Vitality Giveaway!

I know that it is the last day of August but in my mind September is officially beginning.  This month is looking like it will be the busiest month of running and racing ever!  I'm extremely excited, nervous, and can barely wait for the fun to begin...yet again!  So here's the schedule for September...it will start out with my long run this weekend in preparation for my first race.

Next weekend on the 11th & 12th, the Red Rock Relay - where I'll be covering 19.5 miles in three legs.  Our team will cover 180 miles total - team name:  Bountiful Babes.  I'm working on our team T-shirts and they're going to be pretty dang cute! 

On the 18th, is the Top of Utah marathon - I'll be hoping for another PR.  Fingers crossed that it will at least be better than my last one. : ) 

On the 25th I'll be running The "official" Dirty Dash, remember I wrote about it here when I did the media preview!  It's going to be muddy, sticky, super dirty, yucky and a blast!  For this race we run 6 miles as a team of 5 - our team name is 'The Piggytales'.  We will definitely be dressed up for this one with our hair in pigtails of course!

 So are you jealous?  Does this race schedule kick butt or what?  It's going to be such a crazy month. I can't even wait for it to begin! It's like Christmas Eve x 3...yeah I know...crazy! ;) Wish me luck!

With that, I thought it would be a great way to start off my month with a GIVEAWAY!! A nutritional giveaway! I've gotta be focused on my training, and more importantly, my diet, nutrition, and what supplements will help me through this month. So what better way to kick it off than with a...

$40 VITALITY NUTRITION GIVEAWAY! 

 There is a nutrition shop here in my hometown that I've shopped at for years. They have provided me with great products for all my running needs.  Recently they've been helping me with new supplements and I can already tell that they've made a difference!  They have given me a $40 gift certificate to giveaway here on my blog!  Did you hear that?  40 BUCKEROOS!  You can visit Vitality's website to see some of the things they have and I will also be sharing with you what I use later in the week.  The winner will be able to order their choice of product via telephone and they have agreed to ship your goodies for FREE wherever you are. So, just because you're not local doesn't mean you can't benefit from this wonderful offer! The employees, the manager, and the owner, are extremely knowledgable, helpful, nore than willing to consult and help you with any nutrition or supplement needs pertaining to your training.  They have definitely been a great asset to my health and running. 

So here are the rules for the Vitality Nutrition $40 GIVEAWAY:

1.  Become a follower.  If you are a follower already give yourself a bonus entry!

2.  Like Racing Dawn on facebook and leave me a message on my wall.  I love nutrition tips!

3.  Follow Racing Dawn on twitter and shoot me a message @racingdawn. (also leave me your twitter name so I know who you are) 

4.  Link my giveaway on your blog sidebar.

BONUS ENTRY

Since this is a nutrition giveaway from Vitality, you get an additional entry by going to their website, clicking on the "Buy Online" link and telling me which product category you would most likely spend your winnings on.

Good luck!  The winner will be randomly selecty next Monday, September 7th, at midnight MST.  This is a good one, so get your entries in!

Now that the first week of school is done, we are back on schedule and I look forward to getting back on schedule with my training and nutrition. I look forward to the upcoming events and am excited. Good luck to all of you with your training as well and don't forget to enter my giveway.

Happy running y'all!

3 miles, 3 miles, 3 miles...

We did it!  Our Red Rock Relay team did our first training run together!  Of course we have all been training on our own but we've scheduled 2 sessions to do together and our first one was a blast!

I know, how cute are we?  We look like we have way too much energy to go running at midnight!  We only missed one girl and that is because she has twin babies that she had to be home with, we'll give her a pass. : )  We had a pre-run meeting at my house to go over van assignments, where we're going to stay, and also discuss nutrition/meal planning.  Only one of us has done a relay - not me - so we are trying to plan the best we can.  If anyone out there has good tips and any info you think can make or break a relay, please share!

Only one of us brought a reflective vest.  Put that on the list for the race.  We did an easy 3 miles and had so much fun.  We all are at different paces so when we hit the half-way mark of our out and back, we waited for everyone to gather up again.  At this spot, there were 11 of us standing at a corner and I'm sure there were some suspicious neighbors.  We even had a visitor from the local law enforcement drive by real slow to inspect the situation... "Headquarters, we got a gaggle of women out here loitering, I think we're going to need some back-up. 10-4."   Ha ha...  I'm sure he realized quickly we were pretty harmless!  By the way, it was 81 degrees at midnight?!?

Watch out Redrock - these new kicks are comin atcha!

Onto 6 a.m. - What a perfect time to run.  I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30 a.m. so the when my alarm went off at 5:45, I felt pretty groggy.  Once we got going though, it felt great.  Muscles felt good.  I ate a Clif bar and some water and off we went.  We were able to witness a beautiful sunrise.

After we finished our run, we planned our 2 p.m. run.  Not everyone was going to to make it because of work and other commitments. 6 of us planned on meeting and running the easiest route of all since it would probably be in the 90's at 2 o'clock.

Instead of the 90's we planned on, we had a monsoon tropical storm hit and of course, a complete downpour of rain!  Hey, I can take that over heat any day!  There were rivers flowing down the streets from all the rain that fell really fast.  My shoes were soaked through within the first 5 minutes.  Before I left my house it had already started to rain so I wore my Utah Valley Marathon tech shirt and the shoes I wore for that race, you can remember that story here. : )

Lindsay wasn't able to make it to the run, but strategically found us and got pics of us running - without anyone knowing!  Proof we did it even in the rain.  Seriously, I could not have been happier that we did our run in the rain.  10 minutes after we finished our run the storm passed, the sun was out, and the heat returned.

So we had a successful 3, 3, and 3.  We're going to do it all again in a few weeks to practice again.  And yes, I will admit, I am tired.  That is why this post is coming today and not yesterday!  Body good, but sleepy!

I had my training session Wednesday night, right before the 3,3, and 3, and it was great!  These sessions are only a half hour long but he's kickin my butt.  And the great thing about it is that when we're working out, he's choosing things that I can get through and can complete without falling apart or having to stop.  Now 2 days later I'm feelin' it!  My favorite new move is where you start in a crab walk position with dumbells in your hands and push yourself up to a standing position. You then do a shoulder press and lower back down to crab walk position again. It sounds weird and you have to twist your body back and forth to move from one position to the next. Man, my abs are still hurting today.  Love it!  He definitely listened when I said I wanted to work core, speed and strength.  Yay!

Now we're off to a family vacation this weekend at my cousin's cabin.  It's going to be great to get away for a few days with the fam and relax a bit.  I'm planning my long run up there for Saturday and I'm sure it will be wonderful.  I've got to get some serious hills in during that long run to help prepare for the Park City Marathon.  This upcoming race has a gradual up for about the first 16, 17 miles and then down the final miles of the race.  Sounds tough to me, but I've been told by others that because you will be running slower it won't be as hard on your body come recovery time.  We shall see...

So, any tips on relay team musts?  How bout uphill marathons?  I'll take whatever you got! Plus it's fun to hear about the different things you guys are doing.

Tunesday/Training Tips

I'm  trying to get back on track with my training this week but it has been tough.  I had a great recovery week last week and then the race on Saturday was awesome.  Now, trying to be consistent with my plan before Park City Marathon sneaks up on me seems to be really hard!  I've become a magnet for a lot of other races that aren't the marathon distance and I'm trying to fit them in everywhere.  I'm not really sure that it's a good idea but these races are so fun!  I'm starting to get a glimpse of what I may be leaning towards when my challenge ends...

So for today... I have a training session with my trainer at the gym - the first real session - so I'm excited.  I really am counting on him to take me to the next level.  I'm prepared to work hard and definitely get results!

Also, I'm part of a relay team for the Red Rock Relay that is coming up in September.  It's a race that covers 180 miles between 12 people in Southern Utah.  Tonight we will attempt a training run together. Here's our plan...meet at midnight, run 3 miles, meet at 6 a.m., run 3 miles, and meet at 2 p.m., run 3 miles.  Most of us have distances longer than this but it will help our bodies feel what it will be like to run 3 legs in 36 hours.  Crazy!  Gonna look pretty crazy seeing 12 women running through town at midnight!  It will also benefit us to try out what our nutrition should be between those runs.  Trial and error, we'll see what works.  Details and pics will surely be available tomorrow!

 I thought I'd add a couple more Q&A's today...hope they help.
Please feel free to add to or tell me how I wrong I am in the comments!  I love feedback!

What supplements do you take and when?

If you're running less than an hour you don't need Gatorade or supplements. They are extra calories that are unnecessary for less than 60 minutes of exercise. However, if I know I'm gonna be out for over an hour I start my usual routine of a peanut butter sandwich and water before the run and then hydrate every 15 minutes from the beginning, usually just 4 or 5 oz - 4 swallows - rotating Gatorade.  But honestly, I don't bring Gatorade unless I'm doing 2 hours or more.

I also add in supplements every hour mark. I switch it up all the time... it's something you gotta try...figure what works for you and your tummy.  My favorites are the Clif Blocks, they are like gummy bears, they taste good, and go down easy. I usually only eat one, maybe two squares an hour. I've taken trail mix, honey packets, regular gummy bears, Clif bars (I only take 2 bites of a Clif bar an hour). I've liked the Clif squares the best. You're looking for fast carbs that will digest quickly and easily.  The last thing you need is something sitting in the bottom of your gut making you feel sick. 

What do you do to help get past your wall - whether it's 4 miles or 24 miles?

This one is tough.  You really can't prepare for it until you've hit that wall and crossed it a few times.  I've hit a wall in every marathon I've run.  It's all mental my friends.  I run with music and that helps me but it really is a mind game. Your body is so fatigued that it really is pure will that pulls you through.  I actually have little chants that I say to myself when I feel myself slowing down or hitting a wall. My go-to phrase is 'Finish like a champ, not a chump.'  I know, so goofy, but I've heard sillier.  : )   Also, in some instances it helped to talk to those that are around me in a race that are trying to finish at the same time. There's been a race or two where if I saw someone crying during the final few miles, I just had to go past because I know I would start crying too and probably not finish! 

If you start feeling strong when you leave for your run and then you're feeling really fatigued and weak in the mind by mile 4, you're probably dehydrated. Or, maybe you need to switch up your course.  If you're always running the same route and at the same point always feeling tired, it's mental. Try switching up your runs throughout the week to see if that would help. For example: Monday, an easy 3, Tuesday XT, Wednesday Fast 2, Thursday Hills, Friday off, Saturday Long 4. This will help you add mileage and increase your speed.  A lot of you know these tidbits, but for newbies I think it's super helpful!

As far as Tunesday goes, I still have Hurt In The Dirt on the mind.  They put together this short little video of some of the race day action accompanied by a great R.E.M. song.  Enjoy...  http://vimeo.com/13813261