Fun Photo Friday - kid stuff, #SFM2013 stuff, random stuff

1. I've been attending "graduations" for the last two days. Apparently it's a Thing to celebrate graduating Kindergarten, 6th grade (elementary school), and 8th grade now? That's new to me.

Kindergarten...

I know. Can you handle the cuteness?

2. And 6th grade....

3. #1 spent the day at Knott's Berry Farm with her friends (it was a school trip, I'm not just randomly cool enough to send her to a park on a school day).

Unfortunately, no pictures of her. But here's a giraffe selfie.

4. While I was playing in San Francisco last weekend, The H hung up my new Allied Medal Hanger, and reorganized them!

He's great. I guess I need to register for some marathons to fill up that hanger....

My next hanger purchase, I believe, will be one of Allied's new Magical Design hangers.... maybe... this one?

Magic, it's true.

5. This kid sure has the pinchablest cheeks ever.

Brooke is the cutest. A bunch of local friends/bloggers had dinner a few days ago at a local mall.

Pam, Janae, Kristina the non-blogger, me, Skinny Runner, Faster Bunny, Striding Mom

6. While in San Francisco for 36 very short hours (womp), I spent a couple hours working the tech center at the expo....

And watching all the runners leave their mark on the SFM #SF4BOSTON banner.

The expo this year felt MUCH better than last year - more space for everyone and the vendors.

I spy BicBands!

7. At the expo, I finally got to meet some of the other Ambassadors, and attend the SFM tweet up.

Ambassador Meg, me, my favorite/weekend host Renee, and Ambassador Courtney

 The Uniform of Awesome... 

Court, me, Alisyn, Meg, Elise

So much sparkle!

8. One of the best things about running the first half, is I got to finish the race early in the morning, pick up my delicious finish line goodies....

...and hop on the transport buses down to the finish area to watch the marathon and second half finishers coming in. I love spectating - racing PLUS spectating in the same race?? Fantastic.

I was able to see my friend Sandy from BicBands finishing her first full marathon strong...

I also got to see a few other SFM Ambassador's finishing - check out their recaps...
Paulette PR'ed in the 2nd half
Alisyn helped pace Paulette to that awesome PR
Meg finished crazy fast in the hilly 1st half
Average A tried to be stealthy about running fast, but she destroyed the marathon
Chris nailed an insane PR in the full
Janey ran the full
and Krissy LOVED her first SFM experience

So, it's Monday. I'm working. I have a headache.

BUT, I had a rad long run yesterday, so I suppose all is well with the world.

Let's do this numbered style today, so I can pretend I won't forget things.

1. Have you registered for the Team Gab Virtual Race?!

We have great prizes from Tommie Copper, Team Sparkle, iFitness, Tough Chik, Gu... Tons. TONS. And you're supporting a great cause - who doesn't want to help out pediatric cancer research, right?

2. Right, so Carlsbad is coming up Sunday! Runners, the weather looks GREAT! Chance of showers, nice and cool..... Great for spectators, not so much though. I'm not sure I'm tough enough to stand and watch runners in the rain. Yikes.

3. Sweaty things that happened last week...
Tuesday: 5 miles easy, 1 mile comfortably fast @ 9:43, total 6 mi 1:04:47, 10:47 avg.
Thursday: Tempo. Blah. 1 mile warm up, 2 @ 10:20, 2 @ 10:00, cool down. What ACTUALLY happened... 10:23, 10:19, 9:54, 9:25. Hm.
Saturday: 25.8 miles on the stationary bike while watching the trials.
Sunday: 12 miles easy, 2:17:48, 11:27 pace. If you're keeping track, that's ohhhh.... 13 seconds off my PR pace. And it was EASY. Last 10K avg 10:38 pace, and last mile was sub 10. There was clearly more left. That's nice.

4. Sweaty things happening this week....
Tuesday: 6 miles easy, maybe hills
Thursday: 1600's, bah.
Friday: 3 miles easy.
Sunday: 9 miles; last 2 at half goal pace.

5. There was a chick on the treadmill at the gym Saturday while I was on the bike. And at first, I was in awe - she had the speed jacked up to 10, and looked GOOD. And then I realized why. She kept standing on the edges of the treadmill letting it run. At first, I thought maybe she was doing some weird interval stuff, but... nope. Not any type of consistent timing between intervals.

At first it was just 30 seconds here and there... then it was a minute or two, while texting... then 5 minutes to take a call.... then she straight stepped outside to take a call and left it running.

So bizarre. How do you know how much you actually ran!? Why would you do that?!

People are weird.

6. L, Becka's sister, suggested this to me for my next medal hanger, and it's RAD. Thanks, L, I LOVE IT!

And, thanks Allied Medal Hangers - it's perfect!!! Oh, and, if you enter the Team Gab Virtual Race... you could win one. IJS.

I think my next purchase is going to be a Disney-specific hanger....

7. I broke down and got a Garmin. The 205. Used, from eBay. Well, "used". It seems to be brand new, and had 2 runs on it, both starting at like an 8 min pace, and quickly turning into a 25 min pace. Guess it didn't work out for them so well. Sorry 'bout your luck.

I wonder if the hair was extra?

8. I AM FAMISHED.

Team Gab Virtual Race!!

It's a new year, everyone is training for something, right?

Put those miles to good use!

If you're new around here, Gabby, that kid ^^, is my 5 year old daughter. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in January, 2011. I am fundraising for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, and will be running the PCRF Cinco de Mayo Half Marathon in May with Team Gab.

If you're in SoCal, you can join me, Skinny Runner, Once Upon A (L)ime, Caro from Canadian Runner in Exile, and my friend Leigh on May 6th in Irvine - there is a 5K, 10K, a half marathon, and a Bike Tour.

What's that? You don't have the incredible luck of living here?

1. I'm sorry.
2. Run with us anyway!

When: Starts Monday, 1/16/12, through Friday, 2/17/12 - that's a full month to fit in your race!
Where: Wherever you feel like racing
Who: Everyone is invited to the party - I am a friendly type.

Here's where the fundraising comes in.

$5 donation = 5K = 1 entry
$10 donation = 10K = 2 entries
$25 donation = half marathon (13.1 miles, yo) = 5 entries
$40 donation = FULL marathon (26.2) = 10 entries

HOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK (hopefully):

1. Choose your distance - obviously you can donate the amount you are comfortable with, and extra donations are happily accepted. (Additional entries 1 = $5 donated beyond the amount noted above. Ex: Run a 5K and donate $15, receive 1 entry ($5 for the 5K) + 2 entries (for the additional $10) = 3 total)
2. Click HERE to donate to PCRF and Team Gab.
3. Leave a comment or email me (GoTeamGab@gmail.com) with your race distance and donation amount (I will calculate your number of entries, but fair warning, I took college algebra three times - so you could include the number of entries based on your donation amount, and I wouldn't hate it). Maybe I'll send you a bib. Maybe not, I'm pretty not good with creating things, but it could happen!
4. Snag that snazzy picture up there, and link back to this post if you're so inclined (but I'd really like it).
5. Share the race on FB, Twitter, whatever floats your boat (again not mandatory, but it'd be swell).
6. Run your race (or bike, or hike, or swim - I don't care, just move yourself!) take some pictures, write a race report, and email it, send me the link, or comment.

I'll post a link to all of the race reports once compiled.

Now, the million dollar question....

WHAT do you get out of this?

You can sleep peacefully knowing you've done your part to help fund pediatric cancer research.

Oh. You also will get entered to win some of these cool prizes...


1. <------- GONE!, by Skinny Runner
A Tough Chik cotton tee of your choice. You may have noticed my cool new banner over there ->
Tough Chik is performance and casual apparel for active women. I love their philosophy, and I'm excited to be a part of Team Tough Chik... but more excited to share the Tough Chik love.

2.
Tommie Copper sleeves and hat! Winner can select from knee, elbow, ankle, calf sleeves.

3. <----- TAKEN, by Bobbi!
Team Sparkle skirt and Race Legs!! It is no secret how much I LOVE Team Sparkle. Their skirts are made to be worn over your favorite shorts/tights, and are seriously THE cutest.

4.
VII A.D. angel pendant. VII A.D. believes there are those who wear art and have the right to wear the finest quality of unique, designer art pieces. Sevan, the founder of VII A.D., also happens to be married to a lovely friend of mine. He creates each piece individually! Edit: Sevan is awesome, and actually is upping his donation to this more expensive piece. Because they're awesome.

5.
iFitness belts! Two belts to giveaway...

Double Pouch Belt

Single Pouch belt

6. <------ Taken by Karen, week 3!!
GU Performance Energy Sampler - includes 9 GU Original Gels, 5 Roctane Gels, 2 Chomps, 2 Electrolyte Brew Packs, 1 Recovery Pack, and 3 Individual Electrolyte Tablets. I LOVE GU, so the winner of this will be sideyed HARD when I give this away.

7.
A $35 Road ID Gift Card. We all have heard about SUAR's cousin, Sherry, who went missing on her run several days ago. Be safe!

8. <------ TAKEN by Rose!
Allied Medal Hanger! Allied makes TONS of options...



Winner can select from their online store, or go with a custom option!

9. <----Black, Gold, and White taken by Elizabeth! Balance snagged by T! THESE ARE GONE :D
Two sets of BIC Bands! There are 6 total, so I'll split these into 2 separate prizes, first winner can select their three favorites.

10.
Arctic Ease Cryotherapy Wraps. GIANT set of 4 packs of 4"x60" wraps, and 2 packs of three 4"x6" cooling pads.

Pretty nice spread, huh?

A winner will be selected every FRIDAY beginning Jan. 20th, until prizes are GONE, using Random.org.

ADDITIONAL PRIZES MAY BE GIVEN FOR:
1. Best outfit. You guys know I'm a sucker for obnoxious, shiny clothes.
2. BEST race report. Do something crazy. I like crazy.
3. Whatever else strikes my fancy.

****NOTE**** If you've already donated, THANK YOU, and there is NO NEED to donate again to join the race. I'd still love it if you shared the race info, though :)

aaaand, the disclaimer: all of these items were donated to me by those fantastic companies. That's pretty awesome, right? ALL of those companies agreed to help fund pediatric cancer research. We should go thank them. All of the opinions are my own. I only approached companies that I personally use and love.

Alright. I know this was really, really long, so if you've made it this far, here's my contribution to Funny Friday Photos or whatever it is this week.