A Winner and More Quassy Fun

My life was an absolute chaotic mess of bad news just before the race. 
What a stress fest it was-it was presenting itself physically too!

Our clothes dryer went kaput just days before and I had to go and buy a new one (that was not in the budget!) and then even more good news, the clutch in my husbands truck also went kaput on his way home from work on Thursday. (really?? really!!)

He was staying home with Lola all weekend while I was gone and it was not looking good for me to take my car (which is awesome on gas) down to CT. My training buddy, Marc was coming down to CT with me to volunteer at the race and we could have used his truck but that giant V8 is a gas guzzler for sure!

We had my husband's truck towed to our mechanic and we were told that the truck should be ready on Friday-by the end of the day the latest so I was in the clear to head out Friday morning as planned with my car.
Fun note about this: the problem was actually much bigger than the mechanic thought and ended up having to do more work on the truck all weekend, leaving my husband stuck at home with an active toddler, with no car and massive rain storms that brought in over 7 inches of rain over the weekend itself. This would also end up costing waaaay more than we thought, as well. Great, more $$ gone! 

The Rev 3 Mobile

I arrived at the Quassy on Friday afternoon and the first thing I did was set out on the hunt to find Coach. I quickly discovered that she would not be making it to the race due to medical issues. Now, I was a tad on the devastated side to find out she would not be there--but I know she is no wuss and would have been there if she were able.
Another Fun Note: She had actually emailed me mid-week (twice, actually) about it and to nail down a race plan but I never got those emails. Late Friday night I got notification that she tweeted about my lack of communication. I got all panicky and started back-tracking thru social media and my email accounts to see what I was missing. Ah-hah! there were those two emails I missed...sitting in my dang spam folder. (Hey Yahoo! she's in my addy book so why is this being dumped into my spam folder??) I called her (which I never do!) and we cleared the lines of communication. 


I made my way around the park and sought out my Rev3 Peeps!! Then it was time to get my new blueseventy wetsuit and hit the water for a practice swim!!

with the awesome LJ

 The water was amazing--so warm. Actually, too warm. By the time I got to the first buoy that was set up for the Oly race the next day, I was sweating!! I got in a swim, got a good feel for the wetsuit and it was time to eat! I was famished!!

with the beautiful Jacqui Gordon! we were rockin' our Rev 3 Shimmer suits

It was going to be an early start to the day on Saturday since I was volunteering at the Oly race as a bike marshall on the course. It was time to eat, get some info to Coach and get some rest.
Saturday would prove to be a very long day with lots of action!!

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A big thank you to 1BandID for allowing me to review their product and participate in a giveaway for my readers. I love being able to work with products that I support and use myself so ....


There were 41 valid entries into the contest. 


The winner was chosen by Lola. I asked her to pick a number between 1 and 41. Lola picked the number 26, so the lucky winner of the 1BandID is.....


JEN at COLOR ME HAPPY


Jen, please shoot me an email at jsmall14(at)maine.rr.com and I will make sure you are rockin' a 1BandID lickity-split!!

The Weekend in Pictures-Part I

What a fantastic weekend! It was chocked full of awesome for sure.
This weekend was also the last big workouts before Quassy.
By the way, Rev 3 Quassy is NEXT WEEKEND.
So excited on so many levels.

So there was this little 90 miler bike ride that happened-
It was so much fun--great weather!

I left super early and met up with my training buddy, Marc (who did great--he stuck with me for almost 4 hours which is big volume for him)

Pit stop #1 was at Pine Point to inhale my favorite bike food-a Powerbar Performance Energy bar in Cookies -n- Cream! nom nom

The view for our snack break

loving my Quintana Roo cdo.1 

After we left the coast, we did a majority of the miles inland and then hit up the Revolution 3 Maine HalfRev bike course which winds through several farms. We actually had to STOP for COW CROSSING!

I could not get my camera out fast enough to capture the actual crossing but it was pretty cool!

The long gate opens up across the road to stop cars (and bikes) from passing while the cows move from one pasture to the other.

The super nice farmer moooooving the cows.

 Four hours in  and still smiling--this is when Marc and I parted ways and I went off on my own. I was soooo close to 90 miles at the 5 hour mark I just had to do a minute extra to get it :)

After my bike ride, it was time to work!! We have a wood stove and it has become tradition to cut wood and stack it to celebrate the official start of summer (kind of an oxymoron huh?) I affectionately refer to this as the WoodB!tch Workout...I have no idea how many "cords" (nor can I tell you just how much one cord is...) we cut and stacked this weekend but it was a lot!

 My boss, Lola, is a slave driver!

Functional fitness...stacking wood! That is one big pile I made :)

Recovery counts so this is how I relaxed later in the day

I finally got one of those Nook tablet things. 

Immediately downloaded The Big Book of Endurance Training by Phil Maffetone. (Imagine that...)

CHILLAXIN at it's finest-check out the beautiful veggie garden in the background!

This was my view from the hammock. Lola living it up in the back yard, running through the sprinkler.

...and this was my view at the end of the day. I guess an entire day out in the bright sunshine can do THIS to you...

Coon Eyes for sure

Don't forget about my 1BandID giveaway, I am accepting entries until June 3rd at midnight!!


What awesomeness did you stuff into this long weekend??

1BandID-Review & Giveaway

It's been a couple long days of training, working and balancing it all with family obligations and it seems there is little time left for me to play blog on the computer this week.
(though I totally admit to spending as much time as I could stalking my Ironman Texas friends that were racing)

I am happy that the nice weather has arrived in Maine and this allows for more training OUTSIDE. One of the most important things you can do is be prepared for an emergency. Let's face it, when you spend hours and hours outside running and biking it is more of a matter of WHEN it'll happen, not if...

This winter I was lucky enough to meet up with the brains (and good looks) behind a relatively new athlete ID product called 1BandID. 


How is 1BandID different from all the other ID's out there?
Easy...because it's simple.

Most athletes and runners use heart rate monitors, GPS devices or watches while out doing their thing.
The 1BandID attaches right to your wrist worn personal timing/gps/hrm device like a Garmin, or watch!
Just put it on and forget about it. It will always be there with you. Nor worrying about putting one more thing on before heading out the door!!

I cannot tell you how many times I've head out the door without my "other" ID bracelet and not bothered to go back home to put it on. Most of us do wear a personal watch/gps/timing device while training so I found this option very appealing.

I wore the 1BandID on my Garmin (my preferred method of wear since this is what I use 99% of the time).

I wore it on my Polar HRM.

I even wore it on my Timex swimming.



It did not come off, it did not irritate me and I did not even know it was there (except when the pretty pink color caught my eye!)

Don't wear a watch/GPS/heart rate monitor? It can even be attached to a variety of other things like sneakers, bike shoes or aerobars (yes, I put it on my aerobars!!) to provide first responders the critical information they need about you in the event of an accident or emergency.


From the 1BandID website:

Peace of Mind

• 1BandID gives first responders critical information if you’re unconscious or unable to speak and cannot communicate. Unlike a locked phone, a tucked away drivers license or code that requires logging into a database somewhere, 1BandID’s crystal clear laser-engraved information is right there and easy to read.

I have enough to think about with training-
executing the workout as written by my Coach
make sure all my nutrition is prepped and ready to go
set up my transition if needed that day
plus all the extra equipment we triathletes use
With my 1BandID, I do not need to worry about one more thing.
and THAT, my friends is the #1 reason that I have really enjoyed my 1BandID.
It gives me peace of mind that in the event that I cannot speak for myself, the little pink band on my Garmin will be well seen by emergency personnel and it is always there-no forgetting.
The fact that it comes in pink was a plus.
Plus, when I check my awesome splits, I am reminded about my manta:

BELIEVE...Be Fearless.

I love my 1BandID so much that I want you to have one too. 
And so does Joe at 1BandID who graciously agreed to participate in my giveaway (thank you, Joe!)

So how to enter?? (one comment for each entry)

Mandatory Entry: 

1) Go visit the 1BandID website and tell me-
-what is something interesting you learned about the 1BandID?
-what C O L O R will you get if you win
-what kind of motivation word/quote will you have on your band?

Bonus Entries: 

2) Go show 1BandID some love on Twitter by following them.

3) Tweet about this contest!! Include @MilesMusclesMom and @1BandID in your tweet!! You can earn ONE ENTRY per day for each tweet!! Just come here and leave me a comment that you tweeted.
I'll even make it easy for you-here is a sample tweet you can use

@MilesMusclesMom & @1BandID Have peace of mind while out training & simplify ur day-enter to WIN your own 1BandID at http://bit.ly/L98tcI

4) You know you like 'em right? For a 4th entry give 1BandID a like on Facebook!

5) Share the link to this contest with your friends on Facebook or blog!
Same as above, one entry per share per day-make sure you let me know :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you want to go LIKE this picture of Lola so she can win me a medal hanger I would be forever grateful to you (but can't grant you a bonus entry!! lol)
You have to like the picture in their album.
There might be a random separate prize for anyone who likes it though...just sayin.

Lola would really, really like to win!!
:)








THE FINE PRINT:
Contest Details- I will accept entries until midnight on June 3rd, the day I race Quassy. I will pick a winner from all eligible entries once I am able to move or walk upright again. 
Your comment here is your entry, failure to follow directions and leave a comment for each entry will only reduce your chances of winning so please, do leave individual comments. 
If the winning method of entry is found to be invalid, a new will be selected from all other entries. 


Disclosure- The 1BandID was provided to me at no charge and all opinions expressed here are my own. I really do love this ID and I was not compensated in any way for saying that Joe was good looking or for anything else I said or did for this blog review.