26(.2)?!?!

Well folks, it has happened. I have officially turned marathon years old. It’s my birffffdayyyy!

See, even my new workout toy knows it’s my birthday!

In honor of turning marathon years old, a little while back I asked my Twitter peeps if that means I HAVE to do a full marathon this year (it would be my very first one). The overwhelming answer was somewhere along the lines of:

Hell freaking yeah!!!!

I am still toying around with the idea, but the full distance still terrifies the ever lovin’ shoot out of me. Maybe that could be what this year is about… Stepping out of my comfort zone, challenging myself, and trying new things. I like the way that sounds.

Hubs and I are heading to baycayshun on the Oregon coast for the weekend. It will be a MUCH needed weekend away from work email, computers, and all things stressful. On top of that, I fully intend to have a little drink in my hand 99% of our time there.

Retro birthday pic! This was me and hubs on my birthday 6 years ago!

Anywhooo, I’ll have lots of awesome pics to share come Monday. Until then, over and out.

P.S. WINNER OF THE FROG FUEL IS:

Congrats, Adrian! Send me an email (skippinginseattle@gmail.com) with your address and we’ll get your goodies shipped out to you!

P.P.S. Good luck to everyone running Hood to Coast and Iron Man Canada this weekend. Have a blast, and kick ass!

Giveaway!!!

Monday was Weigh in Monday for Weight Watchers. I was so nervous this week because I so desperately wanted to hit that 5 pound weight loss marker. I had a couple cheat days last week so I knew my chances of hitting it were slim. Apparently hitting all my planned workouts helped because I was down another 1.6 pounds babyyyyy! Total weight lost so far? 6.2 pounds and feeling like a million bucks.

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I was contacted a little bit ago by someone at Frog Fuel to try their protein shots. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. I was anticipating the consistency of Gu which, to be totally honest, makes me wanna barf. But, I decided to strap my big girl rundies on and give it a try.

The verdict? SO much better than I was anticipating. The consistency is more like a liquid than a gel so it goes down nice and easy. I really enjoyed the smooth consistency. The flavor I tried was Berry with caffeine. I could definitely taste that flavor that products with caffeine tend to have. It’s not necessarily unpleasant, but an acquired taste. I taste the same thing in my beloved watermelon caffeine enhanced Sport Beans. Caffeine not your thing? Don’t worry, they also make a non caffeinated version!!

So, what what is Frog Fuel’s shtick?
1. It was developed by Navy Seals!
2. It’s hydrolyzed. What that means for us is faster absorption which means better performance and quicker recovery!
3. It’s a Pure Collagen Protein. That means it can improve skin, muscle mass and tone, increase joint flexibility, healthier bones, arteries, hair, nails and eyes. Uhm, you had me at “improve skin.”
4. It contains Taurine which helps rebuild muscles faster!
5. You can toss it in your go bag.

Want to get your hands on a Frog Fuel prize pack?

1 winner will get:
– 3 FrogFuel 1oz Protein Shots
– 1 Elite Status FrogFuel Sticker

To enter, it’s simple!
Just comment on this post telling me what you are training for or your favorite way to exercise if you aren’t training for anything

Want some bonus entries?
Follow me on Twitter (@skippinginSEA) for another entry. Let me know in the comments what your Twitter handle is so I can follow you back!

Want FIVE more entries? Take this quiz here and comment with your quiz results!

Want FIVE more entries? Share this giveaway on some form of social media! Tell me where you shared it below!

Get your entries in before Sunday 8/18 at 11:59 pm PST. I will pick a winner on Monday!

Five for Friday

1. Last night, I had the most epically awesome run in this history of runs. It was a short 30 minute tempo run but I felt amazing the whole time!

It wasn’t my fastest, but I felt STRONG. I got to my cool down and had no desire to cool down so I kept going until my time was up. Runs like those keep you coming back for more.

2. I went to FlyWheel on Wednesday for the first time in a long time. It’s official. I need more FlyWheel in my life. It is the best spin workout I have ever gotten and I have been to a lot of spin places. They make it fun and challenge you and best of all… MOTIVATE you to be the best you can be. I’m not affiliated with FlyWheel at all, I just truly love going. I highly recommend seeing if there is one in your area. Your first class is FREE!

3. Wednesday was Mariners baseball game day at work! In lieu of a summer BBQ, my company decided to give us all a half day off and take us to the ball game.

It. Was. Awesome.

It was my first time at Safeco Field. What a nice ball park! At one point, I even got to get within 5 feet of a catcher practicing in the bullpen!

4. This weekend, we have hubs company summer party and a wine tasting party to go to! The wine tasting party is really just an excuse to get together with our friends. We used to select a region and everyone brought a bottle of wine from that region for everyone to sample. We got to sample some amazing wines this way. This time, however, we are saying ‘screw it’ and everyone is just bringing their favorite bottle. It should be a good time either way!

5. I have a giveaway coming up next week so definitely stay tuned!

Do you ever have themed parties with your friends?

Hell froze over

Yesterday was weigh in Monday! Normally, I would dread this day, but I have been making such good eating decisions that I was actually looking forward to it. The verdict after two weeks of weight watchers?

Down another 2.2 pounds baby! That is 4.6 total so far!

Even better than the numbers? Yesterday I wore jeans to work that were so uncomfortably tight on me two weeks ago and they were COMFY again! Hellll ya! I’m so excited for next week’s weigh in. I so desperately want to hit that 5 pound mark.

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So, I’m pretty sure hell froze over. This morning, I got up early and ran BEFORE work. I had nearly 4 miles done before 7 am.

Seeing as I normally run at about 10 pm, this is pretty major. I feel like this opened up a whole new world. It means I got to run in 65 degree temps instead of 80+ degrees.

I still feel like such a weather wimp complaining about running in 80 degree temps. Hell, I’m from SoCal! 80 degree days were my winters for crying out loud! I swear it is a different kind of heat in Seattle though. It hits 80 and we are begging for some AC.

Yep. I’m officially a weather wimp.

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As I mentioned on Friday, hubs and I went to the Zoo this weekend and I got to feed an elephant!!

It was so cool getting to be so close to such an amazing animal. Hubs got a shot of me feeding her that I will have to post once he uploads his pics!

We plan to go back to the zoo because we didn’t have time to explore everything that we wanted to. Next time I plan on feeding the giraffes! I will stay farrrr away from feeding the birds though. Those things scare the shit out of me. No joke.

We also went to Kerry Park which has my absolute favorite view of the Seattle skyline.

Hubs and I decided we suck at making hand hearts. Hubs says it’s because his hands are so manly… Yeah. We love that man.

What is your most irrational fear? Mine has to be birds and fish. I’m talkin snorkeling on top of a hot pink inner tube in Hawaii kind of scared. So ridic!

Five for Friday

1. Normally Friday is always my rest day. I come home, eat pizza, drink beer, and say cheers to kickin another work week’s booty. I sit on my lazy ass and enjoy every second of it. My new training plan has something different in mind. I have a moderate effort cross training plan in the books. SOOO prior to enjoying my splurge eating night, I biked 7.4 miles in 30 minutes.

The verdict? I actually loved it. It woke me from my Friday night work week coma that I tend to find myself in. This could be a very good thing.

2. Tomorrow, hubs and I are going to the Woodland Park Zoo! We have lived in Seattle for 2 1/2 years and are just now exploring all these landmarks. I love it! It is all inspired by his latest photography hobby! I’m most excited about feeding the elephants!!!

3. I have 5 miles on tap for Saturday too. I’m still deciding whether to wake up early and knock it out or if I should do it Saturday night. Knowing me, I’ll end up doing it Saturday night. Mornings and I don’t get along.

[Source]

4. I am still kicking ass on Weight Watchers. With the exception of my pizza tonight, I have been spot on and eating healthier than I have in years. I gotta say, it feels freaking good. I weigh in on Monday, so I’ll report the stats then. Honestly though, even if I end up gaining weight, I won’t care because I’m finally feeling good again. I still have a lot of work but I feel a difference and that’s all that matters to me.

[Biggest blackberry of my life]

5. I mentioned this on Twitter, but I think I’m officially a Brooks running shoe convert. I’ll post all about it soon. I wanted to get some miles under my belt first before I did. I’m seriously in love though. They feel so good and my bum knee is so happy in them.

Plus they are freaking cuuuuute! Run happy, folks!

Running shoe love: What brand do you run in?

Camera Whoring up the Snoqualmie Falls

Tuesdays workout:
Scheduled: 45-1hr on the bike
Completed: 11 miles and 47 minutes on the bike.

Wednesdays workout:
Scheduled: 40 minute workout. 10 minute warm up, 20 minutes at 15 second faster pace. 4×20 second sprints with slow jog in between.
Completed: 3.57 miles in 40 minutes.
I did a 3 minute walk and 7 minute warm up run at 11:19 pace. Then I sped up for the next 20 minutes to a 10:55-10:45 pace. Then I did my sprints at an 8:34 pace.
In retrospect, I probably could have done the sprints faster, but at the end of my workout, they were pretty damn brutal. I did my slow recovery at 12:00 pace.

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Last weekend, hubs and I took a day off of work so we could celebrate his birthday in style at the Salish Lodge that sits right on top of Snoqualmie Falls.

Hubs has been super into photography lately so I surprised him with the trip. It gave him SO many interesting things to snap pictures of.

None of these pictures are his. I snagged some with my super duper high quality iPhone camera. In case you couldn’t tell, that last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. Luckily there’s an app to cure my crappy photo blues. Apply a filter to anything and it automatically becomes awesome.

After having some pretty awesome photo shoots, we went back to our room, cleaned ourselves up, and began my favorite part: eating and drinking. I completely over indulged but it was SO worth it.

After dinner, we headed back to check out the falls. They shine spot lights on the water at night that seriously gives it this magical effect.

My pictures don’t do it justice. If you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend stopping by and taking a look at the falls. It’s no Niagara, but it’s a great PNW find.

What is a fun local find in your area?

And I’m feelin good

I went back and forth with whether to talk about this or not, but I’ve never been one to hold back. So, why the hell not…

I started Weight Watchers a little over a week ago.

There. I said it. That makes it real.

Don’t worry. I’m not delusional. I don’t think I’m fat by any means. Honestly, here’s what happened. I weighed myself. Yep. That’s all it too for me to snap out of my poor eating decisions.

I truthfully wouldn’t care what the scale said if I felt good, but I have been feeling like a freaking slob kabob all the time. Seriously. I’m a freaking sloth. It’s awful. I couldn’t figure out what my deal was, so I weighed myself. Usually my weight is pretty damn indicative of my “healthy living” choices… Or lack thereof. I kid you not, when I stepped on that scale, I was three pounds away from my highest weight ever. No freaking wonder I feel gross all the time!

So, I decided to take action! I started weight watchers. It is less about losing weight and more about realizing what I am putting in my body. I love that you don’t count calories with WW too. Your body needs calories to thrive, so why restrict your body of what it needs?! Instead, I am paying attention to the quality of food I am consuming. It’s something I should always be mindful of, but it can be really hard. I love me some pizza and burgers and beer and margs. Yep. That spells trouble.

I had my first weigh in today after being on WW for one week. Verdict? I am down 2.6 pounds. Not too shabby. I definitely splurged a little this weekend too since we were celebrating hubs birthday. I love that WW allowed me to do that without that lingering guilt. This is the first time I have ever done a real dieting program, but I have to say that I’m lovin it.

Something else fantastic? I started my speedwork training plan today! On tap for today was 30 minutes at an easy pace. I ran 2.55 miles in 30 minutes. While the pace was easy, my sweat was no joke.

I’m usually not much of a sweater. My face gets bright red, but I just don’t sweat much. This workout was a different story. I was sweatin’ up a storm! Like, slip n slide status.

Tomorrow’s training calls for 45 min – 1 hour cross training. I love me some cross training.

Have you ever done WW?

Are you a sweater?

Races, Race Discounts, and Running… Oh MY!

It seems like whenever I plan on stepping away from races to focus on speed work, I discover all these races that I just HAVE to run. Every time. Without fail.

Snohomish River Run Half Marathon & 10K

This race is on October 27th this year. I am SO looking forward to it because it is just over 3 months out which gives me lots of time to prepare to kick some major 10K arse. The course is supposed to be nice and flat too which makes it RIGHT up my ally.

Come run it with me and use coupon code SKIPPINGSRR13 for $10 off your entry!!!

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Color Me Rad Seattle

This race is on August 10th at Marymoor Park. Now, I am not usually one for having goop thrown at me during a race, but I am seriously considering volunteering for it. It could be REALLY fun throwing goop at other people!

If you plan on running it, use coupon code SEATTLECHILDREN10 and you’ll get 10% off and the race organizers will donate to Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Wanna volunteer? Seattle Children’s Hospital will receive $75 for every volunteer they provide! That is HUGE! If you are interested please email katie.fath@seattlechildrens.org and she will get you signed up with their race coordinator at Color Me Rad. Race coordinators will assign jobs when you sign in on race day to volunteer.

Volunteer positions they are looking to fill:
Packet Pick Up Thurs Aug 8th 9am-2:30pm
Packet Pick Up Thurs Aug 8th 2:30pm -7:30pm
Packet Pick Up Friday Aug 9th 9am -2:30pm
Packet Pick Up Friday Aug 9th 2:30pm -7:30pm
Race Day Saturday Aug 10th 6am-11am
Tear Down Crew Saturday Aug 10th noon-5pm

Who wants to do it with me?!

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Mustache Dache 2013

Oh. Em. Gee. I am so flipping excited for this race. Last year I freaking slept through my alarm and MISSED it!! I have no idea how that happened. I had to miss this awesomeness.

I will NOT miss out on the action this year! I am planning on putting together a meetup too so if you wanna run it and meet up, let me know!

Also, sign up through this link here (http://mustachedache-sea-skippinginseattle.eventbrite.com) and use coupon code SkippinginSeattle for 10% off your race entry!!!!

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Man, so many great races coming up! Now if work would just calm the eff down, I could actually run. I seriously feel like a big blob these days guys. I have been working 12 hour days for the past 11 or so days straight. Absolutely brutal. By the time I get home, I barely have enough energy to eat dinner and pass the eff out. The most frustrating of all is that I have a kick ass training plan ready for me to follow and focus on speed.

I am legit excited to start it. I am planning on starting it on Monday. Hold me accountable peeps. I don’t care if I am falling asleep on my ‘mill. I want to make it happen!

 

How do you balance working insane hours and working out?

What races are you running with me?

Also, shout out to everyone running Ragnar Northwest Passage tomorrow! I am so jealous and wish I was going to be there! Can’t wait to follow all of you!

Red Mango Frozen Yogurt & Smoothies Awesomeness

Sooo I had a really cool thing happen recently. I was contacted by someone who offered to have my try some Red Mango smoothies since they are in the middle of promoting their Red Mango SuperBiotics Smoothies Summer. What the heck is Red Mango?

I had no idea what it was until I moved to Seattle. Apparently they don’t have them in San Diego. Sorry, you SoCal peeps are missin’ out! Red Mango is a Frozen Yogurt chain and they just happen to have smoothies too. Apparently, they are the fastest growing retailers of all-natural frozen yogurt and fresh fruit smoothies. They just launched 22 new super biotic summer smoothies geared towards four different categories:

• Body Balance: Flavorful and functional yogurt smoothies formulated with beneficial boosts
• All Fruit Harmony: Dairy-free and soy-free smoothies made only with fruit, juice and ice.
• Twisted Fruits: Their signature yogurt smoothies offered in new and innovative fruit-forward flavors.
• Just Kidd’n: Natural snack-sized fruit and yogurt smoothies made for the kiddos

Now, I am a froyo junkie. Like seriously. It’s my lifeline. Hubs thinks I am crazy because I would have NOOOOO problem having froyo for a meal. But goodness gracious the smoothie I tried was da bomb dot com. My favorite part? It was only 150 calories for a regular size. Thank you sir, may I have another.

My coworker and I went to Red Mango on our lunch break to try out the smoothies. It just so happened to be about 85 degrees out so it was the PERFECT day for it. Apparently, other people had the same idea because it was packed!

We both ordered the Mango Melody smoothie but we got yogurt put in it so we gained all the SuperBiotic benefits.

For those of you with dietary constraints, Red Mango is also introducing a brand new line of smoothie boosts that have been formulated to meet the nutritional and dietary needs of today’s health-conscious consumers who find it increasingly important to embrace a wholesome, well-balanced diet. In addition to the protein, energy, immunity and multivitamin boosts currently available, Red Mango has added four new boosts which have been formulated with natural, wholesome ingredients:

• Metabolic Fit 360™: A proprietary blend of protein, calcium and African Mango which supports metabolic balance and promotes healthy weight management.
• Dark Chocolate Mate: Finely ground, Brazilian roasted maté and dark chocolate; a delicious, rich, low-calorie flavor which also supplies a nice dose of antioxidants.
• Tropical Hibiscus: Finely ground, premium Nigerian hibiscus blossoms infused with natural pineapple and lychee; a bright and tropical low-calorie flavor and antioxidant boost.
• Green Tea Acai: Finely ground, premium green tea with açai berries, the Amazonian superfruit; a low-calorie antioxidant boost made with the best ingredients.

Another cool thing, they are offering Club Mango double points July 15-19, 2013. Every registered and opted-in CLUB MANGO member will receive double points for every eligible purchase they make in a participating Red Mango location from July 15-19, 2013. Club Mango points add up and can be redeemed for products at participating Red Mango stores. You’ll receive a $2 reward just for signing up, and for every 500 Mango Points you earn you’ll get a $5 coupon! Earn that free yogurt, peeps!

Clearly, I hated it.

The fine print:
This was a sponsored post for Red Mango. All opinions are my own. And I could seriously use another smoothie right now.

Find Red Mango on Facebook at www.facebook.com/redmango and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/redmango

Rock n Roll Seattle 2013 Race Recap

Word of warning, this is going to be really long and most likely really sappy.

Wow.

I am having a hard time putting into words what I feel about this race. I think it is safe to say that it is my favorite race to date. BUT it was far from all rainbows and butterflies. Let me break it down to the good, the bad, the ugly, and the bloody awesome (gotta end on a positive note, right?).

The Good:

• Rock N Roll changed up the course a little bit this year. I had no idea until Danielle commented on my previous post. THANKS DANIELLE!!! Essentially, they took out all the crappy parts of last years race, with the exception of the huge ass hill at the very end. That bitch is still there. And yes, it is still a bitch. The changes they made were perfection. I think it totally highlights some gorgeous parts of Seattle. PLUS, there are a lot of downhill stretches and we all know the downhills rock my world.

• I also got to share my Nuun and Zensah love with other runners. I had multiple people ask me about Nuun (since I was wearing my singlet and tats) and my Zensah calf sleeves (since I was wearing my lime green ones). I love sharing the love of great products.
• I also got to meet up with a bunch of fellow lady bloggers before the start of the race for a pic. While our group is much smaller than last year, these people are JUST as fab!

The Bad:

• My stomach started cramping up about a quarter mile AFTER I passed a porta potty (TMI?). I never ended up stopping, but it would cramp up off and on for a stretch of about 3 miles. It wasn’t anything completely debilitating, but it wasn’t exactly fun.

The Ugly:

• A little before mile 8, I was trying to be a courteous runner. I noticed a much faster runner coming up behind me so I thought I’d move over to the grass and out of their way. I clearly did not pay enough attention because I ended up stepping right into a divot in the grass. This caused my knee to hyperextend at a weird angle. It hurt like a B.My racing mind clearly can’t do math. The whole time I was thinking, GREAT I have 4 more miles. I even tweeted that I had to hobble for FOUR miles. Uhmm… Hey, Einstein… I had over 5 miles to go!! I was a little in denial at first. I kept telling myself “oh, it doesn’t hurt” and to “suck it up.” It wasn’t until a little after mile 9 until I realized that it hurt a bloody lot. I kept going back and forth between walking a TON and then attempting to run. I repeated this whole process the whole rest of the race.There were some amazing downhill stretches that it absolutely KILLED me to walk through. Downhill is my jam. It is seriously my favorite but I just couldn’t run for longer than a couple minutes at a time without the pain being too much.

  The last five miles took me about an hour and twenty or so minutes to push through. Yeah, it was THAT brutal.

The Bloody Awesome:
And here is where my race report gets SUPER LONG.

There were SO many moment flipping amazing moments in this race. I’ll try to get them all down here.

• The crowd support! Oh good lord the crowd support! These ladies absolutely rocked my world!!!

  
  I got to see a group of my running ladies TWICE on the course. Sarah, Rebecca, Meghan, Andrea, Lauren, Rira, Dawn, Tyler, and anyone else I missed… YOU GUYS ARE FLIPPING AMAZING. The first time I saw them was at about mile 2.5 or so. We ran right by Nuun HQ and so the ladies were out there hydrating the masses.

  I got to see them again at about mile 10. At this point, I was hurting really bad but I saw my friends up ahead and it gave me that boost I needed so desperately.

  
  Sarah snapped this pic of me. You would never know I was in pain with that goofy grin on my face.

  You ladies were seriously amazing. You have no idea how much it helped knowing I was going to be able to see you all!

• Other crowd support was amazing too. My favorite sign this year said:
  

  If a marathon were easy, it’d be called your mom.

  Yeah, that was awesome.

• Another thing that was bloody amazing? The military tribute at mile 7.

  
  This part gets me every year. It is so incredibly emotional. This year, it was especially emotional because the song Same Love by Macklemore came on as I was running through here. I don’t ever get political on here and I don’t intend to start, but damn it moved me.

• The amazingness doesn’t stop there. The running community proved itself to be flipping amazing all over again. As I was limping my way toward the finish line, a fellow runner stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me I can do it. If that doesn’t make you tear up, I don’t know what would. She was a tenth of a mile from the finish, but she cared enough to motivate me when she could see I was struggling. Amazing. Thank you, amazing woman. You have no idea what that meant to me.
• And last but certainly not least, the outpouring of support from all of you on my blog and on Twitter was absolutely mind blowing. From all of the “Good Lucks” to all the “heal fast” messages I received, I am absolutely blown away and humbled. You all are fab! Thank you SO much!

Woooo! Ok, all done being sappy. *wipes tears away* Seriously, if you ever get the opportunity to run this course, DO IT. It is beautiful, challenging, emotional, and all around flipping awesome. I am already signed up for next year! 😉