Awesome Giveaway! Gifts for You OR a Special Lady in Your Life!

November 7, 2011 By 8 Comments

****WINNER SELECTED, CONTEST CLOSED! *******

 

Looking to pamper the lady you love . . . or yourself? With this giveaway you could do a little of both!

KMR Communications, Inc. contacted me about giving one fabulous reader all of these great gifts, and I jumped at the chance.

The thrifty side of me thought, “Oh yay, holiday gifts for women I love!” But the selfish side of me thought about how much I would love to win the body serum!

So what can you win for a friend/sister/lover/daughter/mother or yourself? A makeover from head to toe!

Grab a cup of java; this could take a while!

 

Take Her to the Bar . . . for Better Abs!

 Joey Decker, a dancer and owner of the Burbank, CA Bar Method Studio, guides you through exercises that will elongate muscles, firm and tone the jigglies, and help you get strong, fit abs, narrow thighs . . . and it takes just thirty-seven minutes! I don’t know about you, but I could use this workout!

MSRP:$20

The Bangles . . . on her Wrist . . .


 

 

 

 

Want to be bejeweled? What girl doesn’t? The lucky winner will receive two bangle bracelets similar to the one show above from Bombay Fashions, one of the largest online retailers for fashion jewelry.

Skin that Glows

 

 

 

 

 

Looking to exfoliate and moisturize? BrilliantFX, a body serum, contains lactic acid and Vitamin E to exfoliate and moisturize. Says co-founder of Trinity of Youth, the company that manufacture’s BrilliantFX, “By using naturally occurring medicinal agents that have been used for thousands of years, we can now offer out unique mixture that both alleviates dry, cracked skin and improves the appearance of aging skin on the body.” Sounds good to me!

MSRP $39.99

Hair You Love!

 

 

Piero and Luigi Pirri, brothers with hair salons in Connecticut and New York, have created a line of natural hair care products that includes as an ingredient Bergamot, which is an essential oil that comes from a fruit native to Calabria, Italy. The winner will receive shampoo, conditioner, serum and leave-in conditioner. Each product has been created to lock in moisture, which makes it a perfect product line for winter.

MSRP: Over $80

The Nails Have It!

 

Winter is here, which means skin will begin to dry if not cared for properly. Minus417 specializes in creating products that contain natural active components, such as select minerals from the Dead Sea and unique plant extracts from France. The winner will receive this kit, filled with hand moisturizer, foot moisturizer, cuticle oil, nail buffer and nail file.

MSRP: $39.48  

And Speaking of Nails . . .

Once her nails are looking great from all of the pampering in the Minus417 kit, she’ll be able to doll them up with these fun fingernail tips from Pretty Woman. The winner will receive two airbrushed nail kits! MSRP: Starting at $5.99 per kit  

How Can You Win?

It’s easy! Comment below for one chance to win; tell me the one way you love to spoil yourself, whether it is a product, an activity or just vegging on the couch in front of a good show!

Enter additional times by doing the following:

Become a new follower on twitter @mamamarathoner for 1 extra chance; comment here that you have followed me after doing so,and leave your twitter handle so I can follow back!

Like me on Facebook for TWO extra chances! Report back here, leaving two comments in the comment section below along the lines of I’m a Facebook Follower!

Share the joy! Tweet about this contest for one additional chance to win! Report back by pasting your tweet in the comment section. Please limit this tweet to one time per day so you don’t drive your followers crazy!

Don’t forget to come back and leave the above comments for your extra chance(s) to win!

Winner will be chosen by random.org on Friday, November 11th, and will have 48 hours to claim his or her prize. If no one comes forth during that time, a new winner will be selected through the same method.

Prizes will be shipped by KMR Communications, Inc.

And here is my liability claim . . . I accept no liability, period, even if you don’t like the stuff (how could you not?!) or you are sensitive to the products or you don’t have the energy to make it through the entire Bar Method workout.  I’m simply here to give away some great prizes!

Filed Under: A Fit Life, Giveaways Tagged With: , , , ,

Put Down the Sugar Crack, Kid, and Walk Away; Or How to Dump the Pounds of Halloween Candy You Now Possess

November 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Halloween night we set out around 6:10, a sick kiddo in tow (don’t worry, I pumped her full of Tylenol to bring down that 101 fever so she could at least hit up a few houses before heading back to bed, because that’s how I roll).

An hour later, we returned home with this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, we now have in our possession enough candy to rot the teeth of all children ages 1-18 residing in the southern portion of the United States.

My children, stoked.

Our dentist, smiling, dreams of yachts dancing through her head.

My husband and I, to say the very, very least, quite fearful and, well, sick and tired of hearing, “Can I have a piece of candy now? Please? Please!” Stomp, stomp, stomp. “But I’ve only had five today!”

Do you know what it’s like to have a child who, as a toddler, scoured candy at the checkout line, picked up a few bars, and sniffed it the way a hunting dog tracks the ground?

And now, to have in our possession, a hundred bars of chocolate?

Not good.

Typically I toss out candy handful by handful until it is all gone, but this method takes way too long and in the interim we fight almost daily about how much candy she wants (8 pieces) versus how much I will allow her to eat (1).

Yet I don’t want my children to feel completely deprived.

Sharon Stone, director of operations at MindStream Academy, a co-ed health and wellness boarding school for teens who want to get fit, says, “One of the most important things to keep in mind is that keeping Halloween healthy can’t be about deprivation. If you keep your kids from candy altogether or are too tight-fisted when handing it out, your children’s desire to gobble it up will only intensify. It’s the classic forbidden fruit principle. Instead, make Halloween about enjoying treats in moderation. Try to achieve a balance between candy, healthy foods, and activity.”

So what can you do to strike a balance between a few bars and an entire semi-sized slab? Here, a few ways to dump the candy crack and return to a state of normalcy after Halloween:

  1. Enjoy in moderation. Let your kids choose their favorites from their pile and make a deal about how many pieces per day can be consumed for the first few days, when the memory of Halloween is the freshest in their minds. We do two pieces. And we do this for only three days. After that, the candy bag is hidden and I try to deter them from having daily treats.
  2. Balance eating with exercise. Says Stone, “After the trick-or-treating buzz has faded, make it a rule that no one gets to consume candy calories without first burning them. In order to eat a leftover treat, your kids will first have to play outside or participate in some other type of physical activity. This is a great time for some family bonding time too—play a game of kickball together or get everyone rounded up for a lap or two around the neighborhood.”
  3. Freeze it. Yep, that’s right! JJ Virgin, host of TLC’s Freaky Eaters, says the beauty of frozen treats are you’re liable to break a tooth off if you try to take it out and eat it right away. (Explain this to the kiddos first, please, so they don’t give it a try.) Freeze the treats you’ve collected and only take out a few when you want. This way you and your children can’t walk by and grab a handful several times a day (or an hour).
  4. Welcome the Great Pumpkin. Now that Halloween is over and the kids have gorged on some sugar, it might be time to begin ditching the treats. You can do this a bit at a time, as I’ve done over the years, or, and I love this idea because my kids are still young enough to believe in it, you might introduce the Great Pumpkin. Remember the Great Pumpkin, who flew around delivering toys to girls and boys? Stone offers this idea: Have your children choose a few treats to keep at the house. Then leave the rest outside for the Great Pumpkin, who visits the home and exchanges gifts for the candy you’ve left.
  5. Find a buy back program. A dentist in our town offers wooden nickles that can be exchanged for toys. Some give away a dollar per pound for leftover candy. Find one in your area and trade it in for cash or prizes.
Filed Under: A Fit Life, Fit Kids, Kid Stuff Tagged With: , ,

Relearning the Love of “Just Exercising”

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So it has been a long few months for me. I was supposed to do a century ride – cancelled due to sickness.

A 10K – did it, then got sick after.

A sprint triathlon – cancelled because I was afraid of getting sick.

A half marathon – cancelled because I don’t want to get sick.

My race season has amounted to little more than 6 miles followed by four hours of feeling like poo poo.

It’s sucked, in other words.

In the meantime, I keep thinking about what I ‘want’ to do but am afraid to do. Go more than five miles? No way! Last time I did six I got so sick I had to sit down in the grass twice while walking across my daughter’s soccer field!

Ride more than 10 miles? No! What happens if I get out there and start to feel poorly?

Instead, I’ve been doing short sessions.

This Sunday, I ran 3.5 while my kids rode their bikes. There was a lot of stop and go and doubling back and racing up and down the same stretch of road while they played in the dirt.

Yesterday I did 8 miles on my bike and then took two additional rides with my family – a 2 miler and a 1 or so miler – later in the day.

And you know what?

It has been fun.

I feel like stepping back from having my mind set on particular goals – a sub 2 hour half, or a 24 minute 5K – has enabled me to really enjoy what it is I’m doing. I’m not so serious about it all right now. I don’t care if I run fast (in fact, I’m afraid to!), but I just want to run. I’m afraid to run far, so I just go.

It has taken a few weeks to get to this point. To not be so nervous if I miss a day of running, or only put in a single digit number on my bike. I have slowed down some, and while it was tough to do, I’m finding it’s kind of enjoyable.

Okay, really enjoyable, but that doesn’t make me sound competitive at all!

Do I want to go farther and faster in the future? (Now say that three times!)

I do! I really, really do.

But for now, I’m doing what I have to do to stay healthy. And until I figure out what is exactly going on with my crazy system, this is what has to be done.

So for now, you may not find me at the start line of any races, but you will find me lagging behind my daughters, who can put in a mean 9:30 minute mile on their bikes!

And, chances are, I’ll be laughing as I go.

How do you reconnect to working out when your training schedule has gotten too hectic?

Filed Under: A Fit Life, October 2011

Spinning on the New Schwinn! A Great Ride, and a So So Run

October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So, this week has been a struggle of ups and downs.

The downs? My running continues to be an uphill battle. I lace up and get out, but I’m walking a lot and huffing and puffing when I do jog. My pace, which was down around 9:15 for a while, is now hovering in the mid-10s and sometimes the low 11s. A 5 mile run that used to take 45 minutes now takes 54. Ouch.

It’s disheartening, to say the least. Since getting sick the last time, and then experiencing flu-like symptoms for four hours after the two runs that followed the last sickness, I have not been able to get my breathing coordinated or my pace up.

I am simply slogging through the mire, putting in the motions, and, above all of the drudgery when out there, I get home and wind up having a lot of aches and pains that I normally wouldn’t experience doing such short, easy runs. My hip hurts. My ankles hurt.  I feel I’ve aged about ten years in the past two months! Which makes me mad, because I was in such a good place with my running before all of this started.

But on a good note: I got my new Schwinn!

As I posted before, I was chosen as a Joy Agent for Schwinn bikes, and my new Prelude arrived at my local bike store (LBS in biker’s terms – I know, as I’m learning them!), monkeywrench, last Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I picked her up on Wednesday, so excited to see how sweet she looked and to feel she was lighter compared to my old – but still lovely – Schwinn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bike did not come with a water bottle, and in my excitement I failed to notice. So, I haven’t been able to do a longer ride,  but I did take her out for 7 miles last week and it was wonderful! I was able to easily hit 17mph, which for me is near racing speed (I did about 18 during my sprint tri). It was an easy pedal, so I’m hoping that’s a result of the new bike and not the fact that I haven’t cycled in a while and was overly eager to do so!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, cycling didn’t make me sick!

But the best thing? Well, it has to be the experience itself. There’s nothing like getting out and experiencing life. Cycling is such a great way to do this.

 

 

Today I did a 5 miler and followed it up with a cycle around the neighborhood with the kids! So far, feeling well. Who knows? Maybe I will one day be mamacycler rather than mamamarathoner . . .

 

Filed Under: A Fit Life, Biking/Cycling, Schwinn, Uncategorized

How Do You Schedule Races?

September 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

Seems like I’ve hit the craziest time of racing season.

This weekend I have a 10K; October 8, a sprint tri; and November 5th, a half marathon.

I didn’t intentionally schedule races this way. In general, I take a month or so before events, and for a number of reasons. First, child care is tough to come by. I’m lucky to have a mom who has newly retired and lives close enough to come and hang out for the weekend; she’ll be watching the kids for this weekend’s 10K as I race.

Money is also an issue. Racing fees are crazy these days! I’ll sound old here, but I remember when you could pay $25 for a race AND get a t-shirt and fully stocked goody bag! My last tri: over $75!  Racing isn’t cheap, so I try to pick and choose carefully.

Also, my body requires more rest these days. I’ll post soon about some health issues I’m having, which may make long distance running a thing of my past; but, I’m still trying to swallow that thought down without puking it back up, so I’m gonna put that post on hold.

However, I can say this: A 14 mile run isn’t as easy as it once was. Recovery takes a bit longer, and I find the more I push myself on a steady basis, the more likely I am to pick up whatever buggies the kids carry home from school. They stay well, I end up sneezing, coughing, or hunkering down in bed for a few days. Not good.

On the flip side of all of this, there are only so many races nearby, and most of ours take place in the fall and early or late winter months, when the heat of the south has dissipated and left behind some coolness in its wake. Basically, you have to take advantage when you can, which is probably the biggest reason I’m doing three races nearly back to back.

How do you determine your racing schedule? Do you try to pick and choose so you have a balanced schedule, or do you decide based on price?

 

Filed Under: A Fit Life, September 2011 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,