We think this looks awesome. Go make some awesome music!!

Atlanta-bred Roots Rocker Michelle Malone and the Legendary Beverly "Guitar" Watkins Headline Ladies Rock Camp, the Annual Fundraiser for Girls Rock Camp ATL.

Join Atlanta-bred roots rocker Michelle Malone and the legendary Beverly "Guitar" Watkins February 17-19, at Ladies Rock Camp, the annual fundraiser for Girls Rock Camp ATL, the Atlanta-based non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls and women of all backgrounds and abilities through music education, creative expression, and performance.

The event is a three-day rock and roll fantasy experience where women learn to play an instrument, form a band, write a song together, and play a big rock concert finale. Beginners are absolutely encouraged to attend! Michelle Malone will be leading the songwriting workshop and will also be a floating band coach, giving participants tips, tricks, and pointers along the way. Beverly "Guitar" Watkins will play a private lunchtime set, making for a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience.

Since the weekend is full of learning and making music, participants won't have to cook or pack their own meals! Lunches and dinners will be provided by the Peasant Bistro, Mellow Mushroom, and Doc Chey's, and continental breakfast will be served in the mornings.

On top of all these great perks, participants experience the thrill of learning to play an instrument, forming a band, writing an original song, and playing a live rock concert for fellow campers, families, and friends. Those who have been to LRC before know how amazing and life-changing the experience is!

Tuition is on a $350 to $500 sliding scale and all proceeds support Girls Rock Camp ATL scholarships and strengthen the sustainability of the organization's programs. If you don't have an instrument one will be loaned to you for no additional charge. Space is limited. More information can be found at www.girlsrockcampatl.org or by sending an email to camp@girlsrockcampatl.org. Girls Rock Camp ATL can also be reached by phone at 404.964.5976.

We hope you'll join us! It's super-fun and for a great cause!

Friday, February 17 - 1:00pm  to 9:15pm
Saturday, February 18 - 9:30am to 9:30pm
Sunday, February 19 - 9:30am to 8:00pm (showtime 6:00pm)

Sunday, November 6th

Read the latest Team Awesome Atlanta Book Club book!

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Author: Max Brooks

This book is being turned into a movie as well! So you'll be way ahead of the curve!
Meeting & discussion time & location is TBD.
Expect to be done by the end of October.

Join the book club right here!

Did you know that some Atlanta Team Awesome members are the organizers of a 5k right here in town?? Well - they are. And it's going to be awesome. But we need to show up and support them. So lace up your running shoes, set some goals, chug a beer and RUN! Register for the race now and let them know that Team Awesome is gonna show up.

Join us for the 1st Reynoldstown Wheelbarrow Race 5K! Before you enjoy the 16th Annual Reynoldstown Wheelbarrow Festival, make sure you earn your festival food and beer by running through historic Reynoldstown and Cabbagetown. Each participant will receive a great t-shirt.

Date: September 10, 2011
Location: Reynoldstown Neighborhood
Course: Race starts at Park Grounds Neighborhood Cafe (142 Flat Shoals Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30316)
Time: 8am - Wheelbarrow Race (and by that they mean a regular 5k, not an actual wheelbarrow race...)
Festival: 11am-11pm - Wheelbarrow Festival

Registration is open now. The fee for the race is $25 and all proceeds benefit the Reynoldstown Civic Improvement League.
http://www.active.com/running/atlanta-ga/reynoldstown-wheelbarrow-race-5k-2011

Check out the festival website at www.wheelbarrowfestival.com

And below are your Team Awesome organizers!!

It. Is. Time.

Time for Team Awesome's favorite neighborhood 5k, also known as the Cabbagetown Romp & Stomp. This is the 6th year of the Romp, which has grown from a few hundred runners to 1,000 strong weaving their way through the Cabbagetown streets. It's a great kickoff to the Chomp & Stomp Chili and Bluegrass Festival.

Because the race is now capped at 1,000 runners, we're sending this e-mail to give past runners plenty of opportunity to register for the race, which is held at 8 a.m. Nov. 5. The course will be the same as last year, and for the first time, it will be USTA certified. The course is flat and fast.

Last year was the first year with chip timing, and this year we're adding a starting mat as well. There will be quite a crowd at the start on Carroll Street but this way your time will be reflected accurately whether you start in front or back.

The race entry comes with a sweet long-sleeve T-shirt, as well as a chili spoon, which is the entry to the Chomp & Stomp festival (and a $5 value). The T-shirts are once again designed by Mark Kirby design. Awards go three deep in every age group with special glass artwork designed and made by Cabbagetown artist Susan McCracken.

Please note: There is NO race day registration. Deadline to register is 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, but we anticipate a sellout before that time. The cost of registration is $30, but if you sign up now, there is a $5 discount and it'll cost you $25. All proceeds benefit the non-profit Cabbagetown Neighborhood Initiative. REGISTER HERE.

T-shirts and race packs will be given out before the race - both at a Thursday and Friday night pickup and before the race Saturday.

On a recent road trip, I listened to some great podcasts. One of them was a TED talk with Neil Pasricha. Neil is the author of the AWESOME blog: http://1000awesomethings.com and the best selling book titled “The Book of Awesome” which topped the charts on Amazon (a good book for any Team Awesome member).

In this TED talk, Neil shares the secret 3 A’s of being Awesome. Obviously, this is awesome. Over here at Team Awesome, we know there are lots of ways to be awesome but we thought this was a great explanation. So here they are:

1. Attitude – Having the right attitude to overcome adversities in life

2. Awareness – Being alive and alert to the little things that make life “as good as it gets”

3. Authenticity – Being truthful to oneself, and knowing what one truly wants

Watch the 18 minute talk right here. We dare you. We bet you’ll find it awesome too.

We are planning to bring the Awesome to the East Atlanta Strut Parade this year.  YAY!!!  And we have someone who graciously agreed to drive this event. Her name is Dee. With that said, she would LOVE LOVE LOVE some more people to create a group or "parade committee" to bounce ideas off of and help steer this to become the most awesome parade event ever!

TEAM AWESOME Upcoming Races!
August 20th, 2011: Peachtree City Sprint Triathlon (SIGN UP HERE)
I gave in and signed up for this one and coerced a few others to do the same. So... let's do it. Sign up now though, it WILL SELL OUT. This is a great sprint tri for first timers (or second timers) and I think we will find it similar to Callaway. It is a little bit longer in distance but I think we can handle it. In addition, Melia used to help organize the race and has volunteered to take us down to the race site one weekend for a trial run (swim/bike). As I did before, I will be organizing a few runs, bikes & swims to train for this race. All workouts will be posted on the calendar, emailed to this group and posted on the FitWit blogs.

September 17th, 2011: East Atlanta Strut 5k (SIGN UP HERE)
Team Awesome loves the EAV Strut festival so make sure you sign up for this 5k. If you're training for any fall half-marathons, we may do a few more miles before the race starts to get in our numbers... so prepare yourself for that. BUT after the race, we are planning on having a first annual Team Awesome Float in the EAV Strut parade!!! If you are interested in helping plan this AWESOME event - email Dee at dcampanella2@gmail.com (she's organizing it and could use input on decorations, ideas, cars, marching bands, costumes, etc).

October 2nd 2011: 13.1 Atlanta (SIGN UP HERE)
This is the first of the fall half marathons that we'll be training for over the next couple of months. Some will race at this event, some will race 2 weeks later in Baltimore but we can all train together. If you don't want to travel to Maryland for a half marathon - this is your best bet. Keep in mind that I plan the long runs on the weekends only. If you want to add in another shorter run during the week, you can set it up with this email list or you can do it on your own. I do FitWit during the week so I won't be planning weekday runs.

October 15th, 2011: Baltimore Half Marathon (SIGN UP HERE)
A bunch of us are traveling up to MD for this half to help jump start the DC/MD/VA (Mid-Atlantic) branch of Team Awesome and we'd love to have you join us! (I am running this race and not the 13.1 race, for the record.) There are already many people committed to racing in this half and it will be lots of first-timers too! It's bound to be an awesome weekend so start thinking about a road trip and get on it!

It's time to start training!
2.5ish mile run @ Parish
Date: Sunday, July 10th
Time: 8:30am (to beat the heat)
Location: 240 N. Highland Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30307
Course: Out & back on Beltline to Ponce (with detour through new 4th ward park if you're up for it)
Brunch after run: Parish Market (downstairs) on N. Highland
Pace: As a group we aim for 10-11 minute miles, but since this is an out & back run, we can go at lots of different paces. Let's see where we end up.

Swim at Grant Park Pool
Date: Wednesday, July 13th
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Grant Park Pool 625 Park Avenue SE, Atlanta
Workout: Remembering how to swim and trying to make it from wall to wall.

See the calendar for all the runs up to the race (date & time could change).

Team Awesome Atlanta

Team Awesome has been jumping all over the country lately! Check out the awesomeness!

BOSTON:
Team Awesome participated in the Warrior Dash! We love to get muddy!

CHICAGO:
Anne held up the awesome all on her own in a Sprint Triathlon in Chicago!

GEORGIA:
Team Awesome posted big (and fast) numbers in the Callaway Gardens Sprint Triathlon!

ATLANTA:
Since 2007, Team Awesome has been represented at the Atlanta Pride 5k. This year was no different.

Where will we be next??