Barking Mad Virtual Half Marathon

I am hosting a new Virtual Race, in honor of my (Half) Marathon for the Cure to raise money for Susan G Komen! I will be running the Rock n Roll USA Half in Washington DC this March, as my chosen race.

How does a Virtual Race work?
You walk, run, bike, crawl at any time during the month of February. You can do it all at once, or a little at a time, as long as it totals 13.1 miles by the time you are done!
 For a $20 donation ($15 goes to Komen, and $5 defrays the cost of the medal and shipping) you can take part! You can send it via paypal, using kimmiepcft@hotmail.com or you can mail me a check! If you would like to mail a check, email me and I will give you my address.
My last Virtual Race for Komen had 100 racers and I raised over $1500 for Komen. I would LOVE to raise more this time!
Come visit the facebook Event Page and you can also visit my Personal Fundraising Page here to see your name on the roll call after you donate (this can take up to 3 days, or longer if you mail a check).
Oh, wait! Do you want to see the medal? Of course you do!

It SPINS!!!!!!! I love it! The back will say Barking Mad Virtual Half February 2013 (or something very close if I am restricted by space). Isn't it pretty?!?!?!?!
There will also be prizes! For every 10 people that register, I will add something to the drawing, which will be held on February 16. This is exactly one month before my race. You can register after that date, but you will miss the drawing. So far I have 3 Running Happy Breast Cancer headbands, Runner Girl decals,  Komen tech tank top, Komen baseball cap, and a DPI Tank top! I will add more prizes every tenth registered racer! I have 54 racers already!
I hope I didn't leave anything out! Please ask any questions you may have!

17.1 mile long run, NASM, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Yikes! Being sick most of the week truly affected my blogging! Now I need to play catch up! Where to start?
Let's start with the K Cup Swap over at It's a Harleyyy Life! We were given someone to swap with and then we would send each other a selection of our favorite K Cups to try out. Now, I don't drink coffee *at all*, never even tried it (weird, huh?) but the Hubs and my Teenie LOVE it, so I jumped right on board! I sent out a selection of their faves, and waited for ours!

They arrived with a nice note and 2 coupons for oiselle! Yay! The Hubs and the Teenie are having fun trying new coffees! Thanks Katie!

Another exciting item came in the mail last week! Last month I won a tee in a contest from DPI tees, which was really exciting! I was having a bad day when I got the email, so it really brightened up my mood!

LOVE!!!! I haven't worn it yet, but it such a nice shirt! I can't wait to wear it!

I am participating in a wonderful challenge, Happy New Year...Now.  I picked my goals, and I have made some progress:

1. Run 3 days a week: week one yes, week 2 I was sick and missed 2 short runs, but ran 17 miles for my long run
2. 30 Day Shred Challenge: Week one I did it 3 times, week 2 (sick!) I did none :( I am glad that I rested tho, the 17 miler was key to my training, and the most important!
3. 5-7 freggies a day: I have been getting 4 on most days, definitely something to continue working on, but progress is good!
4. eat less junk food: I am doing well here, not perfect, but defnitely less than usual!
5. Read 3 books: one down, 2 to go, and I am halfways through 2 books right now. so I am optimistic about this goal!

I am also following along with the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! You get points based on your workouts, your freggies, and other challenges along the way. I feel like I am doing really well with this challenge. It is definitely keeping me on track. Those few sick days I took this week made me itchy, lol. I still have today's workout to do, but here is my week so far:

Another big decision I made this week was to get my Personal Training Cert again. I haven't been certified in over 10 years! My last cert was through ISSA but I went with NASM this time. I can't wait to crack the book! I got my kit the other day, it came in the cutest box. It looks like a locker! It also came with an awesome backpack that I will use to hold everything in one place.

And last but not least, my long run was yesterday, 17 miles! I was so nervous, it was my longest distance yet. My friend Colleen and I ran together, leaving from her house. We ran around town, and the town next door, since we are restricted as to where we can run, due to Sandy damage. The first 10 miles were awesome, not too tired, great conversation. Here is the view from mile 11:

After that it got ugly! I hadn't run all week, and my legs knew it. We stopped to walk a few times, but we always kept moving. At mile 13.1 we stopped at Colleen's house for a pit stop, and then we finished out the last 4. The only time we stopped to walk this leg was on the second bridge (for this leg.  We ran over a bridge and back in the first 13 as well). It was steep and at mile 16 it was just too much! We stopped at mile 17 to take the pic of Colleen's watch, since mine got stopped somehow during the pit stop.

Oh yeah, and I earned my medal for the HoHoHo Winter Wonderful Half! woot! I was so very tired after this run, and at first I was really mad at myself for struggling. There was definitely some worry about the Marathon. BUT
I know that I can do it. I don't need to run the whole thing, and stopping to get pics with the characters will help! I can't wait! 6 weeks to go! WOW!

Thanks for sticking around this long! It was a crazy week but we are all caught up! I will leave you with one last pic, and a question:
If you celebrate Christmas, is your tree up yet?

Elf on the Shelf Photo Contest

I love Christmas! It is one of my very favorite times of year! Decorating the tree, picking out just the right pictures for the cards, everyone is in a great mood. Truly magical.
The first time I really noticed the Elf on the Shelf, my son had just told me the magic was gone. I was devastated! I would have been a great Elf Helper! I am really glad that the class I work in every morning has an Elf (aptly named Elfie). Not only does he move every day, but he provides the word of the day. But don't touch him! It sucks out the magic! Serious stuff!
When my good friend and fellow blogger Darlena asked if I wanted to help sponsor her Elf on a Shelf Contest, I was thrilled to join in the fun! If I can't move an Elf, I can help judge the pictures of where *you* move yours!
Check it out here:
http://runfindyourhappypace.com/2012/11/29/runfyhp-friends-elf-on-the-shelf-photo-contest/

Get creative, there are going to be some great prizes!

Bulu Box

Bulu Box contacted me last month and asked me if I would like to try out one of their boxes! I was so excited for the chance to try something new, I said YES right away! I was like a kid in a candy store when the box came!

It was a very trendy looking box! I wanted to just rip the paper open, but for the sake of the blog, I restrained myself! It had a great handout inside that told you about all of the products you would be trying out. I was *thrilled* to see that every item in the box was something that I had never tried before! *AND* it was all about extra energy!

It included Deoderant Towelettes (woot! That is going in my running bag to be tried out the next time I am smelling......not so fresh......after a race! Immuno Viva Defend+Energy, which I will be trying out this week. My teenie has a cold and I don't want her sharing it with me! CocoaWell enery blend, with a link to a $2 off coupon, Almased which speeds up your metabolism with honey, soy and yogurt!

It also had a big ole bag of these energy chews, which I will be giving to the hubs for those long days of work. They are pineapple mango, which is something I don't care for, but he will *love* them. The teenie tried one and she said they were delish!

I absolutely LOVED getting this little care package in the mail, and I am definitely going to be signing up for some more! I love trying new things, and I really love being able to try them in small quantities!
You can check Bulu Box out here!  They are having a discount deal on memberships right now!

Bulu Box provided me with these products to try, I was under no obligation to review them if I so chose. Any opinions stated were entirely my own (and that of my teenie!)

Navesink Challenge Trail Race and HBBC week 1

Today I ran in my very first Trail Race. The Navesink Challenge is a 15K race, half road, half trail, and VERY hilly. Some road hills but mostly trail hills. Steep ones. Yikes! I was also excited that this race wasn't cancelled like the last two, due to damage sustained during Super Storm Sandy. The race was also changed last minute to benefit local efforts to rebuild. Yay! I couldn't resist wearing my new Ergo Restore the Shore tee, although it wasn't a tech shirt.
I met my friend Eileen at the start, and was excited to find that she was going to stay with me the whole time. Eileen is faster than me, so it was super nice of her to hang back a bit. We started out fast, but there was a hill right away, and it felt like there was always a hill! It was an out and back, so we knew that it would be no better coming back! We did manage to maintain a nice 12 minute mile average. I wanted to finish in under 2 hours, and we managed to finish at about 1:50. Hooray! It was so cold, that we didn't really hang around afterwards, just made a break for our cars!

I can't wait to try it again next year, and improve my time!


This was also week one of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge!

You earn points for workouts, accountability, and weekly challenges. I did pretty well in the points category, I had some great workouts and I posted to facebook and instagram every day. I love the accountability of this Challenge, it is really keeping me motivated!

I joined another Challenge at the last minute, one with daily challenges and tons of support.

You get an elf every 2 weeks, and you support and motivate each other. Should be a great tool for surviving the holidays!!

What is your favorite kind of race? Are you racing in December?

Vitacost Cyber Sale!!

The sale starts Saturday morning and ends Monday night - 15% off everything

The sale starts today, Saturday,  11/24/2012  at 9:00AM EST and ends on Monday,

11/26/2012  at 11:59 PM EST. Did I mention you can get 15% off everything? Everything!!!

Did you go shopping yesterday? Crazy crowds, rude people, long lines, traffic?

I gave that up years ago! I have mastered the art of shopping online!

 

What better way to avoid the hassle of shopping during this crazy time of year, than sitting in your jammies on the couch, laptop ready, while listening to some Christmas music on the radio?

Why shop at Vitacost?

With Vitacost.com, you don't have to choose between stores that sell products you don't really want at super-low prices, and stores that sell the better health and wellness products you want at crazy-high prices. They offer over 2,000 of the top, most-trusted natural brands, diet foods and healthy living essentials-the very best nutritional supplements, whole foods and sports nutrition-at discount prices, up to 50% off. And they'll deliver them right to your door for FREE if your order totals $49 or more. Otherwise, shipping is just a small, flat-rate fee of $4.99, no matter how big the box.

So get comfy, turn on some jolly music, and get shopping!!!

Holiday Challenges

I don't know about you, but I am *loving* all of the Holiday Challenges that are starting up! I joined a few to help keep me accountable!

Run Find Your Happy Pace is holding this fun challenge: Do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred 5 days a week, starting today, Black Friday and running until Christmas Eve! There is even a Facebook Event Page that you can report to! LOVE! LOVE! I did my first day today, quick and easy, about 25 minutes long, and you only need a set of weights. I used 5 pounders.

Runner's World is hosting another Run Streak Challenge. Run one mile a day, every day, between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day. I tried one of their streaks over the summer and it was an epic fail. I felt like such a loser lol. I started this streak yesterday with the hubs while the turkey was cooking. We did 2 miles. Today, I ran 5 miles with my friend Grace for my Barking Mad Turkey Trot (the info is on the Fundraiser page, but there are only a few medals left!) I wonder if I can accumulate spare miles? Probably not!

This is a great challenge that just started the other day, using a points system. You get points for miles run/walked, aerobic exercise, WOW (workout of the week) and spot challenges. Check it out here and be sure to mention my name or my blog if you decide to join in the fun. There are tons of great prizes to be won!
I am loving this challenge, it keeps me motivated to workout and eat well (although I have to eat 7 freggies to get a point, which I have only managed once!) and there is a great facebook group for Challengers with lots of motivation and friends to be met! LOVE it!

Have you joined any Holiday Challenges?