And the winner is… 6:58 AM

  

Number 9 is Cara!  Who tweeted about this last week.

Cara said...

tweeted!

Cara, please email me at beeskneeslife@gmail.com.

Thanks everyone who entered.  Hope you are staying hydrated ;)

Monday Miscellaney 8:15 AM

Greetings blog readers!  We got back yesterday from a long weekend stay with my in-laws in the great state of North Dakota. I did some running, some golfing, and a whole lot of eating.  My mother in law is a great cook and baker, it’s so hard to resist her good food.

-First, if you haven’t done so already, enter my giveaway.  Today is the last day and I will pick a winner at 9pm central time tonight and announce it tomorrow.  Here is the post about how to enter to win a Cold Hydration bottle from Thermos.  Hurry!

-Be sure to check out Healthy Living Blogs.  It’s a great new site put together by Lindsey from Sound Eats.  It’s an amazing resource for all things healthy living and great posts that inspire. From HLB:

Healthy Living Blogs was designed to enhance the already tight-knit, supportive community of the healthy living blog world. An amazingly strong connection is formed when like-minded individuals come together to encourage one another, and that’s exactly what HLB is here to accomplish. Find new blogs that blow you away. Find new inspiration. Find people in your geographic area to meet and encourage and support you in real life.

Blogs are organized by location and by alphabet.  I have already found some fun and like minded new-to-me bloggers from Minnesota. 

-I received my delicious jar of Artisana Almond Butter over the weekend, too. You guys will love it.  It might just become my new favorite almond butter.  Check out my shop if you are interested. Remember that if you buy some by September 7th, Open Sky will donate $1 for every product sold to the Lunchbox Project. 

Work It Out 7:39 AM

This week included a nine miler and some other runs of varying distance since I was out of town.  I haven’t mapped them yet, so it’s a guess based on time.  I am definitely ready for the heat to move on, but not ready for summer to be over.  What, you can’t have it all?  No?

My weekly workout report for the week of August 23rd – 29th:

Monday, 23rd
walked around Valleyfair all day! Otherwise none

Tuesday, 24th
9 mile run, 1:21:50 – did an out and back, and the back was against the wind other wise I felt pretty good.

Wednesday, 25th
e-z 3 mile run, 3 mile walk

Thursday, 26th
49 min. run, I think it was about 5.5 miles and it was one of the most hilly routes I have ever ran!
-also played 9 holes of golf walking

Friday, 27th
3.5 mile run, 29:00

Saturday, 28th
3.5 mile run, 28:00 – better

Sunday, 29th
none, driving all day

My Lunchbox 9:28 AM

I mentioned on Monday how Mr.BKL and I brought a cooler for our lunch at Valleyfair to save a little dough and eat healthier.  And with back to school around the corner (or maybe it has already started where you are) I always get nostalgic for the days of buying school supplies.  I remember having a few different actual lunchboxes, Rainbow Brite if I remember right (Mom? Verification?),  but then had those big insulated bags and boxes shortly thereafter.  The Saint that is known as my Mom was always having to buy me new ones because I always lost them.  Where did they go?  Did I throw them away? 

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Either way, I know school lunch wasn’t my favorite.  Sure there were days when I would get “hot lunch” – the days when it was pizza or something else that wasn’t nutritious. I remember marking the days on the lunch calendar when I wanted cold lunch.

When we got older, there were more choices of course. Usually those choices weren’t good for us, either.  It sounds like in high schools today fast food is available everyday, at least some around here. Sure keeps the kids happy, but what is it doing to their bodies? 

Somehow, someway, I ate pretty decent as a teen. (see above for Saintly mother reference) And it wasn’t that I was forced to eat a certain way, I just chose to on my own.  My friends always said they loved coming to my house because we always had the best snacks and sodas, but I don’t remember eating much of them.  I also didn’t drink soda from about 7th grade until sophomore year of college because I had a health issue that seemed to go away after I stopped drinking tons of Mountain Dew and Coke.

Not saying I was the most awesomest teenager to ever live – because I wasn’t.  Somehow I was able to navigate the school lunch system with relative success.  But what about for kids today?  The fact that there are even shows on TV like Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution says a lot. People are trying to make changes.  Including The Lunchbox.  A project founded by Chef Ann Cooper to help empower schools to provide healthy food for children.

From August 23rd to September 7th, the Open Sky Project is getting involved, too.  They are going to donate $1 to The Lunchbox for every one of 3 chosen products sold. One of them happens to be Artisana Raw Organic Almond Butter.  You can help too, by buying a jar now in my store.  I happen to love almond butter – even more so then peanut butter.  I know, I know how can that be?  If you haven't tried almond butter then you won’t know what I mean until you do.  It’s a staple around here.  I use it as a mix in for my oatmeal and for a coating on those parsnip fries.  Click below to get some for yourself and help out a good cause.

Time to Hydrate! 8:22 AM

Over the past 3 years or so, I started drinking a lot of water.  I think it had something to do with boredom at work, or at least giving me something do do.  It started gradually.  I was drinking a lot of diet soda before this and decided to cut back a little.  I switched to coffee in the mornings and had just one diet coke a day.  Eventually I got tired of it and just no longer had a taste for it.  Now, I don’t drink pop at all and stick to water and coffee.  It’s not that I never have diet soda, if I feel like it I will have one but I don’t have a habit of it anymore.  I figure on average I drink about a gallon of water a day in the summer.  I am just plain thirsty!  Making sure you are hydrated is so important especially if you are active at all.  There is no right amount for everyone, and the whole 8 glasses a day thing isn’t necessarily true for everyone.  But, you should be paying attention to your body and if you sweat a lot, make sure you are replacing those fluids.

I usually drink out of a couple different water bottles at home.  I will admit it, we do have plastic bottled water for when we go on the road or are out and about.  It’s a lot easier to tuck a smaller plastic bottle in my purse then my 32 oz behemoth I usually have with me.  I always recycle though, don’t worry.

I think using a tap water filter system (if you don’t like the taste of your municipal/well water that is) and filling an appropriate bottle is the best thing you can do.  Need a bottle that is going to keep your water cold on these hot days?  You are in luck! 

I am giving away one Cold Hydration bottle from Thermos!  These bottles keep your beverages cold for up to 12 hours, are made from BPA free materials with no coatings or linings, easy open top, and have a great overall design. Learn more about Thermos Cold Matters, here.

If you want to win, here is what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment here telling me how you stay hydrated.
2. Tweet about this giveaway using @ThermosBrand and leave a comment telling me you did so.
3. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment telling me you did so.

I will announce a winner on Monday, August 30th.  Sorry international friends, U.S. residents only.

And, there is another way you can win and get involved.

From Thermos:
On August 26 at 8pm ET/7pm CT, we will be hosting a Cold Matters Twitter party to celebrate and introduce you to our new series of Cold Matters Coaches.  The Coaches are a group of renowned fitness, lifestyle and nutrition experts that will share their tips and advice on how to stay healthy and hydrated, as well as more information on all of the benefits of cold hydration.  The Thermos Cold Matters Coaches include celebrity fitness trainer, Ashley Borden (@ashleyborden), fitness blogger and author Caitlin Boyle (@CaitlinHTP) and registered dietitian, Joanne Larson (@askthedietitian).

Join the party on Thursday with @ThermosBrand using the #ThermosCold hashtag and participate in the discussion to be entered to win some of their newest hydration products.

Monday Musings 4:26 PM

Hi everyone!  Hope you had a great weekend. 

-We just got back from a day at Valleyfair.  My husband who is a child at heart, wanted to go today for his birthday.  We got some awesomely cheap tickets from my brother in law and we packed our own cooler for lunch.  Saving money and being healthy at the same time!  I don’t know if vanilla Chobani has ever tasted better then on a hot day like today. We spent some time in the water park, too.  It was packed.  No surprise on such a hot day like today.  The roller coasters are my favorite. I go on all the rides, do you?

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-Just because it’s never happened to me, I have to brag about my big winnings over the weekend.  The birthday boy also likes to gamble occasionally, so we made our way down to Canterbury Park – the race track.  We don’t bed a lot - $1 to $2 a race - but its still fun and admission is free this year.  This gal won $80 on a $2 bet!  I couldn’t believe it.  I bought the birthday boy a beer to celebrate.

-Make sure you check out the Shop tab at the top of the page.  I organized it so that all the products I have through Open Sky will be on one page.  There will be more and more additions coming, so if you happen to miss a post about a new product, just check in there at any time.  I will make sure you guys know about any discounts or specials right away.  There are some nice items at Open Sky (dslr cameras, Garmins, etc) that when using the discounts or promotions, might be your cheapest option if you are in the market. 

-And the most exciting news of all is for you….a giveaway is coming!  A healthy giveaway no less. Check back here tomorrow to see all the details. 

Happy Monday! (My favorite oxymoron of all.)

Work It Out 4:08 PM

Highlights of the week included a nice 8 miler on Monday.  It was the nice mid 70’s temps that powered me along.  I felt like I had a lot left in my tank.  Pretty much one of those runs where the starts aligned.  Now I am wishing I would have ran faster!  I will save it for my race.  Don’t worry, I paid the price for that run with a horrible 6 miler on Friday.  It was downright miserable.  Just goes to show they can’t all be good ones. 

My weekly workout report for the week of August 16th – 22nd:

Monday, 16th
8 mile run, 1:11

Tuesday, 17th
OH squat
6 x 45
2 x 6 x 55
goblet squat
3 x 8 x 40
bench press
2 x 6 x 75
8 x 65
one arm cable row
3 x 8 x 40
face pulls
2 x 10 x 60
planks
3 x 45 sec I think

-3 mile tempo run, 2 miles tempo

Wednesday, 18th
6 mile run

Thursday, 19th
Romanian deadlift
3 x 8 x 95
Barbell hip thrusters
4 x 10 x 85
one arm dumbbell shoulder press
3 x 8 x 20
inverted row, Smith machine, feet on bench
3 x 6
anti rotation cable press (Pallof press)
3 x 8 x 60
reverse cable woodchop
2 x 10 x 40
cable pull throughs
2 x 10 x 50

-2mile run, 1 mile fast
-1 hour bike ride with Mr. BKL

Friday, 20th
6 mile run

Sunday, 22nd
mini-brick
3 mile bike, 3 mile run, 3 mile bike