Spring Break Update & Giveaway Winners!

HAPPY APRIL EVERYONE!!! :)

Well, last week I told you all I was on Spring Break!! :)

Somehow It’s already half way over!! I can’t believe it!!  Partly because Monday, instead of sitting at home watching Lost on Netflix… I decided to go on a roadtrip with my mom!!  (and I’ve still been working my second job) I’ll write more about that tomorrow, but here are a few pics to hold you over! ;)

And congrats to the winners of my two giveaways!!!

The Nuun Giveaway Winner is…  Becky G.

The Spring Running Essentials Giveaway Winner is…. Katie H.

 

CONGRATS TO YOU BOTH!! 
Email me your info at runners.luck@hotmail.com and if I haven’t heard from you by tomorrow (when I don’t have to work my second job) I’ll email you for your info!! :)

Holy Brooks Ravennas Batman! (and a Winner!)

OMG guys… the weather Friday was amazing!!! I told you I would get outside and if you follow me on Instagram, you know I stayed true to my word!! ;)  Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 65*!!  I’m super bummed though because I’m inside all day tomorrow working 14 hours! Ugh! Thursday, the day I can actually get outside again, is supposed to be 25*!!  How does that work?! for real!!  I LOVE being outside and just getting out Friday has improved my mental state and outlook on life after being stuck inside all winter long!!

Look guys… no gloves!! ;)

Look at this weather!!  It was absolutely glorious!! (Now this song is stuck in my head)

I was going to pull up some Garmin stats for you all, but somehow I misplaced my USB when we moved… hopefully I can find it!! You’ll just have to settle for pictures and taking my word for it! ;)

I RAN 2 MILES STRAIGHT… WITHOUT STOPPING!!!
Longest run post-injury with no pain to report!! I’m super pumped!!

Do you see that average pace?!! Holy Brooks Ravennas Batman!! Where did that come from?!
I’ve been running 11 something miles on the treadmill but Friday my pace per mile was:

Mile 1 – 9:54

Mile 2 – 10:37

I guess it just felt amazing to finally get outside again!!  Remember how I told you there are no hills where we moved??  Well Friday I even found a little hill to run up! ;)

Like I said… It’s tiny! ;)

After I got home, I stretched, foam rolled, and drank a green monster!  All the stretching, strengthening, yoga, and rolling I’ve been doing must be helping!!  There are some days when I feel a little ache in my knee, but nothing compared to how it used to be!! I’m so happy about the healing progress and pray that it continues to heal!! I’ve made a pact with myself that if at any point the pain comes back/gets worse I will immediately call the orthopedic doctor!! (hold me to it guys!!)

And now the moment I know you’ve been looking forward to… I know you skipped my post just to see if you were the winner!
Really guys??? Really?!!

It’s ok… I’ll forgive you! (this time)

Congrats Tessa B.!! You’ve won the Sprint Pack from Apera Bags!! Look for an email shortly!! :)

 

Are you recovering from an injury??

Do you prefer to run/workout inside or outside??

Do you stretch, foam roll, or stick after working out?

 

Monday Funday and a Winner

OK… I know I sound like a broken record… but I seriously have NO TIME!!! < That just made me think of the Dish commercial! haha! Please tell me you know what I’m talking about?! Click the picture below if you don’t and it’ll take you to youtube to watch it!

Anyways, I have a few fun things to share with you all! (besides the Dish Hopper commercial!) I’m gonna tell you using the cliff notes version ;) Maybe next week you’ll get some actual blog posts from me that are more than just bullet points and cliff notes!  I have a week break from my aide job and will only be working 15 hours at my other job! :) yippee!!! :)

Fun Thing #1:

I got some new clothes! :)  I had so many coupons and a gift card and only paid about 1/3 of the full price! That’s a deal if you ask me! :)

Fun Thing #2:

I joined another yoga challenge on Instagram! It’s called the #fallinlovewithyoga challenge. I enjoy the challenge since I am not running right now! Today is Day 1 and the theme is “beautiful”… Dancer Pose makes me feel beautiful even after a sweaty workout! :) I’m still trying to figure this whole yoga thing out as I’m relatively new to it… so if you’ve been doing yoga please tell me how to improve my form!! Especially speak up if you know the proper hand placement on my foot! ;)  I guess I could just google it, but asking you is so much more fun! ;)

Fun Thing #3:

Yeah… this is happening! lol… (maybe) I’ve been told that it will still be fun even if I just walk it…What do you think? It’s going to be really hard for me to go to a race and be with all those runners and NOT run!  That’s why it’s a maybe… I won a free entry back in May so I’m already registered… I’ll keep you posted on my final decision!  But it looks fun!  Wish I had someone to go with!  Anyone in Columbus this weekend? ;)

And now the reason I know you are all here anyways… the winner of the Reebok Spartan Race Entry giveaway

Congrats Greg!! Please send me an email and I will get you your free entry code!! :)

Remember, even if you didn’t win, you can still get a race registration discount code! Just click here!

Stepping Up To The Challenge (and a winner)

I’m the kind of person that always needs a challenge…

Growing up, I found that challenge in competing in sports…specifically with basketball and a couple years of track.

Even in college I competed in basketball and softball to find that challenge… In my very first blog post ever here on Runner’s Luck I mentioned that I ran out of sports eligibility in college and that’s why I started running… I needed another challenge!

Even within just running itself, I needed a challenge! That’s why I went from running 5ks to half marathons and why I ran a marathon… it was challenging to train for and run each new distance… That’s also why I feel like I need to PR at every. single. race! (Don’t worry, I totally know it’s not possible… I’m not that crazy!) And don’t get me wrong… there are TONS of other reasons why I run… mainly because I just down right LOVE it! BUT… the challenge is still a BIG appeal to me!

Then, I got hurt…and still have yet to go to the doctor. That has nothing to do with a challenge and everything to do with being stubborn, and perhaps a little scared… and definitely a tightwad…(more about the knee in a later post)

The point is, I needed another challenge…

I decided to try yoga… you may be thinking “YOGA? How is that challenging?”  Well my friends… the part of me that needs a challenge can’t settle for not being able to do the splits, or not being able to touch my feet to my head when doing king cobra pose, or not being able to do a simple handstand (more on that later too! lol) It all started as just a fun way to stretch to help heal my knee injury, but then I saw a pose that looked challenging and couldn’t stop thinking about it! So what did I do?  I tried it!

Welcome to Eka Pada Koundiyanasana I Pose

Challenge Accepted!

It’s definitely not perfect, but I've totally made some progress!! 

So, while I cannot run (I’m still working out)… I’ve found a challenge to keep me occupied! Because guess what?  There are more challenging arm balances and inversions I’d like to make progress on! While you may be reading all of my yoga posts lately thinking that it’s a total waste of time and that you’d never try yoga or it’s boring… just you wait!!  I have a post coming up that might just convince you to give it a go! :)

Do you always need a challenge in your life?
Do you practice yoga? How often?
If you don’t, why not? Think you ever will?

 

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Without further ado… the winner of the Run the Race Giveaway is…

Worst Runbassador Ever…and a Winner!!

As a #Runbassador I feel like a failure tonight because I totally missed out on #RunChat!  Total FAIL!

I completely was going to join in on the fun… see… #PROOF:

But then I got sidetracked by family stuff… family totally takes priority… I completely understand if my high elite status as Runbassador gets revoked though… ;)
Anyways… I’m sure I’m not the only one that missed #RunChat tonight… so for your sake… and mine… here are the questions with my answers! Feel free to join in by commenting with your answers below this post!!

Q1: What do you do consistently to help keep your legs fresh? (foam roll, compression, ice bath?)
A1: I stretch, foam roll, use a stick, and compress!!

Q2: Okay, if you were stranded on an island, what 3 items of running gear would you have with you?
A2: My Ipod, Garmin, and Nuun!! Gotta stay hydrated! I wouldn't need shoes... I'd become a barefoot runner! ;)

Q3: What's your favorite cross training activity? How often do you do it?
A3: At the moment... I like Jackie Warner's 30 Day Fast Start and I do it 2-3 times a week.

Q4: What's your highest weekly mileage for a half or marathon? How many days are non-running days?
A4: I haven't trained for one in a few years... but lets just say... not enough and too many ;)

Q5: Thanks to @110playharder for sponsoring ‪#‎runchat‬. What running products are still unknown to you that you want to try?
A5: Vibram Five Fingers... and Injinji socks... I think the socks would cut down on blisters and lost toenails and the V5Fs just look fun ;)

#Runchat Brag: I became a Fit Approach‪ #‎SweatPinkAmbassador‬!! So excited to join an awesome community!!

What are your answers to tonight’s RunChat?

What’s your brag from this week? (PR? Planked Everyday?..)

__________________________________________________________

The FrogFuel Giveaway Winner is…

Congrats!!

Zensah Compression Sock Winners!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my Zensah Compression Socks giveaway!!  If it were up to me you all would receive a pair, but unfortunately we can only have 3 winners…

So without further ado, here are the three winners!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekly Roundup: June 3 – 9 (Bestowed Giveaway Winner Too)

Monday: .5mi in 5:51; BBC Day #9; 30 Day Fast Start – Upper & Lower (4); .5mi in 5:57; Foam Roll/Stretch
Tuesday: Rest/Foam Roll/Stretch/Stick
Wednesday: National Running Day! 3.23 miles (Mostly walking) @13:34/mi [43:50]
Thursday: Rest/Stick
Friday: Rest/Stick
Saturday: Rest/Hip&Knee Exercises/Stretch/Stick (Cousin’s Wedding)
Sunday: Rest/Stretch/Stick/Research

Total for Week = 4.23 miles 
Total for Month = 4.23 miles 
Total for Year =  78.8 miles

*** @=outside run (refers to pace) in=treadmill run (refers to minutes)

January 11.57 miles                                                       2011 329.45 miles
February 16.55 miles                                                      2012 178.67 miles
March 15.52 miles
April  25.93 miles
May  5 miles
June  4.23 miles

Last Week's Roundup

 

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

The winner of my Bestowed Box Giveaway is… *drumroll*….

Congratulations!!  I will be emailing you shortly! :)

 

Race Recap Roundup #Linkup

Don’t forget to post your Race Recaps to the Race Recap Roundup #Linkup!  It will be reset tomorrow but if you linked up between Friday and tonight, your Race Recap will automatically be resubmitted and stay up for next week too!

 

Blog Posts From The Week

Plankin' It Up Outside
Happy National Running Day!
Goals Update: May 2013

Registered Races

Unfortunately I have no plans to race at all this year… we shall see towards the second half, but I am just trying to get back into shape and figure out my knee pain!

Bestowed Box Review & Giveaway

Before I tell you all about Bestowed… the Reebok Spartan Race Entry winner is….

Congratulations!  I will be emailing you shortly with your prize! :)

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Now… on to Bestowed!! It seems like every time you head to the grocery store, there’s a new healthy food on the shelf that you’ve never heard of before!  Well, Bestowed gives you the opportunity to discover healthy food you’ll love! That’s why when they contacted me to do a review I immediately replied! :)

Bestowed is the creation of nationally recognized nutritionist and author Heather Bauer and is the answer to all those that have ever stood in the health food section of their local grocery store and said to themselves..."which one of these is really the best??"

Each month, Heather and her team of health and diet experts carefully curate 5 product samples that have caught their attention. Items like nutrition bars, snacks, breakfast cereals, and supplements are just a few of the categories considered. (Source)

When I received my Bestowed Box I was so excited to see what samples where in it… such mystery and anticipation I couldn’t contain myself!!  By the way, every box comes with a paper that explains each sample and has tips on how to use it.

My box came with:

• Teechia Super Seed Cereal
• Good Eating Salads book
• Sun Cups Dark Chocolate Sunflower Butter Cups
• Navitas Coconut Water Powder
• Way Better Snacks Sweet Chili Tortilla chips
• Larabar Uber
• Everyday Califorinia EVOO

A couple of my favorite samples from this box were the Way Better Snacks Sweet Chili Chips, the Teechia Super Seed Cereal, and the Good Eating Salads book!  I have a couple of the salad recipes dog-eared already because let’s face it… my salads tend to be the same thing over and over again! 

The best part about Bestowed is that it contains different samples each month and you can join and subscribe to Bestowed HERE for $19/month or $209/year!  I think that’s a great deal and I LOVE the concept of Bestowed! 

The BESTEST part is that Bestowed is giving my readers $5 off if you use the following discount promo code:  5OFFBESTOWED01

And the ABSOLUTE bestest is that they are offering one of my readers the chance to win a 1-month subscription to Bestowed (1 box).  Right now they can only ship in the US so to enter you need to be a US resident.  To enter, just fill out the rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

* Giveaway Rules:    ~ Giveaway will run from 5/29/13 through 6/8/13
                               ~ A winner will be chosen through Rafflecopter and will be notified via email by 6/10/13
                               ~ The winner must respond 72 hours after they are notified or winnings will be forfeited 
                               ~ Must be 18 years of age or older to enter or meet requirements of your state
                               ~ Must be a resident within the US
                               ~ I was given a free Bestowed Box for my review; I was not paid and all opinions are my own

My Memories Suite Giveaway Winner

Hey guys, Sorry for the delay!  I had just started blogging a little bit again and then school started back up and I started my Practicum/Internship so I’ve been trying to get my school/internship/homework/work/hubby time all worked out!  ;)  Once everything settles back down a little bit I hope to make room in my schedule to blog a few times a week… maybe set aside an hour 2-3 days a week to blog/read blogs! :)  I sure do miss you all!

Anyways… The winner of the My Memories Suite Giveaway (as chosen by random.org) is……

Comment #12!!!!

Congratulations Amy Lauren!! :)  I’ll email you sometime this week and I’ll also be forwarding your email address on to the people over at MyMemories!! :) Can’t wait to see what you do with it!!  :)

For those of you who didn’t win, remember you can use my coupon code at My Memories Suite to get $10 dollars off AND a $10 Dollar credit for add-ons! :)  Just click the image below and copy and paste my coupon code!!

USE THIS COUPON CODE (just copy and paste!): 

STMMMS59610

NUUN Winner!

Random Number Generator decided that comment #37 was the winner…

Congratulations Yo Momma Runs!! You just won
a tube of Lemon-Lime NUUN! ;) 

Email me your address and I’ll get it in the mail this week!! 

Stay tuned for another awesome giveaway this week!! :)

**Winner has 72 hours to contact me as stated in the giveaway post HERE. If the winner does not contact me within the allotted time, they will forfeit their win and another winner will be chosen.

Five For Friday (and a winner)

1. Wowsa… this time is so busy, but I LOVE Christmas time… It’s my favorite time of year!! :)  Mostly because our whole family is together during Christmas and we have LOTS of good memories of Christmas growing up… 

 

2.  I’ve been busy baking (recipes to follow)

 

 

3. AND… wrapping gifts

 

4. I know this is supposedly a running/workout blog (mainly)  with a hosh posh of other things… Well mostly its been mainly just hosh posh lately and the reason is because I haven’t really been working out a lot lately… I’ve tried to change that around this past week and have been doing a new workout DVD to try to get my mojo, passion, or whatever you want to call it, back.. more to come on that later too…

 

5.  The winner of my athletic giveaway featuring Anti Monkey Butt and Stopain according to random.org is…

#11 -

 

Congrats Christine!! Email me your info and I will forward it on! :)

 

I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season and not getting wrapped up in all the hustle and bustle but able to spend time with family and loved ones and remember what Christmas is all about! :)

Go Girl Sport Vortext V-neck Tshirt Giveaway Winner

The winner of this VERY cute and VERY functional shirt from Go Girl Sport is….

Congratulations Elle!!  Please send me an email with your name, mailing address, shirt color choice, and shirt size and I will forward it on to Go Girl Sport for you!  Enjoy!! :)

If you didn’t win this giveaway, you can head on over to Go Girl Sport’s website and order one of your own!! :)  Also, be on the lookout for another giveaway opportunity coming soon!

If you are a company looking for a blog to host a product review/giveaway and you think my blog is the right fit for your company, send me an email at runners.luck@hotmail.com

YMX Giveaway Winner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway… but unfortunately there can only be one winner…

Which is…

Congratulations Amy Lauren!! Please send me an email with your name, mailing address, and size of running tee you would like and I’ll forward it to YMX! runners.luck@hotmail.com

Winner of the signed “Runner’s Field Manual” Book

The giveaway ended yesterday (9/5) so today (9/6) I entered everyone into the random number generator :)  I think this is the first time I’ve actually ever announced a winner
the day after the giveaway ended lol…

Anyways… drum roll please…

THE WINNER IS….

CONGRATS STEPHANIE!! And thanks for following my blog! :)

Please email me as soon as possible with your address… runners.luck@hotmail.com

If I don’t hear from you in 3 days I will have to choose a new winner…

 

Don’t be disappointed if you didn’t win… be on the lookout for another
giveaway on my blog in the next few days!! :)

I’ve Been MIA… (and winner)

The wedding was PERFECT!!! :)  I cannot wait to tell you all about it!!  But… I realized that I never picked a winner of the Running For Him Giveaway in all the wedding madness! lol… So, without further ado…

The winner is:  ~K~

Congratulations!!! :)  Send me an email with your address to runners.luck@hotmail.com and I will forward it on :)

In other news, I have started running again and it feels great!!  OH… did I mention that I LOVE LOVE LOVE married life? lol ;)  I’ll try to do a post or two tomorrow to let you all in on the fun!!  I hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend!! :)

Winner! Winner! Winner!

ok, well I know that I told you I would announce the 3 winners to my 100th Post Giveaway this weekend BUT… This is still part of weekend since I have the day off! ;)

There were 3 prizes, so without further ado, let’s have random number generator pick or winners…

Prize #1:

A Khaki 5k Bondi Band and 3 Chocolate #9 gels

WINNER IS Kadie from There She Runs 

 

Prize #2:

A black “In my dreams I am a Kenyan” Bondi Band hat and 3 Chocolate #9 gels

WINNER IS  Liz Finch  (I couldn’t find a blog)

 

Prize #3:

6 Chocolate #9 gels

WINNER IS Pam from Life Began at Thirty

 

Congrats to the 3 of you!  Thank you for following my journey! :)  Email your addresses to runners.luck@hotmail.com  
If I do not hear from you within 3 days I will have to pick another winner for your prize,
so please contact me!!