Sunday, May 29, 2011

Anniversary Giveaway - Performance Fuel Sampler Box

Before I get to the giveaway...I want to share this photo with you.  
I found these similarities between the royal wedding and Cinderella to be funny. 


Moments That Make Life has been on the scene for a year now! 
  
 To celebrate I am giving away a box of fuel to keep you performing strong during your run or bike ride.  
Over the past year I have learned about many different sports performance products and tried many too.  I have come to the conclusion that what you use is a very personal decision and you need to try a few to find one that works best for you. 

To help you do just that I am giving away a sampler box of fuel products that I bought just for you because I love my readers.  The box includes:




To Enter:
  • Follow or become a follower of this blog and leave me a comment letting me know.


Additional entries do the following and leave me a comment for each one.

  • Tweet about this giveaway "Want to perform your best?  Enter to win a variety pack of performance fuel @momentsinalife http://tinyurl.com/435k7on"
  • Mention this giveaway on your blog or facebook page.
Good Luck everybody and thanks for stopping by!

Entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST, Thursday, June 9th, 2011.  Winner will be selected by random.org on the following day.



Sunday, May 22, 2011

Danskin Triathlon Recap

On Mother's Day, exactly one year from my first attempt at a triathlon I was at it again. Right after last year's race they offer all participants a discounted fee to sign up right away for the following year.  That's what I did.  Not knowing at the time, that the race would fall into one of the busiest times for me.


With the financial commitment already made, it was down to the wire as to whether I could make the race or not.  My second daughter was graduating from college the day before the race at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.  I didn't know if I could make it back to Orlando in time or not.  With the help of others, I was able to get my bike racked the day before and all I had to do, was make it home. 


Physically I was kind of ready for the race.  I have been running in preparation for a half marathon in June and my cross training is bicycling.  I even went to the pool once to swim for 30 min so I would be prepared just in case. I was a competitive swimmer up through high school, so that part didn't worry me.  


I made it home the night before the race and headed to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort in the morning. The weather was perfect - mid 60s. 


Arriving pre-dawn to catch a bus to the race area
I knew I wanted to improve my time from last year, but mentally I wasn't there. I was just going to do my best. From my first race, I had in my head that this was the hardest thing I had ever done.  When I shared this with a friend, she was surprised and reminded me that I had run a marathon since.  Her comment made me rethink the entire race.  She was right this wasn't the hardest thing I had done, compared to the marathon this would all be over in less than 2 hours.  This totally changed my mental state.


I started the half-mile swim in the fourth wave (light blue swim caps)  I tried to stay near the front on the inside of the pack.  My goal was to swim a straight line to the first buoy, cut a sharp left hand turn and head for the next one, turn left and then head for the shore. I wanted to make my route as direct as possible.  


I am on the front right in the green shirt.
If I could get out in front, I would be able to find an open space because the wave in front of us had a four minute lead. Sally Edwards got us pumped up before we took off.  Our mantra was "I am a strong, kick ass swimmer (biker, runner)" 
Sally Edwards getting us all warmed up for the start.
I managed to swim a strong leg and it wasn't has hard as I remembered. I found I nice open space for most of the way.  Upon leaving the water I noticed I was one of the first light blue swim caps to make it to shore. That gave me the motivation to keep pushing myself.
I ran to the transition area and dried off as quickly as I could.  I took care to dry my legs well, because last time I ended up with soggy socks on my run and that was no fun.  I also had to put on bike shoes.  This was my first race wearing clip on shoes.  I was a little nervous about that, because sometimes I forget to unclip and that leads to a fall. 
I just wanted to pedal as hard as I could throughout the 12 mile ride. The ride was mostly flat with just a couple of overpasses to tackle.


My transition between the bike and run took a little longer because I had to change shoes, but the idea was I could do better in the cycling with shoes that allowed me to push and pull through each rotation.
Heading for the finish line
I had no idea how I was doing time wise, but I just kept on putting one foot in front of the other.  I had 3.1 miles to run. The running part was not marked with mile markers and this made it tough.  I did not want to start off too fast and burn out, but I also wanted to speed it up for the last mile.  I made my best guess and kicked it up at the end. 


Cate, my cheerleader and me drinking chocolate milk.

Andy and me
 I ended up beating my time last year and made a new PR.  I finished in 1:35:00 - eight  minutes and thirty-four seconds faster than last year.  Here is the breakdown.
Swim           17:10
Transition 1    3:47
Bike              43:49
Transition 2    2:00
Run              28:12

My friend Cheri, after her first tri!
I like this race because it is all female and every one is so encouraging and supportive.  It is a great race for beginner triathletes and is held each year on Mother's Day.  The only bummer is the t-shirt and the medal are lame.  But I would recommend it to anyone considering triathlons.
The medal
How important are the Tshirt and medal to you when choosing a race?



Monday, May 2, 2011

Food Truck Bazaar

I've read about food trucks and followed some cupcake trucks in other cities on twitter, but have never experienced one before. I watched the show Food Truck Race on the Food Network and was intrigued. Something about them seemed so fun, maybe the freedom of all the places they could go or the idea of all the tasty treats that could be made in a truck!  
Well, I had a chance to visit one, in fact, 15 at our local Food Truck Bazaar last night!
The event was being held from 7pm-12am in a parking lot at a local mall. I was excited and hungry so we made sure to get there just after 7pm.  First stop was the Yum Yum Cupcake Truck.  
The arrow points to the gas cap. *Cute*



Cupcake truck


I heard they sell out quickly, because they do not bake cupcakes in the their truck, they only sell them from the truck. Plus who only buys one cupcake?  In fact, I bought six cupcakes - all different flavors!   The vanilla ended up being my favorite. 
Chocolate peanut butter, chocolate, lemon, carrot, red velvet, vanilla

The lines can get long at the trucks, fortunately this one wasn't too bad, but people kept coming and the lines  began to grow. Andy, Cate and I decided to split up and each go to a different truck.
Andy headed to the BBQ truck.
He got a cheese-burger topped with BBQ pork and macaroni and cheese, called The Big Daddy. It was pretty good.






Cate headed for the Travelling Gourmet truck for pork lettuce wraps.  These were a hit!


I spotted this little orange truck from afar and knew I had to get in line. 
I have been wanting chicken and waffles for months. The menu was mouth watering and decided I needed the savory chicken and waffles with country gravy and the berry waffle with fruit and whipped cream.  I found my way to the back of the line.
That's me at the end holding my cupcakes.
I was very far away from the truck, but long lines were expected and I thought nothing of it.  I had time to meet new people in line next me including Nathan, retail manager for Track Shack, my favorite running store!  The line didn't seem to be moving much at all.  It ended up taking two and a half hours to get to the truck to order!  Darkness had settled in, some people in line gave up and the truck's generator died during this time. Luckily it was just out of gas and was easily fixed.
Hanging out in line with Andy and Cate
I was four people away from the window when they announced they had run out of gravy!  WHAT!? Disappointing for sure, but not a deal breaker. 


During the wait, my son Patrick called and when he found out how long I had been waiting in line for chicken and waffles, he didn't seem to share my passion for the food trucks because he told me they sell chicken and waffles at IHOP everyday.   


Definitely NOT the same as waffles from Melissa's Chicken and Waffles Food Truck in a mall parking lot - I am sure!!


Nearing 10pm we got our waffles,  the berry one came out first.  Mmmmm.  They had run out of silverware, but we made do.
Berry Waffle



The chicken one took a little longer, as each one was made to order!  We were so relieved to actually get it that we dug right in and didn't even take a photo.  Imagine the one above with yummy friend chicken pieces on it and that's what it looked like.  
The waffles were great and even though the wait was super long,  I would go to her truck again.  I was told this was her first night so I am sure service will improve.I loved the Food Truck experience and am looking forward to the next event.  I have 11 more trucks to try!!


Have you ever eaten from a Food Truck?  What did you get?