WIN THIS: A loose leaf tea glass from Libre Tea!

Well, we squeezed out seven miles yesterday. All before the rain hit, but we still felt chilled by the not-quite-warm-enough spring air. My mom and sister are training for a half marathon, and they will also be running the Shamrock Shuffle with me in a few weeks—it was nice to get some mother/daughter miles under our belt.


We so rarely get to run together. It's true that our paces are slightly different, but we generally stick together whenever we do run together. I usually have to scale it back just slightly, which I never mind doing. Especially this time, as I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to keep up given my recent bout of upper respiratory funk. But I did, and it felt great to get out there and check off a few more miles. (In my Nikes, not my Vibrams.) I probably could have, and probably should have pushed my pace a bit. But I didn't want to split us up. We were having too much fun running around Saint Mary's College (otherwise known as my former home for four years) and the University of Notre Dame.

Of course, running around the football stadium and then passing Lightpost 13 (the site of every tailgate we set up) had us craving a game. Much like the entire run had us craving a smoothie:

But if you've ever gone running in colder weather, you know that a warm beverage is really what you crave the most. All that cold air has a way of chilling you right to the bone. Even for hours after you've pounded pavement. So when I finally got home to my little place up here in Michigan, I turned to one of my trusty favorites. Green tea. And I brewed it in the loose leaf tea glass that Libre Tea sent me to review.


I have always been intrigued by loose leaf tea, but have never had the slightest clue how to brew it. That may sound silly, but it's true. I love green tea, so when they offered to send me some Organic Ming Mei green tea, I was elated. And anxious to give it a go. You all recall the benefits of green tea? Let's review: one cup of green tea has antioxidant levels equivalent to 22 vegetables. 'Nuff said, right? You can read that fact and more on the Libre Tea website. So why loose leaf green tea, rather than the kind you find in a bag? Smaller footprint. Better flavor.  And trust me, it really does taste better. I tore right into mine.

And so basically, you put the strainer on the cup, put the tea in the strainer and then pour hot water over the tea and into the cup. With the cap on, you tilt it upside down and let it brew for a few. Tilt it back over, remove the cap, and then enjoy! So easy. So warming. So good. And I'm SO giving one away! To enter, leave a comment on this post and tell me how you feel about tea. Do you have a favorite? Do you use loose leaf teas? Additional entries can be received by doing the following, but you must tell me you did them!

1) "Like" Libre Tea on Facebook
2) Follow Libre Tea on Twitter
3) "Like" Daily Dose on Facebook
4) Subscribe to Daily Dose via email

Please leave your email address so that I may contact you in the event that you win! Contest ends on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at midnight EST. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 23. 2011.

Best of luck!