everybody was carbo-loading

And just like that, almost five months later, the marathon is just two days away!  I haven't watched any running movies yet this week, but I have done a whole lotta carbo-loading.  Here's what my week of working out less and eating more has looked like so far:

Monday
As I'm looking at my calendar now, I honestly can't remember what I did for exercise or what I ate that evening. That's the kind of week it's been, but more on that in a bit...

Tuesday
A ha! Tuesday! Tuesday I remember!  I opted out of the last morning "buddy run" of the season in favor of sleeping in (y'know, until the late, late hour of 6:30) since Elias decided this week would be a great week to get sick - again (okay, okay, I know it's not his fault, but seriously, folks - talk about bad timing) - and was up about 2/3 of Sunday night with a seal bark-like croupy cough. Nobody slept well and it always seems to take a few decent nights to recover from one bad one.  Miraculously, I did manage to muster up enough energy to do a 45 minute cardio workout later in the day, never quite feeling up for a run.

Over the weekend I had perused my pasta and a movie series, picked out what worked well, added a few recipes, and planned my meals out in advance, having pasta and protein in the beginning of the week, and slowly transitioning to less protein, more carbs as the week has progressed, specifically carbs that are a bit lighter and quicker to digest like orzo and rice.  To that end, on Tuesday we had a mix of vegetable radiatore and whole grain penne with Trader Joe's turkey bolognese sauce, along with some asparagus on the side.

Wednesday
Since I woke up feeling the slightest tickle in my throat, I took no chances and my only activity consisted of walking around Costco that afternoon.  I made a tuna pasta salad for dinner, the leftovers of which I enjoyed today for lunch.

Thursday
Still feeling congested but overall pretty good, I went for an easy "dress rehearsal" 3-miler. I wore almost all the gear I plan to wear on Sunday. For dinner I made a chicken, orzo, and pomegranate salad.

Friday
That's today! No running for me, no sir! I'll do some stretching and icing tonight, after a dinner of Santa Rosa Valley Salad.

Saturday
Tomorrow will be another rest day. I haven't told Neal yet, but I fully intend to follow coach's orders and stay in bed as long as possible tomorrow morning.  To quote Mama Lisa:

On Saturday, do sleep late. At least stay in bed and stare at the ceiling. This may not be so easy. You are going to be keyed up, but if you think of the next morning and its demands, you may decide to remain stationary a little longer.

Aye, aye, cap'n! Once I feel sufficiently rested and ready for the day, we'll head to the ORF Expo to pick up my race bib, packet, maybe buy a t-shirt, etc.  Most of my final stretch of carbo-loading will take place at an "inspiration luncheon" tomorrow with the rest of my Team in Training peeps.

For dinner, I plan to make this black rice salad with butternut squash and pomegranate seeds. I had a great run the morning after that meal a couple months back, so that's what I'm going with for my last supper, pre-marathon.

So far, tapering and eating well this week are the two things that have gone pretty well. How 'bout we get into what hasn't gone so well?

Monday
As I mentioned already, the wee one was sick the earlier part of this week. I remember looking at him at some point on Friday last week, our "mommy day" together each week, and thinking, "man, he looks beat." Never a good sign. Sure enough, by Saturday evening/Sunday morning it was clear he was coming down with a minor cold, at least.  That minor cold turned into a horrible croupy cough that had me calling the advice line around 10 pm on Sunday night and Neal sleeping in his room Sunday night, while I took Monday night. If you've never had the experience of taking care of a kid with croup let me just say it seems usually, thankfully, a lot scarier than it actually is. Anything that messes with that tiny airway is cause for concern.  Additionally, he had a little bit of conjunctivitis (not sure if it was officially "pink eye" and, contrary to common belief post "Knocked Up", pink eye is not, in fact, caused by getting feces in your eye. At least, I'm pretty sure it's not. It's basically just what happens when the virus causing the cold symptoms affects the eyes and results in "eye boogers" and redness.).

It goes without saying that Monday Elias stayed home from school with me.  We braved the petri dish that is the pediatrician's office and got some steroids for the croup and drops for the eyes, neither of which we administered all that well.  Oh, and did I mention I slept on a pull out sleeper chair in his room Monday night?  Yep. Because, you know, I was trying to get my very best rest this week from the start.  To be fair, Neal not only had the worse night on Sunday with the coughing and such, but that chair sleeper, with a duvet thrown on top, is actually pretty comfy.  And the humidifier right next to my head was probably a good thing, considering how I was feeling by about Monday afternoon - tickle in my throat and sinuses congested. Not good, man. Not good at all less than a week before a race.

Tuesday
I had mixed feelings but having gotten the green light from the pedi, took Elias to school that day, desperate to get some work done and start the process of getting my game face on in time for the weekend. Did I mention that on Monday afternoon, when Eli and I decided to hang out in the backyard for a bit, we confirmed that the barking I heard on Sunday night was from our next door neighbor's new dog. He barked at us the entire time we were outside. And all day Tuesday (I work from home which is why that's a problem). Awesome. I love when folks get loud, aggressive, barking dogs in lieu of alarm systems.

Wednesday
Feeling moderately caught up on work, I decided to run a few errands, first of which was to Title Nine to buy a - dare I confess it? - new sports bra. The thing is, I know you're not supposed to do anything new on race day, but the chafing my year-old frog bra has been causing the last couple of weeks was becoming unbearable, even on relatively short runs and especially in the rain, which is now what the weather report is calling for on Sunday.  So I faced a dilemma: change nothing but experience almost guaranteed under-boob chafing or buy something new and hope for the best.  I went with the latter.  Funny thing is, I ended up driving all the way to Mill Valley since the Berkeley store didn't have the size I thought I needed after trying sizes smaller and larger in two different styles (the frog bra temporarily unavailable), only to buy the size I could have bought at the first store had I had the other size to compare. You follow?  Annoying, but at least I felt pretty confident about my purchase.

Neal had a long commute on Wednesday, one of those days when he's technically working in the Bay Area but might as well be in New York as far as help with the wee one before school and during dinner and bedtime goes.  I was on my own all day and Elias was not cooperating. At all.  But he was still a little sick so I suppose I should cut him some slack.

Thursday
Ah, to breath again through my nose! How nice. I had a great run in the morning, after I dropped off Elias at school (I'd normally get up early but wanted to focus at least partly on getting as much sleep as possible this week, as previously mentioned), then spent the rest of the day wrapping up a large order.  My hairbrush broke in the afternoon.  I know it's a minor calamity but annoying nonetheless - I don't have time to go buy a new one!

Otherwise, without going into too much detail, there's this other thing I've been dealing with all week that I worried would be an issue on race day but now seems like maybe it won't be after all. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. Period.

Friday
Today's been a pretty decent day so far, actually (hopefully I didn't just jinx it). I took advantage of a drop-in policy at school that's pretty reasonable, with attendance light on Fridays anyway, and Eli went to school for about four hours this morning so I could catch up on work and start to re-focus my attention on this weekend. In the process, I bugged Neal to fetch a few boxes of photos and scrapbook stuff (alas, no actual scrapbooks to speak of after, oh, sixteen years of collecting memories) and dug out all the swag from my first marathon experience with Team in Training, in Big Sur, nearly eleven years ago.

Race results, bib number, medal, of course, pictures, various TNT thank yous, the bracelet I wore with the names of my honorees ("too many damn names," as Coach Al says) - it was a little overwhelming, I have to admit.

Yep, that's Neal, then my boyfriend, now my husband, running the final 6.2 miles with me - just one reason I married the guy. He was a big part of the experience then and an even bigger part this time around, solo parenting our 3 1/2 year old almost every Saturday morning for nearly five months, without a car, to boot. Now that's supportive.

The bib! The medal! Soon I'll have a collection going!

And the results - 5:33:22. Not a great time, but not a horrible time considering I was then, like I am now, recovering from a knee aggravation and the incredible head-wind we faced that day from miles 10 to 20, give or take. Based on my training runs I'd been hoping for a finish time between 4 1/2 and 5 hours. When my knee started really hurting between miles 12 and 14, I just wanted to finish.  I remember afterward everyone complaining about how their time was about 1/2 hour slower than anticipated, thanks to that head-wind.  Getting into training this time around, I figured a PR would be a sure thing - I know what I'm doing this time as far as the importance of strength training and stretching, I'm going to push myself on the mileage (run 20 miles when the range is 18-20, rather than stopping at 18 and saying, "yeah, that's enough"), the course is a little less challenging (so I hear), and, let's face it, 5 1/2 hours isn't a terribly tough time to beat.

And yet, several weeks later I experienced almost the exact same injury at the exact same point in training.  So, once again, my goal is simply to finish - cross that finish line on Sunday and enjoy the 19 bands, the arch of fire, the views at the top of the 5-mile hill, the various Oakland neighborhoods and communities we'll be running through, and of course all the finish area shenanigans. Wish me luck! And stay tuned for a post-race recap hopefully sometime next week!

pasta and a movie: The Long Green Line

Not only am I actually blogging for the first time in several weeks, but I actually had pasta this time!

I'm solo parenting again so the wee one and I headed to Homeroom, Oakland's spot for "fancy mac 'n' cheese," as said wee one calls it, after his dance class this afternoon. We had an early dinner (thus avoiding the crowds) of little mac for him and vegan mac for me (I didn't want the cheese so much as the mac - I'm not vegan but just, you know, feel better when I consume fewer animal products, moreso as I get older and especially before a run). Delicious, as always. And yeah, we may have split a homemade oreo cookie after but I gave the wee one the bigger half.  I swear.



If I wrap up all my post-solo-parenting-13-hour-day stuff soon, I may actually watch a little of The Long Green Line, a cross-country running documentary about legendary high school running coach Joe Newton. Unlike a lot of running movies, this one has a great online presence.  Available on Netflix (but, alas, not streaming), you can also watch the entire documentary on Hulu.  When a Twitter friend recommended it, whoever manages their Twitter account replied directly to both of us. Now that's promotion!

So how are things going for me? Well, with just over two weeks until the marathon, I'm honestly not sure what my game-day strategy is yet.  After a two-week hiatus from running, partly because of IT band issues I've mentioned before, which have been plaguing me since late January, and partly because of a nasty virus that swept through my entire family, even developing into pneumonia for the wee one (not fun, by the way, for the record), I surprised myself with a pretty decent 10.5 mile run last Saturday.  It was supposed to be my 20-miler, my longest run pre-marathon. So on the one hand, I'm disappointed that the most I've run this training season is 14 miles.  But considering I ran maybe 10 miles in all of February, I was pretty happy with what I was able to do last weekend and how my knee felt during and after.  I'd finally made it in to a sports medicine/orthopedic doctor the week before and a physical therapist that very afternoon. Rather than a true IT band syndrome, she seems to think what I've been experiencing is more of a neuromuscular issue with the stabilizing muscles on that leg - not necessarily true muscle weakness but kind of like the muscles have gotten lazy and are not stabilizing the knee the way they should be, resulting in that leg being slightly knock-kneed when my foot strikes the ground, creating more tension and friction where the IT band meets the outside of my knee on that leg. 

She gave me a few key exercises to do to strengthen those muscles, which I did religiously last week, and I've really noticed a huge difference in just the first week alone.  Ideally I'd take more time to recover and work my way back up to 20, then taper for three weeks or so before a later event.  But I've wanted to run the Oakland marathon (or 1/2, as was my motivation last year) for two years now and part of me is tempted to go for it with a "just finish" strategy.  I have until the morning of to decide if I want to unofficially run the 1/2, officially run the full and hope for the best, or push back to a summer or fall Team in Training event with not only more training ahead of me but a bit more fundraising as well (San Diego Rock 'n' Roll in June and Nike Women's in San Francisco in October are the leading contenders at this time, after Oakland, of course).  Whatever I decide to do, I'm just relieved to finally be up and running again. Tomorrow I'll go for another "easy 10" and see how the knee feels as I head into the final two weeks before the big day.

pasta and a movie: Personal Best

Whoa, it's been awhile, huh? Quickly, as an update to the last post, as I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seats all this time wondering how that pre-run dinner of sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, and rice went down. Let me just say I shan't be partaking of the brussel sprouts again anytime soon. Perhaps it was the apples and apple juice I added to the sweet potatoes in the hopes my toddler would eat some, or the brussel sprouts I could hardly get down - either way, that was the least GI-friendly pre-run dinner I've had yet. I guess it works for some, but not this runner.

The following day, however, I did have a pretty good run for the first ten of 14 total miles. I'd been nursing what I think was a strained muscle or ligament or something-or-other behind my left knee since early January (nope, not bursitis, thankfully), and stretching and icing has seemed to all but eliminate that aggravation. But during my 14-mile run three weeks ago my IT band along my right knee started speaking up. I should know from past experience to stop and rest as soon as the pain starts up (when I trained for Big Sur in 2001 I experienced the exact same injury at the exact same point in my training but along the other knee...I made it through training and the marathon but didn't run consistently for years after that). But I didn't. It was simply annoying from miles 2 to about 10 when all of a sudden the soreness turned into pain. I continued to run/walk for about two more miles, even using a wooden roller at the 12 mile water stop to try and roll it out a bit. I finally came to my senses and stopped running shortly after that point and walked the last nearly two miles of the course. I ran very little the next week, took the following weekend off completely (hence no pasta and a movie post), and then attempted to run again the following Tuesday morning. I made it about half-way around the lake when the stabbing pain started up again. I took the rest of that week off, successfully finished a 2-mile test run last Friday and ate this for dinner, but on Saturday morning my run only lasted about 8 minutes. I walked another half-mile or so before turning around to walk back to my car and take care of a little shopping while I waited for the rest of my teammates to finish what should have been my 16-mile run.

Talk about bummed. I've yet to run again. This past week, in addition to a lot of evening stretching, icing, and ibuprofen as often as I actually remember to take it, I did 35 minutes of strength training plus a short yoga routine on Monday, about 25 minutes of lap swimming on Tuesday, aerobics for my cardio on Wednesday, and about 40 minutes of brisk walking (while pushing my son up and down a hill in his trike, I might add) plus another short yoga routine yesterday. My knee feels totally fine, of course, during all of this but an attempt to run again tomorrow will be the true test (we're supposed to do 8-10 during a bit of a step-back week but I'll be happy to make it once around the lake). Swimming kicked my butt on Tuesday so I'm not worried about maintaining my cardio fitness and endurance level during this break from running but with the 18 and 20 mile runs looming over the next two weekends, I am worried about whether or not I'll be ready to run 26.2 miles on March 25th.

Even so, I'm prepared for as much running tomorrow morning as my knee will allow, having made this for dinner tonight and planning to watch this running-related movie in a bit. Wish me luck!

encore! encore!

Fundraising - I just can't quit you! In addition to donating 75% of proceeds from the sale of TNT/LLS runner silhouette race bib inspired thank you notes, I'm taking orders for chocolate covered candied orange slices just in time for Valentine's Day!

With citrus harvesting time right around the corner (in fact, I have a feeling we'll have a counter full of oranges from the tree in our backyard by the end of this weekend), and considering you get dozens of these highly caloric confections from each batch of just four oranges, I figured I'd put the two projects together in an attempt to make that final push past my fundraising minimum of $1800 (I'm so close!).

To get your order in, just make a donation of $10 - that's it! - to my online fundraising page.

Ten bucks will get you a nicely packaged half-dozen orange slices. But wait, there's more! Each $10 donation will also earn you one entry into a drawing for one of three gorgeous glass bead jewelry pieces made by my aunt, Jolina Adams.

She sent over three gorgeous pieces, all with the signature TNT color purple.

Perfect for V-Day!

 

Two necklaces and one pair of earrings (I seriously want to keep these kitty earrings) - up for grabs if you place your $10 candied orange slice order between now and February 7th. That's the last day I'll be taking donations in order to pop these in the mail by Friday, February 10th or hand-deliver them (to fellow runners after our long run) on Saturday, February 11th.  

Thanks again, Jo!

fundraising grand finale (because yes, there will be an encore or two)

With the fundraising event at See Jane Run this Sunday fast approaching, I thought it was high time I did a follow-up post to my new year, new raffle post a couple of weeks ago to let you all in on all the fabulous prizes that have been so generously donated to our in-store raffle.  Here's the list, somewhat in the order the items were donated:

• $20 gift certificate to See Jane Run, also hosting the brunch-style shopping event (mimosas, anyone?!)
• a "Beauty Bash" at Benefit Cosmetics in Berkeley (valued at over $800!)
• Gu T-shirts and samples of highly sought after new flavor: peanut butter!
• signed copy (signed by co-author Sarah Bowen Shea) of Run Like A Mother
• certificate good for copy of Train Like A Mother, by the same duo as above, out in March 





• $15 gift certificate to James & The Giant Cupcake (I can personally vouch for these cupcakes, more often than I should admit)
• free entry to any Brazen race (I've heard nothing but great things about their races)
• $25 gift certificate to The Pasta Shop
• $25 gift certificate to Crepevine
• Q-Link Pendant (a $99 value!)
• a 1-night stay courtesy of Personality Hotels (winner's choice of 4 hotels in San Francisco's Union Square area!)
• gift certificate good for a pizza from Zachary's!
• $100 gift certificate to First Crush restaurant in San Francisco
• $25 gift certificate to La Farine





• $20 gift certificate to Homeroom (yummy mac 'n' cheese restaurant I've blogged about before) 
• $20 gift certificate to Great Harvest PLUS one loaf free each month for a year!
• Free Functional Movement Screen at SOL (Sports + Orthopedic Leaders)
• $50 gift certificate to Puccini & Pinetti in San Francisco

Phew. Not bad, eh? We tried to really highlight the Rockridge shopping area in Oakland, since that's where the See Jane Run store is, but we have quite a few donations from elsewhere in the world of running and in Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco (many of which you'll enjoy even if you're not a runner!). So if you haven't already donated to buy your raffle tickets in advance, do it now! Raffle "tickets" are 2/$5 or 10/$20 in advance (you can think of these as "entries" if you donate online but rest assured we have a spreadsheet and actual raffle tickets so it's all good - you will be in the drawing on Sunday if you donate online!); 1/$5 or 5/$20 on the day of the event. And while most of the raffle items will be best enjoyed by a Bay Area resident, that's not necessarily true for all items (and hey, aren't you due for a visit??) and you DO NOT have to be at the event to win.

That said, if you are at the event on Sunday from 11 am to 1 pm, get there early because we'll have goody bags chock full of, well, goodies for the first 50 shoppers! Seriously, these bags courtesy of See Jane Run are already full from their latest race and I haven't even added the Gu or the Luna bars!

So other than fundraising, you might be wondering how my actual training is going so far? Pretty well, especially considering I was suffering from some serious IT band woes around this point in my training for Big Sur in 2001. I do have a new pain - some soreness on the inside of my knee, wrapping around from my calf muscle along that tendon, along the side of my knee to my quad, ever since we did 10 miles at Lake Chabot a couple of weeks ago. I was blaming my shoes but got the green light at TranSports earlier today (no pronation whatsoever! and in neutral running shoes, no less!) and walked out with a foam roller instead. Stretching, strength training, and cross training are, it seems, just as important as clocking in the miles. I'm hoping to add in a bonus yoga workout once or twice a week beginning next week since I only have about a month left to use a Groupon good for 10 sessions! All that said, I'll aim to complete 12 miles this weekend in one of Oakland's gems, Redwood Regional Park.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another edition of pasta and a movie (and, because I know you were looking for it last Friday, an explanation of what I ate and watched - or didn't - last week)!

new year, new raffle

My fundraising is going really well, thanks to all the early and generous donors! Thank you, thank you! But I'm not going to rest on my laurels. No sir, I'm organizing yet another raffle with the help of three other teammates, which will take place at an in-store fundraising event at See Jane Run in Oakland on Sunday, January 22, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  This brunch-style shopping window will include mimosas and snacks, a 5% discount to shoppers (with 10% of all proceeds during the two hours going back to LLS!), goody bags for the first 50 shoppers (have Gu, will shop!), and a drawing of fabulous items including but not limited to a Benefit Beauty Bash for the winner and a few friends (all the deets in a later post), a copy of the book I'm currently obsessed with when I have a few rare moments to read, Run Like a Mother, plus a certificate good for a copy of Train Like a Mother, the duo's next book coming out in March!  Check out the Facebook event page to RSVP and for updates on raffle items, what you can expect in your goody bags, etc.! To buy raffle tickets (2/$5 or 10/$20 in advance; 1/$5 or 5/$20 at the event), make a donation right here - you don't have to be at the event to win! That said, I sure hope you'll make it if you're in the area!

In other fundraising news, this has been in my shop for a few weeks, but a busy few weeks it's been, so I'm just now getting around to blogging about it.  Did you know Team in Training has a relatively new corporate team program? And Google is one of them! Since I make phone cozies for Android phones, that gave me the idea to create a TNT cozy with 80% of the proceeds going to my fundraising efforts this season!

And in other Etsy news, I added a new "limited edition" case to the shop yesterday.  Oooh, sparkly! (Yes, there's glitter in that there felt!)

pasta and a movie: spirit of the marathon

If you run and like movies, and you're actually reading my blog, you knew this one was coming.



In the four years since it was made, the documentary Spirit of the Marathon has become a must-see movie about running, particularly if you're training for an endurance event. Because, c'mon, running 26.2 miles is absurd. And yet I'm drawn to the challenge again and watching the trailer makes me a little misty, I gotta admit.

So what's for dinner? Well, since there will be a fair amount of cooking going on this weekend, I'm keeping it simple: vegetable radiatore and turkey bolognese, both from Trader Joe's. Easy and good (and the pasta sauce has carrots in it - don't tell the 3 year old!).

By the way, a big thank you and congrats to my 12 (handmade) days of Chrimstas - runner's edition - raffle donors and winners.  I had more items up for grabs than donors between Dec. 1 and 17, so some folks won more than one item.  Thanks to Sammie, both Amanda Fs (I know two Amanda Fs!), Laura, and Margaret.  I hope you enjoy your goodies, all courtesy of generous Etsians.  I have a few additional raffle items that have been donated over the last couple of weeks so stay tuned after the holidays for another chance to donate to win! (Not that you have to wait to donate!)  And in the meantime, Happy Holidays!

on the twelfth day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...another beautiful fused glass pendant by Elayne Isaacs!

Because, after all that running and sweating and sudsing up with a bar of trail runner sport soap, you might want to enjoy a night out and this purple pendant would be just the thing to pair with those black skinny jeans you can finally squeeze your booty into!

As with the last pendant Elayne donated, this one has been added to a simple, black choker which you could easily switch out for a chain of your own, and will arrive packaged in a purple organza gift bag.  Keep it for yourself or gift it!  To be entered in the raffle to win this or one of the other goodies up for grabs, just make a donation of $5 or more before Saturday, December 17th.

This is the final day of my 12 (handmade) days of Christmas - runner's style - but the raffle will be open to all who donate through the rest of this week.  And I'll be back on Friday with another round of pasta and a movie.  Yep, I'll be running on Saturday, and on Christmas eve, and on New Year's eve! Cancer doesn't take any time off for the holidays so why should we?  Amirite?

on the eleventh day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a bar of trail runner sport soap by TaosDawnSoap!

I think your running buddy might be trying to give you a hint.

Once I saw that my second raffle attempt might be acquiring a 12 days of Christmas theme (since I was getting such a great response from generous Etsians to my raffle request convos), I started looking for products in the bath & beauty category specifically made for runners (or even athletes, more generally). And I gotta tell you, there's not a whole lot out there.  Apparently only the already perfectly clean and coifed need to further pamper themselves. Doesn't make much sense, does it? I think I spot an open market, for any of you who are soap makers out there.  In the meantime, I think this bar of trailer runner sport soap oughtta do the trick, made with, and I quote:

...lavender, ginger and lemongrass.The soap is made with saponified oils (coconut, vegetable and olive), distilled water, finely ground bentonite clay (for a lovely lather).

Sounds perfect after those long Saturday runs, doesn't it? In addition to an entire line of soaps, Dawn is also a painter!  Check out her newest shop.  And for a chance to win this soap or one of the other 11 items in the raffle, just make a donation on my Team in Training fundraising page. Just one day left (and then another week to donate) - stay tuned tomorrow for the 12th and final day!

on the tenth day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a set of custom bib coasters by 26MileStones!

Talk about a clever way to display your race bibs! You send your bib to Allison, and she transforms them into these amazing, commemorative keepsakes that you can use!

Allison also makes magnets and Christmas ornaments. Plus, she's an 11-year alum with TNT, currently training for her second triathlon with the organization!  It's amazing how many runners and endurance athletes I've met through this process who have some connection to Team in Training.

As usual, to be entered in the raffle to win either a gift certificate good for a set of custom bib coasters or one of the other items up for grabs, just make a donation by December 17th.  Since I started this raffle a week and a half ago, how about a little reminder as to how I plan to handle raffle entries?

$5 = 1 entry

$10 = 2 entries

$15 = 3 entries

$20 = 4 entries

If you donate $25-$99, you will receive matching entries per dollar donation, so for $25 you get 25 entries, for $38 you get 38 entries, and so on. For a donation of $100 or more, you get double entries, so $100 = 200 entries, $125 = 250 entries.

If you've already donated, donate once more (any amount) and you get matching entries for this donation PLUS your previous donation. Stay tuned tomorrow for day 11!

on the ninth day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a race medal display OR bib holder (winner's choice!) from RunningOnTheWall:

I love looking at runners' medals (I just have the one, myself) so I'm partial to something like the above example, but Meli has agreed to let the winner of this raffle item choose between a medal display OR a bib holder:

I'm telling you, after trying to organize another raffle for an in-store event next weekend, I'm newly blown away by the generosity of the Etsy sellers I contacted for this round.  Take a look at Meli's shop to see all of your options, should you be the lucky winner of this raffle item.  And if you're Christmas shopping, Meli also has some really adorable coat racks and key racks.

To enter, all you need to do is donate $5 (or more!) to my Team in Training fundraising campaign.  You could win today's item or one of the other 11 goodies up for grabs between now and December 17th. Stay tuned tomorrow for day 10!

on the eighth day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a race bib scrapbook by LauraElaineDesigns!

And not just any race bib scrapbook - a purple race bib scrapbook (TNT color! You probably don't need reminding by now, but just in case...).

I believe Laura is having baby #2 right about now, so she sent me this scrapbook well in advance and let me tell you, there's a lotta love put into these. Which will make archiving those race bibs really easy (well, you know after the hard part - running the race!). Laura has a ton of great, pre-made scrapbooks in her shop (for triathlons, too!), as well as individual scrapbook pages and runner die-cuts if you're more of a do-it-yourself person.

If you'd like to be entered in the drawing to win this race bib scrapbook (or one of the other great items up for grabs) just make a donation in any amount of $5 and up before December 17th!  And stay tuned tomorrow for Day 9!

on the seventh day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...one of the most unique running pendants I've ever seen, courtesy of RunForYourLife:

I've seen a lot of stamped running necklaces (26.2, etc.) and don't get me wrong - I like those a lot - but Susan's soldered glass pendants definitely caught my eye.  Above is the pendant Susan sent and below you can see the adorable packaging it was sent in:

The pendant comes in a soft blue bag with a yellow ribbon and then gets tucked into a little gift box similar to the ones in the image above. Susan definitely has that wow factor down!  This pendant would be perfect to keep but is also definitely gift-ready.

If you'd like to be entered in the 12 (handmade) days of Christmas - runner's style! - raffle, all you have to do is make a donation in any amount of $5 and up!  Winners will be announced on December 18th!  Stay tuned tomorrow for day 8!

on the sixth day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a key ring wristlet by ShopMimiGreen, featuring Team in Training colors (including old school TNT green)!

Wouldn't this be the perfect thing for carrying your keys, etc., post run, while you wait for the rest of your teammates to cross the finish line (because you're that fast)?  Or to take to those 5:50 am track workouts - you'll be able to find this colorful wristlet in the early dawn light!  Not a runner? No problem - this key ring wristlet would be great for running errands.

ShopMimiGreen does have a shop on Etsy (which is how I found them) but operates primarily from their independent website these days, where you'll find designer dog collars, leashes, and a lot of pictures of irresistibly cute pugs.  All of ShopMimiGreen's items are 100% handmade in the U.S. and as they say on the site, "your dog loves designer collars." But you probably already knew that. And I think you'll love this designer wristlet, too.

If you'd like to be entered in the raffle for a chance to win this or one of the other 11 items up for grabs between now and December 17th, just hop on over to my fundraising page and make a donation (just $5 gets you in...but of course, feel free to donate more for more chances to win!).  Stay tuned tomorrow for day 7!

on the fifth day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...an "I heart running" charm necklace by Michelle Hartney!

When I was searching Etsy for just the right raffle items to solicit, I was thoroughly charmed (wocka wocka) by Michelle's running necklaces. I asked if she'd be willing to donate this one and she said yes!

Once again, I'm truly amazed by the generosity of Etsians (and runners - I don't think it's a coincidence, do you?).  And check out these wooden geode Christmas ornaments - how unique would that be on your tree this year, eh?

As with the other 11 items up for grabs in this 12 (handmade) Days of Christmas runner's style raffle, all you have to do to enter to win is make a donation (just five bucks!) on my Team in Training fundraising page.  Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 6!

on the fourth day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a hula hoop? That's right, and not just any hula hoop...a travel hula hoop by Oakland-based Whoopkat.

Kat even made a purple and gray one for me (TNT colors, in case you need reminding)!  I was going to include this in my first raffle, but then I thought, wait a second, runners need to do cross-training, and hooping is great for those core muscles, so why not include it in this more runner-friendly raffle?  I cleared it with the coaches, too, so as long as you're not attempting to break any world records or anything, you can safely incorporate a little hooping into your cross training schedule should you be the lucky winner of today's raffle item up for grabs.

And in case you're wondering how the travel hoop works (I know I was), I made a little instructional video for you:



Nope, no hooping here. This took several takes (did I mention I'm solo-parenting my three year old this weekend?), and an earlier version did include about four attempts to get the hoop going. By the time I got it going I'd slowly turned my back - and backside - to the camera. That version will be deleted, thank you very much.

Anywho, if you'd like to "whoop it up" just make a donation in any amount of $5 and up between now and December 17th (you can check out the other items up for grabs here). Stay tuned tomorrow for day 5!

on the third day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a wrap bracelet from TheRunHome!

I initially contacted Debbie about her runner's necklaces but as she suggested, why not offer something a little different and go with a bracelet instead?  And the message is perfect, since we're all running for so many reasons, not least of which are the hundreds of thousands of folks battling blood cancers every day, in addition to all of our individual, personal reasons (makes me think of how my mentor Laura started her blog, devoting individual posts to different reasons she runs). For a chance to win this wrap bracelet (or one of the other eleven items up for grabs between now and December 17th) just hop on over to my Team in Training fundraising page and make a donation in any amount of $5 and up!

Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 4!

pasta and a movie: Without Limits

Wow, who knew getting back into running would be so good for my blog? (That said, is anyone still reading?)  As soon as I joined up with Team in Training again I thought about all the running themed movies I watched the first time around, some more inspiring than others. I remember Without Limits, one of two movies I watched about running legend Steve Prefontaine, being one of the more inspiring (we'll get to the less inspiring running films in a later post).  If I hadn't moved to Berkeley (right before the movie was made, incidentally) I probably would have transferred to U of O (since I was initially living in Bend, OR), where Prefontaine trained with Bill Bowerman. How I swooned for Billy Crudup back in the day...  And look at that, Parenthood's Monica Potter plays the romantic interest! Anyway, instead of "dinner and a movie" how about we start a little "pasta and a movie" series since I'll be doing a little carbo-loading on Friday nights over the next few months?

Now, I wouldn't normally make a pasta dish this heavy the night before a run, but since I'm solo parenting this weekend (and nursing a minor back hiccup so I won't be running tomorrow anyway) and had to throw together something we could eat after dance class tonight, I made one of Paula Deen's several crock pot macaroni and cheese recipes. It was alright - I like her use of cheddar cheese soup, which makes me nostalgic for a cookbook I had as a teenager that used a different Campbell's soup in each recipe, but I'm not so sure about the eggs. I used vegetable radiatore and served it with peas, one of about two vegetables my three year old will actually eat. Now let's see if I can make it through the entire movie in one night.

on the second day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a bunch of stuff from AsphaltandMe!

I don't know exactly what Etsy seller Melissa has sent me (her package is on its way as I type) but I understand day two goodies will include a t-shirt, a bumper sticker, and three cards!

That's a lotta clever running loot that will go to one lucky person who makes a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by December 17th! You can get a sneak peek at all of the 12 items up for grabs in this second raffle right here.  Stay tuned tomorrow for day 3!

on the first day of Christmas, my running buddy gave to me...

...a "26.2" no-slip headband! Leanne of SlipNotHeadware not only agreed to donate a headband to my 12 days of Christmas (runner's style!) raffle, she went one step further and made me a custom purple one (purple is the signature TNT color, you'll remember):

And, as if that wasn't enough, for every one of these purple headbands purchased, Leanne will donate $1 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!  So you can make a donation to my fundraising efforts directly to qualify to win this headband (or one of the other fantastic 11 items up for grabs) and/or purchase a headband or two.  As a sidenote, I purchased this houndstooth (it matches my phone case!) headband and love it! The lining is sort of velvety so it stays in place really well, no pinching, no pulling. I was Leanne's 100th sale so I got a free headband - a promotion I learned about by giving her a thumbs up on Facebook and following her on Twitter. You should too!

Stay tuned tomorrow for day 2!