Thursday, December 4, 2014

Seattle Seahawks Kids Christmas Party 2013

The Seattle Seahawks have a Kids Club that you can sign you kids up each season. I have been doing this since 2012, check out my blog post from 2012 here! It costs $20 a season, but it comes with a really cool goodie bag. I definitely think its worth it. In addition to the goodie bag, you get invited to special events all throughout the year, they have kids movie nights, pumpkin patch and a Christmas party. I've never had a chance to be able to attend any other events, but the Christmas Party is one that we've gone to since 2012. Here is a short recap of things that they have there so you can see for  yourself if its something you would be interested in.


It usually takes place mid December. I got an e-mail stating the date and time it was going to take place, so we can reserve space. The kids club member is always free, but anybody else who is accompanying the child has to pay $10. Parking is always free for these events at the Centurylink Field.

Its easy to get to and parking is a breeze, you are greeted by friendly employees who show you where to wait if you are early, make sure you dress in layers. If you get there early, you might have to wait in the parking garage which is really cold, but then once inside it gets really hot.

When we got inside we were greeted by a couple of Seagals, of course we couldn't say no to this photo opportunity. If you bring a unwrapped toy with you, they give you a prize ticket, where later in the night they pick winners for various Seahawks items.



Then we went to the very back of the hallway where they had various games set up. Chase really enjoyed "The Blaster". It was a giant blowup run through course with obstacles inside. We had tons of fun racing each other side by side. Then we enjoyed some miniature golf, decorated with miniature Seahawks helmets. We must have gone though the course at least 10 or more times.


Then it was time to see Santa, but Chase didn't want to wait in line for it, so we decided to skip Santa this time around, there is always next year, right?

Instead we went to see Blitz!!! We love Blitz, he is so fun and spends so much time with each of the kids. Chase had a great time goofing around with him.


Next we headed to the craft area, we were told that a couple of players will be making an appearance, which made me super happy. They had fun crafts, they had blank Seahawks cards that you can write a note on or draw a picture and leave it for the players. There were also foam cutouts and pipe cleaner to make ornaments out of and tons of decorations for them, like stickers and jewels to glue on.


Finally the players were out, make sure that you don't wait too long to get in line, because they are only there for a limited time and you might miss the opportunity. Unlike the first year we were there both players did not stay to hang out with the crowd. Luke Willson (#82), was so nice and friendly, but unfortunately did not stay. He did the photo ops and then autograph signings, they wouldn't let him sign autographs while taking photos, they had him to a separate signing after the photos. Which sucked for us, because now we had to wait in too lines, but Chase can get away with anything with his cute little face and because he had his autograph book out with the marker, Luke signed it for him at the photo area!!! Yeah for us, one less line to wait at!

Now, this is going to sound bad, but I don't know who the second player is, honestly, most people didn't know him, but apparently he had been out for a while with an injury. If any of you can recognize the player in the first picture, please let me know. The green background is actually a green screen that they put the Seattle skyline on. The pictures were taken by a professional photographer and they printed them out then and there for you to keep, for FREE!


So there you have it! We always have a great time, hope you'll be able to join us there next year!

Keep on loving our Seahawks!!!

SEA...HAWKS!





My Running Faves & Must Haves!

Before I start the list, I want to mention that I purchased all of the products below myself and was not compensated by the companies in any way. The products are my opinion only and if you prefer something else or if you have other things that might be beneficial to me and my readers, please leave comments, so we can share our knowledge so we can all have better running experiences.

1) First and foremost I have to say that my Garmin Forerunner 610 watch is something that I could not survive without. Yes, there are lots of free apps for iPhones and I've tried some of them, but without fail non of them are accurate. With my Garmin I always get the same results for distance and it is really easy to navigate. There are lots of awesome features to this watch, but I have to be honest, I really only use the main screen where it tells you what you mileage, time and pace is. That's all I really need, oh and it looks super cute, don't you think!!!!!!!!
My husband got mine at REI, but you can check them out on www.Garmin.com
Image from Garmin.com

2) iPod Nano, this has a special meaning to me. My husband got it for me for Christmas the year I started running and it is engraved with my sons name on it. I have all of my favorite running songs on it and use it for every race. It's my good luck charm :) Click here for my playlist.
Apple.com
Image from head-fi.org
3) Lululemon everything. I just adore this brand so much. Yes, they are expensive, but the quality is amazing and I have had nothing but great experiences while running in Lululemon. Plus, pretty much every clothing item they have is so cute and the colors are always amazing. Also, nobody can look bad in Lululemon leggings, nobody! They fit so perfectly that its hard to resist on buying a pair of Wunder Unders in every color they come.
Lululemon.com (updates every Monday night with new clothing)

Image from Forbes.com

4) My Mizuno running shoes. This is my second pair of running shoes since I started two years ago. I love them so much, they are very supportive yet lightweight. I bought the Wave Inspire 10.

5) Running belt, I bought the iFitness double pouch belt because I don't like to check a bag at races. I keep my phone, car key, credit card, ID and lip palm in one pouch and my energy gels in the other, its perfect to clip my iPod onto and it does not have bounce to it. Its not my favorite belt, however it can hold a lot and that's the reason I picked the iFitness one. I'm on a look out for a new one though, so if you have one that you love, let me know!!!
I bought mine online at http://www.fitletic.com, but they always have booth at the Seattle Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon Expo, I bet you can find them at the larger race Expos.

Image from Pinterest.com
6) Neutrogena Lip moisturizer, this may seem weird for some, but I do have to admit that I have a little bit of an addiction to it. I cannot live without it and if I ever forget to use it, I get super chapped lips. Neutrogena brand is my favorite because its super moisturizing and it lasts for a long time and during runs I'd rather not be re-applying my lip palm every five minutes
I buy these in handfuls since I don't ever want to run out and Bartell Drugs always has them in stock.

Image from Drugstore.com

7) Band Aid blister band aids, I have found that these are the only ones for me that don't slip during races, no matter how long they are. I even use them on my medial malleolus bones (the little bone sticking out of inside of your ankle). The story behind that is that I always run in ankle socks and during my races I tend to hit my medial malleolus bone with my other leg and it hurts so bad. These band aid help it from getting scratched.
I buy this from Rite Aid, but I bet any drugstore would probably have it.

Image from Surgicalsupplyservice.com
8) Energy Gels, I have gone thru a few varieties over the last year that I have been running and truly I don't know if any particular brand is better than others. So I just decided which tastes and goes down the easiest during my races that's what I'm going to use. So far I've really enjoyed Vega gels, unfortunately I have not been able to find this branch in the States, I found it during the Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon. I was able to stash some aside for a few races. Once I ran out though, I went for the Honey Stinger Energy Gels, I like the taste of these, but just like any other gel it leaves a weird layer on the top of my mouth and it takes me a few cups of water during the races to wash it down with. My favorite flavors a fruity though (berry, banana, orange, etc), nothing too sweet. I don't like flavors like peanut butter or chocolate.
I buy the Honey Stinger ones from REI, http://vegasport.com/product/endurance-gel/
Image from Grindtv.com
Image from Honeystinger.com

These are always with me when I go to a race, let me know what are your favorites, so I can try something new, you never know, I might just be missing out on something.

Please subscribe if you like what you read!!!

See you at my next race.

Keili

Seahawks 12K Kids Dash, 2014!

I was excited for Chase to run another race and the Seahawks one seemed so much fun. Every since they won the Super Bowl last season the Seahawks have become so much more popular than they have ever been before. So it was really important for me to sign him up for this race as soon as it became open, I knew it was going to sell out fast.

Photo from thelandinginrenton.com
Because the race packet pickup was about a 30 minute drive from where we lived and they offered race day packet pick up, I didn't feel like driving there before hand and just decided to get the packed race morning. Unfortunately by the time we got there they had ran out of the bibs, they still had the T-shirts and the race bags, but no bibs :( They were super cool too, I was bummed, they had the Seahawks logo and the number 12 for the "12th Man" of course. But oh well, what can you do, right?

The kids course was not really anything nice, it just took place in the parking lot of the Renton The Landing shopping area. They did have fun kids games set up there, like throwing a football through holes, a bouncy house and a "how do you measure up to a football player". Chase had a really good time before the race.
Photo from Seahawks12Krun.com
The race went by really fast obviously, it was only a mile race, they had the SeaGals and Blitz there in the beginning to get everybody excited. The kids got ribbons for finishing the race.

I was a little bummed that there were no Seahawks players there, I didn't see any anyways. I was hoping to meet at least one or two players. I did hear from the past races that the players were on the 12K and the 5K courses at the water stations, but I didn't run, so not sure if they were there this year or not.

I do recommend this race for the kiddos, as they had fun games and ribbons.

Keep on running... with your kids!

Keili

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Tacoma St. Patty's Day Kids Run 2014!


The reason I chose this race for Chase to do is that they were actually giving the kids race finishers a medal as well as a ribbon. Its pretty rare to find kids races that provide a medal and I thought it would be really fun for him to get a medal of his own.

How cute is he???
Since this race was in Tacoma and we live in Kirkland, I knew that I had quite a drive down there, so I made sure to get up early to make sure I got down there in time. The only problem was that the kids race didn't start until 11:00 which was super nice, however the packet pick up ended at 8:30. So I had to be down there by 8:30 and then hang out for 2.5 hours until the kids race started. I had paid $5.00 extra to pick the packet up on race day, they did have packet pick-up the day before, but it was way too far for me do drive just to pick up a T-shirt. Speaking of shirts, the race did come with a cute kid size T as well and I think I paid $20 all together including the packet pick-up fee, which by the way I could have gotten away without paying it since they didn't even check to see if I had prepaid for it or not. Oh well, it goes for a good cause at least.


So we hung out at Tully's for a few hours and had some breakfast, to kill some time before the race. The weather had been kind of iffy, rainy and then nice and rainy again, I kept hoping for a dry race and it stopped raining right before, which was super nice for the kiddos.

I had only found a parking space for 2 hour parking, but it was nice that the kids race was later in the day, by the time my parking meter had run out the half marathon runners were leaving and there were plenty of great spaces by the starting line to choose from, so I moved my car and off to the starting line we went.

I love that both of his feet are airborne in this picture!

This was a 1K race and there were probably about 50 kids or so, some really small, some that could have probably ran the 5K, but fun for all nevertheless.

Off goes the air horn and off goes Chase, he always starts out super fast, its impossible to try to pace a 5 year old kid, so I just let him go and told him that he could walk whenever he wanted to. So we ran a little and walked a little. Chase is super competitive, so when he saw kids smaller than him passing him, he just took off without looking back half way through, so fast that I had a hard time keeping up (needless to say, I should probably start training for my marathon in October). He bolted through the finish line, we even had somebody yell front he sideline "Mom, keep up!"


Chase got his medal and a finishers ribbon, the medal was the same as the half marathon finishers, but he didn't care, he was super happy about the glittery colorful St. Patty's Day medal.

At the finish line they had Little Caesars Pizza, bananas, grapes, candy and water. We grabbed a bite and headed to the Tacoma Children's Museum for some fun.

Hope you enjoyed the recap, I would definitely recommend this kids race for all ages of kids, there was no rush, even the littlest ones could make it.

Let me know of any kids races you or your children have participated in the comments below, I'm always looking for something new.

Thanks for reading and keep on running!

K and C

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon 2014!

I GOT IN!!!


So this is a crazy story, I mean not that crazy, but my goodness who would have thought that this would sell out this fast.

Here is how it all started:

The registration was supposed to open on January 23rd, 2014. I had been waiting for this day since I crossed the finish line in August of 2013 at SeaWheeze. This is by far my favorite race ever, even more than the Disney ones. Well, I don't know, they are pretty close, I mean, Lululemon throws one mean party!!!

The day of the registration I just happened to have a meeting for work and I had to excuse myself to go and use the bathroom, just so I can get on my phone at 10AM to register as soon as it opens. I'm standing there trying to log on and the site just keeps loading and crashing and finally 30 minutes later (that's right, 30 minutes later, I don't know what my co-workers thought of that...) I gave up and figured if I had problems logging on others must have as well. After my meeting I decided to check out the SeaWheeze site on my laptop to see if I would get a better connection and I see this...


Thats a huge bummer, they were already 20% sold out and there had to be soooooo many people trying to register for the website to crash. So they had pushed registration back until February 3rd, that seemed so far away and I was so afraid that I was going to forget. Immediately I set myself all sorts of reminders and specifically told my boss that I needed to take a break at 9:59AM on February 3rd. I was shocked how popular this race had become, in the past two years I registered within a week and there were still plenty of spots open.

Anyways, here come February 3rd and I'm eagerly sitting at my computer and on my phone, I figured at least I would get two chances if one failed, I would still have an opportunity. They had changed the registration this time around though. Once enough people had started registering they started putting people in a queue, who might or might not get in. This seemed like the registration for Comi-con or something, so crazy. They didn't have us pick the shorts at registration, it would have taken too much time and also they only gave you 10 minutes to register once you got in. There was even a count down clock as I was filling out the form, this did not help with my already high anxiety and stress levels.


Like I already said, I got in right away, I kept refreshing the site every second and finally my computer was faster then my phone and I was in and filling out the registration form. I knew from the earlier site crash that there were going to be so many people trying to register and that this would sell out in the matter of minutes, so I made sure that I was on the site at registration opening. Just like I thought, seemed like it sold out in about 10 minutes or so. I might be wrong, but I tried logging on later and it said that it was all sold out :(


Needless to say, I'm so happy and so excited about this race, I wouldn't miss it for the world. For all my friends out there, next year, please make sure you are on it the minute it opens, otherwise you'll miss out on the best race EVER!!!

Let me know if you were able to get in and hopefully I will see  you there in August!!!

P.S. They did change the date this year, it will be August 23rd, 2014!!!

Love,

Keili

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Welcome to 2014!!!



Sorry, I've been MIA. I haven't really been running any races so far this year and I've been trying to figure out what my race calendar is going to look like. When I started running in 2012 that was my year of mud runs/obstacle courses, 2013 was a year of half marathons, what should 2014 look like???



I'm not quite ready for a full Marathon yet, I'm leaving my first one to be something really special, but again not sure again what that will look like, but what I do know is that I will run one either towards the end of this year or the beginning of next. I cannot go back on that now, can I, since it in writing and all?




I'm really seriously considering going back home (that's Estonia) this year, lots is changing there. If you haven't heard the big news yet, I'm going to be an AUNT!!! I'm so excited, my little baby niece is going to be born somewhere around May and I would love to see and hold her. Also some sad news that I got is that my Grandpa is not doing very well and it would be an honor for me to have him see Chase. He is the sweetest, most selfless person I have ever met. Shhh... don't tell my Mom, this is not at all 100% and I really don't want to get her hopes up. If you think that she can just find out from here, I don't think so,  she can't speak or read English, thankfully!

I really want to get my son involved in running and in some races. So far we have done the 12K of Christmas kids race in Kirkland, WA. That was really fun, super cold, but it was less than a mile and we went for a hot coco at Starbucks afterwards, so he was a happy camper.



On February 2nd we did the Mill Creek YMCA kids 1 mile run. This one was really fun, also super cold, however they had a place for people to wait inside, they had hot coffee, tea and donuts. Since it fell on Groundhogs day, they had balloons shaped like groundhogs (more like cats, but whatever), if you found a groundhog during the race and got a picture from him, you could turn it into a little prize at the finish line. At the end they had a finishers certificate and a ribbon for all the kids 1 mile finishers. Bananas, water and energy bars galore for all the finishers. I would definitely recommend this race for all the little ones, they did have a 5 miler and a 5K as well. This kids race did cost $15, but this was the best $15 ever spent, it came with a tech shirt in a kids size, a goody bag filled with stuff: a brooks watch, brooks headband, brooks water battle, brooks pins, brooks drawstring backpack and lots of coupons. They did run out at the end, I would recommend to get there a little bit earlier, I would have been bummed if I missed out on that.




I also signed him up for a Valentines day race, however this was located at the Green Lake Park in Seattle and we could not find parking for the life of it and we missed the race :( Super sad, lesson learned though, next time give myself a lot more time if we are doing any more races in Seattle, parking sucks there anyway and then add an event to it, its a 1000 times worse. Oh well, maybe next year.

If you have any suggestions for great kids races in the Seattle area, please comment below!!!!

Keep on running.... with  your kids!

Keili