Jodi’s Race: A NTTC Guide to Flair

Once you find a race you love and do every year, you tend to try to outdo whatever you did the year before… and make it an even more fabulous event than the year before.

After this year’s Team Bev participation at Jodi’s Race for Awareness, we’re going to REALLY have to bring it to top our team’s performance this year.  Click here to read the full race recap, if you missed it earlier in the week.

Ladies in tutus, babies in tutus, dogs dressed in costume… we really brought our flair to the table this year!  So, how did I pull together my outfit for race day?  Well, I thought I’d use today’s post to share with you what I wore.  To me, it’s simply accessorizing, which is one of my favorite past times.  So, give me a theme, and I get all into it!

Truly, I think it was my favorite of race day costumes!  I’ve only done about 8 5Ks in my life, and three of them have been with Jodi’s… still, I claim this as my best (until next year, of course!)

Let’s see what we’ve got here…

Sparkly Teal Bic Band Headband - I actually picked these up last year for a group of us to wear, and brought it back for a repeat performance…

I was introduced to Bic Bands several years back by Julie, and since then I’ve been loving the sparkly minnie bands.  I picked the peacock band, for an obvious reason (because it’s teal) and also because they hold back my fine, flyaway hair very well and don’t budge along the way. Check them out!

Teal Sports Bra - Once you start supporting a cause, the color for the event starts to show up everywhere.  By everywhere, I really mean everywhere at TARGET!  Yep, a nice percentage of my monthly income goes to Target.  They just really have everything a girl needs!  So, I spotted this C9 by Champion sports bra months back, and bought it just for fun.  It looked perfect peeking out of my black tank for another pop of teal!

Athleta Gear – Oh, how I adore Athleta.  The fact that Jodi’s Race is sponsored by this amazing brand just makes me love the race even more!!!

And… I just had to wear their gear on race day to show my support!  I picked the Chela Organic Cotton Capri, which are truly the most delicious capris I own.  Comfortable, well-made and so incredibly cozy.  Try them!

I also took the opportunity to wear a few Athleta “chi” tattoos that were given out on race day.  Wearing their brand and their symbol of their clothing that is “made for women, by women” is something I was honored to do, and I wore one chi on each shoulder.

Nike Arm Warmers – This was definitely a last minute addition.  When the weather report showed that it was going to be in the 50s on Saturday morning, I knew that I would freeze my tutu’ed butt off if I didn’t wear more than I had planned initially.  I found these crazy Nike arm warmers at Sports Authority the night before the race on clearance.  They were thin and lightweight and perfect for the breezy morning.  I’ll definitely wear them again!

Fitbit Flex - I also debuted my Fitbit Flex at the race.  A LONG TIME Fitbit fanatic and product ambassador for the brand, I get VERY excited when I have a chance to try out a new fitness tracker… and this one from Fitbit has outdone itself!

It’s a bracelet-style tracker that syncs wirelessly to your handset, and calculates your steps, miles traveled, flights of stairs completed, and even measures your sleeping patterns.  To say I LOVE this Fitbit Flex is an understatement, and I’ll tell you more about it in upcoming weeks as I test it out more.  So far, I’m in LOVE!

In the meantime, click here to read more about the Flex and to order your own!

Teal Asics – I actually found these during an online sale during the year for just $22!!!  Score!  I broke them out for the race, of course… they’re kind of my Team Bev Asics!

That Fabulous Tutu!!!

Kate (of Team Bev fame) actually came up with the idea for us to wear tutus this year and was our tutu expert by virtue of making them before for her gorgeous girls.  Wearing a tutu was a LOT more fun than I thought it would be.  Perhaps I was channeling my inner child who took dance lessons for many years, but it made me want to skip, run, and made me feel pretty!

To get these tutus assembled, we did what any fierce team does…. we got together for a tutu making party!

Supplies were very simple per tutu:  Two rolls of 6″ tulle  (teal and black, or whatever color you choose), enough 1″ elastic to fit around your waist, a pair of scissors, and a needle and thread to sew your elastic into a loop.  A measuring tape also came in handy

We ordered quite a bit of tulle to outfit our team, as you can imagine.  We ordered online from Tulle Source to make sure we got the right color and the 6″ tulle strips.

1.  Sew your elastic into a loop, making it about 2 inches larger than your waist.

2.  Cut your tulle into 28″ strips.

3.  Begin wrapping the tulle around the elastic, like such.  Alternate the colors, as you see fit, or create a solid tutu – - It’s totally up to you!

That’s really all you have to do to get your tutu together, unless you feel like adding a little sparkle… which I felt like doing the night before.  I headed to Hobby Lobby and picked up some rhinestones and some special jewelry glue (I had no idea this existed!)

I chose two different sizes and decided to just randomly apply them to the tulle.  To keep myself from completely gluing my fingers together, I used tweezers to hold the jewels, dipped them in the glue and then attached them to the tulle.  Easy peasy!

Just a little glimmer and glitz… I loved the final look!

If you’re interested in making your own tutu, here is a YouTube video that shows how to make one much better than I could describe.  They’re SUPER SIMPLE… and definitely worth trying!

And that wraps up my 2013 Team Bev Flair… I can’t wait to pull the 2014 look together and to find new additions throughout the year!

How do you spice up your race day outfit with FLAIR?  Any recommendations for Team Bev 2014?

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WOW: Jodi’s Race for Awareness 2012

The 5K….. It happened!  After months and months of preparation and even making it one of my new year’s resolutions, it’s now completely over.  After all this time working up to the race, you might have thought that I spent the night before resting and putting out my clothes so I was all ready to go in the morning.

Do you know me?  Do you even read this blog?

If you do, you KNOW I didn’t do that.  Somehow, I ended up having a delicious Asian dinner with a friend and two glasses of wine!  Two is my maximum on a Friday night after a long week of work.  And two is usually just enough for me to come home and go directly to bed (without collecting $200 dollars.)  I’m a total lightweight, and wine makes me sleepy.

Good news is that I was in bed by about 10pm; the bad news was that I didn’t really have anything ready for the race the next morning… including my mind.

Just the same, when that alarm went off at 5:30am, I popped out of bed and began the process of getting ready.  This race was about achieving a goal.  This race was about my friend Bev.  This race… well, it was scaring the crap out of me.

In fact, I was in a rush to get out the door.  As I was driving down the interstate, I realized that I had forgotten deodorant??  On a day when I was about to run/walk more than 3 miles.  Really?  In my defense, I had waited to put it on last… because our team shirts were black and the last thing I wanted was a crazy white smear.  Little did I know I’d walked out of the house without any deo.  Classic KG.

Thank goodness there was a gas station or two on the way to the park.  At 6:30am, there’s just not many other options, and frankly… you don’t get to choose your scent that early in the morning.  As punishment for the wine indulgence the night before, I got to smell like baby powder on Saturday morning.  Lovely.

Stinky Baby Powder Scented Secret from Conoco

When I got to the park, this was one of the first things I saw…

How gorgeous is City Park in Denver?

What a beautiful serene backdrop for this fantastic walk!  Also, I could see in the distance that there were a LOT of tents that had been put up for the event.  This, I loved.  This is just the 3rd year that Jodi’s Race has been in place, so to see it grow exponentially is exciting.  I can’t wait to see it next year!

I know I’ve mentioned the details before, but I’ll do it again for those of you who are new to NTTC.  Jodi’s Race for Awareness is a 5K Run/Walk that supports the education and elimination of Ovarian Cancer.  For the 2nd year, we walk/run for my friend Bev who won the fight with ovarian cancer last year.

As I got closer to the event registration booths and vendor booths, I quickly found that fabulous Team Bev (or at least those who had assembled under our cool tent.)

Isn't that a great looking team?

Let me brag on Team Bev for just a minute… 

1)  Our team had 38 members.  Yes, you heard me right… THIRTY-EIGHT!  That’s HUGE!

2)  Team Bev raised more than $1400 for Ovarian Cancer education and awareness.

3)  Our fearless team leader Bev was going through chemo last year during the race, but RAN THE ENTIRE thing this year.  How freaking inspiring is that??

Once a sorority girl, always a sorority girl

Now, we spent a little bit of time taking pics and visiting before the race, but very quickly the announcer began to lure us over to the starting line.  And THIS is when I started to get nervous.  I was about to run a race??  Holy crap!

We assembled ourselves near the starting line and waited for the action to begin.  Interestingly, just about everyone that was doing the race was suddenly going to try to run it.  IMPRESSIVE!

Yeah, that's a nervous smile on yours truly

As the race began, I had a lot of energy and was just excited to get things going!  I even suggested we conduct the 5K in a skip… but it didn’t really seem to catch on.  Alas, we started to pound the pavement.

Here we go...

Now, the majority of my training had been indoors via treadmill, so the ground definitely was a change.  Just the same, I ran with Bev and we talked the majority of the time.  We talked about the weather, about how we should do cooler white shirts next year, about how last year walking the 1-mile was about all I had in me… and we talked about my crazy breathing.

I am not a good breather.  I wonder if it’s because I’m a Colorado transplant (although I’ve been here 5 years) that hasn’t quite acclimated.  I also wonder if it’s punishment for smoking for 10 years (even though I’m more than 8 years quit.)  Regardless, all I know… if I’m running, my breathing kicks my butt.

Not too long after we started, I went to a very fast walk.  When I say a very fast walk… Bev and others were running at the same pace.  My little legs were WORKING it.  They were swinging as fast as they could to keep up and to finish this race with pride.

#499 was walking this thing with a vengeance!

After walking and running what seemed like 5K, we arrived at the 1-mile marker.  I seriously can’t even believe how long that 1st mile was.  On the treadmill when I’m watching Khloe and Lamar or Top Chef it seems to go by so much quicker.  Bizarre…

Just the same, we powered through mile 1 and mile 2, and finally reached mile 3.  Did I mention that Bev (of Team Bev fame) didn’t stop running for one minute??  She mentioned to me on the trek that her groin was killing her, but she refused to stop.  Along the race path, her family and friends had spread out to cheer her on (LOVED this) and she didn’t even stop as she gave hugs and received that moral support.

Seriously, she’s definitely a rockstar.  So incredibly impressive

As we turned the corner at mile 2.5, we saw our friend Mel coming back into the race to finish up the run with Bev.  I mentioned Mel a few days ago… she’s training for an ironman, and is one of my favorites!

We agreed that when I got to the 3-mile marker, I would begin running again.  So, that’s exactly what I did… I had a big start, a mediocre middle, and a HUGE finish.  It felt great to finish up the race in a run again.  Running underneath a finish sign is definitely something I hadn’t done since grade school.

In the end, I felt good about it all.  In the end, the race was about friends and about achieving a personal goal.  I’m going to put a check mark next to the box, even if I didn’t end up running the whole thing.  I tried something new that I never thought I could do, and it turns out I have a preference.  I prefer to walk than run.  So, I’m going to walk…

I’m going to walk many more miles.  I’m going to walk fast and I’m still going to spend time on that treadmill.  I may never be a runner, but I’ll never be that girl that chooses the one-mile over the 5K (unless it’s in the 40s and raining.)

Our fabulous and cancer-free captain!

I’m going to walk more 5Ks this year, and I’m going to get out there and walk with my friends next year for this great cause.  Together, we raised $1400 for Ovarian Cancer Awareness, and we honored our friend in a way that means so much.  Overall, I’d say it was a phenomenal day.

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