Team Flamingo

Well this weekend was another great one that included another great run. We ran 13 miles along the beach path according to my Nike+, which could be wrong give or take. It was a great run and super foggy, which made the last three miles seem like forever, because we couldn't see the Jack-in-the-Box we parked at until we were practically there!

It seems crazy that my 1/2 Marathon is a little over two weeks away. Time does fly, doesn't it. I remember signing up and beginning training and thinking, man, this is never going to come! Now that it's actually almost here, I'm like oh man, what did I get myself into?

Anyways, this weekend was a great 5k Walk for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Orange County and it took place at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. I was the Team Captain of Team Flamingo and as you can see in the pictures below, Team Flamingo doesn't mess around!


The whole team


Walking the 5k


Me, trying to round up the team? :)


Team Members


This last picture is actually my running partner, Nicole!

We just leisurely walked the 5k, and it was excellent weather, overcast and never even got too hot at all. Walking around Fashion Island is always great too, and the expo was fun to wander through, especially munching on the Pat and Oscar bread sticks. Overall it was a great success and a lot of fun and I am really glad everyone came out and joined Team Flamingo. We'll be out there next year again I'm sure. :)

This week I am really going to focus on getting all my runs in, as I have something to do every night of this week, which include an Angels playoff game (GO ANGELS! LIGHT UP THE HALO!) and a Ducks game, which I'm super excited about as well. Next Monday is my birthday and I'm going out to Palm Springs for the night this weekend, so that long run should be a really nice change of scenery. Then next weekend is my race! If anyone has advice or tips let me know.

Look forward to some great goodies on Thursday as well. :)

xoxo

Shirts, Shoes, Sales.. Oh My!

As you noticed, I had Sharnee from http://www.acornglue.com/ redo the site and I just love it. I hope you do too. :)

So it's almost October which means not only that it's almost my birthday, but it's also the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This cause is very near to my heart as my mom passed away from Breast Cancer two years ago. Every Thursday I'll be highlighting something that is giving back to raise Breast Cancer Awareness along with my normal Thursday goodie-bites.

A little side note is that this weekend I'm captain of Team Flamingo for the Orange County Race for the Cure in Newport Beach, CA. Looking forward to walking with everyone who is apart of my team. I will be doing the 5k walk, so no running, but I'm excited to raise awareness for the cause. If you would like to make a small donation to show your support for the Komen Foundation on the Team Flamingo Page, you can visit our website here. Team Flamingo

So today I'm highlighting a really great website that is called The Breast Cancer Site. (http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/) This site has so much great stuff supporting the Breast Cancer Cause, and also gives you the option to support other causes. They have a variety of cute and fun stuff on sale right now so I would advise you to check it out. I found this super cute fleece to be such a steal, and great potential to be used on a long winter run, especially for all you runners who reside in the colder areas of the US!

The fleece has an embroidered pink ribbon over the chest to display your support. Choose between black with vibrant raspberry, or gray with pale pink. The jacket is 100% polyester fleece and has a heavy-duty quarter-length zipper. They also have an array of sizes that are 20% off! You can find it on the Breast Cancer Site under Sale Clothing, along with tons of other great sale items.

What to do with old running shoes? If you are like me, you go through shoes quickly, and when you are done with shoes, they still almost look new and are just dying to find a new home. It's always hard for me to get rid of shoes like this, I feel almost a connection to them and the memories that I had made in them, even if they only lasted me a short three months. I found this great website that donates shoes to international countries that are in need. The organization is called One World Running and you can find them @ http://oneworldrunning.blogspot.com/. The faces of the people receiving the shoes makes me want to send all my shoes immediately.

There are also many other organizations like this and they can be found on this Runners World Site. I really feel that sending my old shoes off would be great, and that my shoes would be getting a new life in another country! I'm even inspired to hold a shoe drive, well that is maybe after my 1/2 Marathon in two weeks. There is really no need for me to have more than two pairs of shoes at a time, and that means I have at least three pairs to get rid of.


Also, Footlocker is having a friends and family sale, and you can too take advantage of the 30% off everything on http://www.footlocker.com/. Just use code LKS1FF89 at the checkout by September 28, 2008.



And finally, I tried the Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal this morning and I was very pleasantly surprised. It's the little cup in the front in the picture above, and though the oatmeal wasn't heaped in the cup like the picture, it was a good amount of oatmeal in a very easy, convenient container. The Perfect Oatmeal came with the choice of sides of nuts, dried fruit and brown sugar. I tried the brown sugar in the oatmeal and got the dried fruit as well. All the toppings you add yourself, so I ended up saving the dried fruit to eat a little bit later for a snack since they were in an individually wrapped package. I felt like it was definitely worth the wait in the drive thru line, and filled me up to keep me going until lunch. The Perfect Oatmeal claims to be 100% whole grain and the oatmeal itself has 140 calories, while the brown sugar topping has 50 calories, and the dried fruit and nuts have 100 calories each. Quite a nice little breakfast on the go.

Enjoy the weekend, and everyone who is racing good luck! I'll be with you in two weeks. :)

xoxo

SURPRISE!

Chic Runner has a new layout... hope you love it.

I love it, it's so chic!

Write with tons of goodies tomorrow!

xoxoxo

Shameless Plug...

For my favorite TV show Biggest Loser! If you aren't addicted to this show already, check it out, I am obsessed with it. The transformation these people undergo are simply AMAZING, and just watching the pounds shed off them is so incredible.

Not only is the show entertaining, but it's very inspiring. By watching them becoming a fitness fiend, it makes me want to go out and run 12 miles every day. If your Tivo isn't already busy Tuesday nights at 8pm, I would recommend you tuning into NBC. Give it a shot, and you won't regret it.

This picture is all the contestants at their first challenge.


Here is the biggest losers for week one. 28 pounds in one week. Serious people! You much watch!



Here is a link to some of the past Biggest Losers "Where Are They Now" Blurbs. Check it out the amazing difference for yourself.

http://tv.yahoo.com/falltv/photos/where-are-they-now/352

And here is the link to the actual NBC page for the show.

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/

xoxo

So deep...

This weekend lead me to a great run on Saturday! I finished my 10.75 mile run in 1:39:43, and here are my splits for all you number crunchers. They are nothing to be proud of and definitely show my inconsistency, (watching the birds flock around parts of the ocean, passing by cute dogs, running into an old high school teacher, and bathroom breaks to blow my continually runny nose, I have excuses)

mile 1 - 8:54
mile 2 - 9:03
mile 3 - 8:48
mile 4 - 8:39
mile 5 - 8:31
mile 6 - 9:24
mile 7 - 9:45
mile 8 - 8:58
mile 9 - 8:52
mile 10 - 8:19
.75 of a mile - 9:10

I hope to finish the upcoming half marathon in under two hours, but we will see. My running partner and I think that the adrenaline and everything will bring us back to our old high school days of racing and will get us going faster.

This weekend on our run, Nicole and I talked a lot about the enjoyment of a run, and how we both love to be able to fit in our jeans, and eat Taco Bell, but at the same time, our running careers have turned into something that is so much more than just working off the calories.

We used to run to please our coaches, then we ran to stay in shape through the college years and the Freshman 15, and essentially keep up with the Jones's, but as we talked about on our ten mile jog, we have reached the pinnacle of running. We have begun to enjoy running, and not have the kinks, the pains, the soreness. We have trained our bodies enough to absorb the long runs, and have reached the happy medium where a five mile run isn't a labor, but a labor of love that is not a task, but a pleasure.

It takes a while to reach this point, let me tell you. Over the past ten years, I have never enjoyed a single run as much as I do know, gulping in the scenery, whatever that might be, swatting away the gnats, and even the sopping sports bra that have come to litter my room throughout the week show that I am doing something healthy, and enjoying it.

I encourage everyone to run, not only for their own health, but because once they get used to the body aches and pains, running becomes a release. Those few steps turn into miles, and the few miles turn into more miles, those miles turning into satisfaction. In two days alone I ran 25 miles, not because I had to, but because I wanted too. I go our for a run and find myself in my own little world, enjoying the surroundings, the people I pass by walking or biking.

I never envisioned myself to be this girl out jogging because I was completely head over heels in love with the pain it caused my body, especially because for the last ten years, running has been apart of my life, whether I liked it or not. I've come to realize though that I do love running, I love the sound of my feet hitting the pavement continuously. I love the little walk sign that allows me to cross the street. I love the looks I get from drivers in cars, like they have never seen a girl run before. I love the feeling it gives me when I get home after a hard run and I can barely breathe, but that feeling, that freedom, that is what I run for.

Realize what you run for. Enjoy your run.

PS. Check back on Chic Runner on Thursday. Fun stuff is in the air!