I've found it! (plus giveaways & winners!)

Saturday was my St. Pattys day 10K complete with the Tutu (race recap eventually).  After the race, I seriously thought about how I need to stay focused with my nutrition and really follow weight watchers to lose some of this weight. So sunday I had an awesome 80 min trainer ride while watching Jersey Shore, and today I spent the morning working on total immersion techniques at the pool & lifting. Then tonight, I pumped out another 58 min trainer ride while watching gossip girl. To top it off, my nutrition has been great all day, and I'm feeling really positive about staying on track this week!

In case you haven't noticed, I have a TON of giveaways going on right now!

1. My Fundraising Raffle for the Run to Home Base HERE. I am still over $500 from my goal. I challenge you to tell people this week about the Run to Home Base program. If you can get 10 people to donate $1 to you, then you have yourself a donation & raffle entry! Not only will you earn your raffle entries by posting HERE, but reply to this post with the word 'BONUS' after your 'spread the word' donation and get an extra 5 entries past what you've already earned.

2. My Moving Comfort Bra giveaway HERE. Enter by 3/28!

3. My pay it forward book giveaway for the Long Run & 17 Hours to Glory HERE, ends 3/26!

4. My Gone for a Run giftcard giveaway HERE, ends 3/31!

And.... I just realized I never picked a winner for my arctic ease giveaway!

winner is Baby Weight My Fat Ass!

Off to track my food & plan for tomorrow!

This is how my weekend is going so far..... (plus a giveaway winner!)

After many of your words and encouragement, I have decided to register as an Athena.

To those of you who are not sure what that means, Athena is a category for women 150 pounds or over. I've only been able to enter the Hartford Half Marathon & 5K as an Athena (I won 1st place once!) for running events, but it seems like the sport of triathlon cares about us heavier girls. So my plan is to register Athena, train hard, and try to take first place!

I mapped out some training for the next 14 weeks or so, and I will be spending a lot of time in the pool, which I have only been in once since my triathlon last fall. I recently bought the book Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way To Swim Better, Faster, and Easier. Now I just need to read it... hmm maybe while I spend time on the bike trainer. Which reminds me I did get in a nice 60 min ride after work today! Tomorrow is a long awaited long run outdoors with Shelley & Tutu making our St. Pattys day 10K next weekend!

I almost forgot to draw a winner for my raffle for this week!

Jess @ Running Between the Lines!

Please email me your choice of prize!

There are still TONS of fabulous prizes to win! Please check out my Run to Home Base Raffle HERE to make a donation to a great cause and win some great stuff in the meantime!

Also, have you checked out my Arctic Ease giveaway yet (HERE)? Entry is easy & you have until 3/16!

Now.... I was literally writing this blog post, when Kevin went down to the basement to hide girl scout cookies on my roomate. I hear, "Stephanie, you need to come down here.."

Shit.

Not again.

Last year, Easter weekend, my brand new home (constructed Sept 2009, 2 months before I moved in), only 6 months after being built had the basement flood. It ruined many of my christmas decorations and boxes. My house was still under warranty and they told me that the water wasn't from outside, it was from the furnace condensator. Despite the water marks along the edge of the basement, and water stained cracks. They put in window wells and gutter tubes "just in case." With all this snow melting, and rain we've been having, I went down to check the basement thursday. Nothing. Not a drop. Now it looks like this....

1/4" deep!

See my soaked bottom boxes?

So Kevin just left for home depot to buy a wet vac because towels are just floating in the water, and not even making a dent in the amount. I am pissed because they *promised* me that this would never happen again. And I'm pissed because my home is no longer under warranty, although my mom thinks that since this was a problem they claimed to take care of while it was under warranty and clearly failed to do so, that they should be responsible. My mom says we will hire a lawyer if we need to. damn, lawyers are expensive.

So Monday I guess I will either be calling "Mike" the horrible contractor who built my house whose number I found, or the real estate lawyer I used to see what I am entitled to. Needless to say my good mood, and healthy habit went out the window and I have worked my way through 1/3 of a 6 pack of beer, and have a pizza on the way. YUCK!

Arctic Ease Giveaway

I first came across Arctic Ease reading Trying is for Little Girls. What a smart idea I thought! 

An ice pack in an ace-wrap type fabric that you can wrap around body parts like knees, ankles, arms etc.  Its reusable, requires no freezer or fridge, which makes it perfect for race traveling!

Here's a quick Fact from Arctic Ease

The optimal temperature for effective cold therapy is above 59° F (15°C).*

When skin temperatures go below that, tissue damage such as frost nip and frost bite can occur - it's one of the biggest risks associated with traditional ice therapy. And it's why you have to put ice on, then take it off - over and over again. Arctic Ease eliminates this inconvenience, reduces the risk and discomfort associated with temperature extremes and makes it easier to get relief from pain and swelling so you can get back to doing what you want to do. 

You can keep the wrap on for 4-6 hours, as long as the wrap will stay cold!

As a runner, and a physical therapist, I thought this would be a great way to help soothe our aches and pains without the trouble of tying an ice pack to your leg & laying on the couch for 20-30 min. Instead you can wrap and go. You can put it on and do housework, or still lay on the couch if you want.

The fabulous folks at Arctic Ease sent me over a roll to test out. What do you think I did, I brought it to New Orleans with me for RnR! After the race, my right knee was achy (we all remember how it had been acting up the months before). While I laid in my post race coma on the hotel bed, I wrapped my knee up with my Arctic Ease. 

The tough part, was with the crease of my knee moving around, the bandage rolled up a little at the top & bottom, so it didn't cover as much surface area as I would have liked. It was cold, but not as cold as I usually like it, however the benefit was that I could keep it on for longer. I also loved that I could travel with it, and reuse it after rehydrating the wrap. So while it probably won't replace my ice pack at home, it will be tucked into my suitcase for all my traveling races.

Want to Win an Arctic Ease Wrap?

simple.

Leave a comment with why you want to try Arctic Ease!

I'll pick a random winner 3/16, good luck!

Don't forget my Powerbalance giveaway HERE that ends 3/9