A Birthday Means Giveaway Time!!

Today I have a 2 year old.

2

2

I still can’t believe how time just flies by. It’s funny because before kids, when I’d hear parents say how fast the years go I’d always give an eye roll, “Yeah, okay…” But, I’m one of those parents now. Time seriously speeds up when you have kids.

Speaking of flying, in honor of my beautiful little girl turning two, I’ll be giving away a pretty sweet pair of Shwings!!! (Does anyone else think 90’s Wayne and Garth? LOL)

My shiny silver Shwings :)

My shiny silver Shwings 🙂

You’ll be able to choose your own style and color from their website: shwingsonline.com

I wore my wings during my rainy 5k this past weekend and within an hour of hanging out I had tons of compliments. Plus, I think they helped me run faster 😉

My Shwings and my AG award :)

My Shwings and my AG award 🙂

 

To enter the giveaway,

Visit shwingsonline.com and tell me in the comments which wings you’d want. Make sure to click the Rafflecopter link below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more entries:
1. Like Shwings on Facebook
2. Like Helly On The Run on Facebook
3. Follow Shwings on Twitter
4. Follow Helly On The Run on Twitter
5. Tweet about the giveaway
6. Follow Helly On The Run on Instagram

Fine Print:
Giveaway ends Monday, April 7th and the winner will be announced that morning.
I did receive my Shwings free of charge but that doesn’t have any affect on how cool I think they are 🙂

Hope you all have a great day!

–How did you spend your most recent birthday?

–What’s on your birthday wish list?

 

A Family 5k Affair {Recap}

I’m back and boy does it feel good to be home.

I don’t get to visit my mom, sister or brother often. Most of the time, they trek out here to Arizona–I mean, who goes to the cold when you can come to the warm beautiful weather here in Arizona?? Ja! Anyway, it was nice to go there for a change and see them in their element.

The morning after we got there, my sister (who we stayed with) took me to her gym for one of her regular group classes she takes. I’m not much of a class taker but more of a solo workout gal. I don’t mind them and like them when I do do them but it’s not something I would choose over going for a run by myself.

Anyway, this class was a strength and stability class which I though was perfect. If you remember a way earlier post where I shared my sister’s story, she doesn’t have full feeling in the left side of her body. She likes this class because it helps her balance and helps build strength using her own body. Let me tell you, this was not an easy class. It was 60 minutes of non-stop work and I was winded a third of they way through. I loved seeing my sister in action though and would often just look at her go through the movements. I don’t think she’ll ever fully know how much I admire her strength and how much I look up to her. She’s so amazing.

We had our 5k on Saturday and one thing my sister told me was that Ohio weather is schizophrenic. Thursday when we went to her gym, it was cloudy and sprinkling. Friday was absolutely beautiful. Cold but sunny. Saturday was a full out pouring rain and cold festival. I felt so bad having coerced my brother and sister (and my husband) to sign up for the race. They were all-in though, and we bundled up in my sister’s car and headed over.

The race was an out and back inside a mall parking lot. We were worried about slipping on the asphalt with all the rain but decided we’d go ahead and just take it easy making sure we were careful.

Everyone waited inside the mall’s food court until go-time as to avoid getting drenched–it was inevitable. With about a two minutes til the start, a volunteer began ushering us outside. My husband and I are got as close to the front as possible to hopefully avoid the crowds that typically gather at the beginning. My brother and sister were in the middle.

We all had mini goals with the 5k but nothing we’d be upset not reaching–my husband and I always hope to PR (but we weren’t expecting to with the inclement weather), my brother hoped to finish in around the 45 minute mark and my sister’s goal is always to finish strong.

The announcer let out the go signal and we were off!

It was raining right from the get-go and I was so glad I had decided last minute to wear a hat. I could feel the water start to seep inside my shoes as I ran. I tried to avoid the puddles that gather in parking lots but it’s pretty unavoidable. My shoes eventually filled with water but I just ran anyway.

My watch never picked up signal; I figured the weather had something to do with it. I was kind of glad in a way. I wouldn’t be concerned with my time and could just run at what felt like a good pace to me naturally.

When I reached the mile mark, I saw my husband already heading back and yelled out a “Great job!” but he was in focused mode. I kept going and finally it was my turn to head back. On my way, I saw my sister and we waved. She was doing awesome. Not too far behind her, I saw my brother! He was running! He saw me and we high-fived–I seriously got teary eyed with pride. I was so happy seeing him do something challenging and rocking at it. And with a smile on his face!! (As if he’d do anything differently–he’s such a good natured guy.)

Focused, I picked up my pace knowing I was getting close to the end. We turned a corner and started up the last up hill towards the finish. I could see the time ticking on the big clock and saw the first two numbers: 24. What?? Yes!!! I was going to get my sub 25!!! I hustled the last bit and saw 24:20 over my head as I crossed (my official time ended up being 24:18). I was so happy and in complete shock because it was definitely an uncomfortable run. Nonetheless, I was ecstatic and felt like having continued to run and train and be committed has helped me prepare for times like this when things aren’t always working in your favor. You can still succeed 🙂

As soon as I crossed, I went inside the mall to dry off. I was 100% soaked. I met my husband and asked how he did–a new PR for him too–21:49!

After doing as much as we could, we went back out and I went to the finish to wait for my sister. I could see her coming up hill and cheered her on to the finish. We immediately turned around and headed back to look for our brother. We were about to jump over a divider when we saw him turn the corner towards the finish! Holy smokes, he was killing it! We ran back and yelled the entire last point one. He had the biggest grin when he saw us and he pushed it to the very end finishing in 35:10. Ten minutes better than what he had expected! He. Did. Awesome.

My brother on the run

My brother on the run

As soon as it was over, he gave us a big hug and told us that he’d had fun 🙂 It was hard but that he felt like he pushed himself. Oh my goodness, I was just so, so happy.

A few minutes later, my happiness increased when I realized BOTH my husband and I had placed! He placed third in his age group and I placed second in mine–our first double placement 😀

It was such a fun race despite the horrible weather. On the way home, my brother was even talking to my sister about potential 5Ks in the future! Looks like the bug bit!

Our after pic :)

Our after pic 🙂

–Have you ran with soaked shoes before?

–Would you rather run in snow or rain? (We were told we were lucky it wasn’t snowing lol!)

 

 

Oh yeah, a 5k and ENERGYbits Giveaway Winner

Yesterday I wrote about how I wasn’t sure what I was training for–RnR Madrid 1/2 Marathon or Grand Canyon Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim. Well, I seemed to have forgotten that I’ve got a 5k on Saturday lol!

I have not done any speed work for quite some time now and am not sure I’m ready for a speedy 5k. They’re not particularly my favorite because I feel like it requires full on beast mode the entire way. I’m more of a leisurely long distance runner jaja! I’d love to finally get my sub 25:00 but I don’t foresee that happening with this race.

What I’m most excited about is that my brother and sister are running it too! My sister is a runner (she’s the one that got me hooked on this thing) but my brother is not. He’s 6’2, 280 and yeah. But what I love about him is that he’s always up for anything–even doing something way outside his comfort zone. And he’s also one of our biggest cheerleaders 🙂

My brother and sister after one of her half marathons :)

My brother and sister after one of her half marathons

It’ll be our first race together and I’m just so stoked about it. Oh and random fact: My brother and I were born in the same year–he in January and me in December! (Clearly, I was an oops baby lol!)

In other news, we have a winner!! The ENERGYbits giveaway goes to…..

Congrats!

Congrats!

Yay Jolene!!! I’ll be e-mailing you to get some important info.

Thank you to those that entered and if you’re interested in trying ENERGYbits, they are only available at ENERGYbits.com, and Jonathan (their Community Manager) has shared with me that he’d be happy to connect anyone with a current ambassador to share a discount on a bag of bits, or more info on their sample program – you can email him at jlevitt@energybits.com

–Do your siblings run or anyone else in your family?

–Are you a 5k fan?