Father's Day Gift Ideas: Spartan Up!

Father's Day is this weekend (just a reminder!) and if you want to get away from the basic tie as a gift, why not take advantage of the SUPER DAD DEALS happening with Reebok's Spartan Races to celebrate the Fathers on YOUR list. 

When I tell you that these are some SUPER DAD DEALS, I am NOT joking...check out these inspiring promotions that are happening NOW.

First, let's get Dad Dirty and get registered. With the code SPARTANDAD and get in for the afternoon Sprint distance for only $69.00 race entry fee* Plus, there is more. (keep reading)

Second step, it's time to Smarten Up! 

Now, once you're IN, head on over to get 2 FREE digital downloads* from Joe De Sena books, Spartan Up! and Spartan Fit!

I have Spartan Fit and what a great book! This easy to follow book will set you up for success for your Spartan debut or get your skills dialed in even if you are a Spartan or OCR racing veteran.

This is a super cool bonus for sure. Make sure you use the code SPARTANDAD to take advantage of this free digital download.



Finally, let's get Dad Cleaned Up! Let him share his achievement with Spartan gear!!

Head on over to the Spartan Race Shop and save big on training gear, race  bags and hats, nutrition and more. Go on...you know you wanna look! I think I might splurge and finally get that Spartan jacket I've always wanted. You know, for Dad :)

Give your Dad the gift of grit and the long lasting feeling of accomplishment. But hurry up, this spectacular special will be gone very soon...

See you out there

AROO!!






*The Fine Print:
Free e-book download and $69 Sprint afternoon race offer valid with an adult registration during promotional period only. Must use SPARTANDAD code during checkout. Code cannot be combined with other codes, including GovX. Offer not valid with Spartan Passes, Volunteer, or Groupon entries. New, afternoon time block registrations only, cannot be retroactively applied. US events only. Offer ends 06/18/17 11:59PM ET. E-book download instructions will be supplied by 6/22/17.

3 Things Thursday

3 Things Thursday: What's going on in my world today? 

THING 1

As part of my 2014 SEASON OF FUN, this weekend several of my athletes are doing a local mud run, The Into the Mud Challenge.  This sold out race promises "Filthy Fun for Everyone" and being mud season here in Maine, why not?

I have avoided these types of races close to tri season for fear of injury risk but since Knoxville is all about having fun, I am excited to share this experience with my "kids". They are somewhat regretting inviting me to come and play because my little competitive beast is coming out and I am all "LET'S KILL IT" and they are all like...NO! Let's just have fun. I say you can race hard and have fun too, right!?? Plus, there are mud and obstacles :) Sounds like the perfect time to go hard and have fun!

Do you do obstacle course runs and races? 
(if you are a Spartan Race fan, stay tuned! fun stuff coming up)

THING 2

Lola's 1st race at 18 months old-a .25 mile track run! 

Speaking of races, did you know that Knoxville has a KIDS TRIATHLON? Yes! It's called the REVVIE. I am hoping that this will be coming to the Maine race too so Lola can participate! She has done the Kids Adventure Races with Rev3 and has done several kids runs...this would be really cool to have her to her first tri with Rev3.

The distances will be broken up by ages:

Athletes will be broken into two groups by age.

Ages 6-9

• 150 Yard Swim
• 2 Mile Bike
• .7 Mile Run

Ages 10-13

• 250 Yard Swim
• 4 Mile Bike
• 1.25 Mile Run

Lola's amazing finish at Rev3 Maine GLOW RUN 

Do you have children that race? Let's hear about it!!

THING 3

FOOD! What am I noshing on lately??

Well, somewhat controversial in the "EAT CLEAN" camp is the powdered peanut butter, PB2.
Now, as someone who could eat an entire jar of peanut butter or almond butter in one sitting, I was happy finally try this out and I have been adding it to my IsaLean Pro shakes.  Mixed with my chocolate shake, it gives it a fantastic PB chocolate flavor without the nearly 200 additional calories (plus, it mixes up easier and I don't need my blender if Im on the go)

Food Babe did a post on PB2 and it's atrocities, the comments are just as interesting as the article itself. While I am an advocate of EAT CLEAN and this PB2 does not fall into my 100% clean category (it's processed and it has added sugar) I did not throw the PB2 in the trash and run for my life. It is a NON GMO crop and the ingredients consist of peanuts, sugar and salt, with 1g of sugar per 2 TB serving. I have no fear of the fat in regular peanut butter and I tried this product specifically to add to my shakes.

I did discover that there are alternatives available such as JUST GREAT STUFF, which is non-GMO as well, organic and uses coconut sugar. I will give this a try.

What are you thoughts on PB2? Have you tried it? 

In other food news, my new favorite snack is strawberries paired with walnuts.
DELISH!!

As seen on my Instagram...two days in a row!

What's going on in YOUR world today?

Day One

Today was Day One of training for what is NEXT

As you may recall, the late season triathlon plans had to take a back seat to family right now and I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to see what the Universe would have me do next.

I am a next person. I like need goals. That ever present carrot dangling before me...be it small or large, goals are what keep me motivated to keep on keeping on. It gives me drive and focus to have that NEXT item to check off.

When it comes to checking things off, I have this list of things that I want to accomplish, races and distances I want to tackle and such. These range from small goals and target race times to lifetime goals and "pie in the sky" races across the globe.

I don't believe anything is TOO big to tackle.

I was sitting there one day when the Universe once again whispered into my ear.
GO. go west. run.

It all happened quite fast actually (as most things in my life do). I got an email from Angela about Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA in February. This is one of those races that has been on my list since the early days...simply for the magnificent medals.

This is the actual medal for the 2014 race

So when it's cold in February here in Maine, I will be running here:

And since I'm running a marathon on the LEFT coast, let's call it a double header! I am also running the Maine Coast Marathon along the Maine beaches in May!



So my little post-Cedar Point "break"/off season is officially over. Today was DAY ONE of marathon training.

What more can a girl ask for? November in Maine and 60's weather!? Sunshine!! Tank Top!! Sunglasses!! Smiles!! Oh...and I found money.
a dime.
ten cents.

I actually stopped and picked it up. Not because it was ten cents but because I am considering it a little trinket to remind me of this next journey to California and a faster marathon.  I tucked it into my jewelry box along with a couple other small mementos I have kept, including a small rock from Lake Erie and the first toenail I lost (yes, really. Gross, I know. Whatev's...lol)

day one

10 cents to California

I am excited to focus on my run for a bit and work on getting faster and stronger.
Which is only going to help with goals for NEXT season!!

_____________________________________

Do you take an "off season" or change gears this time of year?

What is one of your "bucket list" races and why?

Run Like Hell

The Mid-Winter Classic 10 Mile Road Race

Cape Elizabeth, Maine 

February 3, 2013

I signed up for this race quite a while ago and had some pretty solid goals for this race. I broke the 1:45 barrier on the half marathon distance in December so my goal to go sub 1:20 at a 10 miler was completely reasonable...until January happened.

I did a lot of traveling in January-Florida and Colorado-and come home from FL with a nasty chest cold that lingered through the Colorado trip and beyond. Lola was sick too and my training plan for the month was really screwed up! It's freaky to me to look into Training Peaks and see almost an entire week of RED BLOCKS from incomplete or missed workouts!

I chatted with Coach and we both agreed that it was smart to put any lofty goals on hold for the day and just run, call it a training day and take it mile by mile. I wasn't even sure if I was going to show up come 9:45 on Sunday morning. The weather has been COLD and they were predicting snow for the day. There was no way I wanted to prolong this chest cold in freezing temps to just run and not race. Then I found out that my girl, Mandy, would be there--you know, Caratunk Girl.

That's all I needed to know. I have not seen Mandy in a while and as long as the roads were safe to drive up to Cape E for the race, I'd be there.

It was cold, temps in the 20's and the winds brought the "feels like" temps down to about 10*. Layer, layer, layer and be smart! I walked into the High School for packet pick up and right away got to see my awesome Rev3 Team mate, Ryan. Then picked up my race bib.

REALLY?? C'mon....

Then I got to see Mandy.

And Jake.

DOUBLE BONUS!!

We made lots of jokes about my bib number and it was decided that I would RUN LIKE HELL!
The run's theme song would be "Running with the Devil" by Van Halen.


I also got to see running buddies Danielle and Sarah, whom I have not seen in forever!! Danielle is looking marvy with a little baby bump (25 weeks along and looking amazing).

chatting up Danielle and her cute bump

Got out to warm up a bit (ha ha) it was freezing and found Michelle in the parking lot. Lucky Michelle got to witness me christen the CEHS parking lot before the race (and dare I say this is not the first time I have done this...Beach to Beacon 2012!)

obviously, NOT peeing in the parking lot in this pic! 

Then I ran into Jen (yay!!) I've been wanting to meet this gal in real life for a while! She was pacing to what my goal time was today and I was hoping we could run together but...we lost each other before the start.

I lined up and started with Mandy, Michelle and a couple of her friends and just trotted along a bit. I was pretty happy at about 8:45 pace so just kept it there and went with it.

Michelle in Yellow, Mandy in Green and me in Pink (behind red guy)

The first five miles of the course are all rollers and I was feeling good and strong on the hills. Cadence was where it was supposed to be, I was running easy and keeping the HR in check. Pace was solid and consistent at 8:30's and I was feeling good. I hit the half way mark around 42:00 mins and was pretty sure I was on pace for a 1:25-ish finish time. The plan for the rest of the miles was to stay steady at 8:30 and pick it up the last 3 miles and finish strong-no mind to HR at that point.

The last two miles were quite comical--this is actually the flattest part of the course with a slight incline, but into a very cold and strong wind on this day. It was soooo cold and I felt like it was just pushing against me. Ok, it was pushing against me. I'd glance at the Garmin to see high 8:00's and low 9:00's flash at me and I was getting annoyed. To add insult to injury, I had peed a little and my entire inner thighs were wet and FREEZING.



NUMB cold freezing painful NUMB.

So I just chugged along and I spotted a local tri club gal, Kim up ahead about a half mile or so. I tried like the dickens to catch her but that would not happen today. I had no idea where the finish line was but we started in the HS parking lot so I figured it finished around there too. Sure enough, I saw the runners ahead turning into the school and I just kept running...and running...and running. It was a slight downhill to the finish line and boom! Done

1:26:04 for an 8:36 pace and 6th in my division.

Not bad for a training day and I will definitely return to run this route again. I loved it! Lots of little rollers and part of the course is along the Beach to Beacon course.
Next year that sub 1:20 finish is all mine.

awesome! Michelle and Mandy having fun

how cute is she?? GO JEN B
Happy to report that Jen finished in 1:19!! GO JEN GO!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over...and OUT

There have been a couple (well, more than a couple) not so awesome things thrown at me this week but I am trying not to let the negativity derail me...and keeping myself UNSTRESSED has been a huge challenge. I can tell that the stress is manifesting itself physically.

Quassy almost is here and I am getting ready to leave.


I know that this course is going to deliver some hurt, I have know this for two years.
Why do you think I wanted to do this race soo badly? Because of the challenge it presents.
Quassy HalfRev was on my schedule this year regardless and now that I am a member of Team Rev 3, it just makes it that more exciting!!

I cannot wait to see my team mates, I am overflowing with joy to see Sonja, I cannot wait to meet some fellow ponies (those of us coached by the Awesomeness that is Sonja) and I am excited/nervous/ready for this race!


I over-packed (as usual).
I am over-excited (duh?!).
but I am ready.

My Coach has prepared me well, physically I got this. The only component that needs some fine tuning in my mental strength. While I do consider myself mentally strong, I know that I have a long way to go before I am anywhere near where I want to be.

So to mimic one of my inspirations, I have written some words of encouragement on my water bottle.
Chrissie writes her manta on her water bottle and bracelet pre-race and carries the poem "IF" by  Kipling

Kind of ironic that the very woman who inspired me to do just this, is the one quoted on the bottle.

"I had that ugly voice on one shoulder suggesting I quit and take the easy route. But I hate the goddamn easy route, and I know that I can never rest until I know I have given it absolutely everything. So I ignored the pain. I ignored the internal whispers. It was the other voice, the louder one on the opposite shoulder, which gave me the will to continue" ~Chrissie Wellington

Week #1 Winner & Week #2 Giveaway {Tough Chik love}

Thanks for all who entered my 400 Follower Celebration

and a big, happy welcome to the new followers!!

There were 66 entries for the first giveaway! Who won? Read on to find out!!

I am excited to announce the awesome WEEK 2 giveaway!!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, the you know that I am a Tough Chik through and through.

Tough Chik and Team Tough Chik have exploded in 2011! I am so happy to have been able to be a part of the excitement watching the brand grow and then see the team come to fruition.

Tough Chik was with me (literally) for every single race of 2011.

From the first race of the season

The Nor'Easter Reverse Triathlon-

 to the final run of the season

The Nor'Easter Reverse Triathlon-

with honorary Tough Chik Dude, Marc

and everything inbetween!!

Tough Chik was with me through every mile of my first 70.3-Timberman!

 

I think Shannon summed it up very well in her blog post about how EPIC 2011 was for Tough Chik~

I know that Rev3 has her muscles for the 2012 season, but Tough Chik has her heart!

While I do love my Rev 3 Team so, so much and I am ecstatically happy to be rocking the R this year, Tough Chik will always be very, very special to me and have a place in my heart.

So what would a celebration be without giving away some Tough Chik awesomeness??

First, let's announce the winner of the week one giveway.
Who's gonna get a big ole bag of SWEETNESS from me??

Random.org picked entry #61

Congrats to Suz and Alan from Cows and Lasers and Everything in Between
(coolest blog name EVER!!!)

The winning comment?
I honestly enjoy everything about your blog do more of the same is perfect! Sorry I'm so behind on reading. Have a great weekend

Please email me (jsmall14(at)maine(dot)rr(dot)com) and I'll get you hooked up with your goodie bag of yummy stuff like Gimme Vitamin packed chocolate, GU, CarbBOOM! and much more!!

Thanks for being a follower!!

So you wanna win some Tough Chik love too??
One lucky reader will win a Tough Chik visor like the one I rocked all year long~

How do you enter?
Easy-you must be a follower of this blog. If you are not already, just click that little FOLLOW button on the right side of the page>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mandatory Entry:

• Leave me a comment telling me how you are going to be TOUGH in 2012??

BONUS ENTRIES:
please leave one comment for each entry

• Like Tough Chik on Facebook and leave her a note telling her how awesome Tough Chiks are!!
• Follow the Tough Chik blog
• Follow Tough Chik on Twitter
• Share the Tough Chik love-spread the word about this giveaway on your blog, on Facebook, Twitter, email, write it on the bathroom wall...one entry per method of sharing per day.

This contest is open to followers of Miles, Muscles & Mommyhood. Contest starts on Monday, 1/16/2012 and entries will be closed at midnight on Saturday, 1/21/2012. A random winner will be selected from all eligible entries and the winner will be announced shortly after. 

Disclosure: I am not compensated in any way for lovin' Tough Chik and the prize for this contest is donated by Shannon, the head of the Tough Chik empire.

You might be a runner/triathlete

You know you are a runner or triathlete when...

...you know what Yasso 800's are.

Even better - they are a regular part of your training program.

...you know that Crank Brothers, Pearl Izumi, Blue Seventy, GU and Zoot are brands and NOT the name of some obscure punk band.

Even better - you own one (or more) of their products.

...buying coffee you see Kona on the label you think of triathlon.

Even better- you considering buying it just because is says Kona on the label.

...the words transition, taper, bonk, brick, ladder, LSD, and drafting mean something completely different to you than the average Joe.

Even better- you have experienced all of them.

...you know what bike porn is.

Even better- you have posted your own bike porn.

...driving anywhere you are scoping out new routes to run or ride.

Even better- you find a nice, long hill and you can't wait to do hill repeats.

...you plan your family vacations around your racing schedule.

Even better-the race destination IS your family vacation.

...these numbers make your heart go pitter-patter: 13.1, 26.2, 70.3, 140.6

Even better - you have them proudly displayed on your vehicle.

...you know what BQ means.

Even better - you have done it!

...you know what IM means.

Even better - you done done it!

...you see an M-Dot tattoo and can't wait to have your own someday.

Even better- you already have one.

...you subscribe to Runner's World, Inside Triathlon or Triathlete magazines.

Even better- you get them all and read them cover to cover the day it comes in the mail.

...anything on this list made you smile! Happy Tuesday :)