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It’s the first weekend of the month, and that means it’s time to pour yourself a cup of your favorite morning brew and sit down for a chat! I’m having mine with two tablespoons of collagen hydrolysate from Great Lakes Gelatin, as I have been doing every morning since December of 2018. I really do think it gives me that extra boost of turtle power! You can check out their products using this link.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I’m more than a little obsessed with the Clif Family Winery! You can read my previous post about them here. Since writing that post, the Napa Valley Marathon (which they are one of the sponsors of) has taken place. Why not start planning a racecation in wine country for next year? You can join the winery’s Club Stride, where you can purchase their CLUB STRIDE runner’s kit as part of your membership and receive an exclusive invitation to the annual Napa Valley Marathon and other local Bay area races throughout the year. And as a wine club member, four times per year you will receive a shipment including six bottles of their limited production wines and a case of Clif Bars.
Over coffee I would tell you I wasn’t particularly upset over the cancellation of the Tokyo Marathon for the general entrants. Yes, I would have earned my fifth star this year and yes, I was really looking forward to an amazing trip. But fortunately, I was able to cancel all of my travel plans with zero penalty and zero money lost, which I’m sure softened the blow. As it turns out, it was perfect running weather, as opposed to what runners experienced last year. Here’s hoping for an even better trip and even better weather in 2021!
If we were having coffee I would tell you in preparation for Tokyo, I hopped on the workout train and would have been in pretty good shape for race day. I even kept up with Marcia’s February plank challenge! I’ve been keeping up with the momentum and I hope to continue once my crazy-busy travel schedule starts up again. Time will tell…
As I pour another cup, I’m happy to share I’ve been named a BibRave Pro as well as a SPIBelt Ambassador for the third year in a row. Through both I’ve met some amazing people and have been able to try out some awesome products and races. You can read and write your own race reviews at www.bibrave.com, and be sure to check out the awesome products at www.spibelt.com and get 10% off of your purchase using code TEAMSPI!
And last, over my final sips, I would tell you I want to sign up for All. The. Races. Just check out my ever-growing race calendar below! Why not join me for a race or two? You can find discounts for these and many other races and products on my discount page. Be sure to check them out, and share the codes with your friends!
What would you share with me over coffee? Why not pour yourself a cup of Joe and tell me what’s going on in your neck of the woods?
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On my 2020 Race Calendar:
January 9 – 12, 2020: Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge, Orlando, FL
March 1, 2020: Tokyo Marathon
March 15, 2020: Amita Health St. Paddy’s Day Half Marathon, Bolingbrook, IL
May 23, 2020: Soldier Field 10 Miler, Chicago, IL
June 21, 2020: Wonder Woman 10K, Chicago, IL
July 12, 2020: Across the Bay 12K, San Francisco, CA
September 12, 2020: Run Mag Mile, Chicago, IL
October 4, 2020: Bucktown 5K, Chicago, IL
October 11, 2020: Chicago Marathon
I’m linking up with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date and with Meranda and Lacey for the Friday Five! Why not pour yourself a cup of Joe and tell me what’s going on in your neck of the woods?
My daughter is looking for jobs in Chicago now so I may be able to come join you for one of those Chicago races soon! Sorry about Tokyo being cancelled looks like you really have been training hard the last few months. You have a great calendar of events coming up! Thanks for joining for coffee!
Oh, that would be great! Good luck to her in her career endeavors! I’m trying to keep up with the training but you know me…
That is a shame about Tokyo but I’m sure it worked out for the best. I’m still not sure why they went ahead and still let the elites run? Are they automatically transferring all Tokyo marathon entrants to 2021? I have some of that collagen stuff and I haven’t used it in years/ I keep meaning to though. I wonder if it is still good? -M
I think the main concern was looking ahead to the summer Olympics and trying to prevent anything worse from happening. I would use the collagen – I’m always using things past the ‘best by’ dates in they are fine!
That’s great that you didn’t lose any money on Tokyo being cancelled.
I still have yet to check out the Clif Family Winery. The whole concept sounds great.
I ran Napa to Sonoma a couple years back and it was so hot that I had a headache the entire time. It kind of turned me off on Napa running.
That’s a bummer about your N2S experience! I ran it four years in a row (2016 – 2019) and never experienced extreme heat. I won’t be able to run it this year due to scheduling, but I love the race!
I was so bummed for you about the Tokyo Marathon 🙁 Even though it was the best decision, I am sure that it still hurts, but luckily you will get to run it next year!
It was definitely a bummer, but at least we can defer to next year. I wonder if they will even do a lottery at all since so many people will be doing the deferral.
Great to hear you didn’t lose money with canceling your trip. It is somewhat disappointing but best for everyone’s health. Looks like you have an awesome line up of races for this year!
Yes, we were very fortunate about the money. It seems some people were out thousands of dollars. I will definitely be booking with the same airline and hotel chains next year!
Glad you were able to cancel your Tokyo plans without penalty. I ^just^ booked a trip to Europe in May. I ^shoudl^ be able to go, but my husband may not be able to join me as we’ve planned (his work has more strict policies). I’m not going to worry about until April.
Exactly. It’s not like you can do anything to change things. Luckily, at this point I think most travel arrangements can be cancelled without penalty.
Tokyo was a bummer, but I certainly support why it had to happen. Glad to see the planking has continued 😉
I also support the decision to cancel. I’m sure they have much more information and obviously more stake in it than we do. I’m sure the plank challenge was no challenge for you!
I’m glad you were able to roll with the Tokyo curveball and hooray for not losing any $$. Yay for sticking with the plank challenge! I can definitely tell a difference in core strength when I am consistent with them.
It was disappointing, but not upsetting. Luckily they will defer us all to next year. And now I have an additional year of planking to help prepare!
I’m glad Tokyo wasn’t too big of a disappointment for you. These are very strange times 🙁
Congratulations on all your ambassadorships!
I, too, want to sign up for all the races, but I can’t (or shouldn’t) until I’m just a wee bit further along.
It’s so great to see you getting better over time! You’ll get there!
You have such a great attitude toward the closing of the Tokyo Marathon to non-elites. I’m sure not losing a ton of money did help soften the blow, but still, I’m sure I would have been upset. Good for you! Have a great racing season, Linda!
Thanks, Debbie! Same to you!
You have the best attitude–man, send me some of that roll with it juju. I looked at your race list and our paths will not cross. How can that be? I sure hope they don’t cancel any races here. I’m worried about the Shamrock Shuffle.
I didn’t sign up for the Shamrock Shuffle this year because I will be out of town. I haven’t heard any buzz about it being cancelled. Too much Henny Penny going on right now.
I’m sorry to hear about the Tokyo marathon, but glad to hear that there was no penalty or money lost! Fingers crossed for you for next year! I should get in on a plank challenge! It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to work out. :[
I can’t get too upset by it. At least they deferred us to next year! The plank challenge was great, but I admittedly have not been keeping up since the month ended!