Own Your Strong And Join A Mudderella Event With Me! #Mudderella2015

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Mudderella. I received complimentary admission to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation. #Mudderella2015

Momma Told Me: Only you can define what it means to be a girl.

I was browsing Facebook in the wee hours of the night the other day and came across a meme in which a woman shared a conversation with her daughter. The woman had asked her young daughter what she wanted to be for Halloween his year and the daughter had replied, 'Thor.' Upon further pressing the mother became bewildered, "Don't you want to be something pretty like a princess?" to which the daughter replied, "Thor is pretty, mommy!"

Now, of course this is funny because Thor, or rather Chris Hemsworth, is in fact quite the specimen to behold, but clearly a character defined as man. Yet, his strength, bravery, and general badd-ass-ness (I don't care if it's not a word, that's what kind of post this is) is hypnotically alluring when combined with his flowing gold locks and piercing blue eyes. You see, I was that young girl. Growing up I was much more interested in climbing trees and chasing the 'bad guys' than playing with Barbies or wearing leggings. If you are a woman from my own tribe, and these sentiments ring true for you, then you just might be interested in unleashing the power of the woman at a Mudderella event.

Over the past few years I've shared my commitment to get healthier through small and gradual lifestyle and mental changes like cutting sugar from beverages, getting more sleep, and exercising regularly. I've done a few fun runs and I've improved my heart rate and mile time on the treadmill at home and at the gym. I take the stairs most of the time, and make sure I am getting up, out, and active throughout the day. I don't suppose I'll ever be toned and fit; and I am fine with that, so long as I continue to strengthen my core and constantly move towards challenging and improving myself. That is where Mudderella comes in.

I won't lie, the thought of tackling a 6 mile, obstacle laden, mud run course is entirely terrifying. The mud doesn't phase me at all, in fact, I am in it for the mud- well, the mud and the comradely of tackling such an event with some of my best buds, of course. But I am human, and I am aware I am so very critical of myself. I see flaws no one else sees and I fall hard when I set goals and can't quite attain them. If you are like me, Mudderella is still for you.

At Mudderella everyone finishes. Do all, or none, of the obstacles throughout your 5-7 mile trek. Run or walk the entire course (just so long as you don't leave your girlfriends in the duct, some obstacles require more than one person!) Go fast, or go slow- the only real rule is that you own your strong and come invested in the power of you. Arrive knowing your strength, willing to be surprised by the power of your own strength, and ready to embrace the truly amazing comradely of the thousands of women there with you (and they will be there ready to help, even if you are a complete stranger) and you can conquer Mudderella.

At no point on your path to Mudderella are you alone. There is a wealth of great resources online through the Mudderella website including a 12 week training program that is quite visual and easy for even a beginner to follow through with. The exercises are clearly designed to help you gear up for tackling the unique range of obstacles that might appear at your location on event day. Just take a look at the Down Dog Push Up designed to help train for the Downward Dirty Dog obstacle. Mudderella maintains a large group of active obstacles in their obstacle and rolls them out at different events depending on region, terrain, weather, and more. While you won't have an exact idea of what to expect, the online training and exercises are certainly designed to help make you your best for event day.

I will be bringing 3 friends to the NorCal event June 27th, 2015, but there are several events at locations across the nation open for registration now. While we haven't officially been able to register, though we hope to in the coming week, our team is already beginning to start the 12 week Mudderella training program at the gym and my bestie and I hope to met this week to do some obstacle training. You may recall Alicia Gonzalez of 24/7 Modern Mom as my roomie and blogger friend from BlogHer 2014, and #BloggerConfessions. She is not only a powerhouse of creativity, ideas, and business but a mom to triplets AND 2 boys, a total of 5 kids! She is an inspiration to me and I simply cannot wait to see her again for Mudderella as my teammate!

As you can see, there is a lot to consider, but, primarily, a lot to look forward to when joining a Mudderella event. I have done many styles of races and runs and few have impressed me even close to the organization and resources Mudderella has provided. And for those wondering, because I know you are, men are allowed to participate, especially if they dress up and get in on the fun (purple is the color of choice!) Just because Mudderella is the first all day athletic event designed by women for women does not mean friendly support and participation from the opposite gender is frowned upon! There is also a mini obstacle course for children, and guests are welcome to watch the action from the bleachers and special obstacle sidelines for a nominal fee.

I truly look forward to sharing more about my training process, the wonderful women on my team, and our participation in this year's Mudderella NorCal event. Now, tell me, which obstacle do you think might be the most fun/challenging for you? The tire run, the rope climb, getting muddy, giving piggy back rides???

What Daughter Says: Own your strong with a new goal and amazing memories at a Mudderella event near you.

Right now Mudderella has 9 US and two Canadian events planned for 2015, but you never know we might just decide to add a few more along the way, so be sure to check out www.Mudderella.com for all the latest info.  The current 2015 event schedule of events is:

 

-        NY/NJ – May 9, 2015 – Englishtown, NJ

-        Chicago – May 30, 2015 – Richmond, IL

-        NorCal – June 27, 2015 – Vallejo, CA <------ JOIN ME!!!

-        Toronto – July 11, 2015 – Kitchener, ON Canada

-        Capital Region – July 25, 2015 – Clarksburg, MD

-        Colorado – August 22, 2015 – Snowmass Village, CO

-        Pittsburgh – September 12, 2015 – Slippery Rock, PA

-        Whistler – September 26, 2015 – Blackcomb Mountain, Whistler, BC Canada

-        New England – October 3, 2015 – Thompson, CT

Practicing Positive Reinforcement With Pets- Train N' Praise System Giveaway 11/19

***I received a product sample in hopes I would share my genuine views and experiences here on Momma Told Me. All photos and opinions are copyright Momma Told Me Blog 2014.

Momma Told Me: Like teaching an old dog new tricks.

It's pretty clear by now that pets are family not just in our home, but in our family members homes as well. Growing up Mommas was always pulling animals in off the street and offering hospice for end of life shelter animals. Nora and Goliath are the first pets that didn't come directly from a shelter, and were actually taken in from breeders- Savannah and I have quickly learned that not all breeder dogs are the same, and adopting a dog that has been raised months in such an environment poses it's own struggles. Whether your puppy is from a shelter, pet store, or breeder, one thing every pet parent can agree on is the challenges of potty training.

When we adopted Nora, about a year and a half back, she was 16 weeks and had absolutely no formal potty training. In fact, she 'marked' the breeder's home 5 times while we signed the paperwork, alone. We were in for an uphill battle that lasted the better part of half a year as we went through faux grass pads, real sod pads outdoors, and several forms of reinforcement training. The one thing that worked best? Positive reinforcement in the form of immediate treats- and I'm talking almost mid tinkle here, folks! So, when Savannah adopted her Weimeraner at 12 weeks I wasn't the slightest surprised to hear of the uphill battle she was fighting to potty (or house) train.

Having just given birth to her second child, and facing an imminent move out of state I truly wanted to help ease her battle on the issue and help make the transition from new puppy to new baby a little simpler. When I heard about the unique Train N' Praise potty training system by PetSafe I was very excited. In training Nora I'd often said "I wish there was a way I could reward her for using her potty pads when I wasn't home," and Bingo, that's exactly what Train N' Praise does. It provides immediate reward for your pet via it's unique patented moisture sense potty pads OR the included remote. That means that this system can easily be used long after house training is over to enforce and encourage other good behaviors (stop barking, lay down, stay, etc.)

The Train N' Praise system comes with everything you need except for treats (you'll want to choose the best for your pet's dietary needs anyway,) including 8 AA batteries for the treat dispensing unit, and the mobile remote. For house training purposes you will want to use the system with the specially designed moisture sensing peep pads and mount it on the floor- for treat dispensing after house training you can use the included mount and actually mount the unit to the wall somewhere near a doggy door or other high traffic pet area.

While the business of detecting moisture on a pee pad may seem like magic, the secret actually lies within the PetSafe Train N' Praise pads, which have a unique motion sensing transmitter grid build into them, that feed to a sensing remote clipped on the end of the pad. Pairing took us a couple attempts, but never needed to be messed with again after initial setup.Once the pad detects moisture the reward system will dispense a portion of treats within 3-5 seconds. It is fairly quite in operation, but audible enough for the dog to know there was something exciting happening the very first time.

We ran into a few snafus with Goliath- One, he is very much still a puppy, but he is a larger breed, and easily rustles the small square pads when moving, which makes him prone to missing. To account for this you can interlock mats with the purchase of additional motion sensors paired to your main unit- but I'd ultimately prefer to buy one 'large breed' system that has larger pads overall, or the extra clips built into the starter price. Our next issue was Goliath's intelligence- when he finally figured out that the treats came from the device next to the potty pad, and often when he was on the potty pad, he began using the pads for a bed, in hopes he would get lucky an score some free treats.

If he had been a little smaller puppy we would have been willing ton continue working with the pads as a potty training tool, as it seemed to show great promise until that point- however, we found the device was now most useful as an obedience and training tool. We especially loved that the remote had such a wide range to communicate with the unit, across the room, to help instill the 'stay' and 'quiet' commands. Despite our small hangups with Goliath during the process I honestly feel like the Train N' Praise is a worthwhile investment, particularly for puppies from 8 -16 weeks to start potty training, and even as a tool for older dogs who have experienced recent behavioral hiccups that require correction. I only wish I'd had this system when I was potty training Nora!

What Daughter Says: Take some of the frustration out of house training, for you and your pet, with positive reinforcement.

One Momma Told Me reader will win their own Train N' Praise System!