Guess what I got to race in??

No no, no cool Ironman or anything like that, just a 5k, but that's not the super cool part.  The race was fun and all, I got to run at my old high school, but I got to race IN the Altra Intuition road shoe!!  These aren't available to the public yet, but will be soon!  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but my husband is 1 of 3 co-founders of Altra Running, a high energy innovative thinking company creating new and unique and awesome running shoes!
There are plenty of running shoe manufacturers you might say, why one more, how are they any different?  Their concept lies in 4 key things

• Foot shaped design - last time I checked my feet and toes weren't pointed in the middle like most running shoes.  Altra's shoes are rounded toes, wide in the toe box allowing the toes to spread out while running.  Try running barefoot on a soft surface sometime, or heck just stand barefoot on the ground.  Your toes will naturally spread out a little.  Altra's shoes make that possible, allowing you a bigger more powerful platform (your wide toes) to push off from.
• Zero drop - meaning zero hight deviation between the front of the shoe and the back, no chunky heel.  It does not mean NO material/cushion (the term cushion is very misused/misunderstood) under your foot, it simply means a flat natural surface to work off of.  No one's heel is raised off the ground when barefoot.  A large heel grabs the ground first, and a heel strike equals more impact and less efficient running, you're basically putting the brakes on.  You should try running in these, or just barefoot, it is so much easier to land on your mid foot underneath you, it's lovely
• Gender specific shoes - Here's my favorite term ever - 'Pink it and shrink it'.  That's what every other running shoe does for their women's line.  Add some pink and make the shoe narrower.  Last time I checked my feet were not the same shape as my husbands.  Women's feet are anatomically different in their bone structure.  So these guys at Altra made a true female specific last (or model for what the sole of the shoe is made from).  I can attest it really is different, and great!
• Learn To Run Initiative - Altra has a motto: Learn to Run, Live to Run, Love to Run.  Part of that is running with good form.  Not only will it make you faster and reduce your chances at injury, but it will make running more enjoyable!  So many people start and stop or never even start running because they don't understand how, it doesn't feel good, it's hard, I can't run.  Not true!  With some form guidance and the knowledge that you have to start out slowly, anyone can run if they want to.  You can read more about it here.  There are 4 simple steps to good form, it's worth your time.  Altra isn't just in this to sell shoes, their mission is to improve your running experience.

So anyway, the shoes are set to release to specialty running stores (contact yours and tell them you want Altra!) and online probably too, by April 1st (maybe Feb/March for the road shoe, Instinct and Intuition), but the boys just got back from the biggest running retailer expo in the country, The Running Event, in Austin, TX this week, and of course they needed demo shoes to show to the world.  Well after being rushed from the factory overseas, a couple came home with us and I get to wear the Intuition around for a while.  Yay!  It's been a long hard road getting this far so it's great to hold the real thing in your hand.  And it's almost time for everyone else to be able to too!

One quick note I thought I'd make, I mentioned barefoot running a lot in the 4 points above.  When people say barefoot running, they don't usually mean truly bare feet.  Yes some people do run many miles that way, and no they aren't tribal.  Barefoot Running usually means natural running by wearing minimalist shoes or simply running barefoot some of the time.  The misconception starts when people think they're supposed to throw their shoes away and never use them again.  Well yeah, that might make some people question the validity and safety of this barefoot movement going on.  This isn't the case though!  Barefoot running is meant as a drill, a strength tool, strength training for your feet if you will.  By taking your shoes off once a week and running on a soft surface for 30seconds-30 minutes you will improve your running.  Your feet will get stronger, joints more resistant to injury, and you'll teach your body better form.  It's much harder to reach way out in front of you and heel strike barefoot.  Most people land closer under their body and take faster shorter strides when barefoot.  So for the beginner barefooter, seriously, start at 30 seconds one day a week and don't run fast, just a easy to doable pace.  The next week add 30 seconds or a minute working your way up to maybe a mile or two after several weeks.  That's a great distance, you don't really need to go past it.  You must start gradually though as our feet are very babied and weakened by traditional shoes.  Those arch supports?  A crutch for most people.  Barefoot running will strengthen your arches.  I am not a wing nut barefoot proponent.  I'm a proponent for strong feet and joints and proper form, and incorporating a few minutes of running barefoot on a soft surface will help you achieve that.

Checking out the shoes pre-race  :)

And just like barefoot running, when the Altra Running shoes do come out, you'll start gradually with them, and there will be guidelines in the box telling you that.  Most shoes don't expect as much out of your feet or legs, and the positive change in form that will happen with a zero drop shoe will take time for your muscles to adjust to.  I've been running in modified zero drop shoes for about a year now.  We take regular running shoes into a cobbler, or shoe-smith if you will, and they cut out a section of the heel, glue it back together so we can have a closer attempt at zero drop, but the real thing?  Oooh baby it's nice!  I was 'blessed' with bunions (bony protrusion by my big toe) on both feet and they make finding any kind of shoe a challenge.  The Intuition felt so great, in fact, I could hardly feel them at all.  The shoe wraps around your heel and ankle so well and feels very secure.  I am so excited that these are finally becoming public, they sincerely are great shoes!  And they're not only for the elite runner or the extremest.  They will make anyone's running a better experience.  I'll keep you updated as the release dates approach, but you can also visit their website or Facebook page (lots of new shoe pics on Facebook too).

No new PR, I took 3rd overall, but just the chance to get out and be with my family, run fast and run in some great shoes made for a great Saturday morning for me!

Running on my old stomping grounds with 2 of my babies after the race

You know it's the off season when....

...you spend all Saturday morning (7:30am-1:30pm to be precise) cleaning, doing yard work, and caring for children INSTEAD of enjoying some long epic workout or race.  Oh well, such is life.  I thought about working out but it was my oldest's birthday party, and I just didn't really have time, and I'm ok with it.  Of course once I see pictures from races (like Turkey Tri that morning) it does me in and I wish it was race time again.  I'm weak, I know.

I just love racing.  I love going fast and feeling my body that I've trained cooperate and 'show up' on race day.  I love the anticipation of a race coming up, I love the 3 days before a race where I really prep my body nutritionally, I love seeing people I know at races, I love hearing and seeing my kids cheer for me when they come, and I love trying to podium (not being prideful, just saying it as it is, it's satisfying and fun JUST like finally placing in my age group was at one time and should be for most people).  I love following a training plan, knowing what I'm going to do every day.  So much in fact, I must get one back.  I am useless without it

Now there is for sure a time and a place for a break from everything, I've taken about a true week off so far.  I have worked out a couple times, but none really planned, just going out to do something.  It's nice to focus on my kids more, my house and cleaning it (my Achilles heel - I am NOT a domestic goddess), just other stuff.  But honestly, after about 2 weeks I've had enough and it's time for a training plan.  So I'll put something simple together so I know what workout is scheduled so they actually get done, because I feel so much better when they do.  A long base period until January/February when I can start thinking more about periodization and speed work and long rides/runs.  I'd really like to work on strength training this winter.  I have slacked seriously in this department for quite a while, at least a year.  A strong base is so important to effective speed and power, injury prevention, and just feeling well.  Here are a few strength training and off season training articles I found online.
Here - Periodized Strength Training Program.  Doesn't have some of the bigger movememt/dynamic moves I've been turned onto lately, but good info none the less.
Here - Off season article by Keena Schaerrer, a great coach and fellow Powertri athlete
Here - Another great summary on off season training by the great Debbie Perry, a great nutritionist and coach in SLC
And not off season specific, but I just found it and thought I'd show you the topical index for David Warden's (an owner of Powertri and the completely-geekiest-know-it-all when it comes to triathlon coaching....he's my boss, I can say that) Tri Talk podcasts, the most popular triathlon podcast site online.  Great thing to listen to during this off season.
Did I mention geeky?  Yes?  Well this is the man responsible for David's nerdiness.....I mean complete and impressive obsession for training knowledge and numbers  :)  Joe Freil, and he's written 4 excellent blog posts recently on Base Training.

So there's some jabber from me, what's your "you know it's the off season when..."  line?

Want another chance at a Handful Bra?

My favorite bra ever!!  Check out my friend Aly's cute blog,
A Little Great.  Good luck!!

Halloween Half Marathon review

My husband and I had the chance to run the Halloween Half Marathon together this past Saturday in Provo, Utah.  My husband ran a little track in high school, but nothing serious.  Then he picked up running (or any exercise for that matter) last summer, 10 years later, and I'm so glad!  While it can present training time management challenges with the two of us, he understands me better now, and best of all we can go out and be active together!  Now I've come to learn that we have our differences still, speed/endurance obviously being one of them because I've been fit for over a decade, he only has one year under his belt.   He doesn't care that I train or race faster, but he isn't overly fond of trying to do my quality workouts with me, even if he goes at his pace, and frankly I don't like having to worry if he's upset or not that I'm ahead.  So that's ok, we've learned that we can go on base. or non-tempo or speedwork runs together, and most trail runs (although he is way more into 'bagging' peaks than I am, I'd rather find a rolling trail and run fast, he likes climbing to the top of stuff then flying down).  Anyway, not sure where I was going with that except that we wanted to do this together.  I'd normally be about 20 minutes faster, but didn't care about that Saturday.

So anyway, we arrived at the buses at 6:40am or so only to find a VERY long line of people waiting to get on.  We also saw at least a dozen if not more buses waiting to be loaded.  We probably stood in line for close to 45 minutes while they loaded 1 bus at a time.  That's ridiculous.  I went up and asked some guy who appeared to be in charge why and he said "we have to make sure every bus is full, it's just easier for us".  Well yes, I'm sure it is, but there's no reason you can't load 3 buses at a time and check the full status of 3 buses, that's not 10, it's 3.  Just seemed silly to me that they were trying to get the race as large as possible, even encouraging people to call their friends to sign up the night before at packet pickup, yet they weren't being smart about getting everyone up there and not waiting in the cold for an hour.  We got up there in time and there was only 2 buses that were after the 9am start time, but still, could have been SO much more efficient.

Pre Race

So we get to the top and to the race director's credit there is a heated 15,000 sqft tent.  Very nice touch.  Not room to spread out per say, but plenty of standing room to watch the somewhat disorganized but entertaining costume contest.  The usual lines for bathrooms, not more than 15 minute wait probably.  The only thing the start was really lacking was water and music (both which can be important).

Steeper downhill about mile 2, Mt Timpanogus behind us

Anyway, so a brief post about the race itself.  Starting a couple miles above Sundance Resort, the first 5 miles are very steep, much steeper than one would normally run.  Didn't feel unmanageable except for in a couple spots.  The next 8 were on the Provo River Trail which is very forgiving, either flat, slight up, or slight down.  No big deal.  I was worried about crowding, but I think our pace managed to avert it.  Seeing some pictures like this one, from slower paces though, it looks like it got pretty crowded.

The aid stations were fine, simple, but fine.  Although they totally could have put MUSIC at least at the aid stations.  They made a big point that this was a fun exciting race, but it was kind of quiet and lonely during all but the start and finish.  I took a gel at mile 5 and water at most aid stations and was fine.  My hubby did well until about 9 or 10 where I kind of had to keep the motivation alive (very carefully though as not to make him feel like I wanted to run ahead, I did, but I didn't want him to feel that way), and then finally we got to mile 12 and we ran the last mile in under 8.  So we ended up with a 1:46 which is a 3 minute PR for him and not insanely slow for me, but yes, 20 minutes slower than I could have gone and it was hard sometimes to be running that slow, but it was easy and fun and gave me a chance to observe the fun costumes around me.  Some favorites were a Forest Gump who carried a box of chocolates the whole way, a Mr Clean who carried a mop the whole way, Dwight from The Office, and a huge 6ft5in guy in a full Captain America muscle costume.  Oh and my good friend Jason Crompton sported a full Super Grover costume.  Check out Zazoosh or the Halloween Half website for more.

Couple more tiffs I had with the race.  Finish food was sad, self serve cut up oranges and apples and bottled water, that's it.  No carbs (bagels), treats, chocolate milk etc.  Had to walk back 3 blocks from the finish line to get our drop bags.  I heard the transportation back to where people parked was ridiculous, taking an hour to go 10 minutes, and we saw several people walking the 2 miles back to the cars.  And finally the shirt.  Now don't get on me because I'm being prideful or something, my husband even pointed it out.  The shirt says in big bold letters "Halloween Marathon".  Now I've done marathons, and I don't know about you, but they were quite noticeably different than the half marathons I've done  :)  My husband could've thought that was cool to have a shirt that says he did a marathon, but he didn't and he doesn't.  That's like saying you're an Ironman when you haven't gone the 140.6 miles, not cool  ;)

We had fun though and that's what was important.  I don't know that I'll race with him again unless it's some fun race with costumes or a team event or something, but this was fun.  

Wanna party?

Come check out the Powertri Kona Party on Saturday!!  

All day coverage on a big screen of the Ironman World Championships from 10am-11pm (when our athletes finish). 
Food to sample and purchase
Kids races for kids under 12 with free T-shirts while they last
TONS to give away!  Bigger stuff at 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm, smaller stuff in between on the hour

It'll be fun, I promise!  Just come stop by for a few minutes and soak up the yummy spirit that is Ironman at it's best!  I'll be there too from 5pm on if that's any greater incentive, I'd love to say hi!

18? Say Whaaaaat?

Some of my friends from the Desert Sharks Triathlon Club (great club by the way, I encourage new athletes to find a club, you can learn a lot from others) put on the innagual SOJO Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5k.  I went out to help them with MCing, and of course had to get a little race action in myself.

I toyed with the idea of the marathon, since I haven't done an open maraton since Ogden last spring, but alas I haven't been doing long runs over 13 miles except 2 back in late June/early July.  I was curious to see what would happen when I got to 18-20, if my body would just plain revolt or if I still had enough endurance from Ironman and the rest of my season.  But I don't love running in pain for almost 4 hours, just isn't my idea of fun  :)  So I chose the 5k which also left me more time to help out, which is what I was really there for

Anyway, a couple hundred 5k runners I believe, a flat course, nice sunshine and semi cool temperatures.  Long story short (since 5k's don't have a ton of details), I won the women's race and finished 5th among the men.  My friend Charity finished 2nd only about 2 minutes behind me......pushing her year old son in their Chariot - debates are still out about whether he beat mom or not  :)   I wanted to break 20:00 (haven't run an open 5k since last year although my triathlon 5k's usually feel better than open because I'm good and warmed up), but ended up doing a little better than that!  The course was unfortunately short, only 2.82 miles, but I ran that in 17:06.5, and after some figuring in the head of my husband, I was on track to run an 18:50 something!!!   SO excited about that!  I've only officially broken 20:00 once, so to break 19:00 and be in the 18's?  So cool!!  I'm glad I was able to be excited about it as sometimes I don't give results the excitement I should.

The next 4 hours were spent welcoming finishers of the half and full marathon in, including my good friend Jonathan who just finished his 78th marathon in 3:50 I believe.  It was fun to watch people cheer their family in, fun to watch people smile and be excited to be finishing - or just being done, that was probably it  :)  I also announced awards, and have to say it was a little strange to announce my own...  The race directors faced a few challenges, but what race doesn't?  They did a great job and should do even better next year.  Check them out (think they're moving to October) for some Saturday morning fun!

More fun...

...and maybe I'll actually end my season now.....maybe....probably  :)

Only posting briefly as my husband and I actually are making a real little trip out of this, sans kids and actually staying in a hotel - gasp!

The race was great though.  Lots of friends which is always great.  Very warm temps nearing 100 which is a little tough, but sure made the warm and super clear water even better.  First out of the water, felt good to push it a bit, loved the sleeveless Xterra suit I got to try for this one (more on that later).  Haven't seen splits yet, but I finished 1st overall, 5 minutes ahead of 2nd place.  Sounds good to me  :)  1:14 I believe, hopefully the course was long today as that's about 3-4 minutes slower than my favorite personal Chrissy Wellington  :)  but I did probably only push 85% today. 

My husband raced and did great, his 3rd tri, 2nd overall.  It was awesome to get to watch him start and come out of the water.  I also saw him on the bike and run.  He was 5th in his age group which is great for a big sprint field like this one!  Great job babe!

We're having a great time so I better get off the computer now, but hopefully I can add some race pics and details later.  Chao!

The Fabulous Alta Peruvian Lodge 8-K

And fabulous it was!!  I've raced A LOT and man, this one impressed me big time!  No there weren't screaming crowds everywhere and thousands of athletes (just under 100 to be exact), but this race has its mystique.  My wedding anniversary is today, 8 years for us, and this was our little date.  We dropped the kids off at Grandpa's about 2:45 and headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon for the 4:00 race.  Check in was fast and easy and then we walked up about 1/2 mile to the start.  Good chance to warm up on a great day.  Seriously so beautiful up there.  Sunny skies, slight breeze coming up the canyon, nice green mountains around us.  Anyway, money was tight and my husband Jeremy paced a friend of ours 9 miles of the Wasatch 100 the night before, so he went for a trail run of his own up there while I ran the race.  Great compromise since we wouldn't run side by side anyway.  Forgive the lovey-dovey pics, but we were kid-less and it is our anniversary weekend  :)This wasn't a triathlon so the pressure wasn't on like usual.  I always want to go fast because it's fun, but all I wanted today was top 3 overall or an age group place or win since they have some awesome prizes!  I saw two ladies whom I know are very fast road racers, and talking to one of them there was another fast lady there who took second last year.  So now I had 3-4 to contend with, but that was it, so it eased any pressure some.  I just wanted to go out there, have fun, and hopefully earn a sweet prize.Ok, so this is a 5 mile downhill race, and when I mean downhill I mean downhill!  I heard something like 2000 ft drop in those 5 miles - yeah, wow.  Can't say I've ever done anything like this.  We started just above the Lodge and ran on the road down.  I can only recall about 30 seconds of the race where I could really think about my form and moving the legs forward, the remainder of the race was was applying the brakes, just a matter of how hard depending on the pitch of the road.
So the race starts and I settle into 3rd woman overall.  Didn't even worry about the 2 ladies ahead of me.  My optimistic goal was 30:00.  We roll past mile 1: 5:33.  Yeehaw!!!!  Hit the 5k just under 17:00 - yeah definitely a PR, but I'm not really going to count it as my official 5k PR.  This course is way faster than any other.  Aid station with water at 2.5 miles, took a little just to sip, didn't really need it.  I wasn't really out of breath during the race (not breathing easy either though), but I did deal with side aches.  I think just the fact that I was going so fast and landing a bit harder than usual.  Not too bad, but a little annoying.  I loved that there were a few spectators here and there down along the road, how awesome!  Anyway, the last mile was the steepest down and my legs were feeling it by then.  I never looked behind me for the 4th place woman, don't like to do that, just want to run my race.  I was only passed twice and each time they were coming up on me I thought "please be a man because I don't want to have to run down a woman".  Yeah the last guy that passed me about 1/2 mile from the finish?  Some 60 something year old......nice.  You can't see the finish till you're 200 yards from it and it was nice to see.  Came through happily in 3rd in 29:45!  Just a second under 6min mile pace!!  Whohoo!!! So we hang out down at the finish for about half an hour then jump onto shuttles and head back up to the lodge where a raffle was waiting.  You drew a number and came away with a prize.  I came out with a Utah Natural History t shirt, but they were giving out gear and such as well.  Very nice for everyone to leave with something.  Then onto the post race food.  Probably the best part of the night eating on the grass listening to the live chill music band playing out there.  And would you check out this food.....I mean DINNER and DESSERT!  Such good food!And a great atmosphere with all the racers out there eating (there were tables, just full), listening to music, and eventually listening to the humorous announcer doing awards.  Speaking of awards, I have to tell you how stinkin excited I am about my prize, definitely one of the best ever, if not THE best.
An overnight stay for 2 at the Lodge anytime during the next year which includes dinner and breakfast for two as well as a $50 cash prize!!  Thank you Alta for paying for our anniversary trip to St George this next weekend!  No we don't stay high class, just a chance to get away and be together is great.  Don't think we're wealthy because of all the racing I do and my pretty bike, quite the contrary actually, we're a young family, it's called a very helpful sponsor, Powertri, (but no, my bike was not free).

Overall winners, L-R, Danny 3rd, Patrick 1st, Devra 1st, Mary Ann, 2nd, and myself 3rd

After awards and dinner and dessert, lets not forget the chocolate cream cheese cake!, Jer and I hopped in the hot tub and enjoyed the nice water, views of the mountain, and talking with a few other runners.  What an evening!  So much fun.  We both got to do our running thing, came away with a great and super useful prize and were able to spend time together on a very nice evening.  I highly highly recommend this race.  Started on time, mile markers with people on them calling out splits every mile, shuttle back up, everyone leaves with a prize, awesome OV and AG prizes, excellent food, and use of the facilities, all for $28-$35 - SCORE!

It's so great to be able to get out and be active with my husband.   I love that he's active and fit now...and hot  ;)  Thanks for coming love, what a fun way to spend time for our anniversary.  I hope I can earn us an even better trip for our 10th  :)   Happy 8th Anniversary!

And the lucky lady is!.......

Jamie!!




Congrats Jamie! She is a great friend of mine, runner, and mother of 3 who just had most of her left lung removed this summer due to cancer. She's got a great attitude about it, and everything for that matter, and Jamie, I expect to see that great attitude come into play now with your Handful Bra. We're talking sporting that awesome almost full body scar baby!! :)

That was fun, thank you guys for entering, and THANK YOU HANDFUL for the generous giveaway! Can I just say that as much fun as this is, choosing a winner (well I didn't exactly choose, it was a totally random draw by my 6 year old) is SO NOT EASY! I'm rooting for all of you and wish I 'had enough for the whole class'. Powertri is placing their order today, so we should have stock by the end of next week, and you can use my 15% off code, so if you get the chance to buy one, take it! Husband's usually like lingerie purchases right? Well believe me, there's no lace or anything here, but you'll look gooooood in it nonetheless ;)

Favorite Things Friday - A girl's best friend

No, not diamonds, at least not for this girl. This bra, the Handful (yes that's it's name, isn't it awesome?!) is I dare say, my very favorite piece of workout clothing. Nothing makes me feel cuter than this bra, and yes, vanity is everything sometimes. I mean honestly, in my head, thinking I look good makes a huge difference in my confidence level come race day. It really does. I just think you race better when you feel confident about yourself. And I'm not prancing around shirtless all the time, I feel cute with it under my tech shirts and jerseys too. You can see it in almost all of my photos this year. Let me tell you more about it.
I've had this bra 6 months now. My first thoughts upon seeing it were three things. It's way cute, but is it a yoga bra or will it really support me, and as a triathlete, will it dry quickly? Let me address those 3 points.
Cute - SO cute! I love the colors (black, white, pink, nude, cocoa), and the pink matches my Powertri kit perfectly. Again, I'm back to the vanity, yes :) I love the thin straps, so flattering, and the back? LOVE it! The bra comes with removable pads that looked kind of bulky before I put it on, but they so totally work with this bra. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about here when I say I have grown, fed, and loved my 3 children, and as a result, the girls definitely do not look like they used to. Lets just say push up/padded bras are my friends (gentlemen if you're still reading, sorry to burst your bubble, but those beautiful babies you like to help create really do take a toll on all of us women). So I was so so so super excited upon donning this lovely creation, and just loving what it did for me. I had shape all of the sudden! And it looked natural too! Oh and those pads? Very good at concealing the whole 'headlight' effect too, definitely no worries there.
Support - does it support? Yes it does. Do I realize I'm not exactly the best girl to talk about needing a lot of support? Yes, I do. I've gotten smaller as my dear children have grown, but I've run through pregnancy and nursing and know how stinkin hard it was to deal with bras then, and I still know I never want any bounce even now. And this bra does its job. I've worn it during all types of training, and at every race but 1 this year I believe, including Ironman St George which includes a marathon of course. I've never felt like I was bouncing. That said, yes, the Handful is probably not the best high impact bra for those larger than a C. But that doesn't mean it can't be a great weight room, yoga, spinning, etc bra at the gym where let's be serious, it's a meat market anyway, so you might as well look good :)
Fabric - I was concerned as soon as I held the bra that it wouldn't dry quickly. I was worried these lovely shaped and gently lifting removable pads would just be sponges and leave me wet my whole race, but......NOT SO! I was pleasantly surprised to have no issues at all with it drying. I haven't paid enough attention (because it hasn't demanded it), but it's for sure dry within 30 minutes or so of being on the bike WITH the pads in. *I did hear of a lady soaking and then freezing the removable pads though and then putting them back in the morning of a hot bike race, interesting!*  No chaffing issues with this bra either. The fabric is very comfortable and seems to breath really well too, and I've never seen my pink one with sweat stains. The bra is easy to get on and off, which is always important. Sizing is great, and if you're falling between two sizes, I say size down. Oh and it comes in it's own little wash bag, so machine washing is a breeze.
Cost - $39.95.  No, not your Target $10 clearance special, but so worth it.  You get a bra that you'll really like the way you look in, a bra that does it's job, and it'll last a lot longer than a cheaper sports bra.  Look around at other online athletic retailers, really well made bra's typically go for $30-$50 .  This bra is worthy of it's cost.

So there you go, I love this bra. As there slogan states, "It flatters, not flattens". It feels good, does what it should, and looks great. So I thought how much I'd love one of you to have one so I contacted the good people at Handful Inc. And, drum roll please..........they're giving me a code to give to one of you for a FREE bra of your choice off their website (you only pay shipping). That's a $40 value ladies!! I'm so excited! So here's the deal. I'm super impressed that Handful was willing to give away a free bra, so I want to help them out. If you will become a fan of Handful Inc on Facebook (they send promos to fans by the way), you can have a chance at your own FREE Handful bra. Just post some brief little schpele here on my blog about why you'd like a Handful too, and let me know that you became a fan, and poof, I'll enter you in the random drawing. You have until next Thursday, Sept 9th at 11:59pm to post a comment below, and then I'll announce a winner on Friday Sept 10th. Cool? Awesome!

Your favorite tri shop Powertri carries these wonderful bras now, and I seem to recall a 15% off code on my blog somewhere to help you out  :)  Go in and try one out or order online, you won't be dissapointed.