Sacramento, It's Your Lucky Day!

With the Pretty Muddy Women's Mud Run just 21 days away I want to get you involved and I have a free entry to the Sacramento race to give away! Haven't had the chance to register yet? No problem, now is your time! When you register be sure to join my team "Sweat Pink" and sign up for the 9am start time! You don't want to miss this fun obstacle race, muddy mess and women only event! It will be my first mud run and I can't wait to test out my mud running, slipping and sliding skills! 

As a team Pretty Muddy blogger I will be at the event before, during and after the race to cheer you all on and help push you to the finish! Do you have friends that want to sign up too? Do you not have the patience to wait and see if you have won? Then sign up at Pretty Muddy for your race today! I hope you'll all join me for this fun race. 

My giveaway for a free entry will be open through Sunday morning at 9am pst. You must sign up when notified to receive your free entry. It's that simple! If you're in the Sacramento area be sure to enter my giveaway, grab a group of friends and come get muddy with me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway! Hint: Spartan Race is Coming to a City Near You!

It's the beginning of June and there are so many upcoming races this summer, I thought now would be a great time to share a free Reebok Spartan Race entry with you all! What is a Spartan Race you might ask? From what I have heard, seen and researched, Spartan Races are one of the toughest races you can run. It's not your typical obstacle run or mud run, it's an incredibly tough race that tests your mental and physical strengths. Running through fire, check. Barbed wire, it's got it! Rope climbs, yep! An endless amount of burpees, most likely. Don't believe me yet? Have a look at this video below and you'll know what I'm talking about.

The Reebok Spartan Race has been voted the #1 obstacle race by Outside Magazine and they are the global leader in obstacle racing since 2005! This is what  Spartan Race is aiming to do: 

"Spartan Race is on a mission to get you active, healthy, excited about change, and return to our ancient roots where running through woods, getting dirty, and facing adversity was part of everyday life. 

Our events are all about challenging today’s perception of normal.
Our events challenge the familiar, today’s perception of normal living and getting you out of your comfort zone! At Spartan Race, we do this everyday and it shapes everything we do. 

Having experienced many different racing events, we wanted to make adventure racing more accessible to everyone, but do not be fooled by the word ‘accessible’, as our events have a challenge for everyone’s needs. 

Spartan Race now introduces a level for everyone beginning with the entry level Spartan Sprint, intermediate level Super Spartan, the advanced Spartan Beast, and the ‘99.9% need not apply’ extreme level Death Race.  

Whatever your level, Spartan Race will test your strength, stamina, and sense of humor."

After reading their mission and their simple desire to create a challenge that aims to get you out of your comfort zone I was hooked! I haven't done a Spartan Race yet, but it is definitely now on my bucket list. There is a race in Sacramento on October 26 that is tempting me! You, my lucky readers, can now have the opportunity to participate in a race free of charge by entering my giveaway below! The entry is good for any of their races so make sure you enter!

If you don't win, or are just too eager to wait for the winner to be announced, you can always use this link to get 15% off ANY Spartan Race entry:  http://bit.ly/spartanwarrior. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And the Winner Is....

After reading all your great comments I had to resort to a random draw to pick the winning comment and the winner is...Ponderings from a Full Plate! Congratulations on winning a signed copy of Running the Edge! Your running life is about to change for the better. Be sure to let me know what you think when you receive your copy.

Today marked the five week countdown to the Nike Women's Marathon! I have been having an IT Band flare up and am taking it a little easy on the running this week. Biking, pool running, yoga and PT exercises this week will hopefully get me back into fighting shape quickly. Injuries are common when training for an endurance event so I am just trying to do my best to not make it worse and get back to training quickly.

I am hoping to PR at this marathon and I know that resting for a few days will be better than pushing through pain and injuring myself more. I want to make this my defining race and I am ready to put in all the necessary training, even when that calls for rest.

What do you do when an injury strikes? Do you push through or pull back?