A Happy Little Giveaway: Nuun

Nuun (it's pronounced "noon")

A few things first...
1. I thought it was time for a giveaway.
2. I've been drinking a lot of Nuun lately.
3. I must have had a perfectly hydrated brain yesterday when it occurred to me that I should give away some Nuun.

So... what is the stuff? From the Nuun website:
Nuun Active Hydration is a line of electrolyte enhanced drink tablets designed to keep you optimally hydrated wherever your active lifestyle and athletic endeavors take you. You sweat, Nuun replenishes. Packed with electrolytes, light flavor, no sugars or carbs, and portable, Nuun Active Hydration is the perfect sports drink. The electrolytes found in Nuun will help alleviate cramps, help muscles function, communicate and burn energy efficiently.

Why do I drink it?
Water is my favorite way to hydrate, but often it's not enough, especially after a run when I can feel the salt drying on my face. I need to replace the salt in my body, and a salt lick doesn't sound too appealing. There are sport drinks I could consume, but they are so high in sugar and calories that they negate the calories I just ran to burn. (And those calories are usually being banked for something other than fruit punch.) Each Nuun tablet contains electrolytes – sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. Nuun is refreshing, not too much flavor, and barely sweet. Plus, it's easy. Drop a tablet in a bottle of water and a minute later...voilá...lemonade (or tropical, orange, grape, cola...the flavor options go on...) There’s no sugar in Nuun, no corn syrup, and no artificial colors or flavors. (The traditional Nuun does contain sorbitol, a naturally occurring sugar alcohol, the other varieties contain stevia.)

Want to try some for yourself?
I'll send one of you a four pack of Nuun. With 12 tablets in each tube, you can hydrate yourself and your family 48 times. To enter, simply tell me what your favorite beverage is. Kyle's answer would be Founders Centennial IPA. I do love to chug H2O all day, but a strong margarita is a close second.

I'll draw a winner Monday afternoon.

What you'll win: 2 Tropical, 1 Orange and 1 Kona Cola flavored Nuun

Josie's a "Firework"

I've cut the 3 minute + song and performance to just over sixty seconds. Although I'm sure everyone would love to watch Josie's self-choreographed dance to Katy Perry's Firework, I wouldn't want to spoil the entire thing for you, just in case you are lucky enough to watch it live someday. Enjoy!

Mother runners

A few months ago, the ladies at Another Mother Runner challenged mother runners to compete in a "Virtual" 5K on Mother's Day. Those that completed the training (or continued their current training plan) and ran would receive a "BAMR" decal. All you had to do was run on Mother's Day and send them a photo of you and the race bib.

So...that's what I did.

(Photos from yesterday's AMR slide show)

And so did Nicole...

Tuesday's training report

 

Mid-trail

The top of my second trail

Last week's plan:
MONDAY:  rest done
TUESDAY: 3 easy miles done
WEDNESDAY: 1 hour of strength work done + 3 easy miles
THURSDAY: 4 mile tempo run done
FRIDAY: strength work skipped
SATURDAY: 7 mile trail run ran 8 instead on Sunday
SUNDAY: 3 easy miles ran these Wednesday 
Goal: 17 miles | Actual: 18 miles

This week's plan:
MONDAY:  rest
TUESDAY: strength work
WEDNESDAY: 5 mile tempo run
THURSDAY: 3 easy + strength work
FRIDAY: strength work
SATURDAY: 8 mile trail run
SUNDAY: 3 easy miles
Goal: 19 miles

Weekend Highlights

Neil and Josie in front of the Bald Eagles

Petting the Star Fish

We enjoyed a fun (yet really cold) trip to the zoo Friday. Josie and I rode with my cousin Beth and her son, Neil. Even though the weather wasn't ideal, the company was!

Ellie's line: "You're king of the Universe!"

Friday was also Grandparents' Day at school. Grandpa and Grandma Mox drove over to spend the day with us. My mom also made it to the luncheon and performance of "Malice in the Palace". Kyle, Josie and I were able to watch the evening show.

Saturday brought a cold morning soccer game followed by a playdate for both of the girls. While Ellie and Josie were with their friends, Kyle and I made quick trip to the grocery store. On the drive home we drove through....snow. In May. Insane.

Saturday afternoon my friend Nicole stopped by for an hour or so with her two kids. The grown ups visited while the kids played outside for a while – in winter coats, hats and mittens. A few hours later, our friends, the Houttemans, stopped over on their way home from Ludington. I felt very spoiled by visits from some of my favorite people – two women that I don't get to see often enough.

Bringing me a fresh cup of coffee

Sunday morning I was surprised with breakfast in bed, as well as a couple of lovely hand-made Mother's Day gifts. We spent our morning lounging around together, I went for a trail run after lunch, and before dinner we drove over to see my mom for an hour or so.

Who is having more fun – Kyle or Eleanor?

The "grand finale" of our weekend, was watching Kyle give the girls rides on his Honda CT70 (fresh out of retirement in our basement). While our dinner smoked away on the grill, and I sat bundled up, soaking up the sun, Ellie and Josie took turns laughing and yelling as they made laps around the house with their father. It was an absolute perfect way to end my Mother's Day weekend!

Sunday photos

Enjoying a dust bath in the backyard.

Want one?

I'm sure they'd make room for one more.

Life's a zoo

Today I'll be chaperoning Josephine's last preschool field trip – to John Ball Zoo. It seems as though a trip to the zoo is an annual event (see here... here...here...and here). I know that one of these days a trip to the zoo with one, or both, of my girls won't be as exciting in their eyes. I'm going to enjoy my day and soak in every moment. I'll have lots of pictures tomorrow, I'm sure!

Should I be worried?

While uploading a picture of our completed bench (thanks, Dad!) to Facebook, my app suggested "tags" for those in the picture. I swear it was a virgin Aloe-Cooler...

Hen-pecked and hog-tied

Wynonna, after a trying afternoon and evening.

Sunday evening we learned the meaning of the term "hen-pecked". After dinner, and while getting the girls to bed, I heard the hens making all kinds of noise in the coop. I went out, changed their water and checked their food. A few minutes later I watched as one of the "momma" hens chased our Wyandotte named Wynonna around the hen house. She was pecking and squawking as Wynonna eventually escaped to the shaded area underneath. This continued on for a while. I went back outside, and tried to coax Wynonna out from under the house. I also fed them scratch grains thinking that perhaps they were bored. I've heard and read that if hens get restless they'll pick on each other.

After the girls were in bed, Kyle and I sat on the deck for a few minutes enjoying the quiet. The silence was broken after a few minutes by more ruckus from the chicken coop. I'd had enough. Even though we try to keep the hens in the coop, I decided to let them out to roam around the yard for a while. They've never acted like this towards each other before and maybe a change of scenery would help.

When I opened the door, four of our ladies ran out immediately. Wynonna was making her way out from under the hen house when one of the momma's jumped on her and started pulling her feathers. I quickly shooed her off and picked up my cowering hen. By this time I knew something was wrong with her. When I settled her into my arms and reached down to pull up her legs I discovered the problem. There was a string (possibly from the feed bag?) wrapped around both of her claws – basically hog-tying her. While I held her, Kyle clipped the strings, freeing her poor little legs.

After settling her in the grass, we watched as she tentatively lifted one leg high, then the other, shaking the circulation back into her feet. Within a few minutes she was back to normal, but first she stopped at the water fountain for a few long sips.

Even though I feel bad that she spent the afternoon with her feet tangled, I'm glad it wasn't something more serious. Moral of the story? Don't show any weakness around our hens. They'll kick your feathers!