100th Post Prize Pack

Holy cow! I can not believe this is my 100th post! And I have 171 followers! Thanks to all that follow, give great comments and such, I appreciate everyone! That wonderful Scott with Outside PR sent me a small package full of some of my favorite products and said"hey let's do this package as a giveaway" What better way to celebrate a 100th post than with a prize package!!

So what's in this marvelous package?

1 pair of Ryders Sunglasses

I am not a fan of sunglasses except while riding my bike~gotta have them for that!

1 GoLite Visor (Yellow)

I wanted a black visor so mine is a Sugoi I LOVE wearing a visor while running!

1 GU Mix

Who doesn't love GU? Yes taste takes some time to get used to but its some good stuff!

How can you win? Let's see....

1. Follow me of course!!

2. Follow OutsidePR on Twitter

3. Like Ryders Eyewear on Facebook 

4. Like GU on Facebook

5. Like Sugoi on Facebook

6. Like GoLite on Facebook

7. Last but not least Spread the word! Blog It, Tweet It, Facebook It

One entry for each!

So there you have it, 9 ways to enter to win an awesome prize pack! Entries accepted until 10/8/10 with a winner selected on 10/9/10. US folks only PLEASE!

Pokey Pig 5k, Lazy Blogger

I have been wanting to "win" one of those blogging awards but I think the only one I can win is Lazy Blogger! I have so MUCH blogging that I am behind on its not even funny. Why? The only thing I can come up with is just being lazy, on top of all of everyday life's chores adventures and such. Seriously how do some of you fit it all in?? So if there is such, go ahead and send it my way the Lazy Blogger right here!

Probably the only thing I "collect" is pigs. I LOVE everything with pigs on it! I like pigs so much that I do NOT eat any pork products at ALL and the only reasons is because I like Pigs! There is a local town that has a Ham Days festival with a Pokey Pig 5k, being the pig collector/lover I am this race was definitely for me. (Last year I wanted to do this one and when I woke up it was pouring rain and I decided not to go, would have been my first race in the rain and I chickened out~ got paid back by mother nature my first rain race ended up being my first half marathon!)

I headed into this race confident, told everyone I know I "AM" winning a pig medal. I have never felt that confident going into a race before so I started to let it get to me right before start. There was a big crowd(about 300 participants) but seemed to be lots of kids. We started right in the front, thinking I might get trampled but I wasn't moving back any farther. Off we go (nice course made a square around the town back to the start) and I was rolling down the first block when I heard Sheri yell out "UGHHH! Move out of the WAY!" Several of those kids jumped up to the start also, ran as hard as they could and stopped about the end of the first block right in front of us. Getting past the "inexperienced" kids and runners/walkers was a little harder than I care for. Passed the first mile marker at 8:06 ~wow for me! My pace slowed a little after that and then I came to the gravel part, it was noted on the map of the course that a small portion was in gravel however I think it was about .75mi  to 1mi of gravel! I do not enjoy gravel and with an upcoming half I didn't want to take any chances of twisting an ankle or something so I slowed it down a little more. Until second wind Sheri was beside me sailing right along (she does so much better than me on the second half of any run we do!) and I was going to stay with her so I picked it back up a bit. We rounded the corner down to the finish line, she was speeding up passed a man and I was determined I was going to pass him also, so I sprinted as fast as I could and passed him to finish with another new PR!! 3.12 miles = 26:28!! Heck ya I like it! And I got me one of those pig medals I KNEW I was taking home!

After the awards we had already decided we was going to put in another 7mi to get in a total of 10mi for our long run. This was one of the best longs runs I have had! I felt comfortable and was able to keep up pretty well the entire run. Along with my fast 3 miles during the race I finished 10mi in 1:33:27 and was very pleased with that! I am hoping I can keep up this pace for our upcoming half, my last one was 2:26 so this time I am shooting for 2:15 anything better than that is SUPER!!

Love me some Pigs!

I haven't forgot I still need to share about my "Serres" swag planning on posting that later along with a giveaway!

Running Chics Discount

Andrea has confirmed, any of my followers that place an order from Running Chics after reading this post HERE will receive some type of discount!! So what are ya waiting for.....Head on over to Running Chics and order something already!! Just send Andrea an email from the Running Chics site under the contact us tab and she will HOOK you up!!! Don't forget Christmas is just around the corner ~ Any female runner would be happy to receive something from Running Chics !!
Happy Shopping!

3 Things Thursday: Running Chics

1. Have you been on Running Chics site? If so have you checked it out lately? Running Chics awesome Andrea has been working hard to improve and add on to the site. There are also some new items and new colors, be sure to check it out HERE! I LOVE RUNNING CHICS items!

2. I REALLY LOVE the color of the Vest shown above. Click HERE (or on vest) to see how you can get one of your very own. I have never been a Vest person however I do think it would be enjoyable while running. Hmmm.....Hoping someone reading makes mental notes of the items I like! LOL       How about you? What are your feelings on wearing Vests and not only in running just Vests ? What is a "must have" cold weather running gear? I have limited supply of cold gear and that time is coming guessing I need to start preparing. I am hoping to eventually end up with an entire Running Chics outfit for every season.

   

3. Have I told you yet that I really LOVE Running Chics stuff? Oh maybe I have. The Stretch Flex-alo Sports Bra is the BEST bra I have ever ran in to date! My family is blessed in the "girls" department so a good sports bra is a MUST. Andrea was kind enough to let me try one out and let me tell you if she was here with me I would have to hug her! I LOVE THIS BRA (and that is totally my opinion unpaid for!!) and would recommend it to any runner!! Click HERE to see about getting your very own! I also LOVE my alo Mesh Back Tank. It is another awesome item I would recommend to any runner it is sooooo comfy! Who doesn't like comfy especially while torturing ourselves oops I mean running. If you do decide to order something (anything) from Running Chics maybe send Andrea an email letting her know you read this Blog post and just HAD to have something from Running Chics and maybe she will give a small discount or something? Don't know that for a fact but it might happen. I am also hoping to do another review/giveaway in a couple of months, maybe Christmas time, stayed tuned!

Socks Winner

Lucky number

 Result:

182  Which is COURTNEY @ I Can Do This!
Send me your info so I can hook you up!!

I really wanna tell ya about the "Serres" award but its gonna have to wait till tomorrow. Went bike riding with Sheri tonight, 15 miles of you guessed it HILLS and that is the longest ever I have rode which is like my fifth time of riding. My legs feel wore out and needing to go to bed! But I will tell ya all about it tomorrow!!

Hello all new followers~Glad ya found me hope everyone enjoys my journey just as much as I enjoy having it! And there are more giveaways to come!!!

The Last Serres Race

Last night was race of our local "Serres". Here's the thing with the "Serres":

Completion of at least 7 of the events in the series will allow you to receive a “Distinctive Serres Reward”. Ten completed events yield a “Pretty Serres Reward” and twelve or more, the “Totally Serres Reward”. Jackets, shirts, gloves, and hats are the planned rewards.

But I will get back to that later....

This was another one of those special races, one in which the good ole' hubs gets to do as well! I wasn't nervous going into the race at all, I had already made my mind up that whatever happens happens, after doing so well the day before I couldn't ask for much more and I knew I would be getting my "Serres" award so it wasn't like I was going home completely empty handed! I do like the awards they give at this race and hope to win one, they are hand painted plaque like things, so maybe one day unfortunately yesterday wasn't it. I told Gerard to run his heart out and maybe he would get one and I could just stake some claim on it~ well that didn't work out either~ but one day it WILL happen! We both actually ran GREAT races, not sure of official times yet and he doesn't have a clue what his time was but it was GREAT. (He NEVER seems to hear or see a clock any where we ever race at~still gotta love his fast running self:) Me on the other hand came in at an extremely HOT 27:47 (by my watch) and not hot like beautiful, hot like holy crap its like 87degrees at 5pm and we are running into the setting sun. I even walked twice for short distances, if only I didn't also found out Gerard had to to the same. We started on the line and this is a pretty big race for our area there are normally about 250 runners/walkers so starting on the line is a pretty big deal to me, but on that day I half way felt comfortable there. I try so hard not to do it but I always get caught up in the race mode and think I can hang with those fast folks until good ole' Sheri yelled at me "Bobbie your at 7:30" yep better slow it way down or I'm gonna pass out! I kept a fairly good pace and did pretty good at slowing and picking back up until a little past mile 2, I saw this other lady I know is fast and she was walking all I could think is if she's walking so am I. Looking back I sure wish I would have tried harder to push on, probably still wouldn't have placed but would have really felt better about it~Oh well there is always next year! All in all it was a great race and all had fun, what more could you ask for. My most favorite little buddy Baron(&family best friends) also came so he could do the kids mad dashIsn't he just the cutest!

Since this was the last race of the "Serres" I wanted to try and get as many of us together that I could for a group photo. Not everyone got in there but again there is ALWAYS next year! Here is what we did get

Not a bad lookin' crew huh?

And what better way to end an evening race, with dinner at the local pizza place Giovanni's YUM!!

Race for Recovery 5k

**This was not a full 5k it was only 3mi exact.**

The girls and I decided to do this race since our "Serres" race wasn't until today we thought"why not??" It was about an hour away from where we live and who doesn't enjoy a road trip! We were the first people to arrive and found out that only about 10 people pre registered, there ended up being about 30 - 45 people total. Okay either we are really gonna rock this or these folks are gonna show us up. It was a cool Saturday morning so we sat in the car, jammed and such.



Me, Katrina & Sheri

As you can tell in the photo above we were sizing up our competition getting ready to do this! Off we go, about the entire first half was down hill which was NICE!! We had a nice pace (8:30) and felt comfy, we reached the 2mi mark at around 17:33~NICE! Then this nice long ongoing hill came, but we just paced it out the best we could to just keep on going. On the way up that hill I kept hearing a grumbling sound finally at the top of the hill, when I could talk again, I asked Sheri "Is that your stomach growling?" Yep it sure was! There was also this cute little boy with a mohawk that really didn't want us to pass him but we finally did. Not realizing this was only a 3mi race not 3.1 I looked at my watch, we were at 2.75 and my time was 25 something ~OMG! Made the final turn up the last little hill to hear the announcer say here comes our first female finishers again OMG!! Again it was a small race but there were several women and most in my age group which was by 10's so I was in the 30-39. But Sheri was the 1st female with me right on her heals for 2nd female!! And we got PR's(26:23 for me) double bonus!! Then just as soon as we get some water open it up and take a drink, what is that here comes Katrina and she is UNDER 30 mins!! HOORAY all 3 of us got PR's!! Wouldn't you know it they didn't give awards for top 3 male/female finishers but Sheri and I did get 1st place in age, sorry Katrina but you did PR!! AWESOME JOB GIRL!!

On closing I would like to share some pics that show why I LOVE my running buddy! I am SO LUCKY to have found her and am VERY THANKFUL I have!

Don't forget tonight is the last night to enter my CEP Compression Sock giveaway!!

Winner announced with race report number 2!

Cep Compression Socks- Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago I won some CEP compression socks from Momma of 3 on the Run. I have really been wanting to try out these socks, since doing long runs for half marathon training I felt the need to have some. I also knew I had the 15k coming up and that would be a great time to give em' a try. As a newbie to these socks I wasn't sure if I should run while wearing them or wear them after a run, I choose to wear them after. I selected the pink ones shown above and let me tell you these babies made my tired legs feel pretty dang good! I am sure all of us runners are somewhat the same but my legs are more tired and achy after a race rather than training, guessing its because we wanna WIN (or in my case try to place in my age group!) After our 15k we planned on going to our local festival, so I went home and put on my compression socks for a couple of hours before. (If you haven't read my recap of the 15k check it out HERE) My tired, achy legs felt wonderful while wearing and after wearing these fabulous socks!! I even put them back on when I got back home. After wearing them I now see how they would also be awesome to wear during a race which I am considering for our upcoming half .

      Train Harder. Race Faster. Recover Quicker.
          I like this saying from the CEP site!!

Now for the best part, for you lovely followers that is. When Jamie with Cep   contacted me about what size socks I needed, she also offered for me to do a giveaway!! Check out these awesome green socks you can also select

I really like these as well!

So how can you win some of these awesome compression socks of your own?

Mandatory

Be a Follower of my Blog!

Visit CEP site and tell me which socks you will choose

Extra Entries

Follow CEP Compression Sportswear on Facebook

Follow CEP Compression Sportswear on Twitter

If you currently have (or have tried) compression socks tell me what ya think, Should you wear them while running or after and the benefits of either way?

Spread the word, Blog it, Tweet it, Facebook it

(one entry for each item!! 8 entries per person)

9/19 is the last day to enter A winner will be selected on Monday 9/20

As always these words are all mine and not paid for!!

Joy of Soap Winners

Random.org selected numbers
                                                                           7 & 46
That means Laura Elaine & Running Librarian
send me some info!! All I will need is email address!

If you haven't done so already PLEASE be sure to check out the blogs of those wonderful ladies as well! (Just click on the names above to link to their blogs) LauraElaine  also has some AWESOME scrapbooking items for sale!!

Thanks to all that entered and everyone THANK YOU for following my journey!! A new giveaway will be posted tomorrow so please stay tuned!(Really wanted to get it up tonight but I am exhusted today)

Run for the Pets 15k

I survived it, I made it I am glad its over and DONE with! That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the 15k. Guess I will go ahead and give ya the break down.

We already knew there was a chance of rain so I was just hoping for not pouring down ponding type of rain, so when I woke up and it was thundering I was doubtful. However the rain held off during the race and wasn't bad at all, it had rained before the race and didn't start during the race until I reached almost mile 9 which was actually a little relief. My mom and girls walked the 5k and they said it poured rain on them at their start~ sorry guys!
The worst part for me is when I opened my eyes I could feel it- the terrible terrible poop pain :( ugghhh! I immediately got up and headed for the bathroom. I got up in plenty of time (thank goodness) and I live right down the road from the race that started at 7:30am, I had every intention of arriving at 7am cause I knew my girl Sheri will arrive about then. But 5 bathroom trips later I think I got there at 7:15 to stand in the bathroom line there and hear "15k Runners 5 mins till start!" Great, why me, why today! I am really not sure what was going on with me, I didn't think it was nerves as I knew I wasn't winning any kind of award I was just going out to run my own race and whatever happened happens but I didn't want stomach issues! Anyway I totally felt like I was going to crap on myself for the first 4 miles then it went away until I got to about 7.5mi and it hit again. I walked until about the 8mi mark and told myself to just finish this thing out! My goal time was 1:30 since in practice last week I did it in 1:29:59 and when I reached the 8mi I thought possibly I could still make it. Nope! I came in at 1:33:18 still okay considering the way I felt! There was also a really nice english lady (guessing by her accent) that talked with me for the last 2.3mi which helped of course. Then as soon as I crossed the finish line someone informed me I had a hurt daughter~ oh no! I look around to see her sitting she slipped and sprained her ankle! Thank goodness nothing major! She even got a first place medal(she was the only one in her age group but hey a win is a win right?).
The main reason I am glad it is over is due to the hills, I am so over running long runs on constant hills. Not completely done but ready for a break! I am very thankful I am able to complete such distances and really enjoy doing all the different distances and adding more and more but I am ready for some easy routes for a couple of weeks! Next Sunday is our last race of the "Serres" and they give out really neat awards there so I really really wanna get one there but we will see what happens!

I leave you fellow bloggies like always with questions! Why is it when last week I ran the same route in practice my legs and body did not feel as tired and wore out as it did (and does) yesterday? Is it just me getting myself all worked up due to it being the actual race? Hope everyone had great races of their own this weekend!

Oh my girl Sheri did AWESOME!! That girl is a total ROCK STAR on the second half of any run we do and I bottom out. Gotta work on that for me but great for her!

3 Things Thursday: Did I do that

1. A new Pr on my one of my regular weekly 4mi runs? Just last week I set one at 36:49, last night on the same course but just reversed I came in at 36:34!! That is cutting 15seconds= WOW for me! I know I can't do that on every run but I feel like I am getting closer and closer to that being my average time. I guess really I should say "our" average time because I could NOT do any of these awesome runs without Sheri! Thanks Girl!! Oh and she said the sweetest thing to me tonight on our run, a car with 2 cute little old ladies passed us and Sheri says"That's gonna be us one day when we can't run together anymore, just gonna have to ride around together!" HOW SWEET! Also the rest of our running crew Katrina, Angie & Gerard even though we are all on different levels of our running it takes the support of all of us to make it through this journey!! Thanks Crew Love All of Ya!

2. Tuesday night we are debating, Should we run or should we skip? It had been raining buckets but was down to a light drizzle and it appeared the sky was clearing in the direction we would be going so ya we are doing this. This night my mom and girls decided to go also as they will be walking the 5k this weekend while we are running the 15k. Mom had an umbrella so I gave Baylee mine just in case. Off we go approaching about 1.35 mile the rain has picked up again and it is lighting, even though you shouldn't there is a couple of trees on the corner so we got under neath to wait. Again it lets up so lets finish this there is only .65 till the turn around. Speedy Gerard runs faster ahead of us, turns around coming back saying something but we can't hear him so we smile, laugh and continue on. Seriously it is pouring rain like there is no tomorrow and lighting like crazy, we made it to 1.81 mi and decided we better turn around and head for those trees again. This time however it NEVER let up, so we waited and waited thinking someone will come out and pick us up. No one so lets just go for it, can't get any wetter right? Running with ponds in your shoes, clothes so heavy they feel like they are falling off and rain hitting you so hard it stings is NOT an easy task. We ran from trees to trees stopping a few minutes each tree we came upon until FINALLY Gerard showed up to get us!! THANKS HONEY!! Except he is mad at us~what? He says when he passed us he told us to turn around now and come back with him, but honestly we did not hear him! Sorry dear! Gotta train for any weather possible you never know how it will turn out on race day, right?!

3. This one isn't a did I do that moment. Don't forget to enter my Joy of Soap giveaway! (Should of had it with me in the rain could have went ahead and showered up~lol!!)

The Joy of Soap Giveaway

Not sure if all women are this way, but I LOVE trying out new bath products! Lotions, cremes, soaps you name I wanna try it. After getting tired of always using body wash I came across The Joy of Soap. Currently they only have soaps so I checked out their scents. Here is just a few the offer

Lay Me Down Lavender

Feeling Frisky

Two in the Shower Tea Tree

Don't ya just love the names! I contacted The Joy of Soap about maybe offering a sample and Melissa Kindly did so! I chose to try out the Feeling Frisky (just couldn't help it the name suckered me in!!) and Lay Me Down Lavender. Both of these soaps have Wonderful Amazing scents and leave me feeling fresh and clean! Me personally do not like flowery scents but these did not bother me at all. (I am more of a fruity person, the flowers tend to give me headaches) A little info from their site about the ingredients:
Ingredients



We will continue to use the finest all-natural ingredients possible. We do not compromise on the quality of our ingredients because we know that you can smell and feel the difference in products that are made with care, attention and the best materials/ingredients possible.
We will continue to seek out and make our products using natural and organic ingredients, and ingredients derived from sustainable practices. We use certified organic base oils in our essential oil soaps as well as sustainably wild crafted, locally grown and organic exfoliates when possible.
 
Another great thing about this company are their Green Practices. This is something I really want to improve on in my lifestyle so finding companies that do the same is awesome! Along with my samples Melissa was also kind enough to let me do a giveaway!! So TWO, that's right 2 lucky followers will get the chance to try this wonderful soap for themselves!! Who knows at only $7.50 for a 5oz bar of soap and $3.50 for a 2oz bar maybe you can stock up on some Christmas gifts, its  NEVER too early to start thinking about that!!
 
So let's see how you can WIN!!!
^^^ BE a FOLLOWER of my BLOG!
^^^ Visit The Joy of Soap and tell me what cha like
^^^ Spread the WORD! Blog it, Tweet it, Facebook it
one entry for each!!
 
Two LUCKY WINNERS will receive a $20 e-certificate to use as they please! The lucky 2 winners will be chosen on Sunday 9/12. Enter all you can until 9/11!!
 
Be on the lookout in the Spring of 2011 for more great products to be available from The Joy of Soap!!
 
This is NOT a Paid advertisement-Just simple words from me!!

What a week & 9mi

Thank you for all of the words of encouragement on my last post! We all do it to ourselves, think we sucked on a run(or whatever event we are doing) when really all that matters is getting out there and doing it! We all want to set record breaking times and such but all in all we should just be proud of ourselves for getting out there and running or whatever you choose to do. If we set PR's or record times that is just an added bonus....right?
Now with that said I have to say I did PR a 4mile run this week 36:49~ YAY!! I have also joined the rest (or most of) my fellow runners and purchased a hybrid bike.Actually Gerard (the hubs) purchased the bike for me so yep you guessed it...yet another reason why I LOVE and have a GREAT husband! I haven't rode a bike since being a little girl so I was nervous. I took my first ride of 4.11miles on the same hilly course we are running currently. I survived with out any accidents or anything but probably should have went somewhere flatter, but was a good way to learn how to use them gears! I was hoping to do a duathlon with Sheri but the entry cost is a little much for me so maybe next year I can plan on that. On Wednesday I rode my bike (not sure of the distance battery went dead in garmin) about 5mi at noon then ran 4mi that evening. Wasn't sure how I would feel (or even if I could) do both in one day but it wasn't so bad. We did take it pretty slow running however, we were all tired not feeling it so much and on that dang hilly course, I will be glad when the race on the course is over this upcoming weekend. Even though I am starting to get used to it now and realize those crazy hills only make you faster, I will be glad when its over!
The race coming up this weekend is either a 5k or 15k, we decided long ago since we are half training we needed to do the 15k and use it as our long run for the week. Last week when we set out on that awful course for 8 miles we saw newly painted arrows on the road and assumed that was the course and followed them. As you saw in my last post it was awful, monstrous hills and such. Well this week we found out you are suppose to go left and not right and those arrows are for an upcoming biking event! (I couldn't even imagine riding my bike up those crazy hills either though!) So I felt better about doing the entire 15k course this week, still hills but not as bad. Sure enough it was better. I did good the first half the second half wasn't as great but still under my goal pace. Sheri does AWESOME on the second half of our runs so she was a bit ahead of me and I took a couple of small walks (no more than .25mi) and finished in 1:29:59! Come to find out I was only about 2mins behind Sheri which made me feel better about it also since I thought I was way behind. Funny thing (well maybe not so funny) 2 guys came out to practice also, they started about 20mins after us and we finished at the same time (they came in before me) So now that I know this course I think I am up for the challenge of the 15k! And since I haven't "raced" one before its an automatic PR right??!!

I do want to leave you with a question/advice....To any of you who bikes and run what kind of schedule do you do? Bike on the same days as runs? Bike only on days you don't run? Still bike on rest days or should there be a day of nothing at all? I know each is there own but I am trying to figure out a schedule. I also know it will take my legs (and body) time to adjust to it all so it just takes time.