Schwag Winner and Germantown Half Report

First thing first, the winner of the Schwagbox giveaway is...

Matthew Smith!

Matt also has a blog called Go Smitty GO!  Check it out! And thanks to everyone that entered and a special thanks to Schwagbox.com for participating in the giveaway! Congrats Matt!

Germantown Race Report:

This race was a mystery going in. As you know, my main focus has been the Olympic triathlon I have in May, so a half marathon was not my sole focus. My longest training run had only been 9 miles going in, so I was really unsure as to how the race would go. I knew that I was going to be good for 8 or 9 miles, but after that, who knew?? My initial plan was to run it hard and see how long I could hold on. I soon realized that plan was stupid, I mean that has NEVER worked for me in the past, so why would it work now right? So in came Plan B.

One of my buddies was going to run the half also, so why we were talking, I kind of latched on to his plan. He was going to pace the run the first half and try to negative split the race. This sounded like a great idea and something totally different from my normal race plan. And it worked! We actually negative split the half marathon and I finished in 2:03.

Here were my splits:
1: 9:31
2: 9:47 (Uphill)
3: 9:46
4: 9:25
5. 9:35
6: 9:35
7: 9:28
8: 9:18
9: 9:13
10: 9:21
11: 9:18
12: 8:44
13:8:45

I really was surprised that I had anything left in the tank at the end of the race, but I felt strong. I was able to to turn it up a notch and finish really strong. I actually felt so good that I believe I could have gone sub 2! All in all, I was very happy with this race, I was scared I was under trained for it and would tank at about mile 10, but instead, I was ready to go and felt strong!

Schwagbox Giveaway!

Yes, back to back to back giveaways on Daily Trainings! I know I do not need to ask, but who doesn't like schwag? Nobody! Everybody loves schwag! I have found one of the coolest product on the Internet and I am bringing it to you.

In my last issue of Triathlete Magazine, you might have seen a page about Schwagbox. Schwagbox is a subscription service that delivers a hand picked sampling of gels, bars, drinks, recovery nutrition, body care bike maintenance (lube, cleaners, grease, etc.) and other bits an pieces to your door every month. Every batch is hand picked by the editors at Bikerumor.com, the world's largest and most popular cycling blog, from the coolest things they see each month. You can find them at www.Schwagbox.com

So I reached out to Schwagbox and asked if I could do a review and a giveaway and they graciously agreed! I was able to speak to Evan at Schwagbox and before I knew it, my own Schwagbox was at my door. Now I am a guy that loves race packet pickup cause I always expect there to be some cool things in the packet, but I am usually disappointed and throw most of it away. When my wife told me I got a box today, it was like a kid getting an unexpected Christmas present. So I quickly tore the box open and this is what I found:

We need a closer look!

Clif Shot Blocks and gels!  Chocolate Berry and Citrus!

Zevlin Leg Shaving Creme and Pro Towels!

Now all of this came in the box, and this is something you can expect to be delivered to your door every month! How cool is that. Now there is a cost to this, not everything can be free! It costs $10 a month ( but they require an annual fee) but as you can see, you get more than $10 worth of product! Where else are you going to get delivered to your door the newest products out there? I do not know either!

Now for the giveaway! My new friend Evan at Schwagbox has agreed to send a reader a Schwagbox of their own!!  What will be in it? I have no idea, because they are continually sending out the newest, greatest stuff!! It will be good, trust me on this. So how do you enter? Simple.

Schwagbox has graciously agreed to give one person a Schwag box! So here are the rules to enter!

1. Leave a comment in the comment section of this blog. (1 entry)
2. Become or be a follower of Daily Trainings (1 entry)
3. Like Schwagbox on FaceBook and Twitter (1 entry a piece)

You can leave me a comment stating you have done all these things on one comment. The drawing will last until March 21, 2013. Each entry will be assigned a number and then a random number generator will select the winning entry! You have a chance to have 4 entries!

**Special thanks to Evan and Schwagbox for working with me on this! It is awesome that they are willing to help with the giveaway and I can't say Thank you enough!**