Thursday, August 27, 2015

Organic Freekeh Review and Give-a-way!

Organic Freekeh Review! 
Visit Freekeh ~HERE~

About a month ago I was asked to try Freekeh (free-kah) and write a review!  I love trying new products and this is something I have never tried before.  I was excited to see how it tasted. 

I tried "original" and " rosemary sage."  Both are a good source of fiber and protein and cooks in just minutes!

What is Freekeh?  I was wondering the same thing?  Freekeh was created by accident nearly 2,000 years ago when a Middle Eastern village was attacked and their crop of young green wheat was set on fire.  The villagers rubbed off the chaff and cooked it up...that is how Freekeh was created! Freekeh is a Organic food, Non-GMO, and Kosher.  They are based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota  

What do you do with Freekeh???  Good question!  The thing is, what CAN'T you do with it?  You can add it to soups, pilafs, salads, anything really!  It's easy to cook-just like rice! It's packed with fiber and protein to adds nutrition and flavor to any meal!  I will be adding it to my fish/veggie meal tonight for dinner!

I personally love the favor of both the Rosemary Sage and the Original.  I like it so much, I will definitely be purchasing more at the store. Freekeh can be ordered on-line or found at places like Whole Food or New Seasons (Portland, OR area).

Want recipe ideas?  Visit Freekeh-food website ~HERE~ for tons of ideas! 

Want to try Freekeh for free?  Enter my give-a-way below!  Freekeh has generously offered to give one lucky ready your choise of a bag of Original, Rosemary Sage, or Tamari
 *US ONLY*

Winner will be picked Sept. 4th! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Runaway Pumpkin Half 2015 Coming Soon!

Join me Saturday October 17th at Cheadle Lake Park in Lebanon, OR for The Runaway Pumpkin Half

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Register ~here~

Current price is $57.00
After Sept 1st price goes up to $67.00, DON'T MISS OUT!
Walkers and Runners welcome! 4.5 hour time limit. 
 Race is limited to 1500 people.

 All proceeds go to the ABC House 

The Runaway Pumpkin Half is one of my favorite half marathons. For starters, I love Fall races in Oregon!  This one is fun because you can dress up.  They even have a costume contest.  Come at 8:00 am for the contest.  They even give out prizes if you win!  Last year a lot of people came and took part in this.  It was really fun!   If your not wanting to dress up, it's not a requirement, but it is sure worth it! Grab a friend and start planning! 
  
The race will start at 9:00 am.  The course is a large loop.  It's fairly flat with a few very small rollers.  I think this is a great beginners course and a great course for a PR if your looking for a faster time.  I will be running this in hopes of a PR this year! Hope you can join me!

Follow Runaway Pumpkin at facebook here!
Join the event page here!
Follow on Twitter here!
 Follow on Instagram here!
Follow on Pinterest here! 

Follow me (Julie) at ZaoFit here!

Upcoming races:

Runaway Pumpkin Half Oct 17, 2015



Monday, August 24, 2015

Albany Half Marathon Race Review 2015



Check out Albany Half's Website ~here~

 Saturday, August 15th was the 3rd annual Albany Half Marathon. It was held at Timber Linn Park. I was excited to run this Summer Half! 
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 I arrived at 7:30, knowing the half started at 8:00. There was plenty of parking close to the start/finish line.  Packet pick-up was easy.  No lines and the volunteers were friendly and helpful.  Everything seemed very organized.  I went over to the port-a-potty line and there was no line there either.  Plenty of port-a-potties to handle this race.
I went back to my car and waiting a few minutes to the 8:00 am start.  The starting line was next to the parking lot.
The Finish Line!
We started out on Timber Street SE.  The race started promptly at 8:00 am.  It was a little muggy but cooler than it had been the last two years on this day.  I was thankful for cooler weather this year. We ran through a neighborhood, then heading out onto Knox Butt Rd E.  This part of the course was nice and flat. There were water stations about every two miles with plenty of volunteers. I got into a running grove and tried to relax!
Lots of food after the race!
As I made that first big turn on the looped course I felt a headwind.  I tried to tuck in behind a few of the runners running about my pace but that didn't last too long.  Half way there was a port-a-potty ready for anyone needing a break.  Soon I knew we would be running up a few rolling hills!  I was now caught up with the walkers.  They got an early start, 7:00 am.
At mile 7.5 I ran my first hill.  The hills in this race aren't that bad, they just are there and you do have to run them.  They are also the last half of the race, so they get me every time!
I ran the rollers and then the road evened back up again.  It was warming up slightly, but the weather overall was nothing to complain about for a Summer Half!  As I came back into the neighborhood, I knew the finish was near!  I picked up my pace for mile 12 and ran in with a strong finish!
My husband and 11 year old was there and we walked around and looked at the different vendors.  Dutch Bros was there giving out chocolate milk.  There was lots of food available for the runners and walkers to eat after the race!
It was a nice atmosphere.  I was able to get my finish time with-in minutes thanks to Eclectic Edge Racing.
 I walked around for a while, cooling off and waited for the Raffle and Awards at 10:30 am.  I came in first in my age group and won a cool plaque, a water bottle and some Dutch Bros chocolate milk.  My 11 year old quickly claimed the milk for himself! Lots and lots of raffles were drawn for all kinds of prizes.  My number didn't get called, but many people walked away with cool prizes, including new shoes! 
This year I liked the shirts the best out of all three years.  They were not unisex this year.  They had male and female fit shirts. This year they added a 5k and a kids run.  I love it when race organizers do this.  It makes it even more family friendly! It was the 3rd annual race, I recommend adding the 4th annual Albany half or 2nd 5k to your 2016 calendar!  Hope to see YOU there next year!  

Albany Half early registration $55.00 (includes a dri-fit shirt)

5k early registration $20.00 (includes a dri-fit shirt)

Kids race $5.00

This is a fundraiser for Albany Schools

Want to volunteer or get more information for 2016?
  Contact Bryce Bennett at (541) 730-0413 or bryce.bennett@albany.k12.or.us

Follow Albany Half on facebook here. 
Follow Julie (me) on facebook via ZaoFit here.

Upcoming races:
Runaway Pumpkin Half Oct 17, 2015
Uberthons Winter Half  Jan 23, 2016
                                              





Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Uberthons Summer Half 2016 Preview Run

                           Uberthons website can be found 
                                           ~~~here!~~~

Saturday I drove up with a group of runners to run the Summer 2016 Half Course for  Uberthons.
We met at Greenville City Park, Banks OR. We all piled into Kim's 15 passenger van and headed to what will be the starting line in the Summer of 2016.  
We got to the start (L.L Stub Stewart State Park about the same time we will be starting the official race in 2016.  The air felt good.  Even slightly cool, but we were eager to get started, knowing it would soon be heating up.

We took off running downhill from the park!  It was fantastic! Everyone seemed to be feeling great and we all could run fast downhill!  You can see in this elevation chart! 

Alan from Uberthons
Go Kristi!!! 
Kim, myself and Madi
Jerry, like a speeding bullet! 
 We ran down a hill, and then did a short out and back.  There was a very slight lift in elevation on this part, but not enough to slow us down much! This was fun because we all got to see each other.  As we came out of this part of the trail/course, there was Darwin from Uberthons waiting to cheer us on and take a few photos!  The course was just about as perfect as you can get for a summer race. 

It is off the mail road, on a paved trail and it's shaded! I don't care to run too much in the heat/sun, so I was really excited to be in the shade.  I was also excited about the downhill for the first several miles.  It wasn't so steep, you had to hold back, just steep enough to really get a good start and feel like your flying!  


Just after mile 5 you get to cross this bridge. 
At mile 5, Darwin had an aid station set up for us runners, but was also giving out water to bikers/runners who happened to be using the trail this day.  He had fuel for us, including gu, water and ice cold wash clothes.  These are all things we are working on having at the 2016 Summer half.  With the warmer weather, the ice cold wash clothes were my favorite thing!  I had my handheld water bottle, so all I needed was the cold!!!  After a minute or two, I started running again.  About mile 5.25 (right after the aid station) we got to run across my favorite bridge on this trail head (see photo).  There were several small bridges we crossed, but this one is the longest and grandest. 

I ran on, now running by myself.  About mile 8 or 9 I was feeling the heat and slowed my pace down a bit.  I wanted to really enjoy the trail. At mile 10.29, there was Darwin again with an aid station set up.  This time, I not only took an ice cold wash cloth, but some cold water.  Darwin had plenty and refilled my handheld bottle.  I was so glad to have cold water.  As I moved on there were some spots of sun, then shade back and forth.  I stopped and picked a few blackberries about mile 11.  They were delicious!

The course is 85% shaded and paved.  There was a spot or two, where we crossed a back road and then went right back onto the trail.  The race will be on the  Banks to Vernonia trail-head for the first 11.5-12 miles.  It then comes out onto Main St/Hwy 47 and into Greenville City Park!  

Some of my friends had already finished when I got back to the park.  We sat around for a few minutes in the shade of the paved covering in the park.  We enjoyed cooling down, drinking lots of water and eating bananas.  This will be the finish line of the official race in 2016.   There is talk of lots of water activities for the whole family, food and fun! 

Uberthon's keeps me coming back for more for a number of reasons.  They are geared to the whole family.  They often include a free kids run, and or a mile kids run.  They welcome walker, competitive runners, kids, people of all ages.  They often have a whole meal after races.  They do things to make the community a better place and help others more then you know! Plus the race organizers are just great people.  I encourage you to say hi to them next time you are at an Uberthons event.  


The Uberthons Summer Half will be Saturday July 16, 2016, so mark your calendars today!  You can visit Uberthons website here for more great information! 


You can find Uberthons on facebook here.
Twitter here.
Instagram here. 

Register for an upcoming Uberthons event or just check out their website here.

Thanks for a great run guys! #ZaoFit 















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