Friday, July 16, 2010

5 For Friday

Good morning!

Yesterday was a roller coaster, but I greatly appreciate all the kind comments and great suggestions for dealing with stress! One thing I love about the blogger community is how supportive it can be!

I also want to welcome the new followers who have joined recently! Thanks for stopping by. Please join the conversation!

Okay, let's get to it!

1. This Sunday is the Nautica New York City Triathlon! I admire all triathletes; I just don't know how you train for 3 events and get through such grueling races. The Olympic distance race has the racers swimming in the Hudson River, biking through city streets and then finishing the race with a run through Central Park. It's quite impressive and always fun to go out and support the athletes of all ages.

One thing I didn't know about the race: The Friday evening of race weekend there is a 1.7mile Jamaican Underwear Run in Central Park! Yes, it seems participants actually run in their underwear! And in 2009, the race broke the record for the most number of people running a race in their underwear (who knew there was such a record)! Registration is closed for this year, but the runner who is voted 'best dressed' wins a trip to Jamaica! Not bad! Has anyone seen this before? It starts at 7:30 tonight.

2. Also this Sunday is National Ice Cream Day! Did you know the ice cream industry in the US is a $21billion industry? That they use about 9% of the milk produced in the US each year? We eat a LOT of ice cream. You all know I love ice cream. I made a deal with myself though, that I would only eat very good, high quality ice cream, and only on occasion. That way, I'll enjoy it more. Well, we're taking a tour of Brooklyn Heights with the MSU Alumni Club Saturday and I think we're going to have our celebration a day early with a stop at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. If you're interested, here are 11 Ice Creams for less than 200 calories from the "Eat This, Not That" guys.

3. I'm sure you've heard Larabar has released four new exciting flavors: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Carrot Cake. Well, I was lucky enough to get samples of each flavor from the awesome people at Larabar! I have to admit, I've only had two so far - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Chocolate Chip Brownie - but both were fantastic! Woody and I both agreed that the cookie dough didn't really taste too much like cookie dough, probably because of the use of cashews, which I don't equate with cookie dough. Nevertheless, it's really good. The Chocolate Chip Brownie definitely satisfied the chocolate craving I was having the other day! The flavors are starting to hit stores now, but if you go to Larabar's website you can order at a 15% discount (for a limited time).

4. Take a boat ride to Governor's Island this weekend and enjoy the bi-annual Jazz Age Lawn Party! It sounds like a blast. Live music, costumes (you don't have to dress up, but you can), food, a car show, tug 'o war contests, a pie contest, and so much more! It's for people of all ages and sounds like so much fun. I'm not sure we'll be able to get there this weekend, but I'm definitely putting it on our calendar for August 28th and 29th. (sponsored in part by Brooklyn Brewery!!) Click HERE for more info.

5. A big topic in the blogosphere has been the advertising techniques of the big food companies. Well, just the other day the FTC announced that ads for Nestle's Boost Kids Essential drinks were deceptive; Nestle agreed to discontinue the ads and stop making the claims that their drinks would keep kids from getting sick. I think this is a great step in the right direction. With so many 'health' products hitting the shelves each day, we don't need companies actively promoting health benefits of products that haven't been proven. Let's just hope the FTC continues with this trend.

Whatever you do this weekend, I think we should all be thankful that the oil has finally stopped gushing out into the Gulf of Mexico and pray that the relief well can get to the leak before anymore comes out!

There are some crazy races out there. Would you ever run one in your underwear? Have you ever worn a costume? What are your thoughts on people who do?

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workout stats -
rest day!

5 comments:

J said...

Another excuse for me to get ice cream on Sunday!! Yum yum!! The triathlon would be fun to watch in NYC for sure...but I agree with you, training for 3 events is tough!

AM! said...

This post is chalk full of info!

the nyc tri sounds cool. We've got the Vineman HIM over here on the West Coast this wknd;-)

have a great wknd!

Robyn @ WannabeWriterRunner said...

My hair person is doing the triathlon! That's one race I really admire people who do.

Julie @ Pickley Pear said...

I am so getting ice cream on Sunday - it's a must if it's National Ice Cream Day! Have fun watching the underwear race - that's so funny!

ajh said...

I hate running in a costume. Well I never have but would hate it but I think I could do my underwear - if I was where no one knew me!

I went to Governor's Island a couple weeks ago and loved just being there with nothing special going on!