the race.  You read that right, Trav was actually coming with me to this small race, unlike the previous 3 years where I always went solo Not only was he going, but he was RUNNING too.  Yeah!  Win!

It was pouring rain.  Miserably pouring rain.  Trav didn't want to give up his jacket after we picked up our bibs, but I coaxed him out of it and jogged the 1/4 mile (or more) back to the car to drop off our stuff.

*Side note: I normally don't do a "warm-up" before a race, so this little pre-race jog might have been a PR maker!*

We huddled together for warmth, and I realized that my shoes were already soaked through with mud.  Eh, whatever, right? ;)  Once the gun went off I was ready to tackle the long, steady uphill for the first 3/4 mile. BAH!  I knew that the downhill right after it was worth the effort.  Unfortunately I lost Trav right away, but that was ok as he was just trying to run the whole thing under 30 minutes.

The rain never let up, and there was no avoiding deep puddles.  But I didn't care and was stomping through them regardless.  Woohoo!  My pace felt good, my breathing felt awesome, and my new CW-X capris made my legs feel like a million bucks.  The only thing that was annoying me was my iPhone in between my two bras (I have been stashing it there instead of holding it lately)...it kept shifting sideways and felt like it was going to fall out from the bottom of my sports bra.  Ugh.  Annoying!  It probably also looked funny shifting my "third boob" around throughout the race.  :)

Once I knew the finish line was around the corner I picked up the pace even more.  I had to cross the street, which was still being used by some cars but guided by a police officer, and I nearly hit a car that wanted to speed on by before the I crossed.  Um, heck no, dude!  I was on my way to a strong finish.  Once I stopped Gus I saw the time: 23:33.  WHA????  That's a 7 second PR from the Iron Girl 5K back in September 2009.  AND, this course was HILLY.  The Iron Girl course is flat and fast around Greenlake in Seattle.  So you know what that means?  I'm going to DOMINATE the Greenlake course at Top Pot and Iron Girl.  RAWR!

*Sorry, that's a lot of capital letters right there*

At this point, I was beaming.  All smiles.  I went back before the finish line and started cheering for all the other runners.  One of the volunteers for the race commented on my "strong finish" and I thanked him.  That was cool.  And then I realized a photographer was next to me...after I saw Trav finish I was about to go meet him when the photographer dude introduced himself as a local small newspaper reporter.  Well, hello. :)

And so, little 'ol me was in the article:

The reporter even had some photos of me cheering on the sidelines:

Photo courtesy of Andy Nystrom's Flickr 

Photo courtesy of Andy Nystrom's Flickr

What a fun day!  Travis came in at 28:XX and was happy with a sub-30.  I'm proud of him!  His asthma is really bad, and so running for long periods of time is rough...but he finished.  This time, instead of stealing my too-big-for-me race shirts he EARNED this one!

Angle totally makes his head look tiny. Ha!

Final Stats: 
Mileage - 3.1
Time - 23:33
Overall - 30 out of 531
Division Place - 4 out of 38 (F25-29)
Sex Place - 8 out of 339
Pace - 7:36

The Locker Room Horror

I thought it was just like any other ordinary lap swim.  Since I had ran earlier that day, I cut my swim short at 40 minutes because I didn't want to recover my legs from the deep-end of the pool.  I.was.beat.  Heading into the locker room with my swim bag, I was relieved to see I was alone...or so I thought....

DUN DUN DUN!!! 

(That's supposed to be suspenseful music)

After enjoying a nice little hot water rinse in the shower I pulled my rolled up towel from my swim bag.  But something black caught my eye and I twirled the towel around in my hands...BIG SPIDER!!!!! AAAAAAAA!!! I proceed to shriek like tween at a Justin Bieber concert, in my birthday suit, all while shaking & flinging the crap out of my towel.  Off goes the spider and scurries away to swim laps of his own.  If anyone else was in the locker room, it would have been super embarrassing for sure.  Ah heck, it was embarrassing anyway.  I hate spiders.  I hate spiders anywhere near my clothes or towels.  I especially hate spiders near my bed.  *shudder*  *ugh* *gag* 

And THAT is how you get your adrenaline pumping.  Post-workout.  How convenient. :P

Nuun 2012 Hood to Coast Relay Application

The EMC will be taken down with the help of NUUN hydration!  

It's official, folks...my HTC Relay application is now live.

Ta DA!

Do you think I have what it takes?  Let nuun know in the comments on the YouTube video, below and/or on their Facebook page.  Pick me!  I won't disappoint. ;)