The Olympics, A Goodbye Party, and Another Fitness Themed Basket!

Hi all!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Mine was pretty busy. Friday night, we went to a party to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. We were encouraged to dress up in our best Olympic outfits, so Dustin wore his best old school ski attire, and I wore pretty much every red, white, and blue piece of clothing I had. (That Chinese Crested dog in the picture is a sweet rescue dog named Vegas!)

Saturday morning of course was the usual long run (a little over 16 miles), a trip to TC Running Company for those awesome Craft pants I wrote about yesterday, and plenty of other errands. 

Saturday night, we said goodbye to one of our run club friends. She's moving to New York City for her job. We're all sad to see her go, but wish her the best of luck in her new adventure!

We met up for an awesome dinner at Marin downtown, and she actually was able to get us the private barrel room for our group. 

I really loved my dinner there- I had the kale salad, and the papperdelle with roasted cauliflower and sage pesto. It was all really tasty- I highly recommend this restaurant!

My group of girlfriends wanted to said goodbye in a special way, and to give her a few items to remember us by. I enjoyed creating the birthday gift basket for my friend's 30th back in December, so I suggested that we do something similar again. Creating a gift basket is a great way for a group of friends to all chip in a little bit in a fun way, and you end up with quite a gift! 

This basket included a lot of running related items- some Body Glide, Nuun, an iTunes gift card, Honey Stingers, GU's, and more.

I also gave her one of the last Calhoun Beach Running Club BIC Bands...only three of these left!

We included some lululemon undies- light as air!

This friend is a barre-ista as well, so the gift basket needed an extra pair of grippy socks:

The basket wouldn't be complete without one of the Gear Running store's RUN MSP t-shirts. Softest shirts ever!

We included a framed picture from a Capital Run that she was a part of. Ah, remember when we were running in shorts and tanks? The good ol' days...

The basket came together nicely, and I think she really liked it.

It was a fun evening, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to send her off in style. 

Good luck in NYC, running buddy!

Fits Do Halloween: Go for the Gold!

By Jess

Like LL, I love the creativity and imagination that is prominently displayed on Halloween.  I'm always amazed at what some people come up with, and this year was definitely not a disappointment.

I had planned the D-man and my costumes a few weeks ago, and ours was a 2012 Olympic theme. It seemed timely- the Olympics only happen once every four years, right? So, I went as the gymnast Jordyn Weiber (complete with a boot for her stress fracture). 

....and Dusters was bronze medal-winning rower "Henrik Rummel." Google Henrik, and you'll understand the CENSORED sign!.

LL had reminded us in her post here that we should be careful not to select costumes that no one would understand, or costumes that are inappropriate...

She said :
Let your costume stand alone and tell a positive story. If your costume needs an explanation, it might not be that good. 

Uh-oh! The D-man's costume needed an explanation for most, and it was slightly offensive. Yes, it may have been a failed fit, but it was all in good fun.

With our costumes taken care of, I was excited to see what my friends came up with, and last night was the "great unveil." A run cub friend hosted a wonderful party in her new home. Along with great decorations and tasty food, her party attendees came up with an eclectic mix of creative costumes.

Apparently a binder of women was a popular idea!

I love costumes that are very "current." Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comment about his "binder full of women" happened just last week, and these creative cats were able to put together funny and timely costumes in a very short time...I love it!

 The above group of "binders" arrived with Paul Ryan.

And Candy Crowley....

And of course Mitt Romney!

Political costumes are always good for a laugh, but TV and movie characters are also a good choice! There were a few "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" costumes at the party. I don't watch the show, but if you do, you'll probably recognize these guys:

Who hasn't seen and loved the movie "Elf" with Will Ferrell? These handmade costumes looked pretty authentic to me. Elf even carried his etch-a-sketch and marshmallow bag.

Here are some more of my favorites from the night. Enjoy!

{Abe Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth and a loofah!}

{A mail order bride! I love it!}

{A hipster with his requisite PBR.}

{PBS painter Bob Ross and his painting- so creative!}

 {50 Shades of Gray}

Henrik Rummel and Jordyn Weiber weren't the only Olympians at this party.

Although I was surprised that there were no Ryan Lochte's, there was a McKayla Maroney, and she was definitely NOT impressed by Henrik's bronze medal....

Happy Halloween readers!

Fit Fanatic: "Mo" Inspiration

{From the Telegraph}

By: LL
As I stated here, I thoroughly enjoy the Olympics and find so much inspiration from even the oddest of sports that I know nothing about. Unfortunately, with the London Olympics, I haven't been able to catch as many events live as I would like. Instead, I am forced to try to avoid social media and news sources until after I watch the evening broadcasts. Luckily, my husband was sick this past weekend (not lucky that he was sick...) so we were able to catch some great live action during the days.

Yesterday, we watched closely the 10,000 meter. What a phenomenal race! Mo Farah and Galen Rupp! With their backstory (especially Farah's) of them training together under Alberto Salazar...how could you not want them to go 1, 2 in the race. It was a tough race with some cleating (evidenced on Rupp's leg) and pushing, the two of them were able to pull of the amazing win - Farah with gold and Rupp with silver. And when they hugged at the end, how could you not get emotional! And I just love this photo of them at the end!

It was the perfect race to watch for inspiration to get through my 10 miler today. Even though it was a rough run (hot and hilly), I had some amazing inspiration to carry me through. I am so pumped for the week ahead of track & field.

For those of you not keeping up with the Olympics, you are definitely missing out.

Featured Fit: The Summer Games

By: LL
Yes, I have been absent from the blog due to my house unpacking endeavors. But there is no way that I would miss the Olympic Games. Winter, Summer ... it doesn't matter. There is something so exciting and motivating about watching the best of the best compete. Heck, even archery is awesome ... and synchronized diving. I cannot get enough. My husband and I even had to come out of the Stone Age and get a DVR so that we could tape all the live action. Besides the Opening Ceremony, here is what I am so pumped to watch:

Women's Beach Volleyball (Misti May and Kerri Walsh in a nod to my high school passion ... if only I was 4-5 inches taller)

Marathon (well, this one was obvious)

Men's 100-meter (Jamaican show-down)

Men's 400 x 100

Michael Phelps vs. Ryan Lochte

Women's Gymnastics (if only I was 4-5 inches shorter ...)

I'm definitely planning on using the Olympic Games as motivation to get me through my long run in the predicted 104 degree temps this weekend.