My 4th Blogiversary {Prize Pack Fit Giveaway}

Disclaimer: I was sent complimentary flowers by ProFlowers. I mean, who doesn't like being sent flowers? 

Okay so my 4th blogiversary happened to fall on the day of the Chicago Marathon so it was overshadowed by all that fun and now the subsequent craziness of school and #bootlife afterward.  Thanks so much to ProFlowers for reaching out and sending me a lovely congratulatory blog birthday bouquet, which totally sparked me actually celebrating my blog's birthday. I love having fresh flowers in the apartment-they totally brighten my day. 

Beautiful Autumn Birthday Wishes bouquet

I've grown a lot blog-wise and personally in the past 4 years. Plus I've run like a LOT more races. As I stated in my very first post, I'm still trying to find peace and balance in my life. I think I get a little bit closer every day. I'm full of gratitude to have my little corner of the Internet to share my thoughts, cool product finds, race recaps, struggles, and accomplishments. I'm mostly grateful for all of the wonderful adventures and people I've met through this blog and places it's lead me. 

I'm still not a super fancy blogger and despite pretending to be a food blogger, fitness model, fashion blogger, or professional runner some days, I still have plenty of work to do. However I like to laugh at how far I've come. A few phone upgrades also helped a lot! There's many rambling blog posts, terrible dark photos, and messy early posts. I've thought about cleaning some up and maybe I'll refurbish them into new posts, but I like leaving those behind. It's authentic, it's me, and it's something to look back on! 

Here's a couple photos from 2013 that are too bright, dark, and have that lovely chipped nail polish. 

But for real, I'll cherish my first marathon medal forever. 

In contrast, I've learned a thing or two in 2016 and have a long way to go! 

Can I just go back to Seawheeze and Vancouver? 

Here's to a even better 5th year of blogging with more running, adventures, and FRIENDS! 

To celebrate and thank all of my fabulous readers I decided to throw together a little fitness prize pack giveaway with not one but TWO winners.  Each winner will receive a prize pack including some of the following: Bondiband headbands, Vibrant Health protein powder packets, Momentum Jewelry, Nuun Hydration electrolyte tablets, Sweat Pink shoelaces, Run10Feed10 bracelets, and a few more goodies. Enter using the Rafflecopter below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway This giveaway ends November 23rd, 2016, 12 AM EST. The winner will be notified via email right away. If I don’t hear back from the winner within 24 hours I’ll have to pick a new winner. Prize and delivery of prize is from me and is not associated with any of the brands included in the prize pack.  

What is your favorite topic to read about on blogs? What do you like to see on my blog? 

It's Not You, It's Me {Finding Meaningful Brand Partnerships}

With a new years comes lots of new things-new hobbies, new healthcare plans, maybe a new job, a new semester of classes, new goals, and for many bloggers-new ambassadorships. I know that's kind of a stretch from healthcare plans, but roll with it. I still feel like a tiny fish of a blogger in a big pond of amazing bloggers that I follow. However I have managed in the years to work with amazing brands, have amazing opportunities, and find a lot of awesome and supportive friends. To boot, I even made enough money from some sponsored posts to cover some race entry fees and a couple pairs of running shoes last year which is really all I want. 

I think recently brands have really have acknowledged the power in having some of kind of grassroots promotion and blogger or brand ambassadors. They have people who love their product and promote it all the time in creative ways which they don't have to pay, besides sometimes giving them some discounted or complimentary product. 

With my really busy schedule of school, work, training, coaching, life (obviously the major reoccurring theme in my life for the next 2 years so get used to it!), this January I took some time to reevaluate my obligations and really plan out my weeks using my handy planner. Unfortunately contrary to popular belief, I may not be Wonder Woman. 

I blog when I can, but when you have limited time you also really have to make time for hobbies that are important to you. I have also decided to cut out some of my brand partnerships that really weren't benefiting me for the work I would have to put in and didn't apply for extra things just because I could.  It's easy to get sucked into trying to apply for and do everything! I want to support more local companies as well as have partnerships that feel natural and meaningful. 

The brands that I chat about or am an ambassador for, I've all loved before that position was even an opportunity for me.  I think it's really important to keep it real (for real though) and represent a handful of amazing brands and companies whose products I believe in instead of being able to tack on my affiliation with a laundry list of companies. It's also really important for me to like the communication and interaction I have with the brand's managers and employees. 

If I'm entering an agreement to promote a brand (maybe market exclusivity), post on X social media channels X times a month, wear and use during races, and blast their updates on social media, I also need the relationship to be mutual.  It doesn't have to be loads of free product, but discounts and at least a few products complimentary to start helps. If you give me a discount on a product I love, I will definitely be online shopping!