Let's Do Work!

I passed! I passed! I'm an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer! 

So who's ready to get fitter, faster, and/or stronger?! I'll be picking up a limited number of online training clients starting in February. I will also be making myself available for one on one consults and workouts at your gym (if you can bring a guest) as my schedule allows. Hopefully soon I will have a 'home' gym for the locals to come train with me too! If you are interested then email me at brazentraining@gmail.com and let's get started! 

Chasing the Turkey

I can now say that I have chased a man dressed in a full turkey costume for 3.1 miles. The first ever Turkey Chase 5k took place in Cranberry Township this morning and Shane and I were there. Shane expressed hopes that it would be small first year event. I, of course, laughed in his face. Every runner likes to create a calorie deficit before they fall into a three day tryptophan coma.

When we arrived at Graham Park 45 minutes early the parking was already getting tight. I pulled the Jeep onto some grass and we went to get our bibs and chips. I'm not sure what the point of chip timing was since there were 593 people and no starting mats. Being only a couple weeks post-marathon I decided there was no point in racing and this would be an easy run. No watch, no hard effort, and hopefully no pain.

Love the shirt

I lined up 6 or 7 people deep and when the gun went off I gritted my teeth as people blasted past me. I hadn't realized there were SO many people there! And I felt my pace start to pick up. I pulled back even more and tried to not be angry that runners were leaving me in their dust. I saw my Team Aquaphor teammate, Jordan, go by and felt another surge of envy. I wanted to race!

And then we hit a small but steep incline and I didn't want to run anymore. Someone said the distance was 0.63 miles and I suddenly just wanted to be done. I pulled my attention from my lack of speed and focused on my form. Stand tall, small arm movements, smooth stride, high cadence. I tried to estimate my pace based on effort. I knew that I was probably going faster than it felt since I was running with such a large group. I guessed I was in the 9:30 per mile range.

At one point we passed the finish line and the clock read 12:4x. I figured I must be around the halfway point, probably a little less based on the time and my estimated pace. As I headed out to the turnaround I counted from the leaders back. I expected to see Shane and as more people went by I started to worry. When I finally saw him I had counted 60 people ahead of him. I still didn't realize just how large this race was.

I rounded the turn and headed back to the finish. People were kicking and struggling to the finish. Rasping breath and coughs and staggering forms were all around me. My breathing was still easy and I felt the urge to find another gear for the finish but I held back. As I passed Shane he yelled out, "27". I figured he meant the clock was already past 27 minutes so I didn't kick. I crossed the mat at 27:0x. I should have FREAKING kicked! Doh!

I'm still pretty amazed that I ran a 27:04 easy race though. That's a big improvement and I feel a great 2013 season coming! The really cool part was finally meeting my Team Aquaphor teammate in person though. I've been following the exploits of these 200 people for most of the year and I feel like I know them.

Jordan and I

 

Of course, after that it was turkey time! Ash couldn't wait to dig into her 'big chicken' and I love pumpkin pie! Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

 

 

 

How was your day? Did you do a Turkey Trot/Gobble Wobble/Gut Buster?

I've got a new team!

I recently received the opportunity of a lifetime!  Before I dive into the details let me say that I never thought that running would take me all the places it has (and is going to!).  I'm still amazed every day at what my body can do and where my own feet can take me and the opportunities this ability has brought me.  I'm so blessed to have everything I do and I am absolutely humbled to know that I've been considered worthy to join 59 other runners and triathletes on Team reGen! 

For those of you who don't know what I'm blabbering on about, reGen is a product I had the honor of trying during a consumer feedback project.  I really enjoyed the trial and the product and I'm so excited to get to represent reGen for the next six months!  So what is so great about reGen?  Read on!

ReGen is a recovery drink unlike any other on the market right now.  The main ingredient is pure, natural cocoa which has an amazing amount of antioxidants.  ReGen didn't skimp on quality with 12 grams of cocoa in each serving and they didn't skimp on the science either.  Miami Research Associates did the clinical testing and found an average of 25% faster recovery in athletes using reGen versus another beverage.  They also found an average of 9.7% increase in endurance. 

With Burning River 100 looming this was enough to convince me to try it and I'm so glad I did!  With a smooth texture and chocolate milk flavor (although 99.9% lactose free!) I loved it at first taste.  It's not as sweet as other beverages because it's not filled with artificial sweeteners but it's still yummy.  The taste was attractive but I was wary of the claims reGen made.  Boy was I surprised!  Ever since my 50k I've been having some right knee pain.  It was slowly getting better but my recent addiction to CrossFit brought back the uncomfortable tightness.  I faithfully used reGen within 30-60 minutes of every workout and found my soreness and my knee pain reduced as well as making some big strength gains in the gym.  After the trial was over I was sad that I no longer had my new favorite after-workout drink.  Thankfully it wasn't long before I got that super exciting email!

Today I received my welcome package and what a welcome it was!  Eight, yes eight!, boxes came off the UPS truck.  Seven of them were a 15, FIFTEEN!, case supply of reGen for me to use (and share, if you're lucky!) and the last box was the beginning of my reGen brand apparal wardrobe!  I've never been so thrilled by a UPS delivery in my life.  In fact I was so happy I gave the UPS man some reGen to recover from unloading my boxes!  I'm in for the ride of my life and I am stoked, geeked, over-the-moon! 

I need to calm myself down and get my head out of the clouds!  I should have saved my run for tonight.  Before I try to come back to reality just let me say thank you to everyone who has supported my journey into running (and then ultrarunning!).  I've been blessed with best group of family and friends (real and virtual) any running mom could hope for.  Thank you all so much!