Friday, September 27, 2013

Awesome Announcement and ENERGYbits Winner


First off, I want to share my awesome announcement.  I have been chosen as the Masked Mudder!!! Now most people may not know what that is, so I'll fill in the gaps.  The awesome guys over at Inov-8 have created this persona that they call the "Masked Mudder."  Now this "person" shows up at different adventure races (mainly the Spartan Races) and represents Inov-8 at the event.  They get to show that they are a #committed athlete and practice the #mudrules of a mudder!  First I drop on you the Masked Mudder persona, now I'm dropping new hashtags at you.  What is this #committed and #mudrules you speak of?  Well, the folks over at Inov-8 say that they are the "Home of the #committed".  To explain this I'm going to borrow directly from the Team Inov-8 site:

You’ve been called crazy… Inspiring…Obsessed…Heroic…

Some of your friends don’t understand you- like why you were up at 4am or why your hands are bleeding.

It doesn’t matter what sport you compete in or what you’re training for. A PR is a PR and you’re out to beat yours.

Your body is a machine, your tool, your art, your temple and you fine tune it, you optimize it, you nurture it.

Sometimes you feel alone- in your head, it’s you vs. you- improving yourself, being your own toughest coach, toughest critic.

But you’re not alone in this obsession. Together, we are even stronger. We can inspire one another, learn from one another, and push one another harder.

Here, we get you. We know why you train. Even if it can’t be explained, it’s the heart of the committed athlete.  Share your stories here.

We don’t think you’re crazy.

We know you’re just

#committed.

Now as far as the #mudrules, these are "rules" that mudders "follow" when running a mud run.  Below is a few #mudrules from Twitter including one of the ones that I submitted and one that Inov-8 posted.  Now you can submit your own #mudrules and also let the folks at Inov-8 know which Spartan you are running and you too could be the next Masked Mudder, but for now that title belongs to me until I finish the Nebraska Spartan Sprint on October 12th.  For reference you can visit the Masked Mudder post on Team Inov-8's site to read how to "apply" at http://team.inov-8.com/2013/07/17/be-the-next-masked-mudder/.  Here's the 3 main pieces:

  1. Tag @maskedmudder in your Tweet.
  2. Tag #mudrules
  3. Include the Spartan Race you want to participate
  4. Don't forget your rule!




Now one of the awesome things is that I get some new swag from Inov-8.  I will be getting a new pair of shoes, a jersey, and 2 wrags to complete the persona.  Now for all of you that will be at the Nebraska Spartan Sprint on October 12th be sure to keep a look out for the "Masked Mudder" as he will be handing out some Inov-8 wrags.  Once you do get these wrags you need to check the inside as some might be a winner of a pair of Inov-8 shoes!  Now how awesome is that even!?

Since I am the current Masked Mudder for Nebraska I will be tweeting under the handle @MaskedMudder for a little while.  I will still be tweeting and retweeting under my normal handle @CVermule as well.  So, if you aren't already following the @MaskedMudder on Twitter be sure to do so.  And don't forget to follow the amazing people over at Inov-8.  Their handle is @inov_8.  You can also check out their line of equipment on their website http://www.inov-8.com.

If you want to run the Nebraska Spartan Sprint, or any other Spartan race just click HERE and you will get an automatic 15% discount!  Even if you have a Groupon or similar that provides you with a code for checkout it would be awesome if you used the link so that they know that I referred you.  I am a part of the Spartan Street Team as well.

Wait.....I know I'm forgetting something.  OH YEAH!!! The winner of the ENERGYbits giveaway is Tanya Wright!!!  Please send me your address information to cecil [dot] vermule [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll forward your information to Jonathan over at ENERGYbits and he'll be sure to get your tin of bits out soon!



Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

A bit about bits, and bits for you!

I've been meaning to post this review for some time. I've been promising Jonathan from ENERGYbits that I would have it up, and now I'm finally getting to it.  As a working father of 5 that have taekwondo and other activities it's amazing that I'm able to get runs in at all.  Let alone find the time to write on this blog and interact with all of the awesome people that I've met since I took the passion that I've found for running online.  They always say that where there is a will, there is a way.  To help me with this, enter ENERGYbits!  A lot of people are on the energy drink craze or even drink a pot (or 2) of coffee a day.  I am not too proud to admit that I drink energy drinks.  The thing is, when I take ENERGYbits I don't need an energy drink.  They sustain my energy level just fine.  Not to mention that there is no "crash" associated with them when I take them.  And thanks to some issues that I've had with swallowing since I was a kid, they inadvertently start my water drinking off to a good start as it takes me about 2 cups (16 ounces) of water to get them down.  ENERGYbits recommends that you take 20-40 (usually 30) at a time especially before a workout or other vigorous activity.  I usually take about 15, and that suffices.  When I take on my 21 mile trail run at the end of October I will probably need the 30....twice!

A little bit about bits now.  Here are a couple of charts to give a comparison of protein and antioxidant amounts in ENERGYbits versus other foods.  There is also another chart that compares energy drinks and gels to ENERGYbits.



Some information from ENERGYbits' website directly (taken from HERE):

Made from 100% organically grown spirulina algae and loaded with 40 nutrients, ENERGYbits® algae tabs have the highest concentration of protein in the world (64%) all for just one calorie per tab. Endorsed by the United Nations as the most nutritious food on earth, spirulina algae has been a favorite of Olympic gold medalists for decades and is a super food in every sense of the word, delivering instant and enduring energy to your brain and body.

There are a few variations of bits that they carry.  They have their main product ENERGYbits; for energy obviously, increased endurance, and other benefits.  They also have RECOVERYbits to help with illness, preventing hangovers, or when you want to detox.  Another is VITALITYbits; these are generally for preventing illness.  And the last one is SKINNYbits; these are to aid in weight loss, curb hunger, balance blood sugar, etc.  You can read more about each one as I linked to the page for each directly.

Check out my tin of bits!

Here is what the bits look like.  Just a partial serving though.
So, they say you can chew up the bits to take them that way.  I have tried this.  Unless you like the taste of fish food I don't really suggest it, but it's something you can do.  There are other ways to take them.  Obviously since they are in tablet form you can just swallow them, as mentioned above you can chew on them, but you can also add them to your favorite smoothie for breakfast or snack!  I've seen several instances where runners or fellow fitness freaks will simply puree them with their smoothie and drink them that way.  The choice is yours....once you get them.  I actually prefer to swallow them with water because it helps me make sure I'm downing the water I need to keep hydrated.

I do know that in less than 2 days I will be running Tough Mudder in Kansas to earn my orange headband.  My team and I have a 10:20 A.M. start time.  And as I am running this I know that I will have my bits with me to make sure I'm #PoweredByBits and that I don't lose the energy that I will need.  I'm still plotting at when I will apply to become an ENERGYbits ambassador.  Since I am not at this time I don't have one of the cool codes to provide you with a discount off of some bits.  I'm not one of the "cool kids" yet.  I do have some good news beyond that though.  The awesome Jonathan over at ENERGYbits has told me that they are allowing me to provide one of my readers with a sample pack so they can have their very own tin of ENERGYbits.  How awesome is that!?  So, just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.  And you guys get one free entry just for being awesome Dreadmill Drummer readers!  Now I know I can write more about these, but I know you guys just want to enter to win your own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Happy Birthday, Bad Blogger

So today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me!  Even though it is my birthday, I realized that I've been a bad blogger lately.  I haven't had a new post up in over a week, so what have I been up to.  As I said it's my birthday.  Now I wish I could say that I'm holding a giveaway like I have seen other bloggers, but that's not in the cards for this year.  Maybe I'll figure out how to hold one on my one year blogoversary.  (That's a word....right?)  Now, I have promised you reviews and a couple giveaways.  And I still promise that those are still coming.  I am polishing a couple reviews and will be writing more coming soon, but for now I'm going to let you know what I been up to the past couple of weeks.

I have still been working on my #5am5k.  I am still holding true to that commitment.  I have also recruited my brother-in-law to run the Spartan Race with me next month. So, I have been working with him to try to train him for that race.  Who would've thought of me as a running coach?!  Certainly not me, but I find myself doing it still.  And in helping him I think I have also help myself because I was able to make it 8.3 miles yesterday in all. Now this is a long for my long run except for the half marathon that I ran December.  As I get closer to Tough Mudder I expect that I should be able to get to 9 or even 10 miles.  As I get to the end of October, even after the Spartan Race, I expect that I will be to at least get to 15 if not upwards of 18 miles for the G.O.A.T.z 21 mile trail run.  I am already getting nervous for Tough Mudder, but I don't know if it's more nervous or more excited.  Especially since I'll be running it with so many friends.  I do know that I'm really excited to run Spartan next month and extremely nervous for the G.O.A.T.z trail run.  I do know that if I can handle a 21 mile trail run that next year I think I may tackle Omaha marathon, or even the Lincoln marathon,  We'll see how I do with the 21 mile to see if the half marathon is more of my magic distance for now.

So, now that I have talked about what I have been doing and what I have coming up soon let's talk about the reviews I'm doing and the giveaways.  I know we all love giveaways!  I will be doing a review on Perky Jerky, Tiger Balm, Quest Nutrition "guilt free" pasta, GungHo energy, and at the moment I know that I am forgetting something.  The giveaways that I will be holding will most certainly be for GungHo and also for the Tiger Balm.  If I am remembering correctly I will be allowed to give away some GungHo to either 2 or 3 readers and the Tiger Balm I believe is also for 3 readers.  So be sure to keep a lookout for those reviews and giveaways in the coming weeks.

Until next time, keep those beat coming!