Race for the Cure

This morning was my 3rd Race for the Cure! In 2009 I ran it with a friend and we finished in 34:07. In 2010 we did the 3 Day for the Cure, so we did run the Race. In 2011, I had just started running again and I finished in a very disappointing (for me!) 37:31.
My daughter and i set out bright and early for Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. She would be doing the one mile health walk with her High School for the 2nd year in a row. We got there in plenty of time to get my bib and tee, take a potty break, and hit the Expo. They always have great stuff there, including the Ford Warriors in Pink scarf, tons of pens, nail files, tote bags, drawstring bags, water bottles, etc. We also made time for a photo op:

You can't see our bibs in full, but all walkers had #2012 and my number was #3012. Pretty cool, huh? Afterwards, she went off to be with her friends, and I went to prep for the 5K. I did some Zumba with the crowd before lining up, to pass the time.

Then it was off to the starting line, which was right by that balloon arch. They delayed the start to let last minute registrees line up and then we were off. After a bit of bottlenecking, the crowd thinned out enough that I could pass a bunch of slower runners/walkers. The course is exactly the same every year, so I knew about all of the hills. We ran around the parking lot and towards the Safari. After we passed the entrance we ran around another parking lot and back the way we came. I was amazed at my pace when I saw the one mile marker, my time was 9:46!
Back up the hill we went, past the parking lot, past the water station that I tried to zip past. Unfortuantely therer was some bottlenecking there and my pace slowed down to 12:00 temporarily. Once we passed the station though, it thinned back out. Hooray! Through Huuricane Harbor we went. Up and down hills, around bends, and past the 2 mile marker. My second mile time was 10:39. SO happy so far!
Some more twists and turns, staying on task and keeping up my speed. UNTIL. :::sigh::: youngins. Two 10ish year old kids, no parent, weaving and stopping and cutting people off. That slowed me down a tad, and I actually had to ask the girl to please be careful, because she almost tripped me. They became a little more aware after that!
One last turn, the home stretch! I am gonna do it! I am gonna PR!!! Holy crow, not only will I beat my course time, I am gonna PR!
NO.
A group of 5 twenty somethings, running 5 across, blocking every body. Bottleneck. UGH! People finally manage to pass them, I get past them, Final time: 31:41 WOW! Not an overall PR but what a huge PR for this course!
I had a great day, and got to see some great team shirts. This one was my fave:

Did you race this weekend?

Thursday's Run and a Flat Mama

Thursday I did another Zombie Run. I had planned to run with my running club, but my pace partner couldn't make it so I decided to run on my own. I chose a simple out and back on a semi-hilly road, and planned on 6.2 miles. My schedule said 3, but I felt like doing a little extra. Zombies really wear you out, however, so I decided to turn around at mile 2.5 and finished it off at 5 miles. I finished in just over 56 minutes and averaged an 11:15 mile. I was really bummed that the Zombies caught up with me at one point, especially since my watch said 8:37 pace when they caught up! Yikes! Those are some seriously fast undeads! I am really happy with my progress, all of my runs are averaging out in the low 11's these days, and it feels more natural when I run at that pace. This time last year I was averaging at 13+ minutes per mile! WOW!
Tomorrow is the Race for the Cure and this will be my third year. I ran it in 34 minutes in 2009 and 37:31 minutes in 2011 (I hadn't been training long, and that 37+ minutes killed me!) My plan this year is to finish in under 33 minutes. The race is run at Six Flags Great Adventure and it weaves through a parking lot, past the entrance to the Wild Safari, through Hurricane Harbor, and back to the where you started. It is a very hilly race, but I have been doing very well with hills lately!
I put together my Flat Mama:

I forgot to inlcude my Komen visor, but I will be wearing my Komen sports bra and black Komen running shirt, pink running skirt, pink ProCompression socks (see the link on the right hand side of my blog, they are awesome!) and SweatPink laces from Fit Approach. I also have my newest Brooks Adrenalines. I chose purple this time for a change, I have never had purple running shoes!

Guest Blog!

I am a guest blogger on FitBlogger today! Check me out!
FitBlogger

Short and sweet for now! Hoping for a run tonight if the rain stops!

Zombies, Run! and Plankaday

Awhile back I posted about a great app I got for my iTouch called Zombies, Run! It is a running app that uses your own music in between a mission. The first mission, you crash land and need to get to the base, by way of a hospital, before the Zombies get you. My iTouch always had crappy gps, so I could never use the Zombie chase feature, but now that I have the iPhone, all has changed. When the Zombies chase you, it tells you they are detected, then 50 meters away, then 20, and then, one of two things happens: evade, or drop supplies to distract them. I evaded twice, and distracted them twice. You have to speed up, and your gps tells the app if you have, in order to evade. I must have looked like a madwoman, lol, but what fun! My 3 mile run became over 4.5 and my usual pace....blown away!

Once you knock off the 15 seconds it took me to stash my phone in my SpiBelt, it is even better! Every time you hit a mile, it tells you what mile it is, and your time. I was amazed at how fast my pace got when the Zombies came! And yes, some of the items you collected were underwear. At first I wondered why, but after the Zombies almost got me, I had a better idea, lol. I collected alot of supplies, and saved the day! So much fun and cannot wait to use it on my next short run!

Another milestone crossed today: I finally broke 4 minutes doing my plankday! No, really!

It was also day 35. That is 5 weeks of daily planking! WOW! I am starting to see some abs going on, which is just awesome! I even managed to climb the leaderboard to number 10. TOP 10!!!!! I still cannot catch that Mindy Bobe, she is too tough for me!
You can see the leaderboard here.
Surf the site while you are there, Gea is amazing!!!

What did you do for your workout today?

I am off to complete my Shrinking Jeans calendar for the day!

The Weekly Chase...and Rip 60

Time for The Weekly Chase!

Let's start by looking at last week's goals:

1. Recover from the Half!!! DONE!!!!
2. keep up the Plankaday Challenge at Running for Dummies DONE! I even beat my best time!
3. Run 2 very easy runs this week DONE, in the way of one longer easy run lol
4. Run 4-5 miles this weekend  5 miles DONE!
5. Keep up with School House Rock Hard Abs Calendar!  DONE!!!!

This week's goals:

1. Run 2 short runs, 3-4 miles each
2. Kick butt in the Race for the Cure on Sunday
3. Keep up with the Plankaday Challenge at Running for Dummies and maybe beat my best time!
4. Keep up with the School House Rock Hard Abs Calendar at Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans
5. 2 Rip 60 workouts  (one done already, woohoo)

What are your goals this week??


I just started doing Rip:60 again, check it out here
I am not getting paid to share the info on this DVD set, but the easiest way to explain it is to show you, lol. I did the DVD for Runners today, 45 minutes of fun! The only setback for me is that there is no door in my living room to use it in. I have to do it in the front door, which is in the next room. Once you know the movements, this is no biggie, and I am literally on the other side of the wall from the TV so I can hear everything very well. What a great workout! i feel pretty bada$$ when I am done, I must say!
I have made the decision to quit the gym, since I *never* go there! I only joined to use the DreadMill when weather is bad, which is hardly ever, so it is not worth it to keep paying! Funny how quickly I got back into the DVDs once the decision was made!

I am also counting down the days until

When is your next big race?

Sunday Runday

Today I had 4 miles scheduled, and I knew that it was going to be a nice cool morning, so I planned to get our bright and early. And they I slept until 8! Oh well, better late than never! I hit the road around 9 and the temp was a beautiful 56* out!
I headed towards the bridge with a 4 mile route in mind, but something pulled me towards the beach instead. I headed towards Bay Head and made a left just before I hit the ocean <3 I just had to stop and take a pic:

That was around mile 1.5! I continued on and headed towards the boardwalk. There will be some boardwalk running in Disney, so I thought I would get some practice in! I took another pic at mile 2.7:

You just gotta love the Jersey Shore, especially in the off season! Hardly anybody on the boardwalk except for a few runners and walkers!! Right after I took this picture I got off the boardwalk and continued on towards town. My pace was amazing, even though the wind was in my face almost the entire time! I ran on some lovely uneven sidewalks, and some brick sidewalks, and back to the uneven ones when I turned down Bay Avenue. I kept checking my watch in shock, My average pace was below 11 minutes!
When I hit the bridge on my way back, I hit 5 miles and stopped to take a pic for evidence, lol:

I walked the rest of the way home as a cool down, still in shock, lol. My best 5 mile time *ever*, so excited!!!!

 

What did you do during your workout today?

Friday Run and Weekend Fun

I finally got my run in yesterday! My legs were still tired on Tuesday, and Mom's Taxi took over for a few days and used up all of my free time. After work yesterday, I went out to run my 3 mile easy run in my neighborhood. It was such a beautiful day that I ended up running 5 miles at an 11:40 average pace. So much for 3 easy miles, lol.
I also moved up on the Plankaday leaderboard at Running for Dummies to #11 but that was temporary, lol. Someone beat my time and I am bacvk at #12~ but my best time is still awesome:

 

Right?
I am also still following the calendar at Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. My abs are looking *amazing*, and I look forward to next month's calendar! You can find the calendar Here. They have all of the back months there as well.
Today is my rest day, so of course hubby and I went on a 30 minute beach walk and a 35 minute trail walk at our favorite State Park, Allaire Village. We got married at the Historic Church there, so we love to walk by whenever we visit. Later we are going to an Oktoberfest party and then out for BBQ with friends. Overall, a perfect day!

What's your favorite weekend activity?

Rock n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon

So here it is! Race recap for the RnR Philly Half!
We all went to bed early after our big day on Saturday, but as tired as I was I just could not sleep! I tossed and turned and woke up every hour to check the time. I had set my cell phone alarm, but was afraid it wouldn't go off! I woke up at 5 a.m., a full hour early than I needed to be up. I got dressed, tried to eat some BelVita cookies, and paced until 6:45 when I finally decided to start the 2 mile walk to the Start. Hubby came with me, but the kids stayed in bed.

 

My friend, Heather, was in the corral behind me, so we met up before the race for some hugs and encouragement. I LOVE seeing friends before races!

Time to line up! I was in corall 21. Out of 23. Really. They moved us pretty fast though, we started about 30 minutes after the Kenyans, who finished less than 30 minutes after that! It was crazy! There was a great shirt that I saw, and couldn't resist taking a picture!

I passed her at mile 8. ::giggle::
Running a race in Philly has one advantage. The scenery! The buildings there are amazing! We ran past the Liberty Bell, the Capitol Building, the Museums. The streets were lined with people cheering and ringing cow bells. There were jazz bands, DJs, rock bands. You could almost always hear music. At mile 3, I saw my first wipe out when a man slipped on some paper cups and went down hard. I felt so bad for him. I went towards him to help but he was waving people away. I hope he finished! At mile 3.75 we came up to our hotel, and I was so excited to see my kids there holding a sign and ringing the cow bell and clapping. It was my favorite part!

Soon after the course went past the starting line where I saw my favorite sign of the day: "Hey Stranger! I am proud of you too!" She was also at the finish line! LOVED her!
At mile 5.5 my music quit. I was using my MOTOACTV, which I LOVE, but I think I started part way through the playlist and it ran out. I now know that it will not start over. I need to load in more songs! You could hear music most of the time, but I know it slowed me down. I have to say, though, that I no longer clomp my feet when I run. Pure silence from my feet. Not so much for others, lol, but I was so happy!
At around mile 7, I saw another great sign held up by a little boy: "Run faster, or my Grammy and PopPop will catch up to you!"  LOVED it!
After that we entered Fairmount Park. Lots of trees and rocks, bridges (Mr Incredible was playing music under one. He had a nice costume with real muscles!), you could see the Zoo balloon! You could also see the other runners across the lake!
Around mile 8 I noticed the team of 2 with matching tanks that said "I can't believe it doesn't move" or something along those lines. One had a camera on her hat and was filming the other. The other one was LOUD. She had one of those grating voices, and I really missed my music at this point! She ran in front of me, actually crossed in front of me, to go see Mr Incredible, screaming at the camera the whole way, and my ear actually rung! Crazy!!
Mile 9 was the bridge. It was not a huge bridge, it was very beautiful actually, but something about it started to wear me out. The downhill afterwards was nice, and we were still in the trees and shade, which was *so* nice. At this point I was still ahead of my last Half's time, by about 4 minutes. This is the last time I will be ahead though!
At mile 10 I started to really feel it. My legs were *so* tired. After the water table it was harder to start running again. I was definitely slowing down now. Around mile 12 I started to get very sad. I knew now that I was not going to PR and we were running alongside the highway which was making it hard for me to breathe. I had to use my inhaler, and I was starting to get weepy. At one point I just stopped running and walked a bit. I hated that I gave up for a few minutes, but I really just lost it. I refused to walk past all of the people though, and started running again.
 A LOT of runners were no longer running, I noticed, and when my gps watch said 13.1 I stopped it at 2:39:47, almost 5 minutes slower than my best time. The race wasn't over, though, because I still had 1/4 mile to go. The last little bit was uphill, but I was determined to run the last bit. I didn't want my kids to see my walk in! My official time was 2:45, and the mileage would have been 13.35.

See me in the back, lol? Poor hubby kept getting photo bombed! He and the kids were there at the finish line, ringing that cow bell and banging those clapping hands. At this point, I was crying pretty hard, from being tired, sad, happy, relieved. That finish line is pretty emotional. I am tearing up now just thinking about it! I got my medal, and waited to compose myself before getting my finish line photo.
After the photo you walk through all of the food and drink vendors: Hershey chocolate milk, water, Gatorade, bagels, fruit cups, Snickers Marathon bars, chips. SO much food! I grabbed a little of everything, lol, because you never know what you will want after a race! I met up with family, and after a quick photo we headed back to the hotel...another 2 mile walk!

 

What a crazy day! I am very proud of my time, proud of finishing with a cold, and finishing well. I had wanted to PR, but I am no longer sad that I didn't! There is always next time!

 

Rock n Roll Philadelphia Expo

Saturday was the Rock n Roll Philly Expo, I could not wait to get there! We dropped the pups off at the Halo House Animal Resort in Franklinville NJ and then made our way to Philadelphia. We were so lucky to get a great parking spot right behind our hotel, which happened to be right up the street from the Convention Center.
At check in, I got my bib (which was HUGE! By far the largest one yet, it does not fit into my 8x8 bib album!) and then around the corner to get my Tech Shirt. I laughed when I saw how big it was! I signed up for this race in the Spring, when I was still wearing a large. I traded it for a medium and then grabbed my swag bag.
After that we were able to go into the Expo. I had to stop and pose for an expo pic!

 

There I am, sporting my new Sweat Pink tank from Fit Approach, with all of the Elvis impersonators. Into the expo we went and it.was.huge. The amount of swag was just crazy! Larabars, Cascadian Farms (they gave us 5 or 6 boxes because I said hubby eats it for breakfast every day!), Snickers has new Marathon bars that are yummy, McDonald's was giving away coupons for free oatmeal and apple slices (brekky after the race, yum!), we got pens, a frisbee, bandaids, pain reliever cream, and so much more! RunDisney was there and I after I sighed over the Mickey medal i will be getting in January (it's a monster!) hubby asked if I could have one of their tote bags.

Rock n Roll also had a prize wheel and I won a free tee. It is from RnR Vegas, which I hope to do in a few years! Woot! There were also a lot of vendors there. After trying some ZipFizz, I bought 5 tubes and got a free ZipFizz water bottle. We also bought a cowbell to add to the clappers that someone gave to my daughter. My kids promised to make some noise as I ran past our hotel.
After *alot* of walking, we decided to go. I managed to get one quick pic of the kids before we left!

We stopped for some lunch, yummy steamed Pork Buns at a nearby Chinese Corner Store, and then we were off to Eastern State Penitentiary. We saw it on GhostHunters and could not wait to see it in person! It was very reasonable, under $40 for the 4 of us, and it included a recorded tour. We each got our own headphones and audio device, narrated by Steve Buscemi. We wandered around for about 2 hours, it was unforgettable!

 

By now, we are all tired, and I was worried that I had pushed myself too much the day before a race, so we walked back to our hotel, LeMeridien. It was once a YMCA and they converted it into a hotel. The atmosphere was amazing, very hip and modern, and the kids were in awe the whole time. There were 2 wedding parties staying there, so we had quite a view while we waited to be checked in. On our way to our room, we saw this as we waited for the elevator, *inside* the hotel:

So cool! It was a lounge, filled with tables and chairs. Very fun to see inside a building! While we rested and snacked, and hubby went to get a drink for himself, I prepped for race day! I was so excited to put together this FlatMama!!

See how huge that bib is? Holy heck! I had my Brooks Adrenalines with SweatPink laces, Komen Tech Shirt, Komen visor, and pink ribbon sleeves. Can you tell I ran this race for Komen? I am happy to report that I raised almost $2400 for Komen for this race!!
Time for dinner! We decided to go to Maggiano's for one last carb load, and apparently, so did everyone else! There was a line to get in, but we were seated quickly and service was excellent. They were well prepared for race weekend! I was so excited, though, that it was more like carb tasting, instead of loading! My son and I went home while hubby and daughter went to Max Brenner's for some dessert. They brought us back some yummy chocolate!
Whew! What a day! Will it affect my performance on race day? Stay tuned! I am still sick today, and this blog took me a couple hours to write, because i kept laying down and getting back up to type, lol. I promise I will get to it asap!

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Chase

Each Monday you set weekly goals for yourself, to help you stay accountable. I am *all* for accountability, so I have decided to join the Chase!
My goals for last week were:

1. Follow the calendar for the School House Rock Hard Abs Challenge with Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans .......DONE!!!
2. Keep up with my Plankaday Challenge with Running for Dummies. I am number 12 on the leaderboard right now, but just barely! .....Still holding at #12!!!!
3. Run 2 easy short runs, about 3 miles .... a cold kept me from running :(
4. Kick some butt at Rock n Roll Philly on Sunday! I would love to PR, but my main goal is to have FUN! No PR, but it was a great race! The last 3 miles were ROUGH!
5. Work on my eating. I am still eating way too much junk, whether I stay in my calorie range or not! Definitely doing better!!!

This week's goals:

1. Recover from the Half!!!
2. keep up the Plankaday Challenge at Running for Dummies
3. Run 2 very easy runs this week
4. Run 4-5 miles this weekend
5. Keep up with School House Rock Hard Abs Calendar!

What are your goals this week?

The Weekly Chase

So a few of my blogger friends have been posting each week about
The Weekly Chase

Each Monday you set weekly goals for yourself, to help you stay accountable. I am *all* for accountability, so I have decided to join the Chase!
My goals for this week are:

1. Follow the calendar for the School House Rock Hard Abs Challenge with Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans
2. Keep up with my Plankaday Challenge with Running for Dummies.  I am number 12 on the leaderboard right now, but just barely!
3. Run 2 easy short runs, about 3 miles
4. Kick some butt at Rock n Roll Philly on Sunday! I would love to PR, but my main goal is to have FUN!
5. Work on my eating. I am still eating way too much junk, whether I stay in my calorie range or not!

What are your goals this week?

Plankaday going strong and Half Marathon updates!

Today was day 18 of my Running for Dummies Plankaday Challenge. My longest plank yet at just over 3 minutes (3:09.8) and my arms and abs were quivering like crazy!! I have managed to get myself to #16 on the leaderbaord and hoping to move up! Unfortunately, those other ladies on the list are amazingly strong, so progress is slow! BUT check out my name at #16 by clicking on the link above!
Only 6.5 more days until the Rock n Roll Philly! I am SO excited! I tried out my outfit at the 10K yesterday, but I didn't wear the Compression socks and sleeves. Here is my Flat Mama:

 

Gonna rock it for Komen!!!

Speaking of Komen, I registered for yet another Rock n Roll, this time RnR USA in DC!!! I also signed up for Marathon for the Cure for this race, so I will be fundraising for Komen in 2013 as well!

 

 

I am so excited, I LOVE Washington DC, it really is one of my favorite places and the race goes past alot of the Monuments and Memorials. I might have to skip trying to PR and just take pictures of me racing past *everything*.
Ohhhh and re: leaving comments, I have removed the Captcha, so you no longer have to type in all those squishy weird letters to leave a comment. I didn't even know it was required, but I took it out, so you are good to go!!!
Happy Sunday everyone!

 

Brielle Day Hill and Dale Challenge 10K

Sounds ominous, right?
Every local knows about Brielle's notorious neighborhood hills! 6.2 miles of crazy steep hills! All week long, they hinted about how hard this race is at my local Running Club's facebook page. My only worry was the Rock n Roll Philly Half in 8 days. I didn't want to wear myself out, but I was determined to beat this race! Going in, my only other 10K was a mostly flat local run that I did for a virtual race, and took me about 1:15. I went into this race hoping to come close to that time, knowing that the hills would slow me down!
It was supposed to be a beautiful day, but the clouds were rolling in, thunder booming in the distance, tornado warnings all over the place! (And this is Jersey, but two actually touched down today already, one in NJ and one in Queens, plus two water sprites. Holy crap!)

I was all ready to go, though, sporting my Great Cupcake Race BondiBand, and wearing my RnR Philly duds for a test run! I ran into my friend Eileen, who do long runs with during Club Runs at the boardwalk, but couldn't find my friend Cheryl. I knew she would zip by me at some point! We were off! Eileen was behind me at the start but passed by pretty quick, and Cheryl passed by around the .65 mile mark.

The race was hilly from start to finish, and quite horrid I must say! I was so glad to have my music with me! I finally managed to sync my MOTOACTV to my computer, thanks to a guy from my running club, after having it for over 6 months! (Josh, you rock!) and I can even listen to my music on it. I hated the ear buds that came with it, but the music sounds great, and it has my bringing less gadgets to my races! I did as i always do, and started picking out racers to pass. The first few were easy, but Adele, a senior who is VERY fast, was a toughie. She is a run/walker and I knew if I could pass her on a walk phase, I could stay ahead! I finally did pass her, and set my sights on awkward runner girl. She looked like she was dying from  behind, and after a while, I started to wonder if that is how *I* looked from behind! I passed her at a water station, and stayed ahead of her. Next was short squat guy, who was aso a senior. I finally passed him on a hill, and at the top of that hill was Cheryl! She was still ahead of me, but I was thrilled that I caught up, even just a little. We waved and away she went again.
I have to say, the people who lived in these neighborhoods were amazinginly supportive. There were extra water stops, guys with hoses (LOVED them, I ran under two of them, so refreshing!) and lots of cheering! Some signs as well: Dr Mark has the runs, Kick ass phalt, first pain then beer, to mention a few. So many people were telling us how awesome we were, letting us know the hill was almost over, we were almost there, etc. It was close to the amount of support there was at the Half Marathon I did in May. Truly amazing!
When I hit the last mile, I hit a wall. I was *so* tired, and the last hill was immense. I walked up most of them, just to avoid being too sore and tired, but this one was just killing me. I wanted to cry, I wanted to quit. At the top was a guy from our club, and I told him the hill sucked and he laughed, told me it was almost over and then ALL downhill from there. Better words were never spoken! I fely so much better and my pace picked up.
And then I saw the ambulance. I was so worried about whatever runner had gotten hurt! It was a woman, and apparently she had just stopped, threw up, and fell over. I think she hurt her arm when she fell. I felt so bad for her, because she had been a front runner when she fell. Had she finished, she probably would have placed. I hope her arm is okay!!
I finally reach the 6 mile mark and the end is is sight! I take off my ear buds and round the last corner, and see the time clock in sight. Also waiting are my hubby, Eileen and Cheryl! I slap Eileen and Cheryl five as I run past, and finish in 1:12:08.

Did I really just PR? Did I beat my flat course time by 3 minutes? WOW! I am so proud, and so exhausted all at the the same time! I came around to see Cheryl, but Eileen had already left! Cheryl looks as beat as i do, so of course we pose for a pic!

I love that our running club's flag is in the background! I felt amazing, tired, skinny, exhausted, proud, and sore. All at once! Crazy!
Coming home, I realized I had met one of my last race goals for 2012! I planned to run 2 Half Marathon, a 10 miler, a 5 miler, at least 10 5Ks, and schedule a Marathon for 2013. Once I finish the RnR Philly in 8 days, I will have met my goals. Every last one. I will also be exceeding my goals. Before 2012 is over, if all of my plans go well, I will have run 4 Halfs, one 10 miler, several 5 milers, and at least 15 5Ks!
SO, now I am going to make my 2013 race goals.

1. Run a marathon
2. Run 13 Halfs*
3. Run 15 5Ks
4. run 3 Fivers
5. run 2 mud runs

* I have joined a Challenge at my Sweat Pink Ambassadors page to run 13 Halfs in 2013, *however* they do  not have to be official Halfs. A Marathon counts as 2, and training runs can count as well, as long as run at least 13.1 miles in one run.

What do you all think? Awesome goals right!!

One last pic to leave you with, my Virtual Race medal I earned today!

 

What is Sweat Pink?

The founder of Fit Approach made this wonderful  video on YouTube so that you could see just what SweatPink is! Check it out!
No runs this week so far, I am back to work and exhausted! I am hoping for a run today after the kids' dentist appointment, and and Saturday is a nice hilly 10K race!
I have 14 plankadays under my belt, and am keeping up with my Sisterhood September calendar!

Sweat Pink Ambassador

I am so thrilled to be able to say that I am now a Sweat Pink Ambassador! Check out my pretty Sweat Pink button on my blog! I just love it! I love having the chance to inspire others!
I totally stole this from the Fit Approach facebook page:

 

We believe that kicking ass is best done in pretty shoes. We’ve learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities. We concede that sometimes it takes hours to get ready, but we’re also no stranger to just rolling out of bed and going. We’re convinced that we run faster in pink shoelaces. We believe in pushing ourse...

lves, and we believe in giving ourselves a break, too. We’re all about the rush of endorphins and the thrill of the challenge. We’re all for looking great and feeling even better. We’re committed to finding our best fit, and making it stick.

How do we get there? We climb. We journey. We balance. We reward.

 

How "me" is that? I cannot wait to run in my pink shoelaces and spread the Pink!!

Happy Labor Day

What a crazy weekend! I already posted about the Color Run, that was Saturday. Sunday my parents came over and we went to the Blue Claws game (semi-pro baseball) to watch my daughter sing the National Anthem. What a night! She did an amazing job, and the Blue Claws won the game. Woohoo!!

Today I found out that I won a prize in the Running For Dummies Virtual Scavenger Hunt. What fun the hunt was!!! First, I did a Virtual 5K. This was no problem since I have been running so much, and 3 miles is my minimum! I even had a bib! Then I had to do a plank and submit a pic of me planking (my dogs got involved with that one!) Then I had to step out of my comfort zone. I submitted a pic from my mud run, when i ran through the electric shock wires. Talk about discomfort! Then I had to submit pics of something I loved, a food for the virtual party, and beverage for the virtual party. My fave pic of those 3 was the pic of my Birthday Cake Vodka. I put just a splash into Waist Watchers Orange Soda and it tastes like a creamsicle. YUM!
It was *such* a fun challenge, and I cannot wait to see what arrives as my prize! I will be sure to post a pic when it comes!
Running for Dummies is also hosting a Plankaday Challenge. I *was* on the Leader Board with my plank of 1:42 but then a bunch of super toughies beat me with some 2 minute planks. Well, it was on like Donkey Kong, and I pulled out a 2:08 plank today. I don't know if that will get me back in the top 20 or not, but check out my blog page, top right! There is my 2:00 plank badge! Woohoo! Next goal is a 3 minute badge, although that could take awhile. I finally found the secret: reading my Nook while I plank. It takes my mind off of the pain in my abs, lol, and I get some reading done! WinWin!!
Happy Labor Day to all!

Color Run NJ

Today was the Color Run NJ. My son Jonny and I headed out just before 7 am for the 45 minute drive the to Raceway. We arrived at 9:30. Yup, we sat in traffic for over an hour. It was *insane*. We finally parked and headed right to the starting line. Jonny didn't want to run so we walked the whole thing...very fast. He is a seriously fast walker. Woot!
My picky, always bores, 13 year old son said on more than one occasion that it was "awesome". Just about made my week! We ended up covered in more color than last week! It was everywhere! I didn't have a camera, and my sherpa stayed home, but I did take this shot of Jonny back at the car!

It was bright out, so you cannot see all of the dye, but he was quite colorful! He is playing XBox right now and telling his friends he had fun, I am glowing lol.
A few quick blurbs before I go to a Labor Day BBQ.....
Awhile back I mentioned the Virtual Games I did with Run With Jess, and I won a prize! I am actually wearing it right now! I was so excited to see that I had won, and even more excited to open the package when it arrived:

Awesome right?!?!

 

I also finished my monthly challenge at Sara Use it 2 Lose it. I pledged 160 minutes of strength and passed 200, and 50-90 miles and ran 56.5

 

I am also still doing Plankaday, and today will be day 11. My PR so far is 1:31.2 (just over 90 seconds). It is really HARD!!! Check out the Leaderboard, there are some crazy plankers out there!

 

My BurpeeBOOM Challenge is coming to a close as well, I have just a few more days left!

 

I hope I find some great challenges for September! Do you know of any great monthly challenges?

 

So far, I have printed to September Challenge from Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans