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Monday, February 1, 2010

2010 Great Lakes Multisport Expo

Yesterday, Jason and I venture to Milwaukee for the 2010 Great Lakes Multisport Expo. We had the Expo on our calendar for the past month or so. I'm a very (like to be) scheduled person and try to schedule at least one date with my hubby each month. So, we arranged for daycare and drove to Milwaukee late morning. We went to the expo, had lunch at our favorite "Milwaukee-area" salad bar, did a little shopping (and purchased little to nothing) and indulged in Cold Stone Creamery ice cream, before picking up the kids at dinner-time.
The event was promoted as a way to cure our January boredom in Wisconsin and to forget about the crummy weather. It was a way to get fired up about the upcoming racing season of 2010. The event featured multisport, running and cycling gear, information and events all weekend long.
Jason and I donated last year's running shoes (three pairs each), as they were asking for old running shoes and racing shirts, to be sent to victims of the tragedy in Haiti.
There was an individual 20K bike time trial, a 6-hour time trial bike competition and the winter Series 5K championships taking place. You could also swim and give the endless pool a try. We just spectated and walked around all the booths.
We received the free goody bage with our $10/person admission, which mostly included a lot of flyers and advertisements for races. We did pick up some nutrition (below) and a sweat band at some of the few booths the offered free goodies.

A lot of the booths were free opportunities to try out equipment, massage or training programs/coaches. We didn't really find there to be much for those interested in buying gear, clothes, nutrition and the expo lacked giveaways and goodies. We did sign up for a lot of drawings for giftbaskets and gift certificates, but we'll probably just end up on 25 more distribution lists!! :-)
Jason purchased nothing and i purchased this long-sleeve technical shirt from I Run Like a Girl for only $10 (tax included!).

The expo was larger than those at most races we go to, however we think it could have the potential to be much larger ... especially if were placed in Madison at the Alliant Energy Center.
Even though the event didn't quite meet our expectations (even though I'm not exactly sure what our expectations were!!), we were glad we went and paid the $20 to get in. It give us some time together without the kids and let us get away for half of the day and be "us". It also got us geared up for racing season and we had a lot to talk about at lunch afterwards ... racing, my upcoming half at Disney and all that we had planned for our fourth family trip there, and goals for ourselves this year. I find it so funny, because whenever we usually do go out on a date, it's like, "What do we talk about???!!!", and we end up just talking about the kids.

12 comments:

  1. That is SO cool! An expo without actually having to run 26.2!!! I would love one it the cinci area... that's where I get all my gear and shoes.

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  2. I would love to go to something like that. I think my hubby would rather be shot in the head.

    Isn't it funny how you always end up talking about the kids? We do the same thing!

    Yay Disney!

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  3. I find the same thing...we always talk about the kids too! :) I LOVE that shirt...think I may have to go over to their site and buy one for myself.

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  4. Sounds like a fun way to get fired up at racing. It seems all my husband and I ever talk about is our daughter - I'm not sure what we ever talked about before!

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  5. If nothing else, it was quality time with the hubby right? We do exactly that too: go out and end up talking about the kids!

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  6. We went to the expo on Sat....good stuff! I tried that Hammer gel on my longrun on Sunday and it was awesome!!

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  7. I picked up a print called Ironman, they don't really know. Pretty cool done by Luke Wein.

    www.beyond-studio.com

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  8. VERY cute shirt! I love it and the price! Glad you and the hubby are able to have date days, too.

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  9. The expo sounds like fun even if you didn't get anything but to get excited about upcoming races. It's also great that you got to spend some quality time together to talk about something other than the kids :)!

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  10. I heard about the expo, but didn't really want to go to Milwaukee. If it had been in Madison, I'd be there in a heartbeat :)

    Glad you had a good afternoon with the hubby though!

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  11. Way to go! Doesn't Madison have an expo? You would think they would...but it's been years since I lived in WI so I'm a bit behind. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  12. I just love expo's and buying stuff. Your shirt is really cute. I bought one last month that says "I know I run like a girl, try and keep up.

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