Happy Friday! Enter my Giveaway!

Happy Happy Friday! I didn't think this day would come.....I thought for sure I'd be stuck on Wednesday forever.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway:
http://runwithann.blogspot.com/2011/09/marathon-season-giveaway.html

And a cute picture? Here you go!

Blue Poison Dart Frog (in case you couldn't tell)

Marathon Season Giveaway

I haven't done a giveaway in a while. I've been out of bloggy land lately and need to get back in. What better way than a giveaway!

Triathlons are winding down. Marathon season is sneaking up and I'm not ready for mine! I'm honestly going to make Richmond Marathon a game time decision. Lyme's Disease through off my whole training year I feel like!

A little inspiration?

Here's what you win.
- three bottles of Mix1
- Triathlons for Women
-Triathlon Training in Four Hours a Week

Here's how you get it:

1. Followt his blog (mandatory) and leave a comment
2. Tell me your best marathon advice (leave a comment)
3. Tell me your favorite race of all time (leave a comment)

Easy. Simple. Just like training?

What's in the box??? Thirty Something Fashion Experience

 I hate to shop. I love fashion, have a ton of fashion magazines....follow a ton of fashion blogs. Put me in a mall and I'm toast. I will find nothing. Nothing will fit. There will be tears. It's sad. It's pathetic. Season changes make me crazy. I wear too much Old Navy and I have shirts from high school still. Oops!

I have a friend that is a personal shopper. Her blog rocks. Carly lives in Jersey and offers parties, personal shopping, and The Box. Intrigued? You should be. The Box is $35 and you give her some info and she sends you clothes, accessories...whatever you are looking for. I told her I was looking for Fall, jewelry, and I'm on a budget. This was Friday, I waited patiently and Monday afternoon this was on my doorstep!

nervous to open. what if nothing fits?!

cute note of "enjoy!"

Each outfit was individually wrapped with some hints and instructions

Asymmetrical dress. LOVED it

Love Love Love this necklace

Sam sat on the couch and I did a fashion show. There were 9 outfits total. I was thinking maybe 2. Wow! He wrote down what I liked and came up with fun names for everything so we could remember. Everything fit except one dress (thighs were too big!). That was a first for me. To have so many amazing clothes AND they fit! No tears!!!!

Everything was amazing. Nothing I would have had the guts to pick myself. I picked 6 things that I could not live without.

Now I let Carly know what I'm keeping and ship the rest back. She charges the $35 plus the price of what I want to keep. No minimum. If I didn't like anything I send it back and it's just $35. I highly recommend this service. I didn't have to go to the mall. No finding babysitters. I let someone else be brave and pick my clothes and all I had to do was try them on. Who doesn't like love a fashion show?!

The power of Sam, Team Fexy and my first DNS (almost!)

September 11th - my first Olympic Triathlon. The Reston World Championship. Sam and I signed up for this race almost a year ago. It sells out fast, but we really wanted to do it since it was local and it would be an Olympic distance at the end of the season. I was very excited.

July 2011 = Diagnosed with Lyme's Disease. Exercise pretty much came to a halt. I worked out zero for the first few weeks, then I worked out about once a week. As the Reston Tri got closer I was trying to decide if I should back out. I am not the kind of person that can easily walk away from something I said I was going to do - money aside - I feel guilty and embarrassed. I decided for safety sake not to race. I emailed the race director and he told me to pick up my packet because there was going to be some sweet swag and that he would guarantee my place in the race next year (but I'd still have to pay). That sounded great and I was feeling better about not racing. 

Sam and I went to pick up our race packets on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and we picked up packets at the race site. This is also where our team does Wednesday track workouts. Of course I was happy and proud to cheer for Sam the next day - but I wanted to race too! They canceled the swim due to all the flooding and debris in the water. I felt like without proper training the swim was the most dangerous - but now it was out!

I picked up my packet, got my helmet checked (yep, I brought it) and decided to race. My mom took the boys for the night and brought them to the race the next morning. Cue butterflies and nervous poo.

Race morning: We woke up at 4:45, got dressed, and headed to Reston. We set up our transition in the dark and then hung out with our team. My team. Team Fexy. I had said I wasn't racing, so when people saw me ready to go I got a lot of high fives and "yeah Ann!" That felt good great! I did not race because I thought my team would be disappointed - they are way more supportive than that. Being part of a team does make me feel special though and my team has an awesome way of bringing it to a race.


First run: They canceled the swim and added a 2.3 mile run (ugh!) I went out nice and easy, no pressure to RUN. I hung with some dude that said we were the same pace and we talked most of the way. Sam passed me at mile 1 (whoa!) and then I caught up by T1.

T1: just change those shoes, grab a helmet and go!!!!

Bike: 23 and some odd miles. Three loops. I had not done much on the bike outside, I did mostly trainer stuff. The debris on the road made me nervous (I can't change a tire yet!). So the first loop was slower than the rest, but I got it done! I saw Coach Rob and a few other Fexys out there the cheer me on. For alot of the bike I was sort of alone, so I just pretended I was in 1st place - that must be what it feels like....leading the pack. :)

T2: Just change the shoes and take off the helmet. Pretty easy breezy. I did have to sit down - my quads were toast!

Second Run: 6.2 miles. It was getting warmer, but the run was through the woods and mostly shade. It was also hilly - not terrible though. I walked the bigger hills and just kept going. I saw TONS of teamates running through the woods. Lots of high fives, "go Ann!", and "Catch Sam!". I can't tell them all enough how much just seeing the jersey, hearing the cheers, and knowing - really knowing - people out there helped. I can't say it gave me more speed :) but it kept my head up and made me feel proud. Around mile 2 I got emotional. I was tired. I needed to see Sam. I had no clue how far up he was, but I needed to see him. At the turn around I saw him! I tried not to cry, but I told him I couldn't do this without him - "will you walk so I can catch up?". He told me to hurry up and I'm doing great. I went a little further and turned around to start on back to the finish line.

I honestly never thought I'd catch him. I didn't know if he would keep going or wait for me - sometimes you just need to keep going. At the next water stop - there he was! He had doubled back to find me.....so we could finish together (tear). I had to walk for a minute to catch my breath......crying will do that to you. I was just so happy to be with him. Sam is a pretty awesome person - probably the most supportive person I know.

We made it through the rest of the run with a walk jog - we actually passed a few people - and got to where we could see the finish. To get to the finish line you had to run most of a lap around the high school track. It was just us. We ran side by side around that track and were greeted by our kids, cheers from our team, and the announcer saying our names together! It.was.great.

I could not have done this race without the support of Sam. He rocks. I also could not have done this without my Team. They are so supportive, excited, passionate, and genuine. Seeing someone screaming, jumping up and down, and yelling your name is pretty awesome.

So I finished my first Olympic Triathlon/Duathlon. I'm sore today, but so glad I did it and so proud of myself. Thank you everyone for your support!

It's been almost a month...........whoops!

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. Oops! Not much has gone on, I haven't worked out regularly in 8 weeks thanks to Lyme's Disease. I did get blood work back that said my positive tests are now negatives (yeah!) and I've been off antibiodics for almost two weeks! That's a celebration on it's own, those things sucked!

So what have I been up to? We went to the beach.......only had to leave one day early for hurricane evacuation.

We brought a nanny/friend. Yup, we are THAT cool

The beach was great! Awesome weather, we brought a nanny (best nanny ever) and it was super relaxing.

Sam also did his first Oly! It was tough, he was awesome. I'm so proud of him.

I wish those didn't go sideways. Ugh.

Sam swears he will do a race report on Luray International, so that's coming.

September 1st I started a Paleo 1 month challenge. So far so good. I've had a few slip ups, but I'm not letting that get me down. We have a house full of fresh veggies, fruit, and meat. That's all you need right? :) I did weigh myself, but I measured too. Measuring is where it's at for me, the scale can suck it!

I have a BUNCH of giveaways coming up too!