Skirt Sports Ambassador Weekend and 13er/5k

Have you ever had a weekend that you had super high expectations for and then it turned out even better than you could have ever expected? That was this weekend at the Skirt Sports ambassador retreat and 13er/5K. It was a whirlwind trip with some glitches and some craziness, but worth every penny spent and all the logistics that went into it.

I left DC on Friday morning, with a bit of a hangover and not nearly enough sleep. Beer Geek’s sister and her husband had visited on Thursday evening and I had a lovely time hanging out with them. Unfortunately, that meant I packed my suitcase at 1:30am and then got up at 5am. Thankfully, it was a Skirt Sports weekend, so I literally grabbed handfuls of Happy Girls, a couple of Gym Girl Ultras, and a bunch of Skirt Sports tank tops and threw them in the suitcase. Boom! I was packed. (I did forget to bring my trail shoes though. Oops.)

I made it quickly through security and parked myself  in a window in the terminal to get some work done. As our departure time approached, I happened to look up just in time to notice a suitcase tumble off of the luggage cart and get dragged about 15 feet under the wheel. My first thought was “someone’s going to have a really bad day” and then I realized it was MY suitcase! And I had a six pack of beer packed in it! Since there was nothing I could do, I boarded the plane and texted my hostess that I might need to do laundry when I arrived LOL.  After two completely on time and uneventful flights, I landed in Denver and went to retrieve my suitcase.

The frame was broken and the one of the front pockets was ripped all of the way through – but my beer was UNBROKEN!!! Holy crap, I have no idea how it didn’t break, but my beer and my clothes were absolutely undamaged.  Huge kudos to Southwest for immediately providing me with a brand new bag with minimal hassle.  Next up was a stop at the rental car agency. When the first car wouldn’t start, I began to wonder what kind of trip this was going to be, but I just rolled with it. (Several people throughout commented on how remarkably calm I was about things. LOL)

Finally, I made it to the Mothership, I mean the Skirt Sports store. It was amazing. All the ladies in skirt, all the skirts to try on, all the yummy food and Ska beer to celebrate. Despite the fact that I’d never met most of these ladies in person, I felt like I’d walked into a room full of friends I’d known forever. Later in the evening, Nicole asked a handful of us to be in the “fashion show” of the new collection coming out in Julyish.

The new patterns are just gorgeous and there are some brand new styles coming out. (Don’t forget you can get 20% off with my code MCM20! And no, I don’t benefit from you using it.)  I may also have done a bit of a strip tease with one of the skirts, ahem.

Saturday morning, we all met at my hostess’ house up in the mountains outside of Denver. She had the most amazing views!

The plan for the morning was hiking and then some “breakout” sessions to discuss the Ambassador program.

The hike led to some beautiful views and a ton of fun, but man, the altitude kicked my butt.

It was a wonderful time with everyone. Huge shoutout to the awesome sponsors of the event.

At the very end, a few of us had an impromptu skirt swap and I ended up swapping a few of my lesser worn items for a skirt, a jacket, and the black Electric dress. Score!

Saturday afternoon I got the chance to stop by Oskar Blues for dinner with my hostess, Sandy from The UltraFreak and Aleasha from A Liddle Run.  I hadn’t been there since the time 14 years ago that we stumbled upon it while trying to entertain a 1 year old Jones at the park across the street.

The beer and food were great and it  was a blast hanging out. In fact, when we headed back to the house, we ended up staying up until after 11pm chatting.

Then it was race day! We had to leave for the race at 4:15am because we had the Skirt Sports expo tents. Yawn! But that gave me plenty of time to socialize before the 5k.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it killed me not to run the 13er. The medal was awesome, but I was time pressed and I knew the hills and altitude would make me slow. And honestly, the 5K kicked my butt. In the last mile, I started chatting with a lovely lady from Illinois and we pushed together to finish strong. Racing is always better with company. (Note that I’m smiling in the finish line picture – I was hurting just as much as the lady next to me, but Nicole DeBoom gave us the tip that smiling helps make you feel better when you are hurting, so smile, I did.)

I could have included about 500 more pictures in this post. And in every single one, you’d see awesome women, supporting each other and having fun together. We come in all shapes and sizes and from all over the country from all walks of life. But we all believe that it’s important to move your body, not just for your physical health, but for your mental health and because it makes all parts of your life better. Yes, we love the product and looking good on the run, but when it comes down to it, #realwomenmove and Skirt Sports is all about making that happen.

Today I’m linking up with HoHo and Tricia for Weekly Wrap.  Stop by the link up and see what everyone else is up to…