Why Would Anyone NOT Want To Enter A Contest?

Because they don't know about it.

I think I may have made a fatal error. I thought that putting up a contest on Black Friday would be genius. Save money for Christmas, I thought... Buy a present for yourself, I thought. However, I seemed to have forgotten what a family oriented holiday Thanksgiving is in the US. Here's the realization I've come to:

No one was online last weekend - they all took a bloggy-sabbatical for 4 days.

This can be the only explanation for having only 3 people enter my contest. It's not like I even make you become a follower. That's just for bonus entries!

So this is me begging you to enter reminding you that I have a $35 CSN Stores gift certificate up for grabs. Contest ends Friday! Click here to get all the details!

Money For Christmas Presents! *Contest*

It's Black Friday! Time to start (or finish) your Christmas shopping! To help you out I'm hosting a contest from CSN Stores! They're letting me give away a $35 gift certificate redeemable at ANY of their sites.* Whether you're looking for coffee tables or something to put on them they have what you're looking for. They even guarantee delivery to the US by Christmas Eve for any item that's marked with a snowflake!




To enter:

Mandatory: Browse around CSN, then come back and tell me what you'd buy - it can be a Christmas present to yourself or, if you're feeling generous, for someone else. (+1)

Extras:

Be or become a follower of my blog and comment to let me know. (+2)

Leave me a comment telling me that you've linked this giveaway to your blog. (+1)


Contest will end Friday 3 December at 11:59pm PST. Entries will be put into a spreadsheet and the winner will be chosen by random.org. I will announce the winner's name on Saturday 4 December.


*Shipping costs are NOT included.

Happy Snowy (non) Thanksgiving

As you know, we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada on the second Monday in October so we've long since had our turkey dinners and days off. However, because most of my bloggy friends are American, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are all enjoying time with your friends and family!

Here's what I was up to today...

In running news, I got to run with friends last night and, thankfully, it was not snowing at that point. It was just really cold. I actually wore the tights that I bought as a Christmas present... my mum said I could if it meant that I wasn't going to die of exposure! I'm supposed to run again tomorrow night, but all the snow is supposed to turn to rain by tomorrow. If the sidewalks are going to be a slushy, nasty mess we've already decided to call it off.

Please stop by again tomorrow - I'll have a Black Friday giveaway!

Where'd This Come From?

Okay, I know a lot of you have to run in weather far worse than we're experiencing right now, but what the heck? Out here we are used to RAIN! We don't do cold. The whole city has a conniption when it snows more than 1cm. I know I should just bundle up, but when the wind-chill is -17C and there are gusts of 40km/hr I just can't get myself out the door. Never mind that I also have to bundle up a 3 year old... We've been staying in this week. On the plus side, I'm going out for a run with a friend tomorrow night and there's a small hope that we might get a white Christmas this year!

The Good News And The Bad News

Might as well get the bad news out of the way first. There will be no awesome Sugoi giveaway. I just couldn't find anything that was a) inexpensive enough and b) properly sized. I could have gotten some accessories, like arm warmers or socks, but the size selection was poor by the time I arrived. Given that the majority of my readership is female I figured unisex size L or bigger was a bad bet.

Two pieces of good news:

1. I now have properly fitted running tights. Granted, I can't wear them until after Christmas (hooray for money from my in-laws), but that's okay. Here's what I picked up at the sale:

$25: SubZero Tight - these should be super-warm and have a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) finish. These are going to be my go-to winter tight.

$25: MidZero Tight - Thermal, but doesn't have DWR. Should be good for spring.

$15: Piston R+R Knee High - Compression! Mine have a fluorescent green toe stripe. They're about 1/2 a shoe size too big according to the chart (Large, when I really need a Medium). The ones I snagged from Colin that are the same size fit pretty well, but had been stretched out before I stole them. Fingers crossed that these work for me so I can run in them.

It totally pays to rifle through bins. I found the socks in with other loose pairs and when I asked the guy if there were more he was really surprised that I'd found a pair. I guess he thought they'd sold out. The SubZeros were found on the second trip to the tights and the MidZeros were scored in the change room when a woman with whom I had been in line said they didn't fit her. Overall I saved myself just over $150 off of list price. So awesome!

2. I do have a contest coming up next week! Not Sugoi, but equally as good. Let's just say that one of you will be getting some help buying your Christmas presents...

Christmas Card Exchange

Let's face it, I am not imaginative or organized enough to have thought of this! I barely get my cards sent out before the New Year... Luckily (pun intended), Zaneta over at Runner's Luck is taking the time to put it all together. You can read all the details and sign up here.

I ♥ Where I Live

Yes, I did post this to make all you non-locals jealous! If I come across anything good (re: cheap) there may be a giveaway in the future. I'll be sure to tell you all about it next week!

Twofer Tuesday

Not only did I get in a relatively long run today (15.7km/9.75mi), but I also met up with another mum who might turn into a consistent running partner! YAY!

To be honest, I wouldn't have gone out and run that far on my own. However, I had to run to our meeting place (2.5km) so it just turned out that way... I think that it'll be nice to have someone who I can run with at least once a week. Yes, I am probably counting my chickens before they're hatched, but I have a good feeling about it.

This Made My Day...

I might not be the fastest runner out there, but at least I beat Jared from Subway (and a few other celebrities)!

Congrats to everyone who ran the NYC marathon! Another to add to my bucket list (when I start writing it).

This Is Going To Be Fun!

So I didn't have the money to register for the "First Half" Half Marathon and now it's sold out - in only a couple of days. That's fine and dandy because I knew that I was going to miss it. It's, obviously, the first half marathon of the season locally and it was cancelled last year due to the Olympics. It was destined to be popular as people missed it!

My solution to not running in it is to volunteer. I only signed up tonight to be contacted and it's not until 13 February 2011 so I don't know yet what I'll get to do. But I'm really excited! I've never volunteered at a race. However, I know how much I appreciate the volunteers at all of the events I've run in! So many races just wouldn't get put on if people didn't want to help out.

Here's my question to you: Have you volunteered for a race before? How was it?

I figure that volunteering will be just as rewarding as racing. Besides, I have so many friends running in the race it'll be nice to cheer them on at the same time!

Three Things Thursday

1. I'm sick. Yaaay! Spud has had a cold for the last almost 2 weeks and yesterday I started with the sneezes and drippy nose. Hopefully I won't get the puking and coughing...

2. I have a run planned with a friend tomorrow afternoon. Spud is starting a gym class and it's not parent participation! He loves the teacher - so much so that the rec centre is referred to as "Miss Leslie's" - and I don't think that there will be an emotional breakdown as I leave... (knock on wood). It will be nice to get out for almost an hour and the rain is supposed to clear up late morning.

3. I have to clean my kitchen. Not exciting, but that was the best thing I could come up with. How sad is that?

Hello, My Name Is Alanna and I Have PMD

That would be Post Marathon Depression. This post-race period has got me down. I ran my marathon on 10 October. Since then it's been a downhill slide. Honestly. I've had one week since then that I'm remotely okay with, meaning I ran 3 times. Now I know that you can get post-race blues, but I had no idea that it'd be this bad.

There are a few contributing factors:

* No immediate goal. I am planning on signing up for the next marathon clinic however it doesn't start until 30 December. So I'm in maintenance until then. If I had lots of money I'd sign up for the half marathon clinic that started last week (and overlaps for about 6 weeks) just so I would have something to be committed to.

* I have been "in training" for the last year and a half. I started running in May 2009 with a learn-to-run clinic, moved on to the 10km in September, the half marathon that October and ran my first half in February 2010. Then I trained for my second half myself - which sucked (the training, not the race - that was a PR) as I obviously need the structure of an in-store program - and started working toward the full in June. I really don't think that it's running overload or burnout - I don't run nearly enough for it to be burnout. Apparently I just don't know what to do with myself now that there's no accountability.

* I have to take Spud with me. It's not a selfish thing - I don't mind that he's with me (and talks non-stop for the run until he falls asleep). It's that I mind having to push him. That stroller is heavy. With Spud in it it's over 60lbs. And I don't live in a flat neighbourhood. So, yes, it's complaining a little - I know lots of you run with doubles! - I'm just not used to it and it bugs me because it makes me even slower than I already am. I get good workouts, but I don't necessarily feel good about them (make sense?). Even if Colin comes with us I still have to push since it starts to aggravate his knee/IT band if he does.

* It's dark out now in the evenings (and darker earlier once daylight savings ends on Sunday). This means that I can't go out by myself at all. Both Colin and I aren't comfortable with me going out by myself in the mornings - and, let's face it, I love my sleep more than most - and the same goes for nighttime. We live in a suburban area, but there's enough crime around that it's really not safe. It's pretty much a "better safe than sorry" attitude.

So that's what's wrong with my running life right now. I'm really not sure how to remedy it. I'll go out for runs regardless, but there's a part of me that thinks "what's the point?" if I'm not really getting anything out of it. It's more than the slight funk I thought I was in. I can't give up on it. I won't give up on it. If I want to do well at all in May then I need to up my game, so to speak. I can't really cruise through training like I did this summer. I need to take it more seriously.

Any advice to help me get out of my head?

I See Lots Of Runs In My Future

Yeah, my 3 year old certainly doesn't need to eat all of this candy. Neither do I, but I'll eat my fair share (no use saying I won't...). Guess who's going to go for many runs soon to work it off?