2010-2011 YakTrax Sponsored Athlete

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Andrea

If you read my blog for any length of time, you’ll quickly pick up that I run and that I run all year long.

If you’re clever, you’ll put two and two together realizing that I live in Columbus, Ohio and running all year long means I’m running in:

Snow
Ice
Cold-ass temperatures

I don’t swear a lot on the blog partly for professional reasons and partly because I know it turns some people off (though I don’t understand it, I respect it). However some situations really do call for the need of a curse word. Running outside when the temp or windchill is in the single digits, is one of those times.

Another thing that you’ll pick up reading my blog is that I love my YakTrax. Love them. Without them I would not be running outside in the winter.

A few months ago I noticed that YakTrax was running a contest on their Facebook Page, all you had to do to enter was submit a picture that showed why you should be considred to be a sponsored athlete.

2010 Flying Feather

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Andrea

For whatever reason I am really in to racing this winter season. I’m constantly looking for races to run and this year I took a look at some Thanksgiving day races. I would be running anyway so why not run a fun race?

I took a look around and found The Flying Feather which is a 4 mile run on Thanksgiving day and the bonus is that it is literally 10 minutes from my house. Score!

But more importantly, what made me decide to run this race was the finish swag. Not only would I be getting a medal but I would also be getting a bottle of wine.

Yes!

The wine is also one that Scott and I really enjoy. It’s a lovely mild red that won’t break the bank, Beaujolais-Villages! This was by Georges Duboeuf (we typically buy Louis Jadot).

I picked up my race packet the week before and I have to tell you that this race has the best swag! Not only did I get a shirt, but a sample of lotion, gloves, a winter hat, small bottle of whiskey, and then of course the medal and wine at the finish.

2010 Muddy Feet Trail Race

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Andrea

It was Thursday of last week that I learned about the Muddy Feet trail race that was happening on Saturday. I was talking on Twitter about trail running and about another race I have planned for next month. My twitter friend, Emily, said that she didn’t think the race was a trail race per say but just went around the perimeter of the park.

Well that’s kind of a bummer, right? She said she and her husband were running the Muddy Feet trail run on Saturday and it was on an actual trail.

I totally signed up.

I may or may not be addicted to trail running which may or may not be the reason why I signed up right away at the last minute.

We are lucky here in Columbus because we not only have a thriving bustling city but we also have parks and water very close by. This race was taking place at Alum Creek and there were two distances to pick from, 4.5 miles or 6.5 miles.

2010 Buckeye Classic

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Andrea

The Buckeye Classic is a 10K trail race that I stumbled across a few weeks ago and decided to sign up for. I love 10Ks, probably my favorite to race and I wish that Columbus had more of them. We either have a ton of 5Ks in the spring/summer or they are halfs. In the summer when my mileage is higher, I don’t want to sacrifice a long run for a 5K race. In the winter when my mileage is lower and it’s a lot colder, running 5ks and four milers are perfect! You get to race and you’re not out in the cold very long.

10Ks are great for summer, fall, and early winter racing! Please Columbus, put on more 10Ks!

Anyway, I saw this race was a trail race and decided to go for it. Then for some reason I got it stuck in my head that it was going to be all paved trail running.

Tis the Season

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Andrea

It’s officially started, the Winter Racing Season for 2010-11 is here! I had my first race of the season today and it was amazing and hard and fun. It was a trail race through one of the many parks around Columbus and I had a blast.

The race was called The Buckeye Classic and it was a 10K. A 10K trail race is no joke gang! It was put on by M3S sports and I love when they do races!

Why?

Because you always get a finishers medal!

It doesn’t matter what distance the race is, there will be a medal waiting for you at the end. This was a small race, 550 people, which is how most winter races are. Only the determined or the crazy (kidding!) attempt racing in the winter.

Full recap coming soon!

Rocks and I chat about the race and how it was a little challenging. And just for kicks….

Here’s Rocky’s best Dramatic Chipmunk pose. He’s doing a pretty good job!

Get Your Turkey 2010

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Andrea

For those of us in the US, it’s that time of year again, Thanksgiving!

You all know I am a big advocate of local foods! This means turkeys too! Support your local farmers and purchase a turkey that not only do you know where it was raised but you know how it was raised and treated.

This year I’m putting together a list of places I know of that you can purchase locally raised turkeys for your Thanksgiving table.

Poultry and Game at North Market has Bowman and Landes turkeys.

We’ve gotten our turkeys here now for the past five years. They’ve always been excellent, decently priced, and great tasting turkeys. They do turkeys of all sizes and also just breasts if you are feeding a small crowd.

Hills Market has Bowman and Landes turkeys along with Tea Hill Organic Farm turkeys.

One of my twitter friends just told me that The Anderson’s is also doing free-range veggie fed Turkeys this year.

Spotlight Columbus: Market District in Kingsdale

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Andrea

Part I of my experience at The Market District at Kingsdale can be found here.

Even though Scott and I have lived in Columbus for almost 5 years now, it was only about two years ago that we started exploring it more and expanding our knowledge. I’m still learning my way around this great city and as I learn, I want to pass along what I find to you. Perhaps some of these things you already know about and maybe some of them will be new to you. Either way, we can share in the adventure together!

My first topic for Spotlight Columbus is about the new Market District that just opened up in Kingsdale which is in the Upper Arlington section of the Columbus Suburbs. I was contacted by the media relations group for the Market District asking me to be their guest at the grand opening of the brand new and first Ohio location.

Event: Grand Opening of Market District at Kingsdale

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Andrea

I’ve been working on this post for quite sometime and have finally come to the conclusion that it needs to be broken up into two parts. Otherwise it was way too long and I don’t want my dear readers to have to sift through a novel of a post. Therefore, my experience with the new Market District at Kingsdale is going to be explained in two parts. The first will talk about the event I attended and the second will talk more in-depth about the store and what it has to offer our city of Columbus, Ohio.

I was contacted by Donna, who is head of online marketing at Giant Eagle, inviting me to attend the Grand Opening event of the new Market District. I had heard a few rumblings about this store coming to Ohio a little over the summer but really didn’t think much about it. When I was contacted about the grand opening, I was more than excited to get a chance to see the store firsthand on opening day and to be considered a VIP guest!

Experiencing My First Race Expo

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Andrea

When I found out that there was an actual race expo attached to the Columbus Marathon, I become very excited! To me this proved that this race was a biggie and I had such great expectations heading into the expo.

Admittedly, all previous races that I have raced, the race packets have been nothing worth noting. They came with the bib, course map if you’re lucky, and maybe a coupon to someplace. Typically it just contained ads though.

My success rate with race shirts is not stellar. One I didn’t get because they didn’t have my size. They said they would mail it out to me but once I saw how ugly it was (for real, it was the color of dirty dish water), I kindly passed.

Most of them are men’s sizes (because we know women don’t run races right?) so they don’t fit me anyway. I give those to Scott.

I finally got one that was a nice blue color but wearing it for anything longer than a short run isn’t a good idea. But still, a race shirt for me! YaY!

2010 Columbus Marathon

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Andrea

I’m calling this The Race That Shouldn’t Have Been, because seriously everything that shouldn’t happen before a big race happened.

This is also a really long post, full of reflections, backstory, and recap. I hope you stick around but I understand if you do not.

This was my first time running the Columbus Marathon and my second attempt. For the record, I run halfs, I do not run fulls. More on that in a future post, today we are focused on this race recap.

The Columbus Marathon is a full marathon and a half marathon. This is also a qualifying marathon for those interested in trying to obtain the magical BQ. For Columbus, Ohio, this race is A BIG DEAL. There are a total of 15,000 participants and thousands of spectators and supporters. Just think big.

I tried to run it last year but a previous injury kept me sidelined.

This year I was determined to run it.