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My Favorite Running & Fitness Goodies Giveaway

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Just because the holidays are pretty much over doesn’t mean gift-giving has to come to an end.  I want to jump-start all your New Year fitness resolutions with a care package of some of my favorite things.  Whether you are planning to run your first 5k in 2013 or complete your 100th marathon, these little goodies will help you get to the finish line just a little easier.  It’s my New Year gift to one of you!   Enter below on the Rafflecopter form to win this assortment of sporty stuff.

  • Save Our Soles Performance Socks for the Enlightened Athlete: Size Medium branded with Competitor 25th Anniversary logo.  You can never have too many socks, especially SOS socks.
  •  Sun-Rype 100% All Natural Fruit Strips: A delicious and nutritious product made in Canada but found in the fresh produce section of your local grocery. Contains no preservatives, artificial colors, and is gluten-free and nut-free.  You get one dozen fruit strips in Strawberry.
  •  FuelBelt – Super-Stretch Waist Pack in Blue ready to hold your race-day necessities like a phone, keys, nutrition gels and girl stuff.
  •  Slacklaces – “The Flexible Shoe Lace” in Pink are an inventive way to tie up your sneakers.  Don’t just lace them up old-school though; check out my old post on special techniques to lace shoes that alleviates problems like heel slip, smushed big toes, and such.
  •  Nuun Active Hydration Tablets – Enjoy one tube of 12 tablets in the Tropical flavor. If you haven’t used Nuun before, you’ll love it.  Drop one tab into a bottle of water and it fizzes up without stirring to provide you an on-the-go electrolyte drink without any sugar.
  •  Sports Legs:  Supplements to reduce lactic acid build-up and minimize post-race soreness (5-tablet supply which is enough for one marathon). I have used these a few times with some success, definitely less sore the next day.  The company told me they would make my legs feel 15 years younger, now if only the rest of my body follow suit.
  •  Chia Surge Endurance Gel – Pinapple-Orange Flavor and Raspberry Flavor from Vitalyte Sports Nutrition.  You can find these gels retail at REI Outdoor.
  •  Handana: It might not be hot now, but come summer, you’re going to appreciate wiping your brow with this stylish and easy-to-wear high-performance sports band.  Made right here in Austin, Texas!
  • Jamba Juice: Run your errands or workout in this understated but oh-so-fashionable Jamba Juice cap and then treat your healthy self to a smoothie with the 3 one-dollar gift cards. It’s no secret that my favorite flavor is Razzamatazz® with a whey protein boost.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How Did I Flippin’ Get Talked Into a CrossFit Gymnastics WOD!

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Yesterday I got schooled on sideshow tricks and such at a CrossFit Gymastics Seminar hosted at Fit and Fearless CrossFit in Austin.  Teaching us mere mortals these super-human skills was the intrepid and, might I add, impressively-strong-but-not-hulkishly-muscular, Matthew Willis from Texas Parkour.  Apparently he knows his stuff, even trained with the super agile Carl Paoli of Gymnastics WOD. I noticed that Matthew has this quote on his Facebook page, it’s a good one to keep in mind when you’re 45 like me and trying gymnastics again after 30 years —

“It’s not how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up that really matters.”

After warming up, our first challenge of the day was Diving Monkey Push Up (aka Parkour Pushup).  Seriously, when I heard the name, I wasn’t so sure this was for me and honestly, for my scrappy arms, it was one of the hardest moves of the day – my triceps were already killing me going into it.  The move is like a kipping push up and is supposed to be performed in a fluid manner, to the chopping start and stopping I found myself doing.  I’ll have to practice this all month until I have it down, but check out Valerie and Matthew working the progression:

Next, we took a little crash reminder course in the importance of keeping a Hollow Body position for many of the upcoming tricks. You have to master this “core” concept before you can move onto many of the more complex skills like kipping pull-ups and muscle-ups.  Watch how the demonstrator in the video below gets proper form by tucking head up slightly, rounding back so shoulder blades are off the ground, abs and glutes are engaged tightly, and legs are squeezed together all the way together down to the toes – now rock it!

 

We took this hollow body skill off the floor and practiced it on the bar in preparation for kipping pull-ups. Since I’ve already got this pull up skill down for the most part, I did appreciate the tips on releasing grip and re-catching grip on the upswing. Watch below I’m hanging on to my last few kipping pull-ups on quivering arms after a long morning of hard work. Video is sideways and I can’t figure out how to flip it, go figure.

On to handstands, my main takeaway was to remember to keep my hands pointed forward for better balance and to engage shoulders and core as much as possible.  Also, we practiced a front roll out as a graceful way to get out of the handstand pose if we kicked over too much.  Maybe not so graceful for me; I used to be able to flip around, walk on my hands, and all sorts of stuff – now I’m just freaked out about hurting my neck and back. But, I’m not saying I can’t do it; that would mean a 10 burpee punishment!

Finally, we showed off with our favorite tricks like one-armed handstands (holla), walking on hands, kipping handstand push-ups and more. The only thing we didn’t get to practice was a skill I’ve been trying to master for six months – the muscle up.

Jennifer and Linda rocking out the one-armed handstand!

Sparkle for Fun, Sparkle for Fast! Win a Sparkle Skirt for Running

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Confession: Before this summer, I would have bet you my last fun-sized bag of M&Ms that I would never be caught dead in a tutu, sequined skirt, or some other such nonsense.  But then it happened.  When out running the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon this summer, the peer-pressure got to this one-woman wolf pack and I put on a sparkle skirt just to get a van full of giddy, girly-girls off my back. But let me tell you, a few strides into my run, I felt completely altered, like a different runner altogether . . . I was off my game, but in a good way!

With each rebound from the asphalt, my sparkle skirt gave a sassy little sway, as if to say “you don’t have to take this so seriously.”   I listened to my heart even more as the sun’s glint off the sequins created a flattering, soft-halo effect around my body. In this warm, fuzzy state, my heart was telling me that I am allowed to run just for fun, I don’t have to be that super-racer girl that I seem to so sadistically project onto myself.  I did run for fun, and it was wonderful.

Fast forward a couple months to a local 5k that called for a superhero costume. Everyone and their dog (literally) would be in a costume, except for a dozen or so hard-core runners up front vying for the win. Well, I dusted off that sparkle skirt and gave it another chance to make me feel good. This time the mission was to run for fun AND to win – could it be done?  Sure, it’s one thing to pass a few guys wearing the sparkle skirt (awesome), but to flat out cross the finish line as the first woman in a sparkle skirt, that’s an entirely different kind of cool.

I slipped into the light-as-a-feather sparkle skirt and threw a cape over my shoulders – when the gun went off, I hauled my bedazzled buns faster than a buttered bullet and DID break through that winner’s ribbon. Was I thinking about rainbows and unicorns while I ran? No.  Honestly, the race hurt like heck, but sometimes running does that. Now my new mindset exclaims, “why not hurt in a cute sparkle skirt?” Blood, sweat and sparkles, it’s the best of both worlds.

I’d love for one of you guys to have your very own sparkle skirt and wear it for whatever crazy reasons you desire. The fun and feisty ladies at Team-Sparkle.com have generously offered to let me give a sparkle skirt away in the color of the winner’s choice.  Check out their website, not only do they have sparkle skirts but lots of other fun stuff including racing wings, sparkle sleeves, visors, and more!  To enter, fill out the rafflecopter information below by Monday, November 26th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Tasty Giveaway Today – Sun-Rype 100% All-Natural Fruit Snacks

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This year I have been representing 100-percent fruity goodness on ambassador Team Sun-Rype, a group of 100 endurance athletes across the country sponsored by the brand Sun-Rype. As we run our races, ride our bikes, and suffer through our workouts, the team has been able to fuel and recover with the company’s line of delicious and completely natural products. As I’ve sampled my way through bushels of the stuff, I have to exclaim, one of my favorite products is the 100% All-Natural Fruit Strip.

Every single ingredient used in the Sun-Rype lineup of 100-percent fruit and veggie snacks, including the 100% All-Natural Fruit Strips, is of the highest quality containing only naturally occurring sugars and absolutely no artificial colors, fake flavors or preservatives. The sweetness of these wholesome products comes straight from fruit and vegetable juice concentrates and purees. Plus, with no artificial stuff or funky preservatives, you can feel confident that you’re giving your body the very best – putting premium gas in the tank, so to speak! Also, no nut or gluten ingredients if that’s an issue in your diet.

Me and Sun-Rype at Boston Marathon

I started replacing my gels, goos and gummies with the 100% All-Natural Fruit Stripsthis year for a couple reasons. First, obviously, the performance benefits of taking in 12 grams of fruit-based carbohydrates while on a long run. But, I found other reasons to love the stuff.  The individually wrapped ½ ounce bars are thin enough to stash in the fuel pocket of my running shorts. Helpful hint, I cut the bars in half so they fit in perfectly and I don’t have to fumble with opening the wrapper in the middle of a race.  Also, since these are “strips,” I can hang onto my fuel while I eat it rather than trying to clumsily squeeze it out into my mouth (like a goo product) or dropping little pieces all over the ground (like a gummie product).  Oh, and did I mention that the strips taste fantastic and my kids go crazy for them too?   It’s so hard to decide on my favorite flavor between Wildberry, Strawberry and Strawberry-Banana – I definitely recommend all!

Sample Nutrition Info

So, I’d love to treat one of my readers to a mixed case of 100% All-Natural Fruit Strip in Wildberry, Strawberry and Strawberry-Banana flavors. The case has 98 fruit strips in all, enough to share with your running buddies and /or family.

It’s easy to enter, see below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Zooma Texas Half-Marathon & 5K Registration Open Plus a Giveaway for Friends!

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Good news! Registration is officially open for the March 23, 2012 running of the Zooma Race Series in Austin, a fabulous Half-Marathon and 5k designed especially for women and their girlfriends, sisters, mothers, daughters and others – of course, guys are even welcome! Enjoy a challenging run through the Texas countryside and, afterward, bask in your accomplishment at a fabulous post-race party meant to pamper participants with mini spa treatments, wine tastings, live music, shipping and more. I was an ambassador for the race in 2011 and loved it so much, I’m talking it up again! So who’s in?

Check out this inspiring video to get you in the Austin state of mind! Also, don’t miss the Zooma Texas giveaway, opportunity to win two free entries to the Texas race and two complementary massages from Spa Django compliments of race host, the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines.  All you have to do is whip up a haiku about you and your running best friend and post it before October 10th.

Zooma Texas Registration

 

Me running Zooma in March 2011 – fun times!