Skirt Sports Ambassador Retreat

In addition to traipsing all over Colorado with Beer Geek, a few weeks ago I attended the Skirts Sports Ambassador Retreat, which closes with the Skirt Sports 13er, 10K, and 5K. This was my second time attending and my second time running the 5K. Maybe next year I’ll brave the altitude and run the 13er. (Or not, since I love cheering in all of the other runners.)

(Photo courtesy of JoAnne Vaughn, Verve Photography)

The retreat starts with a cocktail party on Friday night. It’s a great time to shop, catch up with old friends, and meet some new ones. It’s so awesome to see so many lovely ladies all dressed in Skirt – and to drool over both the vintage items that some wear and the “coming season” that they show us in the fashion show. (I have seen the future and it is GORGEOUS!)

I took the opportunity to wear a new to me vintage dress. (Yes, Skirt Sports resell is a thing. I sometimes feel like I’m constantly rotating my “stock” as I stumble upon things I wish I’d bought when they first came out.)

In addition to the time spent with friends and the lovely fashion show, there were awards to ladies who best embody the 6 core values. I won for “hard work.” I was shocked and thrilled at the same time and may have gotten a bit teary about it.

(Photo courtesy of JoAnne Vaughn, Verve Photography)

Saturday we all met for a more “conference like” event. We had some motivational speakers, including Mirna Valerio and Colleen Cannon. If you’ve never met Mirna, you are missing out. Not only is she one of the nicest people I’ve met, she’s an engaging speaker and highly inspiring. Colleen Cannon was a professional tri-athlete who now runs Women’s Quest – an organization that takes small groups of women on adventure travel. It’s not in the cards (or the budget) at the moment, but some day I’d love to experience one of her trips.

In addition to the speakers, we had the opportunity to do some yoga and then we got to do a “shark tank” event where we came up with ideas for new products. I’m pretty sure that the fact that I carried my reading glasses in my cleavage all weekend inspired one of the ideas. (But, hey, this is the first time I’ve not misplaced my glasses all weekend! I might be on to something…)

After the event, we headed out to the mesa to take a walk on part of the 13er course. I was a little bummed that I would not be running the half marathon the next day, but with an injured ankle/heel and Ragnar on the way, I knew I needed to do the 5K.

The walk was lovely and it was awesome to chat more with other ambassadors, but I made a huge error: I forgot to put sunblock on the tips of my shoulders. At first I thought my beloved Beautycounter sunblock failed, but since my face, chest, and arms didn’t even tan, I’m pretty sure I flat out missed the spots. Oops.

The remainder of Saturday was spent chilling with friends. We had a few beers and dinner and chatted about anything and everything.  Then it was time to set out our flat runners and head to bed. That 4am wake up call was going to come awfully soon!

Nicole DeBoom often refers to Skirt Sports as a movement disguised as a clothing company and this weekend truly embodied that. For most of us, it’s no longer just about the product – it’s about women supporting women and a true sisterhood of likeminded ladies. I think it would be safe to say that we all left there rejuvenated and ready to head out to share positivity to the rest of the world. But first, we had a race to run.