Headband Review Video and Giveaway

Over the past several months, I've come to be in possession of three different kinds of headbands...

• Sandra at Absolutely Narcissism felt embarrassed sorry for me after I posted my crazed Einstein hair look and sent me a Lululemon headband to help tame the insane mane,
• Megan gave away SparklySoul headbands on her blog WatchMeGoRun a few months ago, and I won the giveaway, and
• I met Sandy who makes BIC Bands when I was in Las Vegas to visit Denny's during the RockNRoll Half-Marathon and she asked if I'd like to try out her wares...of course I said "YES!" as it was the very first time someone has offered me something super cool to try out! Thanks so much, Sandy :)

Today I present them to you in my Headband Review Video...omg... super lame... but I know y'all have been missing my lovely voice and wrinkly hands... here's two minutes of viewing and listening pleasure...

(FYI... there is an audio issue halfway into the video...I'm trying to fix it so don't rag on me)

Okay, the audio isn't working for me. If it's working for you...AWESOME. If not, I go on to say that all three headbands worked well...except for that speed issue with the first one. If I had to pick one of the three I couldn't do it because I liked them all equally well. The determining factor would be price and stylistic preference, and I was too lazy to find the prices before I made the video. So that's what I said.

I'm such a dork.

Now up for grabs is the awesome, no-slip, black sparkly BIC Bands headband pictured below. Enter to win one to try out for yourself!

If you'd like to enter this giveaway simply tell me so in a comment below :) You could be nice and "like" Sandy's BIC Bands FB page or follow my blog somehow, but none of that is mandatory. Do leave a comment, though, if you want to enter... telepathic entries will not be accepted. 


Entries close Friday January 20th at midnight. Winner announced Saturday. 

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This message is from Giraffy, author of 365 Days of Awesome and mom to 5-year old Gabby (who has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia):

Hey, runner friends. Need a headband? BIC Bands will be donating a portion of their January and February proceeds to PCRF's Cinco de Mayo Half Marathon | 10K | 5K | 1K: Reaching for the Cure, benefiting kids like MY DAUGHTER who have cancer. Shop shop shop!

So even if you don't win the giveaway, you could buy one of these fabulous, no-slip, super cute headbands and know that you are contributing to an amazing cause.

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Disclaimer: I received the BIC Bands headbands for personal use, review and giveaway from Sandy of BIC Bands. 

Jingle Bell Hell 2011 Results... Finally!

Yay for the virtual version of JBH 2011! Yay for the awesome 19 entrants who all submitted a race recap...linked in my sidebar to the right...under the Grinch :)

The virtual turnout made me so happy... and so I've made EVERYONE A WINNER :)

The Grand Prize winner is Run With Jess. Her cemetery run with 18 friends was the event I had hoped to have in real life and totally made me smile! Jess, the following is yours: Lululemon, iTunes, and PFChang gift cards.

The close runner-up is SuperKate whose 25-mile bike race in a Mrs. Claus outfit with Team Santa undies on over her clothes (and the conversation she had with her child about this) had me in stitches!  And the fact that the race's aid stations featured egg nog and x-rated donuts add to the hilarity of the story. Kate noted that nowhere in the rules of JBH did it it say you had to run the event, effectively earning her the moniker Loophole Lady. She gets some reflective Yanks laces, some reflective stickers, and an assortment of fueling products.

Mike's Triathlon Journey was the only male entry. Not sure where all my guy followers were that weekend...oh, right...Mike's the only one :) His saga outlining 9.6 miles of sweaty hat-changing complete with a photo taken at each mile was prize-worthy, mostly because he was the only guy. He takes home reflective Yanks, a vanilla Hammer gel, and some reflective stickers. And Mike, thanks so much for participating. I know the estrogen level over here gets a little overwhelming sometimes and my hat is off to you for toughing it out ;-)

Laurie wins the crazy pregnant lady prize. The (Mis)Adventures of a Jogging Stroller Mom ran a 50K trail race while 16+ weeks pregnant! (yes, she had her doctor's approval for this) What I think she really needs is a 'Comfort Pack'... which would, of course, include thigh-high compression hose!

While those four really made me stand up and take notice, all the recaps were a ton of fun to read. And I have a bunch of parting gifts ranging from Gu products, Hammer products, Nuun, warm accessories, safety items, and more to divvy up amongst you JBHers, so if you want some goodies please do let me know...either in a comment or via email :)  

A Taller Order gets a special mention for running with Santa alternately down her pants or in her cleavage :) after a long, hard day dealing with a gaggle of kids.

From Couch to Ironwoman ran her fastest ever 10K during her 8.7 mile run with hills, hills and more hills!

TriMOEngr created a little movie and posted an awesome, leaping high-10 photo :)

The fact that she lives near where I went to college was a plus, and that she swam 1000 yards after her JBH made me sit up and really take notice of The Unexpected Runner. I remember running in December in that region!

MCM Mama ran fueled by red wine and Belgian beer :P

Cows and Lasers and Everything in Between realized in the middle of her Rudolph Run 5K that it was, in fact, HER Jingle Bell He**. She wanted to cry but laughed instead because crying made it harder to breathe. And she made it...finishing not too far off her PR :)

Just Keep Running drove herself and her friends insane with 6 flat loops to equal 5K, even including pics of the incredible monotony.

Jess and Harmony earned my pity. They had to listen to jingle bells on the shoe of a fiend friend for 10 miles!

Just Me and the Ones that I Love was the only participant who ran in the SNOW! For 10 miles + hills! I have a 'something warm' prize for you :)

Stepping Out went out and crushed her 5K.

Jill...fitness health and happiness endured 29ºF with hilly biz.  And was photograped by her as proof :)

Diary of an Average Runner braved muddy trails...which she hates :D

Family Fitness Food incorporated some long, steep stairs repeats into her run along the beach in beautiful SoCal.

My Continuing Quest for Sanity was chased by dogs and freaked out by a horse while obliviously enjoying her Christmas music.

From the write-ups, it sounded like everyone really enjoyed having this little "push" out the door during that weekend. I love how everyone turned a rough situation into something they (kind of) really wanted to do and had fun with to some extent :P 

Right? 

Or were you all lying?

And if I somehow missed your recap, it was completely inadvertent. Do let me know so I can bestow goodies upon you and lavish you with attention :)

So now that all of you are winners, please let me know by email [xlmic(dot)tio(at)gmail(dot)com] where you want your prize to go.

Happy 2012 to all! Thanks so much for participating in Jingle Bell Hell :)

And if you missed my extremely cool holiday wish pictures, click here and scroll to the end to see Love, Joy, and Peace on Earth.

Random Musings of an Semi-Injured Running Mom

This could be titled "Four things before Friday," but it's not.

I'll be honest here... I am climbing the friggin' walls.

Following RNR Las Vegas, instead of jumping right into hardcore marathon training for my late April marathon, I was sick for most of the week. I ran once. I was excited to run up a storm the next week (last week) but only ended up heading out twice due to a migraine and assorted family obligations. After my great run at the memorable Jingle Bell Hell, I was really looking forward to jumping into marathon madness full-bore but did a quad stretch on Monday night that *pinged* something.

So here I am. Climbing walls ... in my mind... and not running.

I know it will all work out. I know things will be fine. I'm not so much worried about the training for the marathon part, it is the sanity factor that I am missing...especially since it's Winter Break and I have four kids underfoot :P

Things in my hip and back are feeling alright, and I was given 'clearance' by my PT to run this weekend, but I've decided to wait until next week. I am playing it safe. There are some advantages to being older and wiser ;-) In the meantime, I'll ride my bike a couple of times starting tomorrow, do my glute strengthening exercises, stretch (but NOT the same quad stretch!), roll on my roller, stick with my Stick and butterknife the heck out of the tight spots. I want to be ready for this.

Staying physically healthy throughout the training cycle will be the challenge. My hip is definitely my weak link. Putting in the mileage without hurting it will be tricky. Cross-training will be key, and for this I'll be pulling out my dusty rowing machine in addition to using my trusty rusty bike. I'll be incorporating some P90X for weight work, plyometrics and core. And I've asked for a pass to the local Bikram yoga studio for Christmas.

What am I missing?

Right! Christmas!

I have kids and we celebrate Christmas, so there's that.

We're going minimalist this year. Even though we went with the mondo tree that screams 'Commercialized Christmas' at the top of its lungs, we are not 'going big' with presents. On Christmas morning, I am certain that someone will cry about how unfair something is and someone will lament how she didn't get anything on her list and that's fine. Join the club, kids :P But then Grandma and Papa will show up in the afternoon laden with overflowing bags of gifts, and all will be right in the world.

Like these kids need any more stuff. And this is just one bedroom. The others are the same.

Not to mention the toy room, the garage and the living room.

What else?

Oh, yeah...

I'm sure many of you are on the edge of your seat regarding this issue... I've decided to keep and wear my fancy sweatshirt even after reading this article that pretty much creeped me out. I think this might make me a hypocrite. Or something bad.

And finally...

This video is a big part of why I don't shop at Whole Paycheck Foods...



Yep, that's our local store.

Not that the store I do go to is really any different. Grocery shopping is not one of my favorite activities. It always seems like either I get in trouble or my kids do.

I'm not even going to end this post gracefully. Except to say...

Happy Holidays :)

The Hundred Dollar Sweatshirt... and other stuff

As I sit here in my hundred dollar sweatshirt thinking about Christmas and how little prep work I've done so far, I am not nervous. I am not stressed. It is what it is. I'm letting go and finding balance. And I have a hundred dollar sweatshirt...so I am alllllll set.

It would be funny if I were to tell you that I had gone to Costco today with the sole purpose of picking up a sweatshirt. And walked out with a 30-pack of Northern Quilted toilet paper, a Brita water filter, two dozen Duracell AA batteries, an 8-lb. block of Kraft American Cheese Singles, and one of those double-packs of Honey Nut Cheerios in addition to a Gloria Vanderbilt sweatshirt. Seriously, who hasn't done that?

Or what if I said that I had gone into the local Goodwill to grab a sweatshirt but had gotten waylaid by all the awesome VHS tapes they were selling three for a dollar (who wouldn't love copies of He Said, She Said, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Field of Dreams?) and the myriad of kitchen tools just begging to become a Granny's Gadgets feature? If I went on to tell you that after finding the sweatshirt, selecting a fine assortment of 80's and 90's entertainment, unearthing THE Ginsu (!) and escaping for under twenty bucks with all that loot, I went outside to find my car with a $78 parking ticket tucked neatly under the windshield wiper...in it's o-so-cheery neon green envelope :)...that would be kind of funny, right?

While both of those scenarios would have resulted in a "hundred dollar" sweatshirt complete with a laugh and some good commiseration, this is not a funny story. And my hundred dollar sweatshirt gets no quotation marks.

I have a hard time fathoming how someone could spend so much on a #@*ing sweatshirt...but people do. They don't even wait for them to go on sale...they plunk down full retail for these suckers. Having worked in retail for years and years, I have a really hard time doing that :P

Now being in possession of a hundred dollar sweatshirt (I am wearing it right at this moment...and if you are reading this pretty much anytime in the next five years, I will probably be wearing it right at the moment you are actually reading this), I must say it is really, really nice. But I probably wouldn't spend real money on one. I won mine...remember that Soyjoy Workout Wardrobe Make-over Contest?

I've gone from this:

To this:

Notice how I look a lot more comfortable in the tattered, 'vintage' outfit?

it might be the clothing... 

but it might be the fact that the fancy sweatshirt picture was taken in the kitchen.

I had a little of my winnings left over. It's been converted to a gift card that will be part of the Jingle Bell Hell 2011 Grand Prize. Click that link to see details of the real and virtual races this weekend.

All runners who submit a race recap linking back to Taking It On will be entered in a drawing for various running-related prizes...Nuun, Gu, reflective stickers, a race-number belt, those sorts of things... and my favorite write-up (can be a blog post, a facebook update, an email to me that I can post on my blog, or a photo representing your hellacious fun) will win a $10 iTunes gift card and a $30 Lululemon gift card (that'll get you a headband or a pair of socks...or roughly 30% off on a pair of running tights...and they do have stuff for guys).

Please understand the write-up winner selection is entirely subjective. Big Hint: I am looking to laugh. 

But honestly, it's not about the prizes...it's about having fun.

Disclaimers: Do I need disclaimers? Some of the stuff in the giveaway I won, some I bought and some was given to me in exchange for nothing. Except the Nuun... some might say I sold my soul for that one.  But Hood to Coast was worth it.