Santa Hustle Half Marathon

Late race report so I’ll keep this pretty short.



3 of many Santas. Me, Jim & Coy


I wanted to do one last half marathon before the end of the year.  Finding one in the winter is not easy.  We came across the Santa Hustle Half Marathon in Indy and I was sold immediately.  You got a Santa shirt, hat, and beard as well as Christmas music, cookies, and candy along the course.  And the best part was that it was only a 7 hour drive for Jim and I…not bad really, and a 3 hour drive for my friend Coy of First in Philly so she decided to do it with us.

Coy & I exchanging gifts.  Merry Christmas plate

The gift that keeps on giving...a photo of yourself :)  (pic of Coy and I at the Flying Pig Half Marathon)

We got into Indy late Saturday and enjoyed some dinner and the Christmas lights.  Indy was nicely decorated for the Holiday.

The next morning we joined a few thousand other Santa’s for the race which consisted of a 5K or a Half Marathon.  I think more people were doing the 5K than the half, but there was still a nice crowd.  The race area was full of Holiday cheer with a giant blow up snowmen, reindeer and Santa.  They also had a few real life reindeer on site.

Jim doing his best Santa impression - hard to do when you have zero belly fat.

The course itself was not that exciting, but it was fun to run with my good friend Coy.  Running with someone makes the time go by so much faster.  Coy and I decided to take it easy and enjoy the race, especially since we are both doing my 5K a Day Challenge and we had put in quite a bit of mileage leading up to the race.  We did a run/walk ratio of 5 minutes run and 1 minute walk.  This seemed to work well.  And honestly if we hadn’t stopped twice for the bathroom, our total time would have been closer to 2:30 instead of 2:36, which is about where I’ve been all year.

Time flew and before I knew it the race was over.  I did partake of a few cookies and some M&Ms along the course….of course.

The race swag was good, but there was no crowd support and very little volunteer support.  The tables were full of water and Gatorade and cookies and candy, but they were usually just piled up on the table with 1 or 2 people manning it.  This was a little disappointing.  But overall it was still a good time and I would recommend the race to others.  They did offer a buffet after the race but only from 11-12.  If you didn’t make it by noon, they offered fresh warm pretzels instead.  We did get either, but I suppose it was a nice perk.

After the race we showered and had lunch and then jumped in the car for the much longer 7 hour

drive home so we could be back at work Monday morning!

December 5K a Day Week 2!

Well, we are 16 days into the December 5K a Day Challenge!  And I have to say it's proving difficult for me, and a few of the other ladies as well! 

I don't know if the spreadsheet has not been updated or if we had several people fall off the wagon this week, but only 4 people "streaked" in week 2.

Congrats to Meg, Raina, Bobbi and Kim for not only streaking all of week 2, but also keeping their streak going since the start of the challenge.  I am happy to say that I am still going strong as well!!

We still racked up some major mileage in week 2 with 11 of us posting an impressive 266 cumulative miles for the week.

The winner of the week 2 prize is Kim from ilaxSTUDIO!  Congrats Kim!  You've won a pair of Speedlaces iBungee Reflective Laces.  You have your choice of colors:  Black, Pink, Royal Blue, White or Yellow.

Speedlaces

Kim, please send me your choice of color and shoe size so I make sure to order the correct length.  E-mail me at weatherlymh01@yahoo.com

Remember, to be eligible for the weekly prize make sure the spreadsheet is updated each Monday with your mileage from the previous week.  Even if you forgot to update your mileage last week and weren't eligible for this week's prize, please go ahead and update your mileage now so you will still be eligible for the final prize.

Keep it up Ladies!!  You are doing a GREAT job!

Coming Soon.....Santa Hustle Half Marathon race report....or you can just read Jim's.  It will be pretty close to the same thing.

We're Going Streaking!

WEEK 1 of the December 5K a Day Challenge was a HUGE success!  In the end I had a total of 11 awesome ladies join me in my challenge.  So, including myself we have 12 people!  Almost everyone "Streaked" last week, running at least 3.1 miles each day from Dec 3 - Dec 9th!! And some people killed their mileage for the week, with three ladies (Karen, Raina, and Rachelle) logging over 50 miles for the week!  As a combined group we logged just over 395 miles last week!

Way to go ladies!  Way to start December off on a high note!  Below is a list of all those who participated last week whether they ended up with a "streak" or not! 

• Meg @ Junk Food Runner
• Bron @ Tantrums and Triathlon - The Life of Bron
• Karen @ Working It Out
• Christine @ Traditional Life in Progress
• Fran @ Grannie Frannie Runs
• Deb @ Debs Daily Life
• Coy @ First in Philly
• Raina @ Small Town Runner
• Bobbi @ Zero to 26.2
• Kim @ ilaxSTUDIO
• Rachelle @ Running for Trevor

As promised, everyone who completed the challenge last week (ran at least 3.1 miles each day last week), your name was entered to win our first weekly prize.  And the winner for week 1 is...........

Bobbi @ Zero to 26.2.  Congrats Bobbi!  You've won this Jillian Michael DVD!  Please send me your mailing address to weatherlymh01@yahoo.com!

Again.  Great job ladies!!  I am so proud of all of you!  And if you didn't streak last week.  Don't worry about it.  Get out there and get it done this week and you could be our next weekly winner!

If you haven't noticed yet, I have added a "Week 2" tab to the Tracking Spreadsheet.  Please track this week's mileage there!

I don't know about the rest of you, but the challenge is more difficult than I thought it would be.  I'm hanging in their so far, but you've definitely got to work for it.

Keep up the GREAT work!



Chica Band Winner

And the winner of two awesome headbands from Chica Bands is ........

Carrie at Family Fitness Food


Congratulations.  Please Email me your contact info at weatherlymh01@yahoo.com

Four For Friday

1.  Hot Yoga is AMAZING.  I have done it before but it's been awhile.  I did a 1 hour and 15 minute class last night and it was just great.  Really helped stretch out those tight, sore muscle.  I would highly recommend.  I'm planning to try to go at least once a week from now on.

2.  It's the last few days to enter my Chica Bands Giveaway.  Contest ends Sunday.  Please carefully read the required rules.  So far there aren't too many people who have met the requirements that have entered.  So you have a REALLY good chance.  If you already entered...take a peak back at the rules to make sure you followed them.  Only 2 simple requirements :)

3.  December 5K a Day Challengers - Don't forget to log all of your weekly mileage on the Tracking Spreadsheet by Monday to be entered for the 1st weekly prize!  If for some reason it's not working for you please just e-mail me your mileage or leave me a comment.

4.  It's not too late to join the 5K a Day Challenge.  While you likely won't be eligible for "grand" prize.  If you start on Monday you can still be eligible for one of the weekly prizes.  Leave a comment below if you would like to join in. 

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Meeting Strangers in the Dark

So this morning I was out for my morning 5K, as part of my December 5K a Day Challenge.  It was about 5:30 am so it was very, very dark...but there were street lights.

Anyway, coming up the street who do I see, but my husband - you know Jim.  I see him coming for probably a 10th of a mile or so.  I smile and say "Hi".  And what does he do?  He runs by me, gives me a head nod and says "Morning" and keeps on running.

He has NO IDEA who I am.  Just says "morning" to me like a complete stranger.  Say what???

I turn around and watch him run past me and I just say "dummy".  It never even registered to him that it was me.

I guess I understand, heck we've only been married 7 1/2 years.

Men......

For future reference sweetie, I'll generally look kind of like this when I'm out for a run.

Me



 Have you entered my Chica Bands giveaway.  It ends Sunday!  And so far you have a pretty good chance!

Dec 5K A Day Rules (and there's still time)

Have you heard about my December 5K a Day Challenge?  I had originally said if I had 10 people sign up, I would make it an official contest.....but I changed my mind.  I had 9 inspiring ladies agree to join me on this crazy challenge, so I decided that was enough to make it totally official. 

It kicks off Monday, December 3rd - so you still have time to sign up, and even if you don't start on Monday there will still be ways to join in.  So here's who's in and a few rules.

Who's in so far?

• Meg @ Junk Food Runner
• Bron @ Tantrums and Triathlon - The Life of Bron
• Karen @ Working It Out
• Christine @ Traditional Life in Progress
• Fran @ Grannie Frannie Runs
• Deb @ Debs Daily Life
• Coy @ First in Philly
• Raina @ Small Town Runner
• Bobbi @ Zero to 26.2

Rules

1. Run or walk at least a 5K (3.1 miles) each day beginning Monday, December 3rd through Monday, December 31.  It can be on a treadmill or outside it doesn't matter, but it has to be a run or a walk.  No biking a 5K cause that's just not worth any one's time...and no swimming a 5K cause that would just be crazy.  You can run more than 3.1 miles, but you must run at least 3.1 for it to count for this challenge.
2. I had someone ask if the 3.1 miles had to be at one time.  While I would encourage you to run 3.1 in one run, technically the rules say 3.1 miles per day.  So it's up to you how you reach those 3.1. 
3. The Challenge will be broken into 4 weeks:  December 3rd-December 9th; December 10th-December 16th; December 17th-December 23rd; and December 24th-December 31 (the final week is 8 days).
4. Log your miles on the handy dandy Google Doc attached here:  Tracking Spreadsheet.  You can track daily or weekly, but mileage for the previous week must be logged by the following Monday.  For example, Week 1 will be due on 12/10.  Just click the link above and enter your information.  There is no "save" button, just enter your information and then close the window.  It will save.  If it doesn't work, please contact me and I can log your data for you.  Please make sure you are on your own name and do not delete or change someone else's data.
5. I have already included the your name and blog name for those of you who are already signed up.  You will notice by my sample mileage that each time you put in a distance of 3.1 or greater, the block will turn light green, and if your weekly mileage is above 21.7 the block will turn dark green.
6. Each Tuesday I'll post results for the previous week and let you know who streaked the previous week!  Anyone who had 7 consecutive days of running at least 3.1 miles per day will be entered into a drawing for that week for a small prize (not sure what it will be yet - sorry).
7. At the end of the Challenge ONE Winner will be announced.  Everyone who ran at least 3.1 miles for 28 days straight will be entered and a winner will be chosen at random.  If no one completes the challenge, the person with the highest number of total days of running during the challenge period will be named the winner.  If there is a tie, the winner will be chosen at random. 
8. So what can you win?  The winner will receive bragging rights of course, and a $25 gift card from Amazon!
9. The Challenge is open to anyone.  You do not have to be a blogger to enter.
10. BE HONEST.  Remember this is just a fun and friendly competition.  

What happens if I miss a day or want to get started after the deadline?

• If you miss a day or don't get started on day 1, don't worry.....you may still have a chance to win.  As you can see in the rules above, anytime you have a 7 day consecutive running streak (according to the weekly challenge periods) you can still be entered for a chance to win a small prize for that week.  And if no one is able to complete the challenge, your number of days may still be the most and you could still win!!

So, it's not too late!  You still have time to sign up for the challenge.  If you aren't already on the list leave me a comment below and I'll get you added to the tracking spreadsheet. 

And don't forget my Chica Bands Giveaway.  You get 2 bonus entries if you are doing the 5K a Day Challenge!! 

Good Luck EVERYONE!  We Can Do This!