The Girlfriends Half Marathon is a really, really fun race that tends to sell out very quickly because of the awesome atmosphere, great course, adorable swag--all for a good cause (the Susan G. Komen foundation)! I've run it twice with two of my girlfriends (in 2009 and 2010), and loved every minute of it. It's a fantastic race event, and they definitely pamper you as a runner!

Fortunately for those who haven't signed up yet, there are still spots available!!! Guys and kiddos can get involved too! 

Ladies, be a Girlfriend and sign up to run or walk this Half Marathon.  It is NOT FULL and this event is a blast--there's chocolate and massage at the finish line, beautiful finisher’s necklaces placed around your neck by a fireman (ok seriously, just go ahead and sign up right now...), women’s running shirts and MORE! Click here to register yourself as a Girlfriend for the half marathon.

Parents, sign your kids up for the Kids Mini-Marathon.  They do 12 miles of running or walking over the next 2 weeks and then complete the last mile on Sunday October 13th and cross the finish line at the Girlfriends Half Marathon.  The cost is $30 and 100% of the money goes to the Children’s Center to help local kids in need. Click here to register your kiddos for the Mini-Marathon!

Guys, they are not leaving you out!  You can run, walk, be a lead cyclist or a VIP volunteer and be a part of the Pink Brigade Guys.  You just have to commit to donating or raising $1000 for the Kearney Breast Center.  What a fun way to get a tax write off and to know you are helping local women dealing with breast cancer! Click here to register to be one of the Pink Brigade Guys!

And they still need tons of volunteers! Please email cindys@nwpersonaltraining.com if you can help out with goody bag stuffing, registration or on race day. 

If you're still not convinced, check out this video of last year's Girlfriends Half Marathon:

Hope to see you there!

This was my Friday night at the Fit Right Fashion Show:

Super cute workout clothes.
Delicious food.
Fantastic beer and wine.
Two Olympians.
Awesome music.
And a really great cause...Oregon Active! If you haven't heard of Oregon Active (I hadn't before the event), these videos are great examples of some of the awesome opportunities that Oregon Active provides to people with disabilities or other challenges.

It was an amazing evening. Unbelievably fun.

First, went to the Icebreaker pre-party! Plenty of wine and beer and soooo many delicious snacks.

Then the Fashion Show itself in Pure Space...

Since a portion of purchases were going to Oregon Active, AND everything was 15% off, I just HAD to buy some things! Bought a cute comfy dress and a pullover from Lole.

Also, Fit Right totally knows how to put together a goodie bag... The first 100 people to register got all of this awesomeness:

Most of those pieces of paper are awesome discounts or FREE week-long passes to various fitness centers in the area! Serious score.

Thank you to Dave Sobolik at Fit Right for including me in this awesome event! I'm already counting the days til next year's Fashion Show :)

My bestie Cari reminded me that I hadn't posted about this, so I am. Right now. Haha, HI CARI!

Every month, the Vancouver USA Marathon & Half Marathon hosts a FREE run called the What? Run. It's a 3-6 mile long run through Vancouver, on a Wednesday evening. The start/finish is at a local restaurant, there's music and you get a free beer. They raffle off t-shirts and race entries, and it's an all around good time. You can walk, you can run, whatever.

If I'm going to go for a run anyway, I might as well get a free beer at the end. 

Have you been to a local group run? Was there free beer afterwards?

Three Things Thursday turned into Photodump Friday because I forgot to finish T^3 and went to bed. Story of my week. Anywayyyyy...

I am a little obsessed with finding and drinking every pumpkin beer that is sold in the Portland-metro area. Just a little. 

Did you do anything special for Friday the 13th? Seen any fun family photos lately?

To all of my readers in the Portland/Vancouver area, I just wanted to let you know that there is going to be a REALLY AWESOME event next week (and you're invited)! 

Check out some of the sponsors for this event... When you see brands like these (and BEER like Widmer!!!), you can be fairly certain that the event will be KICK ASS.

Although I hate it when summer starts coming to an end, there is something really awesome about the first part of September... PINTS TO PASTA!!!! I've run this race a couple of times with my friends and it's fantastic, so I had to make sure to sign up again this year, even though it was the day after Warrior Dash!

This is a fantastic race, especially if you're looking to PR--the course is very flat and fast. Although there are a LOT of people, it's very well organized and the event seemed to get smoother and smoother every year. The shuttle buses were great, tons of portapotties, the ID check and beer and food lines moved very quickly, and the food and beers tasted great after the run. The t-shirt design isn't as cool as other years, but it's still a good shirt. 

I actually did PR this year, even though it was a smidge warmer than I prefer for running, and I was still sore from Warrior Dash! It's a great race, and the after-party in the Old Spaghetti Factory parking lot was fun, as usual. Definitely putting this on my race calendar for next year.

Have you ever run back to back races?

There are over 50 Warrior Dash events across the country ever year! Here's a bit about the one I went to this weekend:

• Saturday, September 7th, 2013
  
• Horning's Hideout; North Plains, Oregon
• 3.1 mi with 11 obstacles
  
• Benefits St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
  
• Included: Gender specific casual wear t-shirt, fuzzy warrior helmet, medal, one free beer, bag check
  
• Not included: Parking ($10/car)
  

A few co-workers decided that we should all do it together. They haven't done a mud/obstacle course race before, so I was pretty excited for them.

Before...

Overall, we had a really great time. 

I really liked that the merchandise for sale was reasonably priced ($20 sweatshirts, $12 tank tops), there were lots of portapotties, there were lots of volunteers, that bag check was free, and the obstacles were good.

I didn't like how far away the race is (kind of out in the boonies), how far apart everything was at the event location (parking, starting line, etc.), and that there was only a pond to rinse off in. And it's kind of an expensive race. 

It was fun to run one of the better-known mud/obstacle races, but there was a little room for improvement. I definitely want to do another race of this type, but I'm not sure if I will do Warrior Dash again.

Side note: my buddies were giving me a hard time about my Batgirl costume, until they got to the race and saw how many people were wearing costumes. They've already started brainstorming costume ideas for next time.

Anyone have any good tips for getting the mud out of spandex? ;)

There's only 22 minutes of Thursday left here on the West coast, but technically it's STILL THURSDAY! 

I love being outside in the sun. I love eating outside in the sun, I love reading magazines outside in the sun, I love taking naps in the sun, I love drinking beer in the sun.

Here in the PNW, the end of summer pretty much means the end of sunshine for the next eight or so months. It's really bumming me out.

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and in recognition of ovarian cancer, Friday, September 6 is National Wear Teal Day! Ovarian cancer is an issue near and dear to Laura Mercier, so if you have a teal outfit or teal makeup look, be sure to post it and include #LMOCFTEAL

Also, Laura Mercier is donating 100% of the profits from these three products to the Laura Mercier Ovarian Cancer Fund! (Buying beauty products to fight cancer? HECK YEAH!)

It's my favorite day of the year. I don't care how old I am, or if anyone gets me presents (although I do LOOOOOOVE presents)--it's a perfect day to TREAT YO SELF. And if someone made me also happened to make me some pink velvet Hello Kitty cupcakes, I might explode from the sheer awesomeness.

But seriously, one month. (I started counting down at two months, but now that it's only ONE month away, I'm super super excited).

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What's going on with you guys this week?! Share in the comments :)

Kia wants to give one of my readers $25 to spend at iTunes! SWEET, right?! And it's super easy to enter...

2014 Soul@ Shown. Expected Fall 2013. 
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#Hamsters