Sports Illustrated called...

They want their money back! A Sports Illustrated Model I AM NOT! Mostly I couldn't stop laughing long enough to get a picture... between that and my kids running in and out of the shot it was pretty histerical!

A little friendly banter started amongst the Team Rev3 crew about how much money people would donate if I promised to expose myself post a picture of myself in our new shimmery Rev3 suit ala Tim Andrus (aka Mr. Wiggles)!

This was all happening behind 'closed doors' in our google group when Jamie (aka J Balls.. yea I said it) posted it on the Team Facebook page and said... 'why keep it to the team'. Thanks J Balls!

Then Holly jumped in and said that if we got to $1000 she would do one too! Thanks Holl for jumping in with me. I don't think she really thought we would hit that though because it turns out she has ONLY THE BOTTOMS. Well, we hit $1000 so now she's got to make it work. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK her blog today!

So excited that this little endeavor earned the Ulman Cancer Fund $1000!! You can STILL donate! We'd love it! We are not quite to $12k and our GOAL is $100k... um, we have a ways to go.. and at the risk of sounding like a broken record... EVERY DOLLAR helps!

Thanks both to the Rev3 crew and our non-Rev3 donors for chipping in and making it fun.

Okay.. I'll stop dragging my feet and get to the photo already!

 Doesn't little miss look like an 85 year old granny that lives in Daytona? 

Mr. Man is hiding behind a bottle of SBR TriSlide!

So you can see that the shimmer is pretty sweet! :) And the suit fits great. I will get it in the pool... um, probably sometime in APRIL.. post Run Across America!!!

Thanks again to everyone that played along. It was fun... even though I had to wear a bathing suit, in February, have my photo taken, and post it on the internet. I'll live I suppose. It's not like the internet is forever! ha ha :)

Stay tuned or a fun filled RAFFLE coming soon.. read: next week or so. You'll be able to win some COOL prizes! I'm getting excited!

Up for the challenge?

What's the point of having a team without some smack talk and random challenges. (I may or may not have instigated this myself.)

I received this beauty in the mail today. So many team mates are reporting amazing things happening with these suits... merciless comments on it's awesomeness and speed demon powers in the pool.. so why shouldn't it earn some coin for the Ulman Cancer Fund?

Get yours HERE!!!

So as you may have heard I am training to run across the FREAKIN Country w/ these crazies and we are doing it TO RAISE FUNDS for the Ulman Cancer Fund.. yea, I'm pretty sure you heard!

So I made some snarky comment about "how much would you donate if I put this thing on and take a photo and blast it all over the place" and I believe I said "ala Mr. Wiggle"...

Meet Mr. Wiggle (see I am giving you a freebie on this one!)

Tim Andrus of Team Rev3 - he is HYSTERICAL

You can go HERE to see it all unfold on Team Facebook page.. .PLEASE, Please go there! For the love of God and all things HOLY let someone NOT on my team comment on this silliness. PLEASE! Comment, DONATE!!!!!!!.. (any $$ amount.. every penny counts)...

The more money that is donated the BETTER the pic will be.. we just upgraded from the iPhone photo to busting out the real camera. If you want me to get creative you best drop some coin. Just sayin'

Running is going well... now it's time to kick it up a knotch on the RAISING of FUNDS! Expect to see a nice little RAFFLE, er, Fundraiser up in here. Fun stuff to win. check back!

Why we run! We run for JESSICA!

If this young mother that is THE SAME AGE AS ME with small children can be away from her family fighting for her life for months at a time I CAN TAKE THREE WEEKS away from mine and fight to run across the country to raise awareness and funds for the ULMAN CANCER FUND to help Jessica and all of those like her!



Jessica! I send a group family hug from my brood to yours! I will think of you often while I am out there pounding the pavement! Be well!

Ulman Cancer Fund Blue Jeans Ball

Rev3 was invited to the Ulman Cancer Fund Blue Jean Ball this weekend and I can't even express how thankful I am to have been included. The event was spectacular. If you are in the area I would highly recommend going next year!

Amazing captions all around!

I met so many inspiring people at this event. Survivors, family of survivors, people still in the throws of their battle and those that are there at the UCF to support all of the above.

Jessica and I. I had to run over and have my photo taken with her. Love that girl!

To hear Jessica Protasio tell her story and how the UCF was a true godsend for her brought most of us to tears. She is a vibrant young woman who had already lost both of her parents and was in a new town when she got the news that she had liver cancer. Thankfully someone turned her onto UCF and they seem to have become like her family. Someone from UCF was there with her all along the way helping her NAVIGATE the process and holding her hand through the treatments. This year she had her FIRST clean scan.. A true VICTORY.. and she continues to be a large part of UCF helping others as they helped her.

Vanessa and I. One of the ORIGINAL of the Rev3 family.

Vanessa has been part of the Rev3 family from the beginning, but I had only heard of her and never met her in person. She is at the (I HOPE) tail end of her treatments for breast cancer. She goes in for a scan soon.. please PRAY for her - Vanessa SPILLER - that her scans are clean and she can start to move forward. She is and amazing woman! Always an athlete and I hear she ran 13 miles the morning of the blue jean ball. She's not letting this thing hold her down! Thank you Vanessa for sharing your story with me. I am PRAYING hard for you!

We heard from Doug Ulman and many other amazing people over the course of the night. We got to celebrate victories and mourn losses. We got to feel the hope in the room and hear about the mission of the Ulman Cancer Fund from the mouth of it's founder and those that make it such a wonderful place doing great great things for the fight against cancer.

I really like this! Go UCF Go!

I hold each of these people and my team mates close to my heart as I power forward in the fundraising and training.

I was so excited to see my 'other' family again. We had a blast!!!!! Only a few more months and I'll get to see them all again!

And a little PS. I gotta brag on the Rev3 crew a bit now. They received the Partner Award from UCF for all the amazing things they have done for UCF to include consulting with them on the past Half Full races, partnering for the 2012 Rev3 Half Full race and now the Run Across America. I couldn't be more proud to support such an amazing group of people. Thanks again for the opportunity to be included in the awesomeness!

11 things about me.. what about you?

Tagged.... I was. 11 is the magic number....

Here we go:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Random things about me:

1.  I don't regularly wear deoderant

2. I was kind of arrested sort of .. once.  

3. I really really really like bananas. Like best food ever.

4.  I used to work as a compliance officer at a financial services company

5. I love to paint.. like interior walls not artistic stuff

6.  I used to drink like a fish and now I am wasted after two glasses of wine.

7. I'm a people pleaser. Except when I'm not. No seriously.. I talk a big game, but I really want everyone to be happy.

8.  I don't bathe my kids every night. Go ahead call CPS. I've been waiting for them.

9.  I plan to live to be at least 100. My family has ridiculous longevity and I have no reason to believe that I would not follow suit. Jason PROMISED I could live w/ him when I'm super old.

10.  I struggle almost every time I go to the grocery store. Do I buy the organic broccoli w/ the packaging or the conventional broccoli free of packaging. I once read the book The Story of Stuff and had to send Tom to the grocery store to pull the trigger on the items I just couldn't buy.

11.  I like to sleep at least 9 hours a night.

Carole's Qs:

1.  Twister or Monopoly? Hmmm Monopoly. I'm boring. And not very bendy.

2.  Which do you crave more?  The chips & salsa, or chocolate? CHOCOLATE

3.  You're sitting next to a friend(s) in a room.  You fart and it's loud enough that you KNOW everyone heard it.  Do you acknowledge it or pretend it never happened?  (Okay, every situation is different....but you know yourself - in general, your reaction would be?)  Hmm.. depends on the crowd. If I know them.. laugh. If I don't probably look around and act like it wasn't me. ha ha

4.  Pizza or Hamburger (yes, buffalo burger acceptable)? Hamburger

5.  If you could go back to one conversation to change or add to something you said, what would it be?

6.  Snow skiing or water skiing? Snow.

7.  What is the craziest thing you have done (or advice you listened to) to try to heal an injury faster? Run through it. 

8.  Are you a cat person or a dog person? DOG!!! 100% DOG!

9.  Do you wipe front to back, or back to front? Depends on what just happened.

10.  What's your favorite Charity? Ulman Cancer Fund =======>>> you can donate NOW!

11.  Favorite rock/country/blues band of all time? Umm I don' t really have favorites.

Jen's Qs

You are stranded on a deserted island.  Tell me

1. What are the 5 foods you would pick to have with you? bananas, nuts, chocolate,

 2. What 2 things would you pick to drink? water and coffee... hmm or wine. No coffee.

3. What book would you want to have? Not a clue. Just one?

4. You are visited by ONE person for 24 hours only, who is it? Tom (the hubs)

5. You can have ONE skill that you do not currently posses? What is it? Ability to fly to get my ass off that island. That or the ability to chill and enjoy it.

You just won 5 million dollars! Tell me

1. What is the first thing you do? Call Tom and tell him to quit his job.. we be movin'

2. What is the first thing you buy? a nice LONG beach VACA w/ the fam.

3. Who is the first person you share your winnings with? Tom

4. Would you relocate? Where? ABSOLUTELY!! SEATTLE!

5. Would you donate to charity? YES. More than one!

6. You must buy me a gift, what do you get me?? A trip to Bora Bora

Questions to those I tagged:


1. What is your DREAM job?
2. If you could live ANYWHERE where would you go?
3. Tell us your BIGGEST secret! ha.. okay a smaller one you are willing to share.
4. How often do you weigh yourself?
5. Do you keep up w/ politics and current events?
6. What is your favorite time of day?
7. How many hours do YOU sleep a night?
8. What is your BIGGEST lifetime goal//dream?
9. Would you consider yourself a half empty or half full type?
10. Do you reduce, reuse, recycle?
11. Do you strength train?

People I am tagging

Heidi Buzzbomb
Miss Zippy
The Poonstar AKA Tribirdie
Kier Does Tri
AM of Goals for the Week
Tara of Mommy's a Runner

Jamie @ SwimBikeRunLive

Mark @ Journey of a Triathlete Father of FIVE
Gena of Slowest Triathlete
TriHollywood
Kelly @ My Life as a Trimommy

Necessary EVIL

It's Recovery Week! Self imposed since I'm really just making this stuff up as I go along!

I've been running.. a lot. Twice a day most days. I needed a break. My legs were heavy. My mind was heavy! So after talking to my rockin ultra friend Tara I decided it was time for a little RnR for both the legs and the mind. Lucky for me the weather improved greatly. What?

I ran once this week so far.. and for the first time I'm not TOTALLY freaking out about not running. I've done some spinning... finally signed up to do some yoga. Gotta pay someone to make me. My February goal is to do yoga AT LEAST 3x week. I need it.

I have been finding myself in that place where my legs can't turn over the way I like them too. Hmm recovery needed.. and perhaps some stretching. I don't know might be a good idea.

I happened upon a Mark Allen article... that I'm sure EVERY one of you has already seen and been subscribing to for like EVER! It's the one about Heart Rate training and keeping your heart rate at your aerobic rate (180 - your age) - there is much speculation as to how accurate it is to use the180 - your age equation, but I'm not going to get into that here. Mostly because I have absolutely no clue about any of that. So I've been taking my running at 144 bpm -ish except for Mondays when I do my tempo or track/speed work. Last Monday I did my tempo work on the Mill bc the weather was horrific and I forgot my heart rate monitor. I wanted to see what my max was. So knowing this week was a rest week (um, from running) I decided to take the ol HR monitor to spin class with me and see how much I could blow it up. I know spinning is WAY different than running in many ways, but particularly in your (or my) ability to jack my heart rate up. Would you believe that the highest number I saw was 158! And that was ONCE... my average max number was more like 152. I'm not sure what to think of this. If anything! My resting heart rate is just above dead... seriously. Last I had it checked by a doc (for life insurance purposes) it was 48 and that freaked the lady out. She told me she was writing 52 on the paper. Okay lady.. whatever. AND I am pretty wiped out and thought maybe it was just because my legs were pretty much crapping out on me before I could jack the heart rate up. The last time I did run training with my heart rate monitor the highest I could get it was 165, but I remember that at that time my legs were pretty shot and were giving up before I could max out. Hmmm are we sensing a theme here? Laura spends WAY too much time in the 'grey zone'... I can SEE Sharpie shaking her head at me right now.

Anyway... things to ponder. If anyone has any insight as to 1. does this really matter and 2. am I really just not as fit as I thought I was... I'd love to hear people's theories.

Are you good at taking recovery? I clearly am not. Do you take your long slow days as slow as coach tells you too or do you cheat and try to hit that pace... whatever 'that' is. Does recovery / easy stuff make you feel like a loser? (not that it makes me feel that way or anything.) What are you thoughts on the Mark Allen article about HR training? I've heard good things... now if I can just mentally accept it when I'm out there. So far so good... but damn if my max is 152/165... 144 is pretty high? Yes/no?

Environmental Challenge - "rules"

"When you have Enough, you have everything you need. There's nothing extra to weigh you down, distract, or distress you. Enough is a fearless place. A trusting place. An honest and self-observant place... To let go of clutter, then, is not deprivation; it's lightening up and opening up space and time for something new and wonderful to happen." - Vicki Robin (from Your Money or Your Life)

To expand on the 'ReUseIt' Challenge posed by Jill.. okay she talked about what SHE was doing.. I made it a CHALLENGE.. bc that's what I do. Blame my dad!

So we laid out the exception of running shoes and Jill mentioned something about undies... because REALLY you have to draw the line. I wanted to expand some more on the rules. I would love for people to jump in.. post on your blogs. Even if you commit to a day to day commitment or a month commitment. A week. Whatever you can handle. You never know who you might inspire or how it might unfold in your life. Link back here and let me know if you do your own post!

The RULES

Things you CAN buy new:
- running shoes
- underwear
- Personal care items: toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, shampoo, conditioner, um, LADY things (though I highly recommend the diva cup. I can't remember the last time I bought tampons)
- household items: laundry detergent, dish soap, dish washer detergent. I would recommend finding some earth friendly products in this category.
Such as:

   - Shaklee - I use Shaklee cleaning products exlusively in my house. My mom is a distributor and she turned me on to the stuff. I think MY favorite thing is that ONE bottle of cleaner can do so many things AND lasts forever because it is concentrated and you mix it depending on what exactly you are doing. Windows vs counters, Floors, clothing... etc. One bottle to refill another means LESS bottles in the landfill. This makes me giddy! My second favorite part is that it is ALL unscented!

      - Meyer - I've never used them, but I have heard good things and they have a full line of products.
- food... obviously
- Bike Tires/tubes: We ride bikes... these things are important!
- Helmets: and any other thing that requires newness for the safety element. Should I happen to crash my bike again this year (knock on wood) I WILL buy a new helmet to protect my noggin'. Or should my kids outgrow theirs. A new helmet is non-negotiable!

So that's it. I'm happy to report that I was able to find some used gloves for my son the other day!!!! :) There is a store called Once Upon a Child here. It's national. Look it up and see if you have one in your town. What a fantastic idea. So many children's items are perfectly good when their time has expired in your life, but someone else is looking for. I know the Goodwill won't take a lot of children's items. Which I understand, but is quite unfortunate!

So, can you do this? For one day? One week? One month? What can YOU do! Look forward to some more posts to motivate you in the direction of seriously contemplating your purchases. The environment is in trouble no matter how much we try to ignore it. It's a big problem. While it is bigger than you and I... it needs to be solved and it STARTS with you and I!