Thursday, January 27, 2011

Happy New Year!

Yeah, yeah, I'm late in wishing you all a Happy New Year. (Sorry.)

I've had a few blog posts brewing in the back of my mind, and almost exactly no time to take a moment to spell them out, so I'm going to be super lazy and post them all at once as a recap of 2011 thus far.

Let me just say, this year has been delightful.

1.) I spent the later portion of 2010 and the early part of 2011 training my tail off for a sub-1:50 at the 13.1 Marathon - Los Angeles (which I ended up finishing in 1:47), and I took that training seriously. What I didn't take so seriously was my awesome weekend trip down to L.A., where I got to hang out with Rad Runner, Mr. Rad, and their amazing little teeny tiny Miniature Pinscher, Louie. We had grand adventures and I love that little family.

Gentleman Louie left us some mints on our pillows.
Rad and Shaky Bacon in the cutest shop ever.
Louie in the smallest parka known to man ... and man's best friend.
A baby potato taco that I ordered just for the sake of saying I ate one.
Me and Louie chillin' on the couch.
A totally normal sidewalk encounter in L.A.
I love Louie (and Rad's sweets-inspired tattoo).
2.) What else happened this year? Oh yes. I won a year's supply of nuun. We all know how much I love and swear by nuun in my training. I started using nuun when I was living in Minnesota, and since then, it's become a regular part of my running routine. I've noticed many improvements in my running, some of which I can positively attribute to hydrating better. Having enough to last a year is really going to help me with all the bigger races I have on my schedule!
And for those curious: The Kona Cola flavor isn't all that bad! Think of it as flat, warm, watered-down R.C. Cola. (Gulp.)

3.) In other nuun news, I'm officially a member of the nuun ambassador team. I couldn't be happier for this sweet sponsorship since I already believe so much in the product -- keep your eyes open for nuun giveaways, discount codes, etc., in the future!
4.) Speaking of running perks, Brooks invited me into one of their new clubs this year. It's not quite as cool as the I.D. group I was in during 2010, but it still is a pretty nice gig. I'm happy for what they provide to the people who were in their now-extinct I.D. program. Congratulations to all my other Brooks buddies who made it into their respective teams this year!

5.) AAAAAAND, Punk Rock Racing kindly asked me to be one of their athletes!!! Ok, so I don't actually know what this means yet. All I know is that I heart PxRx for everything they've done in making me feel welcome, accomplished, and honored in my new city. Receiving an invite to be one of their athletes means more to me than any sort of race time, electrolyte tab, or clothing discount. And I mean that wholeheartedly. (Hopefully that was a good answer and they won't drop me for being a softy.)
6.) I bit the bullet and finally put this blog on twitter. Feel free to follow along.

And this concludes the fourth week of January. Eleven more months for 2011 to keep kicking ass.


14 comments:

  1. i need to look into punk rock racing. people talk about it and i have no idea what it is. also, nuun...never used it. not sure what it's for. need to look into that, too!

    happy new year!

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  2. BAT MAN!!!!

    What do mean extinct ID Team? What club are you part of with Brooks? I am still with them as well, 3rd season.

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  3. I love all the positives from this post! Positive people all round and I'm a sucker when it comes to dogs/animals. My son would go crazy if we see Batman walking in the street. Have a good weekend!

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  4. Happy New Year!!

    You have lots of good stuff going on, awesome!
    And being on the PRR team!? I have a feeling that's gonna be a good time :)

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  5. I recently found your blog through PxRx Ron's blog and have been following along for a while. Lots of great developments! Can't wait to see what you have going on next.

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  6. Would you be able or willing to disclose where you got your penguin shirt? I almost dies when I saw it. Too fabulous.

    That's awesome that you have sponsorships, I haven't tried nuun yet and now I'm hearing all the hype for gu brew so I will have to keep learning more about both and give it a try.

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  7. Hey, Laura! I got that penguin shirt at a teeny tiny consignment shop in Minneapolis -- it was 50 cents because there was a tiny hole in it from the price tag! I believe the original retailer is Delias (who knows if they sell it anymore), but I'll check the tag when I get home. :)

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  8. Keep the good times COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    (they so will)
    XOXOOXOXOxoxoxoXOXOXO
    and "woof woof" (Louie)

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  9. Lady, those are some sweet deals! And all hard earner. Seriously, congrats and the Brooks and PxRx endorsements. You deserve it. Not only do you run hard, but you work hard and race hard too. I've learnt a lot through reading your race reports, and that's without even being able to run myself at the moment!

    Thanks also for the comment on the vegan nutrition thing. You're the only person so far who has said I should eat more! That rocks! I've been kinda tentative about venturing into the whole vegan sports nutrition thing on the blog, as I don't know whether people want to read about me floundering about in oblivion, but from the comments it seems like that might be exactly what people want! I agree though that fuelling, especially when you eat a restricted diet, is an important training issue, and I know I would love to read more about it, from people of all dietary persuasions. So maybe I'll write about it more too :-)

    And yeah, happy new year!

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  10. Louie looks absolutely spoiled!!! Looks like you've made some great friends in a hurry out there. Batman walking down the street - only in LA! BTW, do you ever read Matt Harts blog or twitter pages? He's an ultrarunner and HUGE Nuun proponent. http://blog.coachingendurance.com/ http://twitter.com/#!/theMattHart

    Have a great week and congratulations on the sponsors!

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  11. Congrats on both the Nuun and punk rock racing. There is a guy from my home town that is big in Punk Rock Racing, he might actually even be THE dude from punk rock racing, but I only discovered it via blog land not from local word of mouth given my small town up bringing. Looking forward to seeing how that works out for you.

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  12. Love that parka and tell more about the Brooks thing. It sounds great.

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  13. Love Nuun and Punk Rock Racing! Your year is off to a kick ass start! :)

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  14. Dear Average A,

    I would like nunn in EVERY FLAVOR. And also some sunshine.

    Very Truly Yours,

    AR in the frigid north

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