Albion Fit Review & Giveaway!

I was recently contacted by a company called Albion Fit, who specialize in women's fitness and swimwear, and varieties of workout clothing. They asked if I'd like to review one of their best-selling racerback tanks.

I used to be so self-conscious of my arms that I would never wear tanks to workout in, but once I tried running in a tank last summer, I totally got over the self-consciousness because they are so much more comfortable in hot weather! But I digress...

After Ragnar, I am in love with the color orange, so that's the color that I chose. It looked super cute on the model:

And since clothes always look the same on me as they do on the models... (BAHAHA).  (As I was typing this, Jerry glanced over my shoulder and said, dead seriously, "That's a good picture of you! Where were you?" I said, "REALLY?" And then he realized it wasn't me... Doesn't he know I don't wear necklaces and make-up when I run?! ;)

When I got the tank in the mail, I immediately noticed how good the quality was. I'm used to buying cheap workout tops--and I am the first to admit, you get what you pay for. I just have such a hard time buying a tank for $50ish when I could buy one at Wal-Mart for $5.

I could tell that the quality was very good, though--it was nicely constructed, the seams were nice and tight (on my cheap tops, the seams are usually the first thing to go, making the top unwearable). When I told them my size, I said that I normally would buy a small, but if they think these tops are on the small side, then a medium would do. They suggested a medium, because the tops are "very fitted".

I'm glad I got the medium! This top was definitely very fitted, and at first, I was a little unsure of whether it looked okay, because of how tightly it hugged me. But I have to say, it felt AMAZING. The fabric is very soft and stretchy, but not a loose stretch--it's kind of like a compression-fitting top. While I most certainly did not look like the model, I was VERY comfortable in it!

I really like the ruching on the sides. I've always found ruching to be flattering.This has a built-in bra, which I know some people are not a fan of. I love them, because I have teeny tiny little boobies. So I didn't have to wear a sports bra under this. There was a lot of compression from the tank itself. Here is what the built in bra looks like:

I have two complaints about that part--1) It's made for people with bigger boobs than I have. The bottom part of the bra should have gone to just under my boobs, but because I have small boobs, it wanted to sit below the bottom of my rib cage--a little awkward-looking but not uncomfortable; 2) There are little removable cups inside that didn't really want to stay in place. I like the cups, because then you don't see any nipple action going on (a big problem with my cheapo tanks), but I had to fidget with the cups to get them in the right spot.

So, my overall opinion of this top is:

• It is SUPER comfy.
• It is very cute.
• It is very well-constructed with good quality fabric. 
• I like the compressed feeling I get when I wear it (it would have been fantastic to have before my skin removal surgery, if only to wear under other tops, to keep my skin from bouncing all over!).
• I'm not so fond of the sizing--it seemed tight for a medium, but the bra part seemed too big. I couldn't decide what to think about all that. 
• It held up well in the washer, which is a bonus. 
• And best of all, I didn't get any chafing when I wore it to run in. Some fabrics cause me to chafe around the neckline.

Would I buy it with my own money? It's $42, which is much more than I would normally spend on tops. However, compared to my favorite brand (Under Armour), it's cheaper in price, but the quality is the same. But yes, if you're looking for a good-quality top and can fit it into your budget, I do think it is worth the money.

Aaaand, one of you lucky ducks will get to try it out for FREE, too--because Albion Fit is generously allowing me to give away one of these tanks to a Runs for Cookies reader! To enter, you must "like" Albion Fit on Facebook, and then leave a comment here telling me what your favorite Albion Fit item is from their website. I will randomly select a winner on Monday, January 28, at 9:00 AM EST. (If you leave an anonymous comment, make sure you include your name in the comment).

Meanwhile, Albion Fit is also providing you with a code for $15 off any purchase of $50 or more from their website. Just use coupon code RUNSFORCOOKIES15.

(In full disclosure, I was given the tank for free to review, but as always, all opinions are completely honest).

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Runs for Cookies Virtual 5K race report

Today was a very early morning! I couldn't sleep for the life of me last night, probably nerves/excitement about how everything would go today with the Virtual 5K. Anyway, my mom picked me up at 6:00 to go to the rec center, where we could run side-by-side on the treadmills.

I didn't have a very concrete goal for my race today--in my mind, I kind of thought it would be fun to knock 31 seconds off of my PR for my 31st birthday ;) Since I had run at 7.3 mph on the treadmill for 4 miles yesterday, I decided to try for 7.4 today.

Ready to crush my PR ;)

It took forever to figure out how to use their treadmills, but finally I got the incline set to 1% and the speed set to 7.4. After about a minute, I looked at my pace and decided to try for sub-8:00 miles the whole way through. That would be tough!

I bumped up the speed to 7.8 mph, and I vowed to leave it there.  After about a mile, I was really feeling tired. I wanted to drop the speed so badly! But I kept going, telling myself it would be over soon. The faster I ran, the sooner it would be over. It didn't help that the TV's at the rec center are waaay too high to look at, so I started at a brick wall for the whole thing.

The last half-mile seemed to take forever, and I felt like I was going to DIE, but I somehow managed to finish. And in a SUPER fast time (for me, anyway). Are you ready for this?

Not only did I finish sub-26, or sub-25... but sub-24! A 7:41 average pace. That was HARD. I had planned on getting in some extra miles while my mom was running, but I was so spent that I just sat on the floor and caught my breath.

My mom did great, too! She finished under 42 minutes, which is her fastest time yet. She was really pushing herself, but was proud when she was done that she stuck it out.

My mom just reached the 10% milestone in her weight loss, just like my sister!

Just as we were getting ready to leave, Jerry showed up--a total surprise to me. He had just gotten off work, and decided to run his Virtual 5K as well. He did AWESOME, too, finishing under 26 minutes.

Also running the Virtual 5K today were my brother, Brian, and his girlfriend, Becky. I had no idea they were doing it! They both had smoking fast times...

Becky's finish

Brian's finish

And of course, my sister ran today, too. I've been SO very excited for her to do this! She's been very faithful about following the Couch to 5K schedule, and this was her first time attempting to do the entire 5K. I got her text at around 5:00 this evening--"Finished!!!"

Why do I never look that good when I get done running?

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My mom brought me home to get showered and stuff before we went to lunch. She picked me up later and we headed up to La Pita, my very favorite restaurant. I got my usual, which you've probably seen pictures of a thousand times on my blog:

Chicken kabob, rice pilaf, salad, hummus, garlic sauce, and pita bread. I managed to get a picture before eating any of it this time--usually I can't help myself from digging right in!

I had calculated the PointsPlus yesterday, and how much of each thing I was going to eat. It was 16 PP for all the chicken, half the rice, half the salad, 2/3 of the hummus, and one pita. I didn't have any of the garlic sauce, because that stuff is about 3 PP per tablespoon. Needless to say, lunch was orgasmic.

The roads were absolutely terrible on the way home, and I started to rethink the whole comedy club idea. The comedy club is 45 minutes from home, and I was worried about the drive (because I just tend to worry about stuff like that), so I decided to cancel our reservation. Instead, our friends Joe and Amber are going to come over and play some games. We used to get together quite a bit for drinks and board games, so I'm excited for that.

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Thank you all SO much for the birthday wishes! I've had so much fun reading your comments, tweets, e-mails, etc.--the birthday wishes, and especially the 5K reports. I love seeing all your pictures! I didn't think this whole thing would make me emotional, but I teared up while reading some of them, because you are all SO INSPIRATIONAL. Just reading through my Facebook page is inspiration enough for anyone to start walking or running! I hope you are all very proud of yourselves for completing a 5K today, regardless of your time.

A million thank yous to all of you who helped make my 31st birthday so special! Don't forget, if you haven't filled out the results form, read the bottom of yesterday's blog post for instructions. While I've loved looking at your pictures today, your results won't be "official" until you fill out the form. I will draw the winners of the prizes on Sunday and announce Sunday night, as well as post a list of the finishers and results.

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Last minute Virtual 5K stuff...

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm so excited that so many people (895 and counting) are going to be running "with" me on my birthday :) I'm not too excited about waking up a 31-year old instead of a 30-year old, but I've been trying to enjoy my birthdays despite the fact that I'm getting older, so I'm making the most of it!

This morning, I just wasn't feeling like running outside. It wasn't as cold as it was the past couple of days (about 14 degrees today), but I wanted to run fast, and the ground was covered in snow, so I opted for the treadmill again. This time, I turned Breaking Bad on Netflix, and I finally found the right show to keep me coming back for more!

I set the speed at 7.3 mph and the incline on 1%, and just left it there for 4 miles. After about a mile, I really started questioning whether that was too fast, because it was feeling pretty hard. But I knew that I could stick it out, so I kept going. I was very happy with my pace when I was done, but I don't know how that would translate outdoors, so I tried not to get too happy with it. It will be interesting to see my pace outside after my last few treadmill runs.

I went to Weight Watchers for my weigh-in and meeting. This time it was my leader who weighed me in. I actually lost a pound, even though my "real" weight is 1.5 up from last week; usually I drink a LOT of water before going to WW, but today I didn't have time, so that's why my weight was down.

My leader acknowledged that I was in maintenance, and then said, "Don't go losing too much now!" I was very glad that she acknowledged that I'm at/under goal, and I'm not trying to lose any more. (Maybe she read my blog yesterday? hahaha)

The meeting was really good today--she had us form three groups, which usually causes all kinds of social anxiety in me, but since we didn't have to choose our groups (she divided us by sections of the room), I felt better about it. We had to come up with a dinner that was less than 10 PointsPlus, contained at least 3 Power Foods, and one vegetable. Our group came up with one pretty quickly, so we spent the rest of the time chatting about different food finds and stuff.

One woman said that she adores white sweet potatoes, which I've never tried. She said they're extremely sweet, and don't need anything on them. I'm going to look for those next time I'm at the store, because they sounded good. Anyway, I'm starting to feel more comfortable at the meetings, and I've actually talked a little at the last two ;)

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Now, on to the good stuff--tomorrows 5K! Here is some last minute info:

*If you haven't already, you can print off a race bib.

*Please feel free to take a picture of yourself post-race and post it to my Facebook page or tweet me (My handle is @runsforcookies and you can use hashtag #RfCVirtual5K for any race-related tweets). I was hoping to post photos to my blog, but with nearly 1,000 people signed up, I'm going to have to do it this way instead. If you post an Instagram photo, you can use the same hashtag (I'm RunsforCookies on Instagram as well).

*If you post a picture, feel free to write a sentence or two describing your race, or how you felt, or what the temperature was when you ran, or WHATEVER you'd like to share. I may be taking some of them and posting them on the blog. If you post a race report on your own blog, please e-mail me the link--I'd love to share it!

*Run or walk 3.1 miles (5K), and log your time.

*IMPORTANT: Fill out this "finishers" form before 8:00 AM EST on Sunday, Jan. 27th. I will post the results on Sunday night. I wanted to e-mail this to everyone, but with so many people signed up, my e-mail won't let me mass mail it like that. So you'll have to click the link from here. (ETA: The link to the form is now closed--results will be posted 1/27 at 9:00 pm)

*IMPORTANT: If you completed your 5K and you are interested in entering the prizes drawing, please fill out this form no later than 8:00 AM EST on Sunday, Jan. 27th. If you would like to see the prizes again, you can see them on this post. Take note of what you are interested in winning, because I'm doing separate drawings for each prize. If you completed your 5K, you get 10 entries to divide up however you'd like--put them all in one pool, put them in 10 different pools, or 7 in one and 3 in another, etc. As long as the number of entries adds up to 10, you're good to go. (ETA: This link to the form is now closed, since I drew the prize winners on 1/27. Winners will be posted 1/27 at 9:00 pm)

I really hope everyone has fun with this! I'm meeting my mom bright and early at 6:00 to run on the treadmills at the rec center. Then it's a celebratory/birthday lunch at La Pita!

Eli saw Jerry's drawing for the bib/t-shirts, and he made one for me also. If he'd have done it sooner, I would have used this one! So cute :)

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Cozy

A few people have asked me if I'd consider selling coffee sleeves like the ones that I made as prizes for the 5K. Normally, I don't advertise that I make things for sale, because I don't want it to feel like a "job" that I have to do--then I would probably stop enjoying it. But if you e-mail me and ask me for what you'd like, more than likely, I will be happy to work something out.

But honestly, you would probably be better off buying them somewhere else online, like Etsy, because I'm pretty expensive ;)  My time is worth more to me than anything, and handmade items take a lot of time to make. For the coffee sleeves, I would charge about $15 each. The notebook covers would be about the same. (And that would include shipping). So feel free to e-mail me if you'd really like something.

And as an alternative, if you know how to knit or crochet, you can always make your own! My pattern notes can be found on Ravelry, and my username is MyFairKatie. I don't use Ravelry much at all anymore, but once in a while I do.

Oh, wow, I was just looking for a photo of the coffee sleeve on my Ravelry page, and I saw this project I made (ages ago!):

That would be an ice cream pint cozy--I ate so much ice cream that I felt the need to make a cozy for it! I used to eat ice cream by the pint many times a week before I lost the weight--so much so that I required a cozy to keep my hands from freezing. Hahaha! I remember throwing that cozy away after I'd lost about 50 pounds. (That Dove ice cream was the best! It had a layer of chocolate ganache on top).

All this craft talk reminded me that I promised some of you a tutorial for the book covers! I took all the pictures, I just have to write up the post. Will do that soon.

I thought for sure the kids' school would be canceled again today, since the weather was more or less the same as yesterday. But I opened my eyes and looked at the clock--7:00!!!--and was completely shocked at how late I slept. (Another sign I'm getting sick?)

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Today was my Wednesday Weigh-in, so I got on the scale. I was expecting a gain from last week, and I was right:

That's 1.5 up from last week. My first gain since September. I still followed my WW PointsPlus, and counted everything, but for some reason, my weight is up. It was weird--one day, it was 131, the next day, it was 132.5, so I thought it was probably from eating extra sodium or something. But I've been hanging out at 132.5 all week long, so who knows.

I think what probably happened is that while I was in Florida, I was being very active--walking all over the place--and eating really well. I was so worried about gaining weight that I was extra cautious. I also didn't eat much fruit--when I'm at home, I eat a ton of fruit, but it was uber-expensive in Key West, so I (sadly) didn't eat it. Anyway, I lost a couple of pounds, bringing me to 131, two pounds below my goal weight.

Now that I've been back to my normal routine for a while, maybe my body is just getting readjusted back to my goal weight. Regardless, I'm not upset about the gain in the slightest, because I did everything right, and even at 132.5, I'm still a half-pound below my goal weight.

Tomorrow I have my weigh-in at Weight Watchers, and I'm starting to hate weighing in there. The receptionists always comment something like, "You stayed exactly the same as last week. Well, at least you didn't gain." I want to yell, "I'm in MAINTENANCE! That means I'm HAPPY to maintain!" I know they mean well, but I wish they would be happy for me when I maintain, instead of giving me the sympathetic look.

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Last chance to sign up for the Virtual 5K on Friday! Here is the post where you go to sign up. Remember, you can run OR walk, and using the treadmill instead of going outside counts, too. There is no such thing as being "too slow" to do it!

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A cold one!

I woke up this morning to the phone ringing--at 5:30 AM! It was the school's automated system calling to say that school was canceled, due to "inclement weather". Translation: it's way too cold to get out of bed.

I couldn't go back to sleep after that, naturally, so I turned on the TV while I was still under my electric blanket. Estelle, Chandler, and Paolo were all on the bed with me, enjoying the warmth as well. And then, at about 6:00, the power went out. I kept waiting for it to flicker and come back on, but it didn't.

 When Jerry got home, we lit some candles so we could see, but I was worrying about freezing to death today. It was -2 degrees, with a windchill of -14. This is the coldest day we've had in four years! The kids woke up, and were very excited that school was canceled, until I they realized the power was out. Then they immediately started complaining that they were bored, naturally.

My little brother Nathan offered to bring over his generator if the power didn't come back on soon, so we at least had a back-up plan. But at around 7:30, the power came back... relief!

The only upside to having no power was that I had a perfect excuse to skip my run, since my treadmill wouldn't work. But when the power came back on, I (reluctantly) got my running clothes on and started running. Tuesdays are my "easy" day, where I just run three miles at whatever pace I feel like running.

I started out at 7.1 mph (and this time I remembered to set my incline at 1%), and just kept bumping up the speed throughout the run. With about a mile to go, I realized I could have a pretty good 5K time, so I decided to increase the speed some more and tack on an extra 0.1 miles to the distance. 

I finished with my best 5K time ever, 24:44 (7:57/mi pace)! I'm going to have to try to do that outside soon.

I got an e-mail from Stephanie with some pictures of some mock-up shirts she did at Zazzle.com. They looked really cute! I looked through some of the shirts, and I really liked the raglan sleeved one, with green sleeves (green is my favorite color).

Isn't it cute? I wasn't planning on ordering a shirt, but now I kind of want one! The race is up to 751 people right now--crazy, right? I think it is SO awesome that so many people are going to be running "with" me on my birthday! (By the way, if you're interested in creating your own shirt, it's super easy--just download and save the graphic, then go to Zazzle.com, or CafePress.com, or another site where you can get shirts made. Choose the shirt you want, and upload the graphic. That's it!)

I think I am getting sick :(  My throat has been sore for a couple of days, I have a headache that won't go away, and I'm SO tired all day long. I feel completely drained. Today, Eli was complaining about his throat hurting, so chances are, we both have the same thing going on. I felt kind of invincible after getting the flu shot, thinking that there was no way I'd get sick--but I've actually felt kind of crummy ever since getting the shot. Could be a coincidence, who knows.

I just really don't want to be sick on Friday! Not just because of the 5K, but because I want to enjoy lunch at La Pita and some drinks at the comedy club.  So far, I feel like I did just before my marathon, with the sore throat and headache. Eventually, that progressed to sinus infection, and bronchitis. I'm praying that this is just a little stress cold or something.

Looking at tomorrow's temps, it looks like it'll be pretty much the same as today. I'm hoping I don't get another 5 AM wake-up call!

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The bib

My kids were off school this morning, so it was a nice, relaxing morning... well, not at all, actually. My kids were completely wound up and loud; but I procrastinated my run for a while, to sit and have some tea and read e-mail, which was nice.

Mondays are for intervals--8 x 400's (which means running 1/4 mile really fast, then recovering, and repeating for a total of eight times). The wind chill was -2 degrees this morning, so I opted for the treadmill again. I like using the treadmill for my intervals anyway, because they are so consistent.

The last time I did them was at 9.2 mph, so today I planned on doing 9.3. But then I had this crazy thought... what if I do 10.0 mph? That's not that big of a difference, right? (9.3 would be a 6:27/mi pace, 10.0 is a 6:00/mi pace).

Well, during the first interval, I discovered just how much of a difference that was. That quarter mile was the longest quarter mile of my life!

The first 10-15 seconds were fine; I thought, "Really? I could run a 5K at this pace!" Hahaha, then about 10 seconds later, I thought, "Well, maybe I could run a mile at this pace."

Ten more seconds go by, and I think, "Holy shit, I'm going to DIE today!"

I don't know how I managed to finish out a quarter mile at that speed, but as soon as I did, I hopped off the treadmill. I was gasping for breath and my legs felt like they were going to collapse. So I turned the speed down to 9.3 mph, and then sat on the arm of the couch to catch my breath before the next repeat. (Some people walk or jog between repeats, and that's what I used to do... but when I run this hard, I just hop off the treadmill while it keeps going for a quarter mile).

The next repeat was really hard, too--my legs were still tired from the first one! But I kept at it, and was texting Stephanie in-between repeats (you'll see why below). I finally finished my eighth repeat, and was totally spent. That was HARD, but I did them all at 9.3 mph (except for that first one, which was 10.0).

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Yesterday, I was feeling pretty stressed out about the Virtual 5K--I didn't realize just how much WORK would have to go into a virtual race! I was trying really hard to figure out a way to make a race bib. I didn't want it to be boring, but I know absolutely nothing about graphic design. After hours of Googling, I realized that I probably needed something called Adobe Illustrator, which 1) costs a fortune, and 2) I have no idea how to use it.

I had an idea in my head of a cute little picture that I wanted to turn into a graphic for the bib, as well as a t-shirt. (I had a couple of people e-mail me asking if I could come up with a graphic that they could get printed on a shirt as a memento for the race).

I had no clue how to create it, but I was picturing it to look like one of the little drawings that Jerry does for me on restaurant place mats (here is an explanation of that, if you have no idea what I'm talking about). Jerry was home, so I explained it to him, and asked if he could draw a picture of it.

He did, and I loved it! I laughed out loud when I saw it, because it was exactly what I had in mind. But I still had no clue what to do with it. I was texting Stephanie about something totally unrelated, and I mentioned that I was feeling stressed, and (jokingly) said, "You don't know anything about graphic design, do you?"

She said, "You know that's what I do, right?" My heart stopped. I don't know much about Stephanie's job, which is a shame, but NO, I didn't know that she did that! After explaining everything to her, I scanned Jerry's picture to her, and she totally saved the day by agreeing to help me turn it into a bib!

I already owe her big time for taking photos for me (she's a talented photographer!); and then yesterday, she saved the day (and my mind) by helping me with this project. "That Loud Redhead" should be called "That Talented Redhead", because it turned out WONDERFULLY. I absolutely love it!! Here is the bib:

The space at the bottom is to write in your name and/or bib number--isn't it amazing?! :)  I love that Jerry did the drawing, too--it's much more special than if I had come up with something on Adobe Illustrator (whatever that is).

Anyway, here are the download links. The first is for the bib, and the second is without the border, in case you want to get a t-shirt printed. Make sure you write your name on your bib (and a number, if you'd like) and take a picture! I'd love to have you all post pictures to my Facebook wall and/or tweet pics after your finish :)

Click here for link to download the bib.
Click here for link to download the t-shirt version.

I'm so glad to have that taken care of--thanks to Stephanie and Jerry!

I'm excited for Friday--with the whole Virtual 5K thing, I keep forgetting that it's also my birthday. My mom wants to do her 5K on the treadmill at the rec center, and she wants me to go do it with her, so I'll do mine there. Then we're going to La Pita for lunch. And Friday evening, Jerry and I are going to the comedy club. Should be a fun day!

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Cereal

It was SO windy last night! I didn't get much sleep at all during the night, because the wind was howling all night, and once in a while, I heard a loud bang on the window, like something hit it. I kept thinking, "Oh man, I don't want to run in that wind in the morning!"

When I got up this morning, the wind was still going strong--39 mph--so I decided to just run on the treadmill. There was no way I wanted to run in the wind while it was 18 degrees outside. Just the thought of that hurts my cheeks!

I set up Netflix on my computer to watch some real crime show (I need to find something interesting to watch, because whatever it was I watched today was really boring). I planned to run four miles, so I started the treadmill at 7.0 mph (8:34/mi pace). The first mile felt pretty easy, and I was wondering why the heck an 8:34 pace would feel easy--until I realized I forgot to set the incline. Duh.

I always set the incline at 1% to offset the fact that there isn't any wind resistance while running indoors, and that the belt helps propel you along. My heart rate was only at 143-ish, and that's really low for a run. So I set the incline to 1%, and felt a difference right away. I also bumped up the speed to 7.5 mph, and it felt comfortably hard.

I was wearing my new shoes (my usual Brooks Adrenalines, but this is a new pair), and I felt like I was flying for a while. I love how cushy new shoes feel! My heart rate finally was up to about 165 during the last mile, so that little change in incline and speed made a big difference. Finished four miles, and actually considered running farther, because I felt so great--but of course, I quit at four ;)

Running on the treadmill feels so much easier than running outside, though. If I ran that pace outside, I would have been dying at the end, I'm sure.

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So I'm pretty sure Jerry and I are going to lose our house if I can't get my grape addiction under control. Yesterday, the grapes looked really good at Kroger so I bought two bags of them... and when I went to pay, they totaled $15.89!! That's insane. But I couldn't bring myself to put them back, because I knew I'd eat them. I wish I loved bananas; they're really cheap.

I also bought some of the new chocolate Fiber One cereal that has 80 calories per serving. I had some for an afternoon snack today. The cereal is only 2 PP and 1/2 cup milk is only 1 PP, so it's a pretty low-PP snack.

The cereal wasn't that great, though. It tasted only a little better than the original Fiber One (which I don't like either). Very cardboard-like texture.

It's hard to find a cereal that I like that isn't a ton of PointsPlus. My favorites are 5-6 PP per serving, which is a LOT to spend on a tiny bowl of cereal.

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I've been staring at my screen for about 20 minutes, starting to type and then deleting, but I honestly can't think of anything else to write about. So I'm going to keep this short today :)

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Virtual 5K Details and Prizes!

In just six short days, I'm going to be 31 years old. There is nothing special about that number, but I thought it would be fun to host a Virtual 5K on my birthday, since a 5K is 3.1 miles and I'm turning 31.  As I've said before, you can run OR walk the 5K, and you can do it whatever time of the day you'd like, wherever you'd like (even on the treadmill).

Just make sure you note your finish time... I will have a form on the blog that day for you to fill out a couple of questions, so that I can post the results. The prizes are not going to be given for the fastest times, but as a random drawing for EVERYONE who completes the Virtual 5K; so please don't feel like your time is "too slow". Nothing is too slow! I would also like to post some fun stats, like the number of different states/countries people run in, the oldest runner, the youngest runner, etc. So I might ask some random questions like that.

As far as the prizes go, here is the plan: I have 31 prizes, all having to do with my favorite things (or things I have a love/hate relationship with, like running!). If you successfully complete your 5K, you will automatically get 10 entries into the drawings. There will be 23 separate drawings (one for each of the prizes shown below--some of the prizes have more than one of the same item, so I will pull more than one name for those).

You can divide your 10 entries up however you'd like. If there is something you really want badly, you can use all 10 on that one item's drawing; or you can split them up among (up to) 10 items. Picture it as 10 raffle tickets, and 23 jars you could divide them up into. Your choice how you divide them up. I will pull a winner (or multiple winners) for each prize.

Now, I would have LOVED to give away amazing prizes like running shoes, Garmins, Under Armour clothes, etc., but I don't have close to that kind of money. Almost all of these prizes are self-funded (read: I bought them or bought the supplies and made them); so while they aren't uber-expensive, they are priceless, because I made them with my own bare hands. I am also going to be shipping these (except for the scale), so I will ship anywhere in the world.

On to the good stuff... the prizes!

I will make this to order--you tell me the color and measurement.

This was donated by reader Rach at Operation Rosebud (her family
has a contest of who can spend their birthday money the most creatively,
and this is how she wanted to spend it... pretty fun, right?!)

Instead of using the wasteful paper sleeves for your carry-out
coffee or tea, you can throw this in your purse to use instead

A nifty little wallet for your tea. I like to use this to keep
my tea from getting smushed in my purse. (Yes I carry
tea bags in my purse)

This is the scale that I reviewed recently. Another love/hate relationship
of mine is with the scale! ;)

This book is SO inspiring! Whether you are a runner, or
you are hoping to become one, these are stories from real
people about running.

You know I love The Biggest Loser--and cooking. This is the "Flavors of
the World" cookbook.

Another Biggest Loser cookbook--Simple Swaps

My VERY favorite thing--dessert!

For anyone looking to document a journey to 26.2

I keep a written running journal, writing down my distance,
time, and pace. It's fun to look back on and see all of
my improvements!

A food journal is a MUST in my opinion when you are trying
to lose weight. This is a small pocket-sized notebook that I covered.

This is one of the DVD's that I reviewed recently. You watch
this while you are on your treadmill, and it looks and feels like
you're running through different parts of the world. This one is
"hike", which means it goes a little slower, possibly with more incline

This is a VA DVD that you watch while on an indoor bicycle

This VA DVD is called Compass, which is much slower--more
of a leisurely hike than running. For viewing while you're on the
treadmill.

The Biggest Loser weight loss planner--lots of recipes, meal
ideas, and exercises, as well as tips from the contestants. The
lovely Ada Wong (my Ragnar teammate) is in here!

Perfect for carrying a bottle of wine
to a friend's house (not that I do that
often, or anything...) I will embroider
your initial on the front, if you'd like.

A PDF download of my top 31 favorite recipes--I've calculated
all the nutritional info, as well as Weight Watchers Points on all
of the recipes!

This is a cover for a Weight Watchers 3-Month Journal (journal not included, sorry)

Hopefully everyone finds something that interests them on that list! 

It's still not too late to sign-up, so you can do so here. I will remind you at least one more time before Friday, but just in case, here is what you need to do to participate:
1) Sign-up if you haven't already.
2) This isn't for sure yet, but I am going to try and make a race bib for you to print out if you'd like. Not necessary, but I think it would be fun! 
2) On Friday, anytime and anywhere you wish, run or walk 5K (3.1 miles). Note your finish time.
3) Take a picture (of you, of your shoes, of your Garmin, your treadmill readout, whatever...) Not sure if I'll be using these yet, but it would be nice to have just in case!
4) Come back to my blog and fill out the form no later than Saturday night (1/26).

That's it! I spent all day working on this post, so I need to get it posted... now.

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Jury summons

Yesterday morning, I was out for a run, and on the way back to my house, I stopped to get the mail from our mailbox. Our mailbox is about 1/4 mile away from the house, so sometimes our mail sits in there for a couple of days. I had a package, a magazine, lots of ads, and a bunch of other crap in envelopes--I carried all of that with me the rest of the way back to my house, while I was running. I think I looked ridiculous.

When I got home, I saw a very official looking envelope addressed to me, and I was bummed when I saw what it was:

At first I thought it was just our local county courthouse, but I have to go all the way to Detroit next month for this. I never drive to Detroit by myself! I'm nervous that I might actually get selected as a juror; I don't know anything about stuff like this.

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Today, I woke up at 5:15 this morning, and knew there was no way I was going to fall back asleep, so I just got up early. I had plans to meet Ty for a long run this morning. She e-mailed me last week to see if I'd want to run 12 miles with her today, and I said sure--despite the fact that I am not technically training for anything right now!

I drank my usual quart of water, like I always do first thing in the morning, and then as I sat in the living room talking to Jerry, I got really nauseous. I started thinking maybe I was just hungry, so I made my oatmeal (with caramel, coconut, and chocolate chips). Between each bite, I put my spoon down, and debated whether I was going to throw up. I have no idea what was going on with me!

I never ended up throwing up, so I got ready to meet Ty at 7:30 (she drove down here from Ann Arbor). It was another cold morning:

Ahhh, a toasty 19 degrees for our run! I met Ty in the Kroger parking lot, and then drove to the State Park. I had planned out a lollipop route from the car (8 miles), and then an out-and-back (4 miles). I didn't want to carry water with me, so I figured if I was thirsty after 8 miles, I could just stop at the car and have a drink before doing the out-and-back.

It was nice to chat with Ty--I think the last time I saw her was at the Solstice 10-Miler in June. She has a goal to run a sub-2:00 half this spring just like I do. We're opposites when it comes to racing--when I train, I can run much faster than I do during races, whereas Ty runs faster during races than she does during training. She claimed we'd have to do 10:30 miles today, but immediately, that wasn't the case ;)

We were running 9:00-9:15 min/miles for a while, which was pretty fast for my long run. My last outdoor long run was 11 miles, and I ran a 9:20/mi pace. We still managed to have a conversation, though, so it was good! When we got back to the car, I wasn't thirsty at all, so I didn't even stop for water.

Shortly after we passed the car, my fingers were frozen to the bone. I was wearing gloves, but I might as well have not been wearing any at all because my fingers have never been that cold! I was seriously worried I was going to get frostbite. We ran two miles out and turned around, then made our way back. We finished with a 9:18/mi pace overall... not bad.

I STILL don't have any way of uploading my Garmin info, so this is from Ty's:

I was really bummed to see that I only burned 906 calories. For 12 miles?! I burned 981 on my 11-miler a few weeks ago. I know that you burn less as you lose weight, but good grief. I only earned 12 PP on today's run.

I came home and took a steaming hot shower to warm my poor fingers. Then I spent a couple of hours sitting in the recliner with Estelle. I didn't have the heart to get up, because she looked SO cozy on my lap.

She looks so innocent when she sleeps. Then I try to pet her, and she gives me a death look or she tries to bite me. She only likes me because I'm warm to sleep on!

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I want to thank everyone for the super nice comments to my sister about reaching her 10% goal--she was truly overwhelmed with how kind everyone was! This is what she had to say:

"I thought it was so awesome that your readers took time to acknowledge my accomplishment of losing 10% of my weight.  I know most of your readers are also working at losing weight or getting healthy etc. so I think they also deserve a big congratulations for making positive changes in their lives.
.
I have decided to get over the fact that a big fuss wasn't made about my 10% at my meeting and rewarded myself with a huge online shopping spree at Venus.com.  I ordered a new bathing suit, a swimsuit coverup and about 10 dresses!!  I am sure I won't keep all of them, but I figured I would try them on and send back what I don't want.

When I told Shawn [Jeanie's husband] that I was going to buy some new clothes and if I should stick to a budget, he said "When women lose weight, they either get a boyfriend or buy new clothes, so NO, there is not a budget", LOL!

If you get a chance, ask your readers how their 5k training is going.  I would love to know what everyone else thinks so far and if anyone is planning on running once the 5k is over."

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to post the prizes for the Virtual 5K. I've had everything ready, I just haven't taken pictures and turned it into a post. It's not too late to sign up! The Virtual 5K is Friday, Jan. 25 (anytime of day you'd like, anywhere you'd like, even the treadmill; you can run or walk). There are 450 people signed up right now (holy smokes!).

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