Day 3,669: Meet your new nuun ambassador

It's funny. Today I had ideas for two if not three new posts, even took pictures for one of them and as luck would have it, found this email in my Inbox telling me I'd been accepted as an ambassador for Seattle-based nuun hydration.

This is what the email, in part, said:

we are so happy to welcome you to the nuun family! you have been selected to represent nuun in all the amazing areas in which you live, work, play, and compete. we hope you're as excited as we are!
 
this year we have once again received a record number of applicants and we're excited that you have been accepted as a nuunbassador within our program! 

I found out about nuun a few years ago and it was nice to have an alternative to hauling huge packs of Gatorade to and from Costco during Atlanta's hot summers when I needed to rehydrate after runs. The nuun product is a tablet that looks like a large SweeTarts. You drop it in a water bottle and it provides you with much needed electrolytes after a workout. Even the wife liked it, getting her own flavors while she trained for various races such as the Publix Georgia Half Marathon.

The ambassadorships are something I've always wanted to be a part of. The first year I learned you could apply to be one it was too late. Two years ago I thought I had the right information down but missed the window again.

This time around I caught their Facebook notice that the applications were open and filled one out online. A cool thing about this application is to be considered, you must read and sign the Clean Sport Pledge. It's a neat thing to be a part of as a recreational runner.

I wasn't sure what my chances were to be accepted -- it looks like there are a lot of really fast athletes who are ambassadors. And this was after I learned last month that I was not accepted as an ambassador for the Atlanta Track Club.

So I just pitched who I am -- a stay-at-home dad who got a lot stronger and faster pushing a double stroller while maintaining what's now a 10-year consecutive day running streak.

I'm someone who will never be really fast, qualify for the Boston Marathon or anything like that. But I still need to hydrate, especially in the hot summers. And I would have continued to use nuun tablets regardless of being accepted as an ambassador.

But now I can't wait to represent nuun in races and be a part of something that's helped me develop as a runner.