Mel has done an insane amount of work to introduce all the Nuun team members to you and to each other! Click the photo to read all about us!
I absolutely cannot wait!
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Team Nuun Tuesday
1. Thanks to the talented and extremely patient Carrie team After-NUUN Delight now has a logo for Hood to Coast:
There were a couple of days during which many Facebook conversations were going on and Carrie was good enough to tolerate all of our “input”/demands for revisions.
2. Back at the start of this adventure, and when we all had ideas coming out the wazoo, we thought it would be great to have a team shirt. Well, there is no longer a need. Nuun has come up with a sweet design – it’s Nuun, not team name, specific – and I am so excited to be getting a couple of them! I hate being secretive, but I don’t think that they’re for the public quite yet. Let me just say that their design team is exceptionally creative!
3. Bought your Nuun yet? Don’t forget to use coupon code: afternuundelight to receive 25% off.
4. Hill training started last week so I should have a fairly good base going into HTC. I just need to make sure that I do a couple of runs where I focus on my downhill technique. I still want to try to run down Mt. Seymour, but will need some assistance from my friends. Hopefully at least one person is as nuts as I am – I don’t really want to have to run it alone. More from a wildlife encounter perspective than anything else.
That’s about it for this week. Things should be swinging into full gear soon enough since there are only 22 days until I have to be in Seattle to meet my teammates. I know that HTC should be announcing start times on the 6th so that’s what I’m looking forward to for the next few days.
Team Nuun Tuesday: Too Good To Wait!
Generally this is news that I would share on Team Nuun Tuesday, but it’s so sweet it’s going up today!
Our amazing coordinator at Nuun, Kimberly, has offered up a coupon code for purchases at the Nuun Store that is valid until September 30th!
Use coupon code “afternuundelight” at time of purchase to receive:
»25% Off!
Happy Hydrating!
One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other…
Happy BC Day Long Weekend to the freaks and weirdos.
What’s the most random search that’s found your blog?
"What’s Nuun?" Wednesday
Hood to Coast van-mate Dorothy at Mile Posts commented on Facebook that we all kind of take for granted that our readers know what Nuun is. Yes, I spout on and on about how I love it and how grateful I am for the opportunity they’ve given me. But I guess I am assuming that everyone knows what it is and how it works. And I know that isn’t true. Case in point: I’ve found myself explaining it to co-workers and we sell it at our store! So here’s a cheat-sheet, so to speak, about Nuun.*
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What is Nuun?
Simply put, it’s flavoured electrolyte tabs that you put in your water.
What is in Nuun?
Stuff that helps you NOT bonk. Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B2. There’s some other scientific-y stuff too. If you love the extra boost, there is caffeine in Kona Cola and Lemon Tea.
What’s not in Nuun?
Carbs (so use food or gels/chews too!), Sugar, Gluten, Corn (but some products used to make Nuun might have it so not totally corn free) or Animal byproducts.
Why is Nuun good?
See the not bonking part! The worst part about sports and exercise is running out of steam. By replacing your electrolytes as you sweat you keep your body happy. Here are the cut-and-paste reasons electrolytes are important:
“The body has to perform a delicate balancing act to keep water and electrolyte levels just right. For example, whenever sodium levels dip too low, the kidneys are stimulated to produce more urine, which restores the balance by lowering the amount of water in the blood. And when the sodium level gets too high, thirst develops, stimulating the person to drink. A hormone is also secreted by the brain in response to thirst that causes the kidneys to produce less urine. Together, these effects result in dilution of the sodium and the restoration of balance.”
Or, in layman’s terms:
“Nuun’s special formulation of electrolytes helps increase the amount of water that’s absorbed into the blood stream. That means more of the water you drink is actually used to hydrate you instead of being eliminated because the electrolyte balance wasn’t right.”
No sugar! And it’s safe to use if you are diabetic.
Under 8 calories per tab, which is technically 2 servings.
How does one use Nuun?
Find favourite bottle or glass. Fill with 16 oz of water or cut a tab in half and use 8 oz. Select one of 11 Nuun flavours – or 15 if you add in the 4 U Hydration flavours – and drop in water. Watch it bubble and dissolve (it’s not carbonated, but does have a slight fizz if you don’t let it sit for a couple of minutes). Drink and Enjoy!
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Who can use Nuun?
Anyone. You don’t have to be an athlete to like it and use it. It’s not going to hurt to get electrolytes.
Hopefully this gives you an idea of why I love Nuun. If nothing else it’s another tool to keep in your running box!
If you have more questions ask away! I’ll do my best to come up with an answer for you.
* This is good practice because I’m going to have to explain it to people on site in August!
Team Nuun Tuesday
⇒ The big news for the week is that Team #2 is now officially Nuun Platuun. I think that it is a great name, especially with already built-in costume ideas! And it is totally the opposite from us. When I saw it the first thing that popped into my mind was that Team Nuun Platuun vs. Team After-Nuun Delight has a very late-60s Hawks vs. Doves feel to it. We’ll be the mellow, “have a try, man” team and, in my head at least, they’ll be the “drop and give me 20 and then we’ll see if you deserve it” team. I’m sure it won’t be quite like that, but it gave me a laugh.
They “released” their top secret info last week: each blogger had the same post consisting of bios of all of the members. You can check it out at XLMIC’s blog, Taking It On. She did the compilation so that’s the link you get.
⇒ Plans are underway for our van design. Nothing is set in stone quite yet, but think 70s, rainbows, flower power or disco (that’s the sticking point, but it looks like flower power is winning), paisley, etc. Lots of colour! You should be able to see our van a mile away! I’m a little freaked out by having my face plastered to the side of the van, but there’s no I in Team! Ha!
⇒ Loving my new flavours of Nuun! So far Tropical and Grape are the front runners. I still haven’t worked up the courage to try the Banana. It really does scare me.
⇒ Hood To Coast is one month away!!! That makes it sound so close. The major issue was my passport and it should be here in about 2 weeks. Other than that I guess I should start hauling stuff out of cupboards and drawers.
Monday Musings
» First off, go over to Sweat Once A Day and congratulate my HTC van-mate Emily on becoming an Ironman yesterday! She finished in 13:53:44. Yup, that’s hours. And while all athletics are totally relative to the athlete, here’s a comparison: she swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and still managed to finish the full marathon (26.2 miles) a good 20 minutes faster than I’ve ever run one. Of course, she trained her ass off for this!
» Only one more weekend of work before I finally have a weekend off! Of course it’s a holiday weekend (BC Day) so I’ll be there 3 days, but, as always, the money’s good so I don’t say no… And the reason I’m so excited to have the time off – besides the fact that I’ve worked every weekend in July – is that it’s Warrior Dash in Whistler! Time to spend with Colin and 14 friends that is kid free, I can drink as much as I like because I can be slightly irresponsible (but, let’s face it, I only drink about 2 glasses of anything before I’m ready to sleep or I totally shut up because I’m cognizant of the fact that I’m drinking too much), and I can run a “race”.
» Colin has finally heeded my advice and agreed to stop running at a local park. He’s been doing his long runs out on dyke trails that go around blueberry fields. Having grown up in the area he knows that’s where the bears like to hang out. I always ask him to avoid it since I’d like him to make it home in one piece. Sunday was the day he decided to stop. Now, it’s not because he was bothered by seeing 6 bears. It’s because it’s too much of a time waster to have to stop, back up, avoid, wait, etc. Glad his safety is his main concern…
» I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to have to choose between running and sleep. I’ve found that I just have no motivation to get out the door with Spud in the stroller and it’s killing my training. I’m going to be making the move to early morning runs. I’m still working out details, but at least one friend answered my Facebook plea to join me at an ungodly hour of the morning. Well, it is for me. It’ll probably still only be 6am, but that’s ridiculous for a girl who loves her sleep.
Wordy Wednesday: Things I Love & Hate Edition
Stuff To Love:
Yesterday was our 8th anniversary! In true we-now-have-a-kid-and-therefore-no-money fashion we had a regular day. Colin worked, came home, I went to run clinic, Colin ran, we watched tv. My parents are making us dinner tonight to celebrate – much appreciated!
After sort of complaining yesterday morning about not receiving my Nuun gift pack yet it came in the afternoon. Score! I actually got a few more stickers and another bottle, but the bottle was put to use right away. Strawberry Lemonade and Grape were my first trials. I put too much water in the first one, but it was still good. I tried to smell it right after taking off the cap and ended up snorting a bunch of powder. Oops…
Grape, though, is awesome! The smell of it reminds me of gum I used to chew as a kid (Double Bubble). It contributed greatly to my perfect tempo run last night. Rarely can I describe a run that way, but everything came together just right. I felt so good. I found the perfect pace group (2:10 finish); it was cloudy and windy, but not cold; my leg that was bothering me from wearing old shoes to work on Sunday didn’t act up – thank you right Soleus; I was strong on the hill (little, but still a hill) by making up a really corny mantra about not quitting; and ended up doing just under 5km in 32 minutes. Yay!
Something To Hate:
Why is there no good way to get a good photograph for official documents? The above photos are from our currently expired passports (on the left) and the pictures for our new ones (on the right). Canada has this dumb guideline that you have to have a “neutral” expression on your face, meaning you can’t smile. I guess they want you to look like you would if you were apprehended… Let me just say that Spud did so well with not making faces. He looks like he’s in a lot of trouble in his, but he was very well behaved at the store.
I said on Facebook the other day that I’ve gone from fat head to slightly crazy eyes. I guess that’s better than Colin. He now looks like a normal, albeit tired, guy. I’ve always thought his 2006 photo kind of looks like a serial killer’s mugshot. I guess we’ve moved up in the world!
Challenge for the day: I dare you to post the “best” government issued photo you have!
Team Nuun Tuesday
Not a lot to report this week. The 2 things I want to talk about in depth are either unannounced or have not arrived yet. So here’s the pathetically short synopsis.
1. Team #2 has a name. I found out purely accidentally when their new group showed up in my Facebook news feed. However, I can’t in good conscience spoil it for them. I really want to spill the beans, but that would make me a bad word of the highest order. And a really crappy teammate. Let’s just say that it’s great and, even though I love our name, I kind of wish we’d thought of it. If Team #2 is reading – What’s taking so long?!?*
2. Nuun sent out a gift pack of sorts to team members. There has been much talk about it on Facebook. Unfortunately I do not get to benefit from the USPS’s efficient service. While everyone is either ripping theirs open or giving it away (I may or may not be that generous) I am patiently waiting. That would be the downside to living in another country. I get to guess when Canada Border Services Agency and Canada Post will get their acts together and deliver my package already!
*Seriously, I’m only half joking. I can keep a secret (well, Colin knows), but still. If the suspense is killing me, think about how everyone else is feeling… 🙂
Bread And Butter Dreams
Let me preface this by saying that if you find yourself up at 1:07am and you think you are hungry you’re not. Just go back to bed. Since neither Colin nor I could heed this advice here are the awesome dreams we had…
1. Colin’s dream was about Tofino. My family has been going there since I was young and this year would have been the 20th consecutive year. However, going to a now very popular tourist destination is not cheap. So unfortunately none of us will be going. Obviously Colin’s subconscious is still in denial… He dreamt that all of us were waiting at the ferry terminal getting ready to head over to the island. I drove my car with my mum and Spud on to the ferry. Colin waited for my dad who had a 4×4. When my dad came back he said that he was ready to go, turned around and drove away. He was convinced that he and Colin could drive there.
2. I had a very in depth dream about running an ultramarathon. It was based in and around Vancouver. Some of the route was on trails and some was on the road. At the start Dean Karnazes made a brief appearance and laughed at me when I asked if he could pace me. Of course I came to my senses and admitted that he would probably be able to finish a couple of times over before I did. He ran off still laughing at the newbie.
I didn’t really know the course that well so when I had about 10 kilometre or miles left (still not sure what the actual distance was) I got lost. I was running back and forth along the beach trying to ask people where I was supposed to go, but I was at the finish line and they were all done already. Eventually someone told me that I had to do a loop of the Stanley Park area and come back to the beach. By this point I was already well past when I wanted to come in and I was running dead last. I picked up the pace by using some sort of bulky metal pole/walking stick thingy to propel myself forward. I started to pass other runners – all of whom seemed really old or hurt.
Once on my way back I came to a fork in the road and didn’t know which way to go. Colin yelled at me from a restaurant that I was supposed to go left to get back on the beach. But I missed the turn for that and saw runners going to both Rogers Arena and BC Place. By the time I got to the arena it was closed to runners. So off I went to BC Place where they were deflating the roof. I ran down the concrete ramp inside and discovered that they were packing up to leave. There were about 4 firefighters giving out medals and the first one tried to hand me a junior medal (don’t ask, I have no idea what that is). When I complained they gave me the real one and then they all started taking my picture from different angles.
Then I woke up; face down on my stomach and both my arms were partially asleep. I have no idea what time it was except that it was early.
3. After I got back to sleep I had a dream about work. Yippee! My store kind of looked like my store, but it was bigger than usual. No one seemed concerned or in awe of the fact that I’d just done an ultra. All I got was a rude look and comment from a customer because I wasn’t helping them. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t working yet and didn’t have my uniform on. I think there was more to it, but it’s gone now…
So the moral of the story, in case you couldn’t figure it out, is don’t eat bread and butter in the middle of the night or you’ll dream of obscure things.
Love My Runners 
