CMT Awareness month

I am coming out of blog SILENCE! I've been, um, super busy, but that is a post for another day.

Today I write to honor my BLOGGER friend Donna who I had the pleasure of meeting at Rev3 Maine last month. She is just as sweet and wonderful in person as she is on her blog Beating Limitations. I wish I hadn't been so crazy busy on a race weekend so that I could have spent some more time with her.

Donna has a nerve disorder called CMT. CMT is the most common nerve disorder - yet it is the least well known. Donna is on a mission to change that. Many CMT patients suffer in silence as it might not be apparently OBVIOUS when meeting someone that they actually have this disorder. Those with CMT have difficutly in transmitting signals to their muscles. The result is muscle atrophy. Generally it starts from your hands and feet and progresses over time to your core.

Can you imagine!? Starting to have muscle atrophy and not knowing where it will go next... how quickly it will progress.. how it might affect your life from hobbies to work to quality of life!? Donna faces this EVERY DAY .. and instead of just accepting it she has decided to live life to the fullest by staying active with triathlon and working to promote awareness to support initiatives to fund research to find a cure!!!

You can learn more about Donna and her amazing self at www.beatinglimitations.com. You can learn more about CMT at www.cmtausa.org AND!!!!! You can donate to help find a cure at www.cmtausa.org/donna

Donna is super awesome and as I mentioned one of her missions in life is to spread the word about CMT. During our big push to raise money for Ulman Cancer Fund and Team Fight via the Run Across America  she approached Team Rev3 by way of my team mate Jamie Bull. She offered to donate $10 per person to Ulman Cancer Fund's Team Fight (Rev3s Charity Partner) for each person that agreed to receive and wear a CMTA tech T and blog about CMT. How amazing is that! She created a win win.. CMT gets exposure so that YOU are aware of this nerve disorder and it's impact on the lives of others AND money is raised for Ulman Cancer Fund. /

I hope that you will take a moment to read about CMT and donate to her cause. This is NOT fatal disease (in most cases), but it affects people's ability to maintain a healthy happy lifestyle (which most of us take for granted) and to continue to live a NORMAL life doing things for themselves as the disease progresses. This is no way to live and a cure must be found!

A Run for the Cows Half Marathon

Half marathon.. hmm. Doesn't seem like too much post Run Across America, but it's a different animal. Totally different animal!!! Run one mile at at time for 9 to 22 miles a day for 21 days is WAY different from running 13.1 miles straight.

I signed up for this race well before I took off for the RAA and haven't really thought about it too much since.

So as race day came I started to wonder.. I'm preparing for a 50 miler.. should I just go out and run a nice easy 13.1. I KNOW I can do it.. EVERY day if I need to.

So the night before the race I started to think that I should just lay it all out there and see what happens. I was thinking I would try to negative split the race. Um, Like you are supposed to. I was planning to take the first have as 'doable difficult'. A bit beyond my comfort zone.. so 8:30 to 8:45s then pick it up to whatever I could push it to on the second half.. maybe 8:00 to 8:30s.

It had been reported that the course had mostly rollers and ONE big climb at 7 miles then finishing on a hill. Rollers.. sure I can push it through rollers.

I took my Garmin with me, but planned to (try) only look at it around the mile markers because I was used to my 'map my run' app telling me splits every mile and I didn't want to be ruled by it. I did pretty well with this.

In the early parts of the race I got caught up with a couple of women. EVERY time I looked at my watch (which wasn't too often bc I was focused on staying w/ these women) I was sub 8 and was thinking.. HOLY SHIT I am NOT going to be able to hold onto this pace for 13.1 miles.

I didn't carry anything with me (stupid) and could feel when there was 'too much' time between aid stations. I could feel my body start to tank and the need for some glycogen to keep me going and just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore an aid station would show up, I would swig some Gatorade (or whatever it was) and some water and feel it kick in about 5 - 10 mins later. I'd get back in a groove and repeat the process. The aid stations after about the first two were spaced just a bit too far for my needs. Next time TAKE YOUR OWN!! If I had just been out there to run it would have been fine, but RACING is a different deal!

Just the days before this race Jessica went into the hospital.. You will remember Jessica from the Blue Jean Ball back in January. She has gone through cancer and a liver transplant and is now in the hospital with Pneumonia, her CT & MRI showed something non the lymph nodes around her liver which could mean nothing, post- transplant lymphoma or that her cancer is back!

Jessica's attitude is positive. ALWAYS! Through EVERYTHING! She is always smiling and gives the MOST AMAZING hugs. I get to run. Jessica has to sit in the hospital. I envisioned her beautiful smiling face so many times today on the run and remembered the words of Eric Opdyke during the Run Across America, "This isn't hard, Cancer is hard." I dug deep for this girl. I dug deep thinking about what Ann said in circle about her religion believing that you could take pain for other people. I tried so hard to shoulder just a small portion of Jessica's pain during this run.

In the end I had a PR of about 4 mins on a much harder course. Through the last 3 or 4 miles I thought surely I was going to puke That last hill felt like torture, but it was "easy" in comparison to what Jessica was going through. I was running while she was strapped to a hospital bed.

I ran for Team Fight. I will continue to run for Team Fight. I will fight for you Jessica! I will be by your side in spirt. I did day dream about packing my race medal in the car w/ me and driving my sorry butt down to MD to stop by for just a moment to give you a hug and my medal and tell you how proud I am of your strength and resilience, but alas I have a family that would have missed me much.

You are amazing! I might have run my heart out today, but you have truly fought for your life! Anything I do in my life will pail in comparison to your will to live!

Wow.. this blog post took a turn didn't it! Race report to rave review of a beautiful woman FIGHTING! 

We can all fight for something in life. We are mostly blessed with good health and good fortune!!! If you don't have a fight FORCED on you.. what will you CHOOSE to FIGHT for!? 

I choose to FIGHT for those that are struggling with Cancer! I choose to FIGHT for my own life in that it makes an impact on the lives of others! No more floating through and focusing on mundane bullshit! Time to make it COUNT!

Let's fight! Like Carlos from the Run Across America said... I am David.. fighting against Goliath.. every day! 

Side note. I know this post is totally random... but I wrote it late at night... post race and possibly a glass of wine or two in... I refuse to go back and edit out the randomness. This is how I feel. It is the truth and it is from my heart. Jessica.. you amaze me and I can't wait to see you again!

For those that care. I ran a 1:41 - 4 min PR on a hilly course. 7:40min/mi avg. I am happy with this effort. 

Rev3 Knoxville

As Rev3 Knoxville approaches I'm having flashbacks to my first time working with Rev3 .. well I volunteered there because I was injured and couldn't race.

This was a huge turning point for me!

New finish line looks amazing. Thanks Nick Donovan for the photo!

I am stalking the progress of race set up on Facebook and texting the crew like a mad woman. So wish I could be down there working my butt off! They are kicking ass as usual and are ready to put on yet another top notch event! Amazing beyond words!

Last year was my first time meeting everyone (though very briefly) and doing some of the work as a volunteer. I didn't truly meet and get to know everyone and REALLY work until Quassy in June, but I got a touch of the energy and how everyone works together and I just KNEW that being on this team was going to be AMAZING!

I got to meet Kier and drive 10 hours each way with her and we got along great. I met many other team mates and was able to cheer them to the finish!!

I know that I didn't fully grasp what I had gotten myself into, but I could feel that it was going to be good!

I mean look at this.. they are WORKING while remembering to have moments of fun. Who are we kidding.. putting on a triathlon is HARD WORK, but it's fun too! Lucky bastards!

THE Chris Jarc and THE Krista Baker keeping it real. Thanks again Nick for the photo!

So I enter into the 2012 season so excited and ready to carry forward the amazing energy from the Run Across America, to race with heart and to work my ass off ... while keeping it real.

Best of luck to everyone WORKING and RACING at Knoxville.. I'll be keeping an eye on ALL of you from way up here in CT!!!

And check out our SWEET new kits. LOVE them! (but to the girls.. don't forget your sports bra.. seriously!)

The RUN Across America... the other side.

Just about to cross the Key Bridge to the big finish.

We are back. Back to reality! To say I am forever changed by this experience would be the understatement of a lifetime!

I have tried numerous times to sit down and really get out what all of this meant to me. It was such a huge thing... in ways I least expected. There is a lot.. layers.. levels.. emotions. It may take me a few stabs to really lay it all out there and what it meant for me and means for me going forward.

It was - and IS - about the Ulman Cancer Fund and FIGHTING the good fight, but really it was so much more than that in my little world.

Finishing up our first leg and running it in together. Brock, LJ and me.

I learned a lot of things about myself and my life and where I want to go.

Those of you that have been reading my blog for a long time know that I get caught up in my head and that I have been on a quest for MORE and have always felt like the wheels were spinning, but I couldn't really get to the place where I was happy and fulfilled.

The run seems to have opened me up to the idea that I CAN be happy! It doesn't need to be complex. It's not something I will find in a book! It gave me the confidence to make it happen. To know that it's going to be hard, but so worth it in the long run. To know that I am worth it... that I don't have to settle for a mediocre life... my life can be amazing... I can see and do all the things my heart desires. With JOY in my heart.

I am processing things that I NEED to be happy.. to live my most amazing and fulfilled life.

1. Purpose
2. Happiness/Fun/laughter
3. Adventure
4. Excitement
5. Change
6. Connection/community

This is my first stab at really getting this list down on paper for me to look at and remember and focus on.

Since my return I have found myself having more meaningful conversations with people. I've been more open minded to wonderful things happening (and they ARE happening). I've been more positive and dare I say more calm. Not in the direct sense of the word, but as a state of mind. I used to spend a lot of time freaking out about needing to FIND MY PURPOSE... and now I am more able to just be and trust that my purpose will find me.. as I go through life, try new things and find the joy!

There will be more to come as this is an enormous thing for me to process.

What are your top things that make you happy? Do you even know what they are. Thinking and thinking and thinking about it didn't bring them to light for me.. ya know what brought them to light for me??? DOING THEM!

Get out there.. live your dream, your passion, let your light shine!!!

Run Across America

Awesome photo taken by Jay and made into an informational flyer by Jamie Bull.

Today is Easter. We planned to take the day off, but will end up running at least 14 miles today as a group. We ended up cutting the day short yesterday when the light was gone, we were close to one of the first large-ish towns we've seen in the last two weeks and it started to rain.

We got the BEST Easter gift from Senior and Debbie Patten. A hotel room and dinner. We are so happy. I am sitting in the hotel cafe drinking coffee and blogging. Feels normal... yet not normal. Feeling a bit antsy like I need to go for a run.. or take a nap. :)

Over the last two weeks we've gone up an over the mountains in California, up to elevation and back down. We've run in HOT dry weather, massive headwinds, massive headwinds with rain, and cold dark overnights.

We started out running 8 hour shifts of 50 miles each. We started the first shift in Oceanside at 12am, the next at 8am, then another at 4pm. This lasted about a week until we realized that the overnight shift was KILLING us. Almost every midnight shift would result in tears from at least one of the girls. Then it was hard to sleep during the 8am - 4pm shift leaving us tanked for the 4 to midnight shift.

before Brian, Brock, Harmony and Kelsey went back to their 'normal lives'. Thanks for your support guys!

And when we had people leave we would be left with less than the optimal 5 people to finish a shift. We decided to take the whole team out one day and kill 100 miles quickly by bunny hopping (ie using 1 van to drop runners every 1 mile while the other van acted as sweep picking us up). We were able to cover a lot more ground. Previously we had been dropping one runner at a time and trailing them with one van. This took a long time, but we had no other option when we were running in the dark.

First dinner in a restaurant. Met a couple with a Flat Stanley from their niece so we took a picture w/ it.

Now we head out at sun rise and run about 75 miles (depending on whether or not we have fresh meat legs with us), come back to the RVs to eat and sleep then head out again to run the remainder of the 150 around 4pm so we finish up before dark. Then we get to get a good meal and a full nights sleep before we start all over again. This is working out much better!

A little yoga stretching does the body good.

I think the thing that surprised us all the most is that we thought that we would have 'down time' to keep up with things like work and blogging, but the reality is that we pretty much sleep, eat, run REPEAT all day every day.

Getting ready for our 8am shift somewhere in NM.

We've met some people along the way and I don't have photos of all of them (though photos will be posted on the Rev3 site... soon). Here are some photos of people that have come to run with us.

Pat and Ila came out to do a midnight to 8am shift with us and we were SO thankful!

Julie ran the day shift with us .. Fresh legs are so appreciated!

We've also met a lot of people along the way that have battled cancer, have family members that have battled cancer or who have lost people to cancer. It's been amazing! We are doing this to raise funs for the Ulman Cancer Fund and to create awareness, but meeting these people along the way has been so impactful.

We've run through quite a few areas that are - shall we say - economically challenged. We've heard their stories and watched as they have reached into their pockets to donate the small amount of money they have to share. Telling us they wish they could offer more and that the so appreciate what we are doing. This is ALSO what it's about. I feel so lucky to be physically able to do this, to have a supportive family that allows me the opportunity to do this, to have my Rev3 family that has made this possible, to the UCF folks for all of the support and inspiration.

Ash rolling out tight IT Bands.

I keep waiting for deep thoughts.. thinking that I'm going to have big epiphanies, but nothing. We have quite a system going and we are running running running... my mind is not numb, but the deep thoughts aren't coming. I'm guessing that when it's all over the magnitude of it will hit hard. Right now it's just what we do. We run. For those that can't. For loved ones that are fighting. For each other. When the going gets tough and I want to stop and walk I think of my many friends and family that have been fighting a much harder battle and it makes the challenge laying in front of me seem not so bad and I run harder.

Getting ready for one of our early night runs.

We ran through pretty much nothing seeing only ghost towns and an indian reservation through Arizona and New Mexico then as soon as we entered Oklahoma the police were out in full force. We were stopped FOUR times in one day. The first was, um, because I was going a bit TOO FAST through a small town as I was driving to catch our last runner. I had literally driven a quarter mile when I got pulled over, then the van was stopped to tell us to run on the opposite side of the road, then stopped again by another officer to check and see if we were 'okay', and finally Eric was stopped for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. 

The two times we were stopped for violations we were given just a warning (thank GOD the cop told me I would have been given a reckless driving ticket and charged $550...eek).

After I got pulled over.

Eric getting a written warning.

We have one week left. Tomorrow will be our last BIG day. We have 6 people in the morning for our 75 miles and then 7 people for the second 75 mile leg. On Tuesday the reinforcements start to show up and we'll be cruising as we start through TN and finish up in VA!

Beautiful run down a big windy hill then across a bridge.

We are still taking donations and are at $33,000 right now and our goal is $100,000. We are making a difference in people's lives, but our main goal is to support Ulman and allow them to continue to make a BIG IMPACT on the lives of those with cancer. Please support us!

And the WINNERS are....

Here is one of the RVs we will be riding in! Brian of UCF just picked it up!

In FIVE days we set off on our amazing voyage across the country. I'm so excited to see the country this way. We will be traveling through parts I've never seen.. I'll be with some of my favorite people and will be meeting many other wonderful people. All along the way we will be spreading the word about The Ulman Cancer Fund and we will MOST CERTAINLY still be taking donations!!! So keep spreading the word for us as we travel across the country!

The raffle was not nearly as successful as I had hoped it would be, but I'm happy to announce the winners! The raffle raised only $130... but every little bit helps right?

Swim Bike Run: Erin Serrault
1BandID: Amy Sursock
Sparkle Skirt: Sarah Goldie
Powerbar: Nancy
SpiBelt: Nicole Griswold

Please send me your info at lamount03 at gmial dot com and I will ship your prizes!!! Sarah, I will send you a coupon code and you can order your skirt directly from Sparkle Skirts. Amy, Same for you!

Off to continue my last minute preparations!! Thank you all for your donations!!!!

be AWESOME!

It's been a fairly stressful couple of weeks.. and my mental state has been a contributor. Boo.

Then I see the above. Must remember!

When I get sad,
I stop being sad and be AWESOME instead.

TRUE STORY!

Okay.. so it isn't true, but I want it to be. It really should be that simple.

Been trying to teach that to my kid... he has a hard time being awesome when he is being the OPPOSITE of awesome. God I see myself in that kid so much. Funny how they are like putting a mirror up to your face EVERY FREAKIN' day... a mirror that isn't always so flattering.

Thank you Jason for making me look reality in the face. Perhaps we can conquer this problem together and just practice being MORE AWESOME! Because who doesn't like some AWESOME.

Am I right?

True Story!

So go forth and be awesome my friends....

Two more weeks and I better start pulling some awesome out of the stratosphere! My joints are talking back a bit so in an effort to hit the start of the RAA I am taking the morning (and maybe the day) off running. Trying not to be twitchy about it, but we all know I am feeling some angst over it!

Is your mind going in a million different directions?

Or is it just  me!?

Training is going well. I run.. and then I run some more. I changed things up a while ago. I went from following an arbitrary plan that I had pieced together to trying (arbitrarily) to just increase my runs 1 mile a day each week. That is going okay. I am at 12 miles a day this week and so far I've run: Monday: 8 miles, Tues off, Wed 8 miles and have planned two 6 mile runs today. Some days I don't hit that mileage either because life got in the way or I taught a spin class or .. well my legs said, "nope, not today". I am trying NOT TO stress over it.

I find myself becoming addicted to the running. I took a rest day (like ZERO) running the other day and it nearly killed me. Mostly mentally. That day was a bit of a cluster. The running clears my head.

And would you believe that the next day when I ran I had more aches and pains than I had been having. Weird.

I'm finding myself in that 'gotta get the miles' in head space that I know is not exactly the right place to be. Recovery? What is that? How does that fit into RUNNING ACROSS THE FREAKIN' country? There is no recovery! In addition to that our house is on the market... we accepted an offer ... were going to have to MOVE BEFORE I left for the run. Then we hit some road blocks in the process and I had to stop the forward motion on the move. This sent me over the edge for some reason.

I feel I'm getting back on track mentally, but I took a pretty big hit. STRESS... what stress?

This all said I am SHOCKED at how well my body has acclimated to all the running. I'm certainly not going out there and killing it. I am taking my time on (most of) my runs. Enjoying the process and the scenery. I even quit taking my Garmin with me so I couldn't obsess about the pace and how slow I was going. This is a different gig. And I gotta say I feel pretty good. I definitely feel like I'm doing something.. I'm tired.. I can feel up walking up stairs, but I am not trashed like I expected to be at this point. Well physically anyway!

Tonight I'm having a 'going away' party (even though I have GULP a little over two weeks until I leave) at a local pizza joint and they are donating a portion of the proceeds to Ulman. I'm also doing a raffle there with some art work from my Uncle's stash and some local businesses. I'm excited and hope that it is successful. I will get to meet a lot of local families that I usually only speak to over Facebook.. how pathetic is that?

And don't forget about the RAFFLE going on right here in blogland for all of you to participate in! I have added TWO items since my original posting - I even DISCOUNTED the raffle price - and would really appreciate your participation and sharing on your blogs, Facebook and Twitter! THANK YOU! We have a ways to go on the fundraising front (at about $21k of our $100k goal) and could use your support!

Cool Stuff. I know YOU'LL like it!

We are Three weeks away from push off on our big run across the country so.....

I am presenting to you Three different items for RAFFLE. I will pull THREE different winners. So that increases your odds of winning SOMETHING three fold! (in case that was not obvious!)

(Edited to add: Exciting news.. we got another item so this takes us to FOUR opportunities to win!! Thank you SpiBelt!)

Edited AGAIN: Just got word from Leah at Sparkle skirts and they are donating a super fantastic and fun Sparkle Skirt to the party! Do not miss out! FIVE.. yes FIVE opportunities to win now!)

So here they are in no particular order!

NUMBER 1 SBR Sports

The full line of SBR Sports products including Tri Swim (shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion) No more chlorine smell or scaly dry skin for you, TriSlide (used to make that wetsuit come of lickety split and prevent chaffing.. well ANYWHERE ... and you can share it with friends without feeling a bit to 'personal' and foggle (they are wipes you use on your goggles and they work like a charm)! Retail price: $79.80

Here is the review I posted after my first use of TriSwim:
"THIS STUFF WORKS! I can always smell the chlorine on me and feel the itch even the day after the workout. (wears off just in time for the next workout!) The shampoo, conditioner, bodywash and lotion all had a pleasant (not overwhelming) smell and they WORKED! Left my skin smooth and with no itch. I didn't smell the chlorine right after my shower, but knew that my husband "the nose" would be the true test. I stand next to someone eating garlic and I get accused of eating a whole raw bulb of it for lunch. NOT KIDDING! I put my hair in his face when I got home from the pool and he told me he couldn't smell ANY chlorine. Now that's amazing."

NUMBER 2 1BandID

1BandIDprovides first responders with critical information if you’re unconscious orunable to speak and cannot communicate after an accident or injury.  Unlike bracelets or dogtags that you wear in addition to your training device, 1BandID is the firstand only wearable athlete ID that securely attaches and displays criticalcontact, medical information and motivation on the one thing you probably nevertrain without your watch, GPS or heart rate monitor…helping make ID unforgettable… helping to simplify your safety. Retail price: $19.99

My Review:
I contacted 1BandID after seeing a write up on my teammie Jill's blog Tribirdie Musings and told them all about what we are up to at Rev3 and Ulman and Joe - Mr. 1BandID - was all over it. He even sent me my OWN! Thanks Joe!!! He took it upon himself to right Team Rev3 up the side and I just think that's cool! It fits on my Garmin strap perfectly and I like only having to wear one band... and thus I don't forget the ID! :)

NUMBER 3 Powerbar

A variety of Powerbar products for your endurance pleasure... Retail value: $162.94 + shipping

Including the newly released KONA PUNCH gel: (box of 24 gels)
PowerBar Energy Gel is the first gel to provide the carbs and electrolytes of a high end sports drink, and contains 4 times the sodium of leading competitors.*

Lemon Energy Blasts: (box of 12 packages)
PowerBar Energy Blasts gel filled chews are a great choice for use before or during moderate and high-intensity exercise. They're formulated with PowerBar® C2MAX dual source energy blend, a 2:1 glucose to fructose blend found to deliver 20–50% more energy to muscles than glucose alone and improve endurance performance by 8%.*

Powerbar RESTORE:
RESTORE™ is a serious sports drink specially developed by the sports nutrition experts at PowerBar® designed to help you PUSH your limits.

Protein plus Chocolate Brownie bars (box of 12),
Recovery Cookies and Cream Caramle Crisp bars (box of 15) and
Triple Threat Chocolate Carmel Fusion bars (box of 15)!!!

NUMBER 4: SpiBelt


Sleek, expandable, secure and does not bounce. Can hold an iPod™, Blackberry™, cell, keys, up to five GU™ packs, and other small personal items. The SPIbelt does not bounce, ride or shift while running or doing other activities. Made in the USA Retail value: $19.95

I've got to be honest about this product. I got my SpiBelt in my race packet for the Austin Marathon in 2011 My first thought was that it was kinda dorky. Like the fanny pack of running. It rolled around in my closet for A YEAR! Then one day my arm band for my ipod/phone (music player of choice) kicked the bucket so I dug this thing out and thought "this'll have to do until I can get a new arm band".. and guess what ... I LOVE IT! I use it every time I run now to carry my phone or my ipod and I don't even know it's there. The other day I ran to the store (because I, like, have to run a lot and sometimes I just need to cram it in) and I carried my CC, Cash, phone, DL and a big wad of folded up paper I needed and it was perfect!

I will definitely be using this baby EVERY DAY of the 21 days I will be running .... starting in LESS THAN 3 weeks!

NUMBER 5: Sparkle Skirt


You could win the Sparkle TECH skirt of your choice! Their number ONE seller!

Straight for the Sparkle Skirt Site:

Train in fabulous comfort in your new SparkleTech skirts running skirt. We think you’ll agree with our product testers who say: “It’s the most comfortable running skirt I have ever worn!”

SparkleTech skirts are specially designed to address the most common needs of runners and walkers:

• Shorts that stay put with no riding up (we guarantee it)
• Lots of cargo space
• Attractive shape that enhances all figure types
• 3X-Large and 4X-Large available (by special order)
• Stylish, curve-friendly skirt disguises pocket cargo and (ahem) figure flaws.

Leah's story is very sweet as is she. I am so excited to offer you this opportunity for an amazingly fun addition to your (or your lady friend's) running wardrobe! (not necessarily the skirt pictured.. there are many fun items to choose from on her site!)

 Here are the rules: (RULES UPDATE)

1) Make a $10 $5 donation to the Ulman Cancer Fund. Each $10  $5 donation is equivalent to one entry for the drawing. So, if you donate $30 you will get three entries to win. (If you already made a donation.. your raffle tickets will be adjust to reflect the change. ie if you donated $10 = to 1 raffle ticket... you just got an upgrade it now equals 2!)

2) After you donate leave a comment here saying that you did and I can check the database and enter you the appropriate amount of times. (Make sure you select my name: Laura Mount when you make your donation. It will come up AFTER you enter your info.)

3) For an extra entry Tweet or facebook about this give away. Make sure you mention me (@Marual) and I guess this means if you want to get credit for posting it on FB you'll have to friend me first. :) I'm down with that. I like friends. (Please come back here and post a comment stating that you tweeted/Facebooked it so I don't miss anyone.)


This giveaway begins today (March 5th) and will run for two weeks. Yes, the lucky winner will be drawn using a random number generator and announced on Monday March 19th around 4:30pm! 

Please pass this along as anyone is eligible to enter!

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!

The Power of the Rev3 Visor

Heidi of BananaBuzzBomb did a vlog about the Power of the Visor and I wanted to follow suit!

I can't believe that I actually did this because I'm really nervous about putting myself talking out there.. why? Who knows. In watching this my mouth seems numb on my right side still.. where I've had numerous shots of novicane over the last month.... or maybe that's just the way I always look.

Go ahead and laugh at the alfalfa sprout poking out of the top of my head too. Yea nice. :) I don't love my voice... been told I sound like an old man more than once in my life, but aw well.. it is what it is.

My Vlog debut!



All of you owners of Rev3 Visors... I challenge you to do your own post... vlog or not... about what wearing the Rev3 Visor (race shirt or whatever) means to you!!! Make sure you use the hashtag #poweroftheREV3visor and @headsweatsco when you post to twitter. It's about getting the good word and inspiration out. I want to motivate people to get out on their run, bike, swim.. or workout of whatever type they are down with. Just like it did for Heidi and I!!!

Rock on and don't forget to donate the Ulman Cancer Fund on behalf of the Rev3 Run Across America ======>>>>