July Foodie Penpals

I love receiving mail, especially when it contains yummy goodies and local flavors.  And I love seeing the creativity that people put into their packages! My Foodie Penpal was Kristen {aka The Recipe Queen}, whose blog is all about FOOD {you have to check it out}; she loves to take everyday recipes and jazz them up! 

Here is what I received:

Good n Natural Bars...I can't wait to try these, I love a good bar!

Salsa AND a Spicy Black Bean Salsa recipe! BOOM! Double Whammy! And thanks to Foodie Penpals, I am starting quite the salsa collection!

Ummm....Snapea Crisps where have you been all my life!?

Saratoga Chips...yummy potato chips

I'm normally NOT a huge fan of granola bars {too messy, and I'd rather just eat granola}, but these are so good, and the chocolate is just enough when I am having a sweet tooth! 

I"m going to have to make some pancakes or waffles soon! 

You too can be a part of Foodie Penpals, click below to find out how! 

Van 1: Hangin Tough

Ok...so last weekend was the EPIC tour of NUUN Kids on The Block through Ragnar Northwest Passage! Before I go into a recap of the 200 miles, I want to reintroduce you to me van mates {now friends!!!}|, because the post I wrote earlier really doesn't do them just justice!  

First off, we had our fearless leader{arg!} and driver: Mason, Chief  Hydration Officer at NUUN! Mason was great at making sure we had opportunities to cheer on our teammates during their runs and got us to all of our exchanges in time {there were only a couple close calls}. He even joined one of our runners for a night run! And perhaps most importantly, he made sure we were caffeinated by getting us to a Starbucks at all of the major exchanges {priorites}

Chief Navigator 

I was runner #1, and handed off to Lauren {you will see some serious hand-off photos in posts to come!} Lauren is seriously so fun, and sweet; I felt like I had known her forever! She is extremely social, and knew half of the people on the route, and was a RagnarNWP expert, which came in handy a couple of times! 

Checkin em off!

Corinne {friend of Meghan} was a total lifesaver, and stepped in about 2 weeks before the race, because one of our runners was injured! She is not a blogger or on twitter {until she ran her first leg and we took matters into our own hands ;) } so she really didn't know any of us at all; but you would never of known it! She fit right in {I don't think we overwhelmed her too much} and took on one of the tougher legs, 8 miles, pretty much all uphill, with no van support! Corinne dominated the hills and rocked her night run, ending it with a loud "we've got the right stuff, baby!"  During her night run, we saved her from the 4 legged gorilla man...we had her back! 

So happy to be done! 

Katherine, Mason's wife, flew home for 3-days from her vacation in Michigan to run with us and totally ROCKED it! She recently took up running {she is an avid tennis player}, and seriously dominated the roads from Blaine to Whidbey Island with lots and lots of roadkill! She was also our co-pilot, and made sure we got where we always got where we needed to be! She {almost} used her black belt skills to protect Corinne from gorilla man...that't what teammates do! 

Becky, aka, #thriftydrunkpuppet and NUUN tattoo artist {I was demoted from the job}, was seriously HI-LAR-IOUS!!  Up until Thursday before the race, we weren't sure if she would be joining us as a runner or just a cheerleader, but she ended up doing both! Becky was the one always losing stuff in the van {packing and unpacking her stuff several times}, a goodeater {always clearing her plate}, the one who taught us what a bronie is, and earned the title of drunk puppet {she tells the story best here...you have to read it!!!}. I later changed her name to thrifty drunk puppet {she is always looking for a good deal and doesn't like to spend money}when following the race she borrowed a friends boot for her foot and bought crutches {that are too big} from the Goodwill! I think she is diagnosing her injury with these! Becky was SO excited to be running, after not running for 2 months, and always had a huge smile on her face!!

Check out the NUUN medal!

Becky Drew a picture of herself!

Meghan earned the Hangin Tough award...two days before the relay she tweeted that she wasn't feeling well, and started chugging NUUN All Day! Unfortunately, the sore throat didn't get better, only worse! But she rallied through, and spent a lot of time sleeping/resting in the back between her legs! She was able to go home, shower, and take a nap at the first major exchange, which made a big difference. Despite being sick {she could only communicate by whispering, and found out after that she had bronchitis} she got out and cheered for every runner, and made it through her 3 legs, while being concerned about getting us sick and waking us up with her coughs {how nice is that!? we were just as concerned for her}

Shhhhh....don't tell the Ragnar officials this, but we had two extra van mates that weren't registered to run! They snuck into several pictures along the way, so be looking for them in upcoming posts! 

Meet Ragnar and Drunk Puppt {"DP"}


{SEVERAL} MORE POSTS TO COME! 

NUUN Winner & Bulu Box review

EEK! So sorry it has taken me SO LOONG to announce the winner of the NUUN ALL DAY giveaway, its no excuse but I was busy wrapping things up and getting ready to head out on  a 200 mile, 2 vans, 12 runner adventure from Blaine to Whidbey Island {several posts coming soon!}.  According to random.org, the lucky winner is Jill {comment #8}.  Jill, please email me at hroberts123@gmail.com!

DO YOU LOVE GETTING MAIL AS MUCH AS I DO??

What an amazing concept: 1)sign-up for a monthly or yearly subscription 2)each month, a new

Bulu Box will be delivered to your door containing 4 to 5 premium samples 3) Save on full-size versions of the products you love.

The box includes samples pertaining to vitamins, natural & herbs, diet, energy, sports nutrition, protein, cleanse & detox, sleep, sexual health, and other!

My box:

Life Equals Omega-3: I am a huge fan/advocate of fish oil, but as many of you know who take fish oil, you can have a fishy taste after, well NOT with LIFE = Omega-3.  LIFE= Omega-3 is sourced 100% from wild Norwegian anchovies, and has the Maximum DHA/EPA {which is what you want to look for when selecting a fish oil}.  You want to the know THE BEST thing about Life=Omega 3!? For every product they sell, they donate an equal amount of chiIdren's multivitamins to malnourished children worldwide.   will definitly be turning to Life Equal Omega-3 for my fish oil needs!

pure matters for everyday health: Vitamin D3 - 3000 IU : Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption & helps maintain a healthy hear! The capsule is 100% vegetarian and also helps with Healthy Body, Bone Health, Joint and Tissue Health, Circulatory Health, General Wellness, Immunity, Muscle Health, Oral Health, Senior Health, Women's Health, Anti-aging. 

I don't know about you, but I am not the best about taking my vitamins, so this is a great reminder of how important vitamins are for us!

I don't know about you, but I am a night-time snacker, so I was excited when I saw that my Bulu Box contained nightfood, a  bar designed specifically to eat at night!  Read more about eating at night here! Its an interesting concept, and while I can't say whether it helped me sleep or not {I have been so busy & tired these days that I am out in T-2 seconds when my head hits the pillow}, the it has a great taste, and is a nice, lite snack to eat before heading to bed

RevHoney U-Tube: RevHoney U-Tubes are small tubes of honey and freeze dried fruit. No caffine, no stimulants. Just honey and fruit. I was pleasantly suprised with the taste! I plan on throwing mine in my bike pouch for all-natural, on-the-go energy next time I ride! I'm looking forward to trying their other flavors too!

I don't know about you, but I love receiving mail/packages, and it's even better when its filled with samples for living a healthy lifestyle! For as little as $9.17/month {yearly subscription}, you too can receive a Bulu Box on your doorstep full of healthy goodies every month!

Bulu Box was kind enough to send me a box to review, but the opinions and text are all mine.

We've Got The Right Stuff...and so could YOU!!!

I don't know about where you are, but here in Southern OR summer has arrived, with the temps hitting the upper 90s!  Temperatures like that scream HYDRATION, HYDRATION, HYDRATION! I'll be the first to admit that I do hydrate a lot {probably too much} with iced americanos, but  in between them I turn to NUUN for my hydration needs.  I've always been a big water drinker, but why drink it plain when you can spruce it up with fabulous flavors & electrolytes, with less than 8 calories!? I think it's safe to say I have become slightly addicted to this fabulous stuff!

NUUN just outdid themselves, once again, and came out with a new product line: NUUN All Day. Sugary and caffeinated drinks take you on a roller coaster ride during the day, but with zero sugar, under 8 calories per tab, and an all-natural blend of 117 vitamins and minerals, NUUN All Day keeps you going. For more information, go here. I am officially addicted to NUUN All Day now too, and after trying all 4 flavors {which are all super yummy}, I'd have to say that my favorite is the Tangerine Lime {which would make sense, since my favorite flavor of NUUN is Lemon+Lime} 

In 7 days, I will be running Ragnar Northwest Passage with NUUN and 9 other bloggers! We will be spreading the NUUN love from Blaine to Whidbey Island, but I also want to spread to the NUUN love with you, my blog readers! So here is your chance to win 2 tubes of NUUN all day &  a NUUN water bottle!

This is how YOU can win some NUUN All Day {please leave a separate comment for each}:

1. Follow me on twitter

2. Follow my blog

3. Follow NUUN on twitter

4.Let me know how YOU stay hydrated during the summer, especially while working out

5. Tweet about the giveaway!

Contest closes July 18th at midnight PST, and winner will be announced on July 19th! 

Marathon #2: Rock N Roll Seattle

I can't believe it's been over a week since I ran my second marathon; it's past due that I get a recap up! So, without further adieu, here is the Seattle Rock N Roll marathon, from the view of a 2nd time marathoner , who runs slow & steady, but has a great time while doing it and is ready for #3!

I am not going to focus too much on it, but because it was part of our adventure, I would like to share that getting to Seattle was nothing short of a nightmare! After getting only 3 hours of sleep the night before, and getting to the airport at 5am, we waited for 8 hours {yes, we could've drove there faster} for a flight to Seattle {our plane was having mechanical issues, and they ended up bringing in another plane}.  At 1:00pm I got the last seat on a flight up, leaving my parents and 2 other friends who were also running the marathon, in the airport, waiting for a plane to come in! I'll be honest, I got a little emotional and was afraid they wouldn't make it {which wouldn't be unheard of for the Medford airport}, which was NOT how this weekend was supposed to go down! We all finally got there {exhausted, starving}, cancelled our dinner reservations {due to traffic it was nearly impossible to get there} and joined the rest of our group for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...and all was well again! 

Here we are, at about 5:40am, heading to the race and our photographer has already started snapping shots, and we haven't even left the hotel!

The group {ALL soon to be marathoners} before heading to the monorail! 

Group Cheer!

"FINISH!!!!!"

It was SO wonderful to finally meet two more of my Ragnar NUUNKOTB teammates Stacie and Dawn

I missed the blogger meet-up at the expo, but made it for the picture on Saturday before the race! Afterwards I was embarassed because I was standing by people I tweet with all the time, and never even introduced myself! I'm blaming it on the marathon nerves! 

NUUNKOTB!!!

My dad & I, pre-race

NUUN Team Fun...Ok, we we are always "team fun" when we hang out, and Parker had heard me talking about the NUUN team, so he came up with the brilliant idea of NUUN Team Fun! 

JFDI....Just Focus and Do It! Our friendship started almost 3 years ago, when we all met at Rapport Leadership International, which we had all been sent to by our employers! {Lindsey and I work together, and Heidi & Heather are sisters from  Missouri}

Our amazing cheering squad! 

And we're off!!!

Entertaining themselves while we ran! 

And he did it!!!! 

Happy to be finished! {sorry its blurry}

The rain hit just as we were finished, which is why there are no pictures of the rest of us crossing the finish line! But yes, I still cried, even though there was no one to cheer for me! {I am such an emotionally runner, ha}

It's a tradition...Chipotle for post-race fuel! 

BLING!!!

I loved {almost} everything about this race...the organization, weather, route, etc.  I ran the entire race solo, with no music {until mile 18}, which was actually pretty nice! I got into a zone and went! I absolutely LOVED the marathon portion around the lake...SO BEAUTIFUL! I started off feeling really strong...saw my dad around mile 8, and then Heather, Heidi, Lindsey and Phil as I was running up the ramp to the bridge around mile 15 {and again after the turn after mile 17}, which was nice and gave me a little pick me up! My main complaint about the race was the out and back on I-90 {I think thats what hwy it was}...for me it was extremely tough mentally, in addition to losing GPS signal in the tunnels {and my phone saying mile 50, mile 51...I got so frustrated I just turned it off} the grade was horrible and annoying to run on, and I just wanted to make it to mile 20, and get off the darn bridge! Once I made it through the tunnel at mile 20, I felt much better and got a lil burst of energy {its all relative, I WAS at mile 20! ha}, and loved running back towards the Seattle Center. Unfortunately, around mile 23 it started to rain...it was cold, windy and raining sideways! I just wanted to be DONE!!! I ended up with a 25 minute PR and a desire to do another! 

I am always impressed by Rock N Roll events, and am looking forward to running the half in San Antonio! In terms of my next marathon, if I can find someone local to train with me {which I am working on} I will be doing CIM in December!