ZipFizz Onomatopoeiatic Giveaway and Review

Ding!
Got an email from Ashley of ZipFizz to review their energy drink mix.

Which is to say, you snap! Remove the cover of a little tube.
Then, tilt and pour into a bottle of water.

You guessed it.
Fizz!

Since I misplaced my thrilling pics/video of the experience, I give you this reenactment:

And no, despite the illustration, you do not need a degree in chemistry.

Perhaps you've seen this type of product before?
I had.

I almost bought a similar product.
Which depends on your definition of "bought."

Because I selected a similar product at the local running store.
Paid for it.
Left it on the counter by accident.
And never returned.

Which made it all the better to receive a sampler pack of this tasty energy-packed product.
And guess what?
You can get one, too. For free!
Just keep reading.

OK, so I consumed a sampler pack of flavors such as:
Grape! Berry! Pink Lemonade.
And other flavors you can find right there on the ZipFizz website.

But first.
First I had to try the LIMITED EDITION Orange Cream flavor.

Drank it during a 7ish mile run to start my Saturday.
It was happiness in my mouth.
Fizzible, yet smooth.

That same day, I really put ZipFizz to the test.
Following that empty stomach run in the morning, I decided not to eat prior to a 1-mile afternoon race in town.

I gulp! Drank the berry flavor during the race.
The tube conveniently fit into my handheld bottle's zipper compartment.

And zoom! I PR'd the race!

Um.
OK, that was my first timed mile.

Still. You can't argue with those results!

In fact, a few days later, I drank some ZipFizz while swimming laps before work.
And while I didn't notice any additional Zip in the pool, I felt great when I got to work.
Alert and happy. Alerter and happier than usual anyway.

What does this have to do with you?
Well, if you want to try out an all natural energy drink, which includes natural caffeine, ZipFizz will hook up 2 lucky giveaway winners.
Two simple rules to win.

Like ZipFizz on Facebook.
And leave a comment here.

I'll pick 2 random winners on 1/30/2012.

It's that simple.

What's that?
How much B12 does this product contain?

Well, 2500 micrograms per serving.
Exactly, we're talking bam! 41,667% the recommended daily value.
A boost of energy. And it can probably treat a minor case of cyanide poisoning.

Thank you to ZipFizz for the delightful product review opportunity and for rewarding two loyal readers with their own free sample pack.

Janathon Cheerleader

Janathon came at a bad time for me this year.

Not sure how I can make that statement after participating last year despite a 10 day trip to Disney World.

I was hoping to join Erin and Hennie this year.
Lindsay even sent me a very nice reminder email.

But.
I can't.

Just happens that I'm extra-focused on a few things around the house.
Staying on top of home videos and photos
Finally organizing our receipts (which is horrible)
Helping my son Goodles learn woodworking
Oh and prepare for Kindergarten (which should have been listed first)
Helping my daughter HoneyBunny take initiative with Math
And that list continues

So I can't rationalize the extra minutes for daily blogging.
Or squeezing in the daily running.
Not this month.

Which leaves me cheerleading.
Happy New Year and Good Luck!

Playing the Tooth Fairy

There's a few things they don't cover  in Parenting School.

One of them is Tooth Fairy agility skills.

Come to think if it, they don't cover much about Tooth Fairy theory either.

We added to the web of lies affectionately called childhood this past week.

First loose tooth became first lost tooth became first visit from the Tooth Fairy.

What do I possess in terms of Tooth Fairy theory?

Tooth Fairy origin?
I have no idea.

Tooth Fairy in practice?
Put tooth under pillow.
Sleep.
Tooth Fairy flies in.
Swaps tooth for cash.

What does she do with the accumulated teeth?
Satisfy her enamel addiction?
Create World Record tooth towers?
Tooth dominos?

According to my kids, "she just collects them."

We decorated an envelope for the impossibly small tooth.
Tucked it under the pillow at bedtime.

We did have Moose's Loose Tooth available for bedtime reading but we skipped it.

After 2+ hours of laboring over the loose tooth, we were all pretty tired.
(we agreed that loose tooth #2 shouldn't be so difficult...)

With the kids quickly asleep I realized I needed to spring into action.

First, the payment.
The Year 2011.

Other kids at school probably wake up to iPods under their pillow.

I settle on 25 cents.
But as I'm tucking a Quarter into the little envelope, I see a Dollar Bill on my dresser, so I tuck it into the envelope, too.

On to the Exchange.

Leaving just a sliver of light emitting from the nearby bathroom, I channel the traditional ninja.
Silent, I open the door.

The kids are deep asleep.

Cautious, I cease breathing.
I crawl to the bed, avoiding dolls, ponies, lollaloopsies, and countless hair accessories.

Initially, I thought I would need to lift the pillow.
Rookie.

No.
You can safely slide your arm under the pillow for removal of the tooth.
Just as easily, you can substitute the cash.
Then, crawl out the room as inaudibly as you entered!

Pat yourself on the back.
You have successfully executed the Tooth Fairy task, as had I.

And tonight, for good measure, I'll play her uncle.
Santa H. Claus

...I wrote this post on my phone over the past week using the Blogger Android app (and Swype). It worked pretty well!

Like Eli

I did it.

I'm sure many others have been there at one point or another.

I signed up for a race.
That might be a Kids race.

So.

Let's view the registered participants.

What's that?
You don't see me?

Oh.

I looked at the participants before I clicked SUBMIT.
And since I got scared that it might be a Kids race, I opted OUT of displaying my name.
:-)

Now.
This is my hometown.
A 1-mile race ahead of the annual x-mas parade.
I do not believe this 1-mile race is held annually. Might be the inaugural?

Well.
Who's registered?
Again. My hometown.

I don't know any of these people!
And there's a bunch of kids!

Full disclosure.
Fine.

I do know OF one person.
Our 28 year old mayor.
Fresh off a DUI conviction. Sweet!

What to do then?

Bring one of my kids along? And not race it?

Try to knock out a 5:30 mile?
But veer into the crowd if it looks completely uncool?

Ah, decisions.

Guess we'll find out on race day!

Chilly, Gusty, Uphilly

I could have used the word "windy" but I encouraged HoneyBunny to use "gust" as a rhyming word with "must" as part of her spelling homework.
We practice spelling words 4 nights/week.

Oh.
But I don't think that's true in all of her classmates' households.
Thus, in addition to the spelling games I invented to make spelling practice tolerable, we also now have been assigned spelling homework at least 2 nights/week.

Where am I going with this?

Here:
Look out Japan!
The USA may have been struggling with test scores and leaving children behind, but no more!
We mean business.

Hmm, let's get back to chilly, gusty, uphilly.

It had been about 70 degrees here in PA for the past week.

For my run tonight it was 41 degrees.
Chilly.

And that change in temperature must be courtesy of a "front" moving in. Or out.
Bringing or leaving with wind.
20+ MPH gusts.
Gusty.

And my 6+ mile run tonight followed dropping off our "3rd car" for inspection.
(Yes, I'm overdoing the "quotes" tonight.)

And from the mechanic's garage, it is 6+ miles uphill to get home.
Uphilly.

I almost bailed on this run.
It was not going to be pleasant.

Saving grace?
At some point tonight, cloud cover rolled out exposing a sliver of a moon and a handful of stars.
Just enough beauty to get me out the door.
Even if the cloud cover had returned when I went out the door.

And it was a tough run home, walking at one point on the steepest hill.
And avoiding cars on that same hill. No shoulder. Cars flying downhill. Not expecting to be driving straight at a runner.

But I feel great now that I got the run in.

I felt so great, I acknowledged a couple of emails to register for races this weekend and next.
Yes, despite "quitting" the season.

Still, I might not race them.
Neither are logistically kind to me.

But we'll see how it goes.
Has to be easier than a chilly, gusty, uphilly run.

Quit

I'm pretty sure my 2011 racing year is over.

This upcoming weekend has 3 races.
A 2-miler, 5K and 5-miler.
I signed up for all 3 last year.
I signed up for none this year.

I've done two 5K's in the past month.
Both finished about 21:30.
Which I'm happy with.

Signed up for the 20in24 again last week.
8 months away.
Again, focused on 100 miles in 24 hours.

Not sure why I keep putting myself through that.
"That" exhausting training.
It's fun I guess.
And I keep learning.

I was -this- close last year.
A few small changes are due.

Longer long runs. Need to approach 50 miles in a training run or two.
Heat acclimation. Need to overdress for my training runs.
Blood pressure. Need to make the lifestyle changes to reduce my blood pressure so I'm not stopping for medical checks.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

One good thing about this fall is weight training.
I've been lifting upperbody for almost 3 months now.
I feel stronger and along with some core strengthening I've accepted the need to work total body.

And so I've quit at the tail end of the racing season.
That will bring a splash of regret.
I could stand to improve my 2-miler PR :-)

Maybe next year.

Faking It

My day started with a boost of confidence.
No wait.
What's the opposite.

About to jump in the pool.
Two lifeguards chatting and I hear one say:
"See. Now Mike. He goes to bed at 11."

I walk up to her.
"I'm sorry, did I hear that right?"

She says, "Yeah. You go to bed at 11 o'clock. I can tell by your face!"
Ha.

When I asked for the relevancy of this conversation she reminded me that some of the 5AM swimmers go to bed at 8PM.
OK.

I mean.
I can't go to bed before my kids!

In fact, I have the day off work.
So, I gave myself only about 3 minutes to throw on my swim trunks, fill a water bottle, flip my flops and run out the door.

Normally I have at least 20 minutes to prep in the morning.
Which probably makes the difference here.

When I bought my first electric razor a few years ago the instructions said:
"Wait at least 20 minutes after waking before shaving. To relieve the swelling in your face."

That's a fact.
I don't know why but my face is definitely swollen when I wake.

40 minutes of swimming later, I pop out of the pool and ask:
"So! Do I look any better now?!?!"

Ooops.
I should have just kept that thought to myself.

As I remove my goggles revealing deep goggle-marks on my face.
So sad.

OK.
I look terrible in the morning.
That's something I can't fake.

But I can ALMOST fake a game of golf.

I learned yesterday at the kids' Parent-Junior golf competition.

I was paired with my son Goodles for 6 holes at the local country club.
My daughter Honeybunny paired up with her grandpa.

Parents and kids alternated shots on each hole.
It was so much fun!

Except.
I can't golf.

In fact.
It was only the 3rd time that I have swung a golf club.

And we survived!

The kids both did great.
They've been practicing for nearly 2 months now.
And they've developed some good golfing habits.
The instruction they've received is simple and repeatable.

I applied it to myself.
And it worked pretty well.

Among my difficulties, adults were only permitted to use one club.
And while it is easy enough to identify the "good club" to use, which for me was a 7-iron, it is difficult to play a full hole with that limitation.

For instance.
Driving.
That's the first hit at each hole.
Off the tee.

"Drive for show. Putt for dough."

Oh, we were allowed to use a putter, too.
That was a last minute announcement. To protect the greens.

OK, so I try to Drive. Hit a golf ball, off of a tee, with a 7-iron.
I guess I teed off 4 times.
Only once did I completely flub it.
Success.

My Drives were remarkably decent.
All luck.
I was powerless.
Could not control distance, height, direction or hook.
Don't ask me how it worked out so well.

Things got better on the fairway, or short grass.
Which might be the rough. Or not.
When I hear "the rough" I think of tall, unfriendly grass.

Either way, the 7-iron blessed me with mostly good shots on the approach.
Honestly, poor Goodles had to bail us out whenever I made any bad shots.
He would hit them back onto the fairway :-)
Love that kid.

Putting was best left to Goodles, too.
I guess a real putter, not a "miniature golf or 'putt putt' putter" works alot better.
I kept overputting.

It was more popular to let Goodles sink the putts anyway.

I will tell you.
It was so much fun.

And the other adults had similar experiences, in spite of their experience.
So we were all smiles.

It was such a relief to fake those 6 holes.
Although, I think my Saucony Pro Grid 4's gave me away.