Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Chocolate Milk Vote for Team Refuel

No doubt: Chocolate milk is my healthy food. pnoeric
Got milk? Is it chocolate? Where's my milk mustache?

I thought I was only going to have about 15 seconds of fame when I sat down in front of the camera to record my reasons for refueling with chocolate milk after a run. It was the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon expo. It was the Team REFUEL booth. It was something to get expo-goers to stop by the booth, get interested, receive a freebie or two (I walked out with a hand towel, perfect for my next tri transition). And I was flustered from my registration, running low on time, and sweaty from pedaling down to McCormick Place. Plus the last time I was on TV (thank goodness I can't find the link to that video), I sounded like a complete fool--and never managed to look at the camera. Good thing I went into magazine journalism and not broadcast.

But it looks like those 15 seconds of fame turned into a month's worth--and perhaps a little more. The big shocker arrived in my inbox yesterday: This Fit-Inker was now a Team REFUEL finalist for July. My video (which you can view here) put me in the running to be one of the five people who will receive a Team REFUEL sponsorship, which includes training gear, $500 in sponsorship dollars, the chance to race with the Team at destination races around the globe (is Ironman Hawaii included in that?), and the chance to star in a "got chocolate milk?" ad. I might not be begging to star in the commercial, but everything else, including the research behind why lowfat chocolate milk is awesome post-race recovery fuel, gets a huge nod of approval from this chocolate milk drinker. Who knows? Maybe it'll mean another opportunity to run with Dr. Andy Baldwin--except next time I'll try to stick with him for more than two miles.


Now comes the shameless self promotion--I can't help it, I still remember losing a 7th grade student council slot by one vote. If you're reading this and you're a Fit-Ink fan--and even if you're not, we'll love ya anyway--please cast your vote for my video as often as you can from now until the end of August. The only catch is that you can't vote more than once in a 24-hour period, and they're really stringent on matching votes to IP addresses (I know because I've been having trouble voting for myself even when I've waited more than 24 hours). But the more votes I receive, the more I can improve my chances of nabbing a sponsorship. As if it weren't already obvious, I really want to win.

Forget about me though. Not only does each vote bring me closer to being one of those final five, but each vote also brings a $1 donation to the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Knowing that those votes can bring money to an organization that supports 55 of the Paralympians who'll be competing soon in London and funds the active lifestyle for the physically challenged makes them even more meaningful.

My voting is done for the day. Time to go pour myself some chocolate milk...I've got a bike ride to recover from and a run coming up.

Click this link to cast your vote. And thank you for the support!

Photo grabbed from pnoeric at flickr.

1 comment:

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...