Race Promo Code! and holiday themed races

This morning I was invited to be a race ambassador for the Denver Winter Distance Series!

Series discription:

“It’s difficult to keep training through Colorado’s harsh winters, but the Winter Distance Series helps by motivating thousands of runners to keep moving. The series offers three events in Littleton. The first race is the Santa Stampede 5K/10K (formerly Rudolph’s Revenge 5K/10K) in December, followed by the Frosty’s Frozen 5 and 10 Miler in January, and then the Snowman Stampede 5 and 10 Miler in February. Each race offers a party-like atmosphere with flat and fast courses along the banks of the scenic South Platte River. Run a great race, and then toast your friend’s finishes with a cup of steaming coffee or hot chocolate. Register for the whole series, or just one or two races.”

…how great does that sound???

The series schedule:

Santa Stampede 5K & 10K
December 14th, 2013

Frosty’s Frozen Five & Ten
January 18th, 2014

Snowman Stampede 5 & 10
February 22nd, 2014

Seriously what better way is there to kick off the holiday season than with a race called the Santa Stampede?? I hope PRO Compression comes out with some elf themed or candy cane striped marathon socks for the season! I feel that as a race ambassador its my duty to dress up and fully enjoy embarrass myself for these races.

Best of all, being a race ambassador I have a promo code for everyone! Just use “WDS1” when you register to receive a discount! 

****don’t forget to enter my giveaway too! Ends this Friday 10/11****

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Do you race in the winter? 

Ever do a themed race? Did you dress up??

13.1 in 13 days

…I thought that was kinda catchy, cool and that I should totally take advantage for a quick post.

Would it be super lame if I got one of these after my half?

probably…
still going to do it.

hey, at least its not a tattoo.

13.1 thoughts about this craziness that’s happening in 13 days

1.  What did I get myself into…this is really happening in less than 2 weeks!
2.  Don’t worry – you’ve done all the training and you’ve definitely seen improvement…hey    you PR in a 10K  just yesterday!
3.  Wonder what I’ll wear…gotta look cute in those pictures for my blog!
4. How gross will my feet be afterwards?
5. What if I have to use the potty?
6. What will Jonah do while I run around Denver for 2 hours?
7. I hope it doesn’t snow…
8. I hope a band is playing Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” at the half way mark
9. PRO Compression marathon socks or Zensah calf sleeves???
10. I hope my participant shirt fits
11. I need to think of a cool way to display my race medals
12. hope I don’t step in goose poop while running through city park
13. finish with a smile and remember, so long as I finish, this race will be a PR :)

.1 don’t poop your pants at the start line

Yasso 400s and Race Week Thoughts

So I tweeted Bart Yasso today and now we’re basically BFFs as far as I’m concerned.

Our convo went like this:

me: “speed workout tonight – do Yasso 400s work for a #halfmarathon? @BartYasso @runnersworld”
mr. yasso: “@aimee_newman @runnersworld Yes I always did 20 X 400 with a 200 recovery. I did the 400s in my half marathon time.”
me: “@BartYasso @runnersworld thanks!! I can’t wait to try that out tonight…absolutely gorgeous day here in CO for some #Yasso400s”
mr. yasso: “@aimee_newman @runnersworld Let me know how it goes.”
me: “Beautiful evening on the track for some Yasso 400s #successful #halfmarathon #funfitgirl @runnersworld @BartYasso pic.twitter.com/s1L14pAl9m”
mr. yasso: “@aimee_newman Wow looks like a perfect night to hit the track @runnersworld”

see, clearly we are now running buddies for life and will be planning future runs together in beautiful places asap.

…back on planet earth, I ran some Yasso 400s this evening on the local track and it went really well. The basic theory behind this workout is you run a bunch of 400s at the time you expect to run your half marathon in. For example, if you were running a 1 hour and 50 minute half, you’d run a bunch of 1 min 50 seconds 400s. I’m sure there’s a more scientific runner’s theory behind this but this is how I understand it best and it works for me.

I also wore my shirt from my last 10K for the first time – I thought it was appropriately edgy for this workout

shirt reads “no fire, no mud, no color, no bubbles, no obstacles…just trails!”

yes I know I wasn’t on a trail, but it still seemed appropriate.

My next 10K is this Sunday. This is my last race before the big one. Pavement Runner wrote a really great post about race week thoughts (you can read it here). Right now I’m feeling anticipation and excitement for this 10K because I think I am much better prepared, both physically and mentally, and I’m hopeful that I’ll PR. At the same time I’m feeling nervous because I know this is my last short race before the big one (my first 13.1).

At the end of the day, I need to keep reminding myself that my real goal for my half is to “finish with a smile” and enjoy it – you only get one first half marathon.

Real time update on the BFF tweets:

mr. yasso: @aimee_newman My new BFF, keep on running and blogging #funfitgirl  

…that just made my day

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Ever done Yasso 400s or 800s?

What’s on your mind race week?

Best first half/full marathon memory?