The Color Run - Brilliant!

The Color Run looks awesome!

As runners pass through each segment of the 5K run they are "blitzed with color -- a special 'elf made' recipe of magical color dust" that is natural and safe. Unlike paintball it doesn't hurt, the web site describes it as "getting into a powdered sugar food fight."

Runners chose to run in various zones depending on how much color they'd like. And the crowd of finishers does a color throw every 15 minutes welcoming in new runners.

Its mission--to bring Color Running mania to the world!
Company overview--"ummmm we like color. ummmmm we like running."
FAQ--http://thecolorrun.com/faqs/
Check it out--The Happiest 5k on the Planet - Las Vegas http://youtu.be/rWjdrHCeG8U

QUESTION FOR YOU
I love how simple The Color Run's mission and overview is. What's one thing you would add to running to make it an incredible experience or to encourage first time runners?

Finding that One Thing reminds me of this moment in City Slickers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml-xI1jbu_U&feature=share

And the splashes of color remind me of this scene in 10 Things I Hate About You!
http://youtu.be/3AIKVRNtJSM

Red Carpet & 22 Years!

Dancing + dress-up? Yes please!!

I had a great time this weekend helping Dustin Maher celebrate the release of his book Fit Moms for Life - How to Have Endless Energy to Outplay Your Kids during his red carpet book celebration.

About 150+ of us:

- ate,
- danced,
- posed,
- laughed and smiled,
- while we supported and celebrated our fitness journey.
Dustin's done incredible things with his business and I wish him the best with his new book! Learn more about the book & watch the book trailer at http://dustinmaherfitness.com/.

I love dressing up and dancing, so I was totally excited to attend. I bought this dress knowing it was similar to a dress I wore to a formal in high school, but comparing the pictures now, it's fun to see how my taste is similar 22 years later! :-)
- Both dresses are: blue & mostly one-shoulder, have ruffles, are asymmetrical and were fun to dance in!
- Both photographers cut off my legs/feet! :-)

It's fun to look back while also taking time to celebrate the now!
Happy 2012!
Questions for You:
- Do you like to dance? If so, when was the last time you did?
- Any dress-up occasions this year?

T-Rex & Flu Shots

I saw this on facebook via fellow triathlete & GOTRIbal member Donna T.
Thanks! It made me smile.

I couldn't stop smiling during my last trip to the doctor --- (no I'm not expecting!). Read my latest GOTRIbal post Flu Shot Strength.

Question for You:
- What's your favorite push-up style?
- What do you love about being strong & fit?

Merry Christmas!

Preheat + 10-13: Mini-Workout!

A frozen pizza takes between 10-13 minutes to bake once the oven is pre-heated.

Using a strategy from GOTRIbal contributor and Hot Sweaty Mamas co-author Kara Douglass Thom, I've converted my "waiting for pizza to be done time" into a perfect pizza-inspired pilates experience. My yummy mix includes: roll-ups, 100s, single-leg stretch, side bend and side twist.


In Hot Sweaty Mamas: Five Secrets to Life as a Fit Mom Thom and co-author Laurie Lethert Kocanda share strategies, ideas and real-world examples, of how fit moms:
-make time,
- take time,
- share time, or
- snare time.

"Learning how to make the most of each moment, being a mindful mama, is one of the basic skills of all fit moms," according to Hot Sweaty Mamas.

10 minutes matters! Block out a segment of time tonight & enjoy!

Read more from Thom here including her recent post breaking down the myth of the pre-baby body (belly-buttons, boobies and pinot noir!).

ON TOPIC
The Runner's Pizza from Runner's World.

Questions for You
- What do you like on your pizza?
- What's your favorite pilates move?

The Grim, the Grizz & Buck Meets Bike

I love running into nature during a run or bike route or even a swim. Over the years I've enjoyed meeting a fun assortment of basic animals: deer, fox, snakes, turtles, turkeys, rabbits, squirrels, voles, and all sorts of birds. We were obviously too late to meet this porcupine.

The only animal that freaks me out is ... the country dog. I love dogs and we have a lab named Sherpa, but the country dog terrifies me. I call them Grims (Harry Potter reference). Grims have chased and stalked me many times on long rides. I've been chased by dogs of all sizes and breeds. Once I had a country grim and her puppies go after me... puppies can be scary. The right dog could easily knock me over.

Thanks to YouTube we've seen all sorts of bike/foot/animal collisions. Most recently Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa was biking through a South African nature reserve when an Antelope took him out! Team mate Travis Walker caught it on his GoPro Camera. These cameras are SOOO cool, I want one!

Fortunately, Evan survived with no long-term injuries, just a broken helmet. NBC interviewed Evan and Travis this morning, Evan doesn't remember anything after the crash until coming to in the hospital. http://youtu.be/VO1c6vphuZM

My husband is impressed with how easily the antelope turns its hips and body in mid-air to lessen the strike, amazing quickness.

My favorite animal encounter was with a Grizzly bear in Yellowstone two summers ago. We watched the bear work its way down a hillside, digging up roots. As it got closer to the road, most people got back in their cars--smart. The bear passed right in front of our minivan and then rooted around the hillside next to the road. It was incredible. Here's my short clip. http://youtu.be/Tvc6zNpTn_Y



Questions for You:
- What have you met?
- What are you hoping to meet?

photos by me.

A Visit with Team Winter

Our family hosted 12-year-old triathlete Winter Vinecki and her brother Yukon for a week prior to Ironman Wisconsin.

As the National Champion and IronKids Ambassador Winter travels to many of the IronKids events across the U.S. She speaks with kids about triathlon, being active, eating well and living a positive life.

Winter also raises awareness about prostate cancer, the disease that took her father's life. She talks about her efforts to stomp out prostate cancer through her non-profit organization Team Winter, its athletes and sponsors. Winter also encourages kids to race for a cause, something that is dear to their hearts.

Our family loved hosting Winter & Yukon. With three kids of our own it was a full, but fun house!
We enjoyed:
- biking, running, kayaking, flying kites, assembling/breaking down the bike, popping bubble wrap, playing hockey, cooking meals and snacks, keeping up with homework and their online schooling, using Oxyclean, practicing handstands, rolling down the hill, balancing on anything, scootering, playing the labyrinth, playing with the robot, bench-pressing watermelons, Oreo taste tests and more.

- Winter spoke with students in Jefferson and McFarland, to parents and kids at SBR Coaching in Verona and to participants of the Madison IronKids event via her Team Winter Expo booth.

DID YOU KNOW?
September is prostate cancer awareness month. One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. It is the most common non-skin cancer in America.

Winter and Yukon spent most of September on the road raising awaresness for prostate cancer and competing in events. I am a few posts behind, but I have more Team Winter updates to share here. Please stop by Team Winter as well!

Here's a short piece from our local newspaper.

photos by me: Jefferson Middle School students listen to Team Winter. Fourth grade teacher Sharon Mischio and Winter.

Friday Fun: The Corn Maze

Thanks to tri blogger Kelly Jepson Covert for posting this Friday Fun! The photo is making the rounds on facebook and totally brightened my morning!

Follow Kelly on twitter at www.twitter.com/trimommykelly and her blog at http://www.trimommylife.com.

Questions for You:
- Ever been through a corn maze?

Screen Printing & Wampas

In first grade I took forever to pick out my first t-shirt design. I chose a really cute kitten sitting next to a sundae and I spelled out my name with matching fuzzy letters. I loved the way the heat-transfer smelled!


Over the years I've made fun t-shirts for families, vacations, teams and special events. We tried spray-on tie die this year at our middle son's birthday party (it worked great!).


It was fun this summer getting a close-up look at the screen printing process. When I picked up my Village Athlete shirts, Steve from Sport Products gave us a tour.


The shirts are placed on little holding platforms and then the screen design/frame is squashed down over the shirt. Then color is scraped/painted back and forth over the stencil-like cutout screen, leaving the desired print on the shirt. The shirt below took three applications of white in order to show up on the dark red shirt. Then the shirt rides along a conveyor belt and goes underneath an oven to set the design.


We also checked out the embroidery process. I forgot how many stitches per minute this machine is capable of, 1,500 maybe?

I love the color and fabric of my shirts this year (blue shirts in box above). I intentionally kept the text subtle and basic.

FRIDAY FUN:
"The Wampa almost killed Luke," says our middle son. "If he was around at dinosaur time paleontologists would now be searching for him." (Declared during an afternoon session of the Empire Strikes Back.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampa

Questions for You:
- Do you have a favorite t-shirt from your childhood or now as an adult?

- I thought the ice-cave fuzzy guy from Star Wars was called a Wompa, but now I know it's a Wampa.

Ferris, Donkey Kong & Fast Times of Summer!

In the spirit of Ferris Bueller, I'll say, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile you can miss it."



Summer = fast. Here are a few captured moments:


- Rollin' with Donkey Kong: Track camp was fun, we all spent time playing (yes that's a Donkey Kong monster truck)! Read my earlier posts about track camp:
http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2011/07/track-camp-1980s-meets-2011.html
http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2011/07/400-m-super-8-get-in-game.html



- Fields, fireworks, freedom: I spent the 4th with my family -- fireworks, lake swimming, food and fun as a fam.


Trails & TRX: I celebrated freedom by running on the trails and later enjoyed my TRX.



Questions for You:
- What's the best thing about Summer?
- How are you staying active?
- Favorite Ferris Bueller scene?

Track Camp - 1980s Meets 2011

In the summer of third grade I ran the 400. Our city held community track meets at one of the high schools. My younger sister and I ran several events. She excelled at short bursts, like the 50 and 100 m dash. And I preferred longer events. At school I also liked the hurdles and high jump and once tied an older boy for best high jump. (Read the rest of my previous post here.)

This summer our oldest son Truitt went to track camp and ran his first 400. It was his favorite event that day.

I loved watching him run. Like me he started slow and let his pace build along the loop and in the final stretch he passed three kids before the finish. His younger brothers and I cheered from the stands.

And before we went home, I took his picture on the track. I had my photo in mind, but hadn't studied the details to try and replicate one with Truitt. Looking at us side-by-side I see:
- His posture is better.
- His shoes are nicer.
- Our stance and hand positioning is similar.
- And by luck, our position along two different tracks is similar (off by a lane).

Questions for You:

- What do you see?

- What do you have in common with your kids?

P.I. Streak II + G.V. Minigolf

Last weekend we played indoor mini-golf as a family. In Wisconsin it can snow even in May, so the indoor option is nice.

I grabbed my new pair of Pearl Izumi Streak II shoes (thanks to Outside PR & Sports Marketing & Pearl Izumi) to see how they'd handle the turf.

I noticed the fit of the shoe first in the heel--it felt like the shoe cradled my heel in a good way.

The shoe felt light, but supportive
and I really liked the honeycomb webbing.

As a safety girl I appreciate the reflective bits along the laces, toe, heel and side of the shoe and we tested its reflective performance within the mini-golf glow room.

Learn more about the Streak's seam-free interior, energy foam cushions and more here.

photos: Walk this way please. There are many slides along the course.

photos: Mini-golf at G.V., the capital at G.V., my P.I. Streak II in the glow room. Actually two years ago one of our kids had an accident in this same glow room .... beware of potential glow-room streaks in your neighborhood.

Questions for You:

- What's the weather like where you live?

- What's the first thing you notice about a new pair of shoes?

- When I read the word Streak I think of two words: naked and steak. What comes to your mind?

photos by me

Potty Mouths & Stalkers: I ♥ Writers!

Last weekend I attended the Writers' Institute in Madison, Wis. It was awesome being back on campus and learning more about something I love -- writing! I pitched my triathlon project as well!

Writing conferences host a strange variety of personalities, including:

• The potty-mouth: an attendee who draws attention to his or her idea by throwing in random swear words.


• The hi-jacker: an attendee who attempts to take-over a speaker's session with his or her own information.


• The stalker: he or she stalks a designated agent, editor or speaker hoping to pitch his or her idea. During the Q&A panel a male agent specifically outlawed men from approaching him in the bathroom between sessions... but he left the option open for women (humor is good people).


• The close-talker: hopefully he or she is not a coffee drinker ... if so, offer this attendee a piece of gum or strong mint.


• The cookie thief: pockets extra cookies during the mid-session break.


• The bold forgetter: he or she boldly stands to ask a question during a session or panel and then can't quite come up with his or her question.


• The space hog: even in a packed session this participant spreads out, arranging his or her laptop, purse, conference tote, coat, umbrella and more. Odds are he or she also has claim to the power outlet too.

Questions for You: - What personalities have you met at conferences? Who did I forget? - What cookies are your favorite mid-session snack? I chose white chocolate macadamia nut. - Do you love the rush during a pitch, triathlon or interview? - If you had to sell something what would it be?

photos by me: The Pyle Center, The Red Gym, The Memorial Union & Rathskeller (I worked there in college.)

3 Little Birds: Sports & the People You Meet

photos: Holding a chick, Oreo the chicken, Marmalade the cat.

We call it our swim date--my husband and I share a lane at Masters' swim on Sunday afternoons. The 90-minute session is one of the highlights of my week and I hate missing it. I love being in the water. I love learning. I love the people.

One of my swim friends is also named Sara, but with an h. With her permission I call her Chicken Sarah--we trade table scraps for fresh eggs from her chickens once a week.

This week Chicken Sarah got a package of live chicks in the mail so I went out to meet the brood.

Fun!!!

This picture reminded me of one of my favorite songs "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley.

Questions for You:

- Have you tried fresh eggs? The pretty brown ones remind me of the eggs Caroline Ingalls always tried to sell to Mrs. Olson on Little House on the Prairie. Now, having them in my own hands, I can tell you they're real and they're spectacular!

- What's one of your favorite Seinfeld scenes?

- What sports have brought you the most friendships? Or best memories?