AdvoCare Giveway

Even though giving is one of my most favorite things to do, it has been awhile since I have given anything away on my blog.  It's not something I can afford to do on my own and so I'm relying on companies to be generous with their product for me to sample and/or give away.  I don't have companies banging down my blog door and I don't necessarily have time to be persuing them.  Just a fyi though, for any company, I am always willing to sample/test/review your product for FREE and if able to pass the product onto those who read my blog.

I'm pretty sure I hear crickets chirpping right now, so I'll get on with the giveaway.

Please note, that this is ONLY a giveaway and not a review of the product as well.  My good friends Bob & Samantha Estrada sell this product and I'm happy to get the product into your hands if you are so inclined to try this product.  I have on a small, maybe once or twice basis, used this product, but not enough to give a valued opinion of the product.  Based on the information I do have about the product and what I have seen on other blogs it is a good solid product that I have no problem promoting.

For this giveaway, I will be choosing 3 winners for the following products:

~ 1 box (14 pouches) of Mango Pineapple Rehydrate Electrolyte Replacement Drink

~ 1 box (14 pouches) of Mango Strawberry Spark Energy Drink 

~ 2  Perfectly Peach AdvoBar Nutrition Bar A.M

 

To participate in the giveaway I will be asking you do the following things to earn entries.  The more you do, the more entries you get and chances you have of winning.  I'm keeping it simple and fun so sign up and maybe you'll win one of the prizes.

For +1 entry you must like Knox County AdvoCare:  this is the facebook page set up by my friend Bob Estrada.  Connect with this page to have him help you with all your AdvoCare questions and needs.

For +2 entries each day, tell others about this giveaway, which will in turn, let them know about my blog.  Put it on facebook or your own blog and make sure I know about when/where you posted about it.

For +10 entries (wowza!) you must post on my She Runs Everywhere facebook page a picture of you running in a costume.  Or email it to me: 6packmomma@gmail.com.  Ha!  You probably thought I had forgotten all about the whole costume thing since I hadn't mentioned it yet in this post.  I'll show you mine, if you show me yours......meaning later this week, I will post my picture from my race last weekend in a full bunny costume.

Click below to make your entries count:



a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will go through Friday, November 2, 2012.  I will select the winners over the weekend and announce them on Monday, November 5, 2012.

Worst Race EVER!

This will be brief.  Since I planned on starting my giveaway tomorrow, I didn't want to give a race recap about the Screaming Pumpkin until Tuesday.  However, I feel there is one HUGE detail that I must tell you all about asap.

I hang my head in complete shame to tell you that I have my first ever DNF!!!!  *shock*  *gasp*  That's right, you can all walk away and stop following my blog now because I QUIT!

Ok, so I don't need to be quite so dramatic.  I'm not completely filled with shame (just a little) and I know that my true friends and followers love me/my blog for ME and not for how I perform in running & racing.  Some of you might even be relieved that I'm not so perfect after all.  I'm human and I finally failed at a racing endeavor.  A little bit of humble pie might have been long over due for me anyway. 

For now it's best to sum Friday night up into my worst race EVER!  Many circumstances I can blame on the race itself, some of it was just nature and how my body responded to things, etc.  However I don't blame anyone/anything for my quitting but myself.  It was a choice *I* made based on the events of the evening.

I did manage to finish half of the race.  I ran 13.1 miles.  Even though I didn't get the full course done I gave it what I did have before calling it quits.  This race is not your typical marathon anyway.  I waited for my friends (who were there running as a relay team) to finish, grabbed all my swag and got out of there.  I wanted to get as far away from that race and that night as possible.

So there, I've fessed up.  I've been holding it in.  I cringe every time someone asks me about the race and haven't posted too much about it at all on facebook.  I'm full of emotions right now over it that range from high to low.  I promise to give you a full report of the race later this week.

Look closely, I altered my medal.

Friday's Funnies

Have a great weekend everyone!  Don't forget to laugh (and run, preferably in a costume, for me to see)!!!!

TTT: Costumes & Giveaways

1.  Throwing out a little teaser here.  I have a give away coming up on Monday.  I will have your usual chances to earn entries into my giveaway: ie, like my fb page, follow my blog, etc.  The biggest points/chances to earn entries will be submitting picture(s) of you running in a costume.  Tis the season for such fun activities (unless you are like me and any day is a reason to run in a costume, just for fun) so grab your camera, go for a run or race and get ready to send me some great pictures.

2.  Speaking of costumes and races, I am running the Screaming Pumpkin tomorrow night.  I have been very, VERY good at resting this week.  I've done easy mile days for the most part of the week.  Only last night did I get a solid run in with my girlfriend (and becoming a secondary running partner) Julia.  We had our last running of the year with Sole Sisters, a group that the local running store hosts.  Of course, who can pass up girl time and running AND food out afterwards?  Not me!  Anyway, Screaming Pumpkin.....last year I went and ran as a fully dressed Christmas tree. I won first prize in the contest ($150 to the running store....oh yeah baby!).  When I was up getting my prize they asked if I would be back again next year and as what.  Without even thinking I said the first thing that came to mind..."I'm going to be the Easter Bunny!"  Well, fast forward a few months and I did come across and actually run in a full fledged bunny costume for the Jelly Bean virtual run.  I've toyed around many ideas of what I race in on Friday and I decided to be true to my word and I will be running a full marathon in said costume.

3.  Speaking of giveaways, I thought I'd mention one that I'm aware of that is going on.  I'm not entering it, but thought I would share the love by telling you all about it.  Too Tall Fritz is another great blogger that I have met through Team Tough Chik (only 4 more days to join to team if you are interested.  don't say I didn't warn you!).  I've never met her in person (I hope to someday), but from what I know about her & through her blog she seems pretty freakin' amazing.  So hop (get it...bunny....hop....hahahahahaha) on over to her blog and check out her giveaway.

Vloggin' Wednesday - A little chit chat

Team Tough Chik Reminder

I've logged on several times today to blog, but just sat here staring at the screen.  I am really....REALLY in a slump.  Emotional one I think.  I have a few things here and there that I'm a little down on, but overall I really  have so much to be to be thankful for and happy about.  I'm hoping it's just the crazy weather that has me out of sorts.  Normally I'd go run it out, but remember, I'm trying to be good.  Resting and building up for my marathon this Friday night.  I'll be ready to bust down the gates when it comes time to run it, although it's not your usual race so time and pace, etc. won't even matter.  Even so I'll have a good time. 

So since I am not running as usual I still needed to come up with something to post.  I almost just bailed on y'all for the day.  No one says I HAVE to post everyday.  Anyway....

I wanted to remind you about joining Team Tough Chik.  You only have until Monday, October 29 to join this amazing team!  It has changed my life for the better and I have met some really great people.  If you haven't looked at it yet then don't hesitate.  Join now!!!!

Sorry, guys I know I just excluded you.  I noted this morning on my facebook status about boys and their non stop need to make noise.  Of course I typed it while being extremly annoyed by my own son's continuous and variable sounds.  I fully realize that some boys grown men never outgrow this habit.  So we put up with your little noises and ridiculous childlike fascinations.  Just like you put up with our little emotional slumps and girls only clubs.  It all works out in the end, right?!?!

Monday's Motivation

I've known all day that I really didn't want to title this Monday's Motivation and I'm sitting here as bum as can be with no motivation at all.  Not really in a running sense, but in a let's curl up in bed and watch t.v. all day sense.  Yay, we all have those days, I know.  The gloomy and wet weather is not helping my cause as all.

In running terms I'm doing ok.  Not great, not fantastic.  Just ok.  I am still on my running streak.....118ish days in a row now.  Recently I had a 10 day streak with no "rest days" at all.  I felt awesome and just kept pumping out the runs day after day.  That came to an end last Thursday when I got dressed for a run, even plotted out my course then just sat here thinking over and over....I don't want to run.  I did manage to get 1 mile in, my minimum requirement, then continued for the next 3 days in that funky mode.  Yesterday I forced myself out the door for a run.  I had no idea how long it would be, I just knew where I was planning to go.  8 miserable miles later I finally stopped and called for a ride home.  The thought occurred to me over and over to just stop and "give up", but that word tends to not be in my vocabulary.  If I say I'm going to run a certain course, then by golly, once I get one foot going in front of the other I AM GOING TO FINISH!

When I texted my running partner and told her about my run she was very concerned.  She was going all CAPS on me wondering what was wrong?!?!?!  (I think in reference to me finally stopping and calling for a ride home.  I have NEVER done that before)  You have to love running partners for they do speak the truth when you want to hear it the least.  Twice in the last week she has stressed that I NEED TO TAKE A BREAK!  Hmmm....maybe, I do.  MAYBE!  Yes, I have some sort of weird addiction where I just can't stand the thought of going without my daily running fix.  Even if it only for 1 mile.  Just 1 mile, man...JUST ONE MILE!


Yep, this tends to be me.  There are just no excuses these days.  I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but it's just me right now.  I might as well enjoy it while I can.

I did finally sign up to run the Screaming Pumpkin marathon on Friday.  I suppose I could take it easy for most of the week.  Maybe.  We'll see.

Friday's Funnies

Three Things Thursday: Internet, Visitors and CUPCAKE CLASSIC recap

1.  My internet has been pretty wonky most of the week.  It sort of-kind of worked, but not properly and getting anything productive done was useless.  When the internet guy came to check out the problem he fixed a few little things.  The main culprit though seemed to be our modem.  He said he doesn't even see our type of modem anymore.  If he does, it's always because it's broken and/or completely useless.  I realized that we had had that same modem since we moved into this house 9 years ago.  Back in those "old days" we had dial up service.  Wow!  What were we thinking back then?!?!  Then we finally got DSL and lastly in the last couple of years we went wireless.  Yep, just several more signs that I'm getting older (note, I did not say old).  Once the internet guy got things fixed and us set up on a new network, etc. things started to work at blazing fast speed.  Yeah....that is just what I need....to waste more time in faster motion.  I'm kidding....sort of, kind of.

2.  I've noticed some interesting visitors on my traffic feed I have posted off to the side.  >>>>
Some of it is worth noting and the interesting things that led them to my blog.  I love having LOTS of visitors and traffic.  Yes, I dream of my blog being well known and followed by hundreds of thousands of people, being mentioned on well watched & respected tv shows, having companies knocking on my door asking me to do reviews and giveaways, etc. etc. There is certainly so much more I can do to reach that point.  I fully realize that my life isn't really at that place right now though to actually put that energy into it.  So, if it takes off and becomes wildly famous (I can dream, right?) then great, but if not I really am happy with my little posse of followers I have now.  I'd much prefer quality over quantity anyway.  In the mean time, worth noting I have had followers from Kampala (not even sure where that is, will have to google it) who found me by searching for: 45 minutes of craziness.  Yeah, that could easily sum up me in a few good words...ha-ha.  I also had a visitor from Vietnam who found me by searching for: she runs two miles and half.  Sugar Land, Texas found me by searching Muscatine Running Friends.  Yay!  I love promoting that group and I'm honored to be a part of it even though I don't live there.  I also have visitors form Mountain View, CA; Houston, TX; Damascus, MD; Grafton, WI; Amherst, NH; Cashton, WI and Ellensburg, WA.  If you are any of those people, give me a shout out, let me know who you are, give me a hearty HELLO!

3.  I hate to lump this last point into my TTT.  It really deserves a post of it's own, but since my blogging week hasn't gone like I expected, I need to get it in here and done with.  I have been very honored to connect with Jess at Run with Jess.  In a nutshell this woman, wife, mother, friend, runner, blogger, etc. is AH-MAY-HAZ-ZING!  Follow her blog for any amount of time and you will be inspired and encouraged.  She puts together all these fun virtual runs that are becoming more popular within the blogosphere to help connect runners from all over to just go out, have fun and run/race without the confines, stresses, structures of regular racing.

This past week she held her 2nd annual Cupcake Classic.  What a brilliant idea!  I mean who doesn't love a cupcake now and then (moderation is the key people!).  I do!  I signed up in a heart beat and began recruiting other friends to join me in this fun adventure.  While some had to run at a different time & place (scheduling conflicts) most of us met on Monday to run a 5k route together.  I even had some walkers join us, they didn't do a full 5k course, but did what they could and earned the cupcakes just as much!  When we were all done we met back up at our start/end spot (Thanks Go Outside and Play for letting us use the store for this!) and exchanged cupcakes.  That was not part of the Cupcake Classic rules.  I think it's great to make and enjoy cupcakes from time to time, but what better way to enjoy that by having a variety of them to choose from.  We all ooooh'd and aaaaaah'd, maybe drooled a little, over each others creations (some store bought, some homemade, but no two were alike) and swapped them out before heading home.

 

The run itself was great!  Those of us that ran together (Julia, Kristen and I) clocked a 25:10 time.  We didn't specifically pay attention to time while we were running.  We just headed out and had fun, chatting along the way.  At one point Julia mentioned we were hitting a 9:05 pace and at another point we got carried away and was really booking it at a 7:23 pace.  Overall we enjoyed about a 8:20ish pace.  Pretty good and rightfully earning us some cupcakes.  I'll be honest and admit I ate more than one.  In fact, the next morning I woke up really hungry.  I then realized I never ate supper, just some cupcakes.  Oops!  Good thing with my kids though, they helped me devour the tray of tasty treats in no time.  Less temptation for me and points for being a good mommy who shares her treats!

Running down Seminary St. while eating a cupcake:

 Showing off my variety of treats:

Enjoying another cupcake in the BATHROOM!  It's a mom thing.....moms everywhere completely understand!

 

Breakfast is served!

This is a rare.....RARE weekend post.  Brought to you in part due to the icky, gloomy, rainy weather we have passing through our area today.   It is also the first time in 6 weeks that we have nothing on the calendar.  NOTHING!  As much as I love our busy, active life, this is a very welcome break in the action.

I know it's lunch time now, but I'm just now sitting down to eat my breakfast.  With the onset of above mentioned weather this morning I took the opportunity to "sleep in" until 7 a.m. (that's like noon in my book).  Even then, I lounged around in bed, watching tv, catching up on emails, reading a weeks worth of blog posts from all the ones I follow and sipping some coffee.  Throw in some snuggle time with my little ones who eventually woke up and it was turning out to be one fabulous morning.  I honestly can't remember the last time I did something like this....it has probably been months!  I didn't start milling around the house until after 9 a.m. 

I then decided to make a nice homemade breakfast for the kids, plus the one extra we have spending the night.  Again, not having anything specific on the calendar gave me a big opportunity to take the time to get this done.  No hurry up, throw something together, eat, eat, eat and go.  I was able to include the little ones who still think it's fun and cool to help mom in the kitchen.

I also took the chance to over cook and made quadruple the normal proportions so I can have some left overs and even some to tuck away in the freezer for future use.  It's a great tip that I highly suggest you take advantage of from time to time.  I may not be able to always serve them hot pancakes off the griddle like I did this morning, but they can still enjoy the yumminess of a warm pancake by grabbing some out of the fridge/freezer and warming it up on their own on a busier day that I may or may not be around for.

I took the above picture after only cooking a few dozen pancakes.  The kids were standing there chomping at the bit to start eating them.  I wanted to wait until I cooked all the pancakes to show you my abundance, but there was no holding off the vultures that were circling around my kitchen.  In the middle to the left you can see 4 lbs. of bacon.  We all love bacon so making so much is needed, especially if I want some leftovers!  I doubt it will even last us the week, but it will likely be awhile before I make so much again.  I also made plain pancakes (as seen on the platter and griddle cooking), but then I also made some chocolate chip and apple flavor ones.  In between the plate of bacon and big bowl of batter is a smaller bowl of my homemade applesauce.  I made that earlier in the week.  Simply put, I filled a whole stock pan full of cut up apples, added some cinnamon sticks and simmered for 8 hours.  Wha-la....homemade applesauce.  A delicious and easy add in to my pancake batter.

If you want to stop over I have PLENTY to spare right now.  If not, you can enjoy my homemade pancake recipe on your own.  Seriously, it is THE BEST EVER!  Find out for yourself.

PANCAKES
 ~3 C. flour
~1 C. brown sugar
~4 tsp. of baking soda
~2 C. milk
~2 eggs
~6 tbsp. of melted butter

Mix dry ingredients.  Add milk and eggs.  Stir until well mixed.  Add and stir in melted butter.  Cook as usual on griddle or stove top.

Note: the above recipe can make approx. 2 dozen pancakes and can barely feed my family of 8 without a crumb of leftovers.  I typically double the recipe to comfortably have enough plus a small amount of leftovers.

I'm heading out in a little bit for a long run with my running partner Angela.  Even though it's still very gloomy and wet outside, the actual rain has subdued for now.  I've had a great start to my weekend.  How about you?

Friday's Funnies

I have to back up and do some explaining about yesterday's post.  It's actually a long funny story that had several women laughing quite hard.  It may be one of those you had to be there to truly appreciate the humor in it moments, but I will still try and convey what happened.

I mentioned I was making yesterday's pumpkin peanut butter cups for my book club.  I was telling them that I thought there was too much nutmeg for my liking.  That lead us to discussion about how I came about taking the original recipe and multiplying it to my larger portion.  I know I added 6 teaspoons of  nutmeg, which I then converted into 2 tablespoons and posted in my version of the recipe.  Don't be too impressed with my conversion, I have a handy dandy chart on my fridge that tells me these things.  I am not smart enough to know or remember what equals what when converting things.  Anyway, after looking up the original recipe during book club, I really have no idea why or how I came up with adding so much nutmeg.  Or anything for that matter.  Nothing made sense about what I set out to do yesterday in making this yummy treat.  However, aside from an extremely strong taste of nutmeg it was a very tasty treat.  I will have to re-do this recipe, write down  & take notes while I do it and report back at a later date.  Until then, you might want to refer to the original recipe or else enjoy walking around with great smelling breath and a good chance of fighting off bacteria within your mouth (as talked about in the original post with it's great antibacterial properties).

Sometimes we just need to laugh at ourselves!!

Onto other random funnies for this Friday:

 ^^Very...VERY true for me, like everyday when I take the kids to school!^^

^^I LOVE football AND band, I'm actually there to watch both, but this was funny and at the end of the day...I'm with the band!!!!^^

Three Things Thursday

1. I made home made chocolate pumpkin peanut butter cups today.  I should have taken pictures (it looked SO yummy) but I needed to get them made and have it done & over with.  However, the blog, Real Food Runner, that I got it from had pictures on it.  So you can see her pictures and blog post here.  In case you don't see, she gives credit for the original recipe from the blog Domestic Fits and you can see her original post and pictures here.  Both are worth looking into.  I've only sampled my own creation and it is yummy!  I did also make a few changes to the recipe.  I know dark chocolate is "the best", but I for one can not stand it.  Bleck!  So I used milk chocolate.  For the filling I also kept the same ingredients, but wanted to use a whole can of pumpkin so I changed the filling proportions to this:

1 can of pumpkin
1 C. of peanut butter
1/4 C. honey
2 tbsp. of cinnamon
2 tbsp. of nutmeg

For the chocolate I used 6 C. of milk chocolate.   I then used the same concept that the blogs tell about and oh my yummy, it is ever good!  Try it!  My book club gets to be the first to try this yummy creation!

WAIT!  STOP!  ETA:  You need to check out this post  to read about a follow up and correction to the above recipe!


2.  The great & fabulous blogger Run With Jess is hosting a Cupcake Classic Virtual 5k.  The race runs from October 14 - 21.  Yes, I should have told you about this sooner.  Don't worry you can still sign up here and get your race packet here to join in the fun.  If you live locally you can join our cupcake Run/Walk on Monday October 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Go Outside and Play.  For extra fun we are holding a cupcake exchange before the race.  Each of us are going to bring a dozen cupcakes and trade amongst ourselves.  You can make up your own cupcake creation from scratch or go buy something at the store.  We won't be picky!!  Come join the fun!!!!

3.  Registration has opened for the 2013 Team Tough Chik.  I joined this team last year and it has been well worth the time and money spent.  The only requirement is that you need to be a girl/woman.  Sorry guys, go cry me a river.  I highly recommend this team and the gear they have to offer.  Even better than that the community of women who run, bike, exercise or just plain move to better their bodies is incredible.  I have met several amazing women who have encouraged and been supportive of me in my running, my blogging and even just life in general.  We are all tough to some degree.  It just looks different from person to person.  Think about joining, but you only have until the end of October to sign up.  Let me know if you have any questions about the team!!

Vloggin' Wednesday - Run this Town Update

Two Things (maybe a few more) Tuesday

I ditched you guys last week.  I won't apologize, even though I feel a tad guilty....that is just in my nature, because it's just what I had to do to survive the week.  Just another one of those push comes to shove times and out the door you guys went.  I've noted several times recently that I'm having a rough time with a few things.  Emotions, sorrow, grief, etc, but I've really had a hard time adjusting to my new fall schedule.  You'd think that all the kids being in school would make my day easier, in many ways it has, but I'm having a harder time with the scheduling of everything that has to be packed into my day.  6 kids and all their activities has me stretched and pulled in a million directions.  I already am used to the craziness of my life, but I think adding another high schooler has bumped that craziness up a whole other notch.  Not that I'm blaming that one child.  I guess having another jr. higher that was playing dual sports AND then got a solo part in the community musical added a lot more madness too.  They all play a part.  I'm not complaining in the least bit.  I really do enjoy it so much and just embrace this crazy time in my life.  Doesn't always make it easy though.  I certain earn my title of SUPER MOM!  or WONDER WOMAN!  Take your pick, I'm pretty freakin' amazing!

Anyway, maybe it's because a few activities are done for the fall, but I finally feel I'm starting to get the hang of this school year.  Doesn't make me any less busy, but I feel more comfortable about things.

I did run this morning.  I will be honest.....it SUCKED!  I did 9.5 yesterday and felt fine.  I even felt fine as I hit the pavement this morning.  I started in one direction to cover my predetermined route, but was smacked in the face with wind.  Ugh!  I can take heat.  I can take cold.  I can run up any hill.  But the wind ruins almost any run!  So I flipped around and went on an alternate route.  For about the first 2-3 minutes everything was fine, then I just hit a wall.  Like an idiot maniac persistent determined gal I pushed on.  More than once I wanted to walk, but that doesn't get me finished any sooner, especially since I HAD to get back to where I started.  I even felt like laying down in the middle of the road a few times.  Don't get me wrong, there was no white flag of danger or injury.  I just couldn't get my run on and yet I was already in that run state and had to push on.  I don't regret getting my run done, it was just a rather sucky one in my daily running history.  So I have tunes to share for today, but am going to veer in another direction and share 2 things with you.

First, is a big, braggin', proud momma moment.  On Saturday was the jr. high cross country sectional meet.  Only the top 7 runners from the team are taken to compete.  The first part of the season my son was consistently running low 15 minute times for the 2 mile course.  Toward the end of the season he dipped down to the low 14 minute range.  I'm sure I've made it clear either way that I'm proud of my kids whether they run or not and if they do whether they are faster or slower runners.  But I will admit it gets me all excited to see my son excel in running.  I know he's not some great top of the state runner.  I'm not expecting him to be since he is 11, in 6th grade, barely weighs 65 pounds soaking wet and is in his first year of school competition.  However, he is off to a great start.  Time, maturity and more consistent training will advance him to a better runner over time.  Coming into the sectional meet he had set a personal goal to run within the 13 minute range.  I was behind him 100%.  I've known all season he is capable of this and had mentioned it to him in passing, but didn't want to push.  For me, him becoming a great runner is not always about me pushing it upon him, but him learning and discovering it all on his own.  I want it to be his passion, his desire, his hard work and achievements.  When he passed the 1 mile mark he was on track to run a sub 14 minute time.  I am beyond proud (and was screaming and yelling with excitement) when he finished in 13:31.  A personal best for him.  Knowing he had run his best just about had me in tears!

 Believe it or not that was not even close to advancing him to the state cross country meet.  To be a top runner at sectionals he would have had to run between a 10:30 - 12:30 race.  Holy moley!  It was still a great day and a wonderful running mommy moment!


The second thing I wanted to tell you about, was in form of a tip.  Maybe you all know this already, maybe you didn't.  I was reminded of this tip because I had a friend post and ask about buying warmer/winter tights.  It is getting rather cold in the morning.  That never deters me from lacing up and heading outside.  There is NO such thing as cold/bad weather....just inappropriate clothing.  (I make no claim to such wisdom, I'm merely passing on what I have heard many times myself.)  I told her about buying off of ebay.  It often takes time, sometimes weeks/months of searching & watching certain auctions to finally hit the jackpot.  My two warmest tights are Hind brand and I bought them for $17.00 a pair.  They were brand new with the tags still attached and that price also included the shipping.  Now (I guess that was a bit of a tip itself) but to keep the clothes in good and lasting condition I suggest you do not wash them frequently/all the time.  Your first reaction may be...ewww, gross.  Well, I'm a sweater of all sweaters so yeah, I'm not saying it's the best smelling option.  Every time you wash and dry those tights you are wearing/breaking down the fabric.  I wear mine for a week or two before actually washing them.  To help with the sweat (and smell) I do hang them out each day (as shown below):

When I'm out running on a daily basis, I'm typically alone.  If I'm not then my running partner understands.  I'm not out to win some beauty contest and I'm just going to get all sweaty/smelly again anyway.  No harm, no foul (well unless we're talking foul smelling....hahahaha).  After a few years my $17 brand new tights look as good as new.  I plan to get A LOT of wear and tear out of them!  Just my little tip to help you along during this cold weather running.

Tuesday's Tunes - Compliment and Clarification

I ran nice and early this morning.  There was a lot of scampering squirrels and rabbits.  Add some swirling, crunching leaves and I was a little jumpy on my run.  I'm still working on Run This Town, but am to the point where I need to run in neighborhoods that are much further from home and in places I'm not as familiar with.  Which is another reason why I'm deferring a lot of my runs to the afternoon times.  Some days though I just need to get it done and over with, like today.  I am running out of 5 a.m. places to run though.  Some neighborhoods I simply will not run in unless it's broad daylight out.

Here are the tunes that kept me company on my run:
How Can I Fear - Shelly Hamiliton
Gangstas Paradise - Coolio Feat. L.V.
Lamb of Glory - Ralph Carmichael Orchestra
Piano Man - Billy Joel
7 Things - Miley Cyrus
The Name of the Game - Mama Mia Soundtrack
Start of Something New - High School Musical Soundtrack
So What! - P!nk
Happy Girl - Martina McBride
Numa Numa - Dan Balan
We Are the World 25 for Haiti

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I wanted to share a compliment that I heard about myself yesterday.  It's one of those that some may not consider a compliment, but I do.  As unusual as it may sound I just have to laugh and embrace it.  I was approached by a friend and co-worker Beth.  We had both just attended a ladies retreat over the weekend that was put on by our church.  Other than seeing each other we didn't really have any direct interaction with each other.  During this retreat we heard a great and powerful speaker and then we broke out into table talk to discuss what we had heard.  I'm not sure but somehow the topic of me came up at Beth's table.  She said this happens a lot (my name getting brought up, in a good way....of course!) and the topic (of course!) turned to my exercising and running habits.  Someone exclaimed at the table "well, we can't compare ourselves to Carmen.....she's not even human!"  Awwwwww....how touching!  I'm flattered...really!!

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I wanted to clarify a teeny bit about the Wildcat 50k .  While there is no registration process, thus no registration fee, they do ask for a donation of some kind.  This race is meant to help raise money for the construction of a playground within the park and other park improvements.  If you have never been to Wildcat Den, oh are you missing out.  This place is AWESOME!  The race and course is also set up so that you don't have to run the full 50k.  There are 6 mile loops that wind through out the park.  There is no shirt, no race bib, no counters, etc.  Just you, the trail, a 50k (or less, if you want) and your honor saying that you showed up and ran it.  This race is very low key, but I guarantee that it is not only organized by great runners, but you will find a top notch group of participants that show up.  Take a look at it...give it a try....what have you go to lose?

September: A month in recap

Woooooah.....how in the world did October sneak up upon us?!?!  I'm not complaining.  Fall is my favorite season of the year.  I am LOVIN' the changing colors, cool, but not cold, yet still warm days.  Sweatshirts and jeans.  Apple cider.  I could go on and on.  Let's take a quick look back on the month of September.

I logged 106 miles.  Not to shabby.  That's a little lower than July and August, but it's fair to say I had quite the stressful and emotional month with very little sleep.  Considering it all, I still think I came out ok.  While I do run daily, 14 of those days were "only" 1 milers.  1 mile in my minimum.  Those days are the when push comes to shove and I don't really have anything to give OR the day is just too busy and I seriously don't have much time to run.  I force myself out the door for that minimum amount of time.  I know a few times that has been at 10 p.m. and it's a really slow pace.  Yes, I debate about just ignoring my run for that day.  Am I really gaining any fitness or running advantage to getting those runs in?  Probably not.  My competitive streak, even when only against myself, keeps me headed out the door though.  I'm on day 125 of my running streak.  I can give 10 minutes of my day to keep that going.  Plus, I'm just really on a roll.  Since starting this running streak I have had less problems with injury for the first time in 3 years.  Yes, I have little twinges here and there, but this is the best running shape I have been in....well for the first time ever!!!!

Something that is kind of new is that 6 times in September I ran twice in a day.  Typically that means I did 1 mile first thing in the morning then that afternoon went out for a longer run.  Twice though I ran 3-4 miles in the morning and another longer run in the afternoon.  I'm taking advantage of having my afternoons free.  Not, as in free, I have "nothing" to do so I might as well run.  Free, as in, the kids are all gone, I'm fairly caught up on what I need to do for today and the weather is WONDERFUL....so why not head out the door for a run?  Also the darker and colder mornings are motivating me to get my bare minimum done right away then enjoying a much longer run in the daylight when it's a tad warmer out.

Looking at things from a yearly perspective:  I have ran 221 times and logged 756 miles.  485 of those miles have been since starting my running streak at the end of May.  I am really, REALLY looking forward to what I'm going to accomplish these last 3 months of the year. 

Racing:  I did not run any races in September.  This time of the year is EXTREMELY busy for me and it's hard to find any free days to race.  At this time I don't have any races I'm signed up for.  I'm looking at Screaming Pumpkin Marathon at the end of the month.  That is a super fun race that is held at night and the course runs through a cemetery.  What can be better than that?!?!?  I'm a hoping a Grey Ghost will run with me.  Although I've only mentioned the race to said Ghost, but I'm pretty sure all of my usual running friends are running the same race as part of a relay team.  So I'm thinking GG would be a great partner to keep me company for 26.2 miles in the dark in a cemetery.  What do you think GG? 

I will likely do Wildcat 50k that running/blogger Larry Sandhaas puts together.  Just about the only thing better than running 30 some miles in the fall through Wild Cat Den is that you can do it for FREE!  Ahhhh, sweet music to my ears!

Beyond that I'm not sure about any other races.  Sometimes one pops up and I do it spur of the moment.  For the time being I need to wait for October to wind down so that several of my kids activities can finish up and lessen our daily load of scheduled practices and meets/competitions.  However, none of that affect my daily running schedule.  That will keep going....one day, one mile at a time.

How did your month of September go?  What are you looking forward to in October?