Core Power Fit-Kit Giveaway!!!

Okay, it's a couple days after Christmas and a couple days before New Year's.  I'm dropping a gift off for all of my readers (new and old) for a late Christmas gift and to help you with those New Year's resolutions.  Have you heard of Core Power?  Let me tell you a little bit about their products.

From Core Power directly:
Milk is one of the best sources of protein, helping to build lean muscle and recharge the body when consumed directly after physical activity. Core Power is the real-milk based sports recovery drink and contains natural whey and casein proteins found in milk - never removed from their original liquid state. The brand features simple ingredients and great taste, without a chalky texture. You can also check out the website for recipes!

Now available nationally, Core Power was recently named the “Official Protein Drink of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.”

Core power has 2 "different" lines that they make.  They have their main product that comes packed with 26g of protein, 14g of amino acids, and 5g of branched chain amino acids.  It comes in 3 flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, and their new flavor Banana.  These all serve up 240 calories (30 from fat), 700 mg of highly absorbable Calcium (70% of daily value), and 40% of your daily recommended Vitamin D.

They also have a Light line that has lower calories, but it still packs a punch.  It has 20g of protein and comes in 2 flavors: Chocolate and Strawberry Banana.  These have 150 calories (30 from fat), 500 mg of highly absorbable Calcium (50% of daily value), and 40% of daily value Vitamin D.

Now that you are familiar with the products, how about we get to the other cool part.  In conjunction with Fitfluential, I was able to speak with the folks at Core Power and they have asked me to be a Core Power Ambassador.  What does this mean?  Well, for me that means that they are sending me a Core Power Fit Kit to use and show off along with whatever other surprises might be had.  For you, that means that you get a chance at your very own Core Power Fit Kit.  So, what's in a Fit Kit?!  There is Core Power branded water bottle and gym bag, a gym towel, and an exercise ball.  Now, who could pass up the opportunity to not try to win this gear!?

So, as per my usual you will get one entry just for being awesome.  Then, you will get extra entries for each additional "task," like, or other awesome type things that you do.  So, be sure to at least follow +Core Power on Twitter @CorePower and on Facebook.  They do also have a Google+ presence here.  So, are you ready to drink the Core Power "kool-aid" with me?  Winners will be selected an posted on Monday January 5th, 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was not compensated in any way for this posting.  Any opinions that are expressed are mine alone unless otherwise called out.  Core Power is providing me with a Fit-Kit for trial and review and a Fit-Kit for the winner.

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Shorthand Sunday with a Winner

What the heck is "Shorthand Sunday" you might ask.  Well I'll tell you!  There are all of these other bloggers with titles like "Meatless Monday," "Wordless Wednesday," "Five Things Friday," and "Something Saturday."  Okay, so I haven't seen "Something Saturday," but you get the idea.  So, "Shorthand Sunday" will be my version where I type my post entirely through the Blogger app on my phone.  Sounds fun, right!?  FYI...I don't like that I can't choose where my photos go on this app.  Maybe I can and I just have to figure it out.

So, today will be my 1st organized run with my wife.  We will be running The Ugly Sweater Run in Omaha.  This will her 1st 5k road race, but 2nd 5k overall.  She ran the Go Dirty Girl women's only mud obstacle run in 2012.  So, this will still be a new experience for her.  Maybe she'll even aid me with her insights to write the recap.  We went yesterday to pick up our packets and we got our bibs, a mustache tattoo, and an Ugly Sweater Run stocking cap!  As we got our packets we messaged others that were running with us and one was picking up their ugly sweater and was on their way to packet pickup, and the others already had sweaters and were headed to packet pickup.

Now it was our turn to get our ugly sweaters.  We had already looked at some retailers that usually have them in spades, but to no avail. My wife knew of a store called The Flying Worm Vintage that boasts a big selection.  So, that's where we went and we walked into racks of hideousness.  (That's a word, right!?)  We searched a little while and found a couple and even got well wishes from the workers on our run.  According to the weather earlier this week it could hit 40 today. In December?!  Alas, the forecast os always changing and it's expected to top out around 25 and be right around 20 when we run.  Still not too bad.  I did a mud run in colder temps, I think this one will be all good.  That's why we have sweaters, right!

I do have one last order of business to attend to.  Announcing the winner of the Spartan Race Entry.  This goes to Pedro Loza for following @SpartanRace on Instagram.  Pedro has 48 hours to claim his prize before another winner will be chosen.  If you didn't win, don't despair as I have more giveaways on the way.  Including more race entries.  The one that I will have coming in the next month-ish is for The Color Run.  The awesome people over there will be providing me with 2 codes, 1 for me to run it and 1 for you to win it.  So, keep a lookout for upcoming posts.

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Nebraska, Spartan Race, Inov-8 and Giveaway

You might be asking what Nebraska, Spartan Race, and Inov-8 have in common.  Well, the answer is me!  I signed up to run the Nebraska Spartan Sprint in Lincoln, NE on Saturday October 12th, 2013.  Inov-8 has a persona that they created called the "Masked Mudder."  They choose a different Masked Mudder for each event.  I was lucky enough that they chose me for this one.  So, what did that mean!?  That meant that I got to run the race with some awesome gear.  They gave me a couple of their Wrag 30s (See more HERE) to wear for my "mask," a special Masked Mudder jersey to wear, an awesome race pack, and a free pair of shoes to represent in.  Oh yeah, I also got to give some away.  They gave me several wrags to give away with codes written on the inside for free shoes!  Now how awesome is that?!  I had several winners, more than I even expected.

Training image to get used to the "mask."

My Masked Mudder gear. Inov-8 Trailroc 255, Inov-8 Race pack, Masked Mudder jersey, lots of wrags!

Now, since I live not far from Lincoln there wasn't a pre-race trip really.  It was a short 35-45 minute drive that a few friends and I made.  Now, I had joined the Spartan Street Team in order to help promote the event.  I was wanting to participate in the event that much.  If you want to race you can click the link to the top-right and save 15%.  You can also contact me directly and I'll help out.  One of my buddies even volunteered at the event.  During pre-race we got to take some pictures, I even handed out some swag.  I had connected with a few people on the Blackshirt Spartans group on Facebook that were looking out for me.  I only came across one and he let his wife draw a wrag.  And she won a pair of Inov-8s!

My 1st Inov-8 winner.

This little one drew for her mom,
not a winner but cute still.

Pre-race Selfie

Now, this event was A-MA-ZING!!!  It tested not only my endurance, but it also tested my (non-existent) upper body.  During Tough Mudder I had both tested, but you are "allowed" to skip an obstacle if you feel that you can't perform it or if you fail in your attempt.  At a Spartan Race you aren't allowed to skip or fail otherwise you feel the wrath of the burpee.  Most people in fitness have a love/hate relationship with the burpee.  And I am no exception by any means.  I did at least 120 burpees while doing the race.  I know for sure I failed the spear throw (harder than it looks), the rope climb (made it halfway before slipping), the monkey bars (couldn't believe it!), and something else that I'm not remembering.  I know, I'd remember if I had wrote my recap closer to the event.

Barb wire crawl

Traversal Wall

Under the wall through MUDDY water I got a mouth full!

Most people get a cool "over the fire" picture, I got just after landing.

Spartan pugil hit to finish.

And now I am a Spartan after 3.8 "wonderful" miles and 120+ burpees.

The feeling you get when you finish is just awesome.  You are dirty and sore, but you are almost ready to run again or find your next event.  I know that I will probably be running the Nebraska Spring again in 2014, but I want to run a Super Spartan or even a Spartan Beast.  Eventually I would like to earn my trifecta!  In order to do that you have to run all 3 types of races (Sprint, Super, and Beast) in 1 race season.  I'll get there one day, but until then I'll support my fellow Spartans that have the ability to do it.

After the race I cleaned up, put on my finisher's shirt and gave out the rest of the Inov-8 wrags.  Each picture has a winner and a winner.  One a winner because they finished the race and got a wrag, the other because they did those and won a free pair of shoes.  Can you guess which one in each picture won?

After the race I switched from my Inov-8's to my Bedrock Sandals.

I also went shopping for some Spartan gear.  I got the tank on the left for my future Spartan 1 year old.  The band on the right I got for myself with my free $5 credit that came in my registration!

Now that we've had some picture overload, how about you check out this awesome video next!?

That's right folks!  For those that haven't been able to run a Spartan run, or even if you have you will be able to watch the championships on NBC tomorrow!  And in honor of this, Spartan has given me a code so that one of you can run your choice of Spartan.  Yes, that means you can win entry!  All you have to do at a bare minimum is claim your "awesome entry" and your name will be in the hat.  If you'd like more entries, there are some other things you can do.  Like follow Dreadmill Drummer in the different ways you can, tweet daily, follow +Spartan Race on Google+, follow @SpartanRace on Twitter, like Spartan Race on Facebook, and I may even add entry methods.  So, be sure to check back in order to find out those.  I do need to apologize ahead of time to any non-continental US readers as this giveaway does exclude you.  I'm sorry, it's not my rules.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

A Birthday Greeting and 3 Winners

Today started with 2 words almost everyone loves to hear, "Happy birthday!"  Not for me, for my wife actually.  She is my rock, and is supporting me throughout all of my running endeavors.  So much in fact that she is signed up for her 1st 5k in less than 2 weeks!  She'll be running The Ugly Sweater Run Omaha with me.  This should be a fun event as runners are encouraged to wear their "best" (worst) ugly sweater.  We have been shopping around for what we think is the "best," but haven't found quite what we are looking for.  We may have to take a trip to thrift stores to find what we are looking for.

Things that I have coming on the blog:

• I still haven't posted my Spartan Race recap (bad me! Back in September!)
• I also need to do my G.O.A.T.z Trail Run recap
• I've got a few things I've been trying out for a while that I'm ready to share my thoughts on
• Ever heard of Dirty Energy? (They are tasty.)

No it's time for the Tiger Balm Ultra giveaway winners.  I wish I could give some away to all of the entrants, but I only have 3 jars to giveaway.  Congrats to:

1. Vicky Pennington Daniels (for being awesome!)
2. Ben Jacobs (for following Dreadmill Drummer via email)
3. Mindy Bobe (For following @CVermule on Twitter)!

Please contact me at cecil[dot]vermule[at]gmail[dot]com within 48 hours to claim your prize!

Sorry to those that didn't win.  I promise that this isn't my last giveaway.  I have had a few, but I will be having more.  Heck, my blogoversary is in 9 days.  Maybe I'll drum up a giveaway to run through the rest of the month.  So, keep on the lookout.

Until next time, keep those beats coming!