Sunday, March 21, 2010

a mental run and giveaway winners ...

Some days you run and everything just flows. You finish feeling light on your feet and invigorated. Today was not that day. Today my legs felt like lead. My lungs were fighting me. And my heart wasn't in it. It was a mental run. A constant struggle between me and that little voice that tells you to quit. Today, that voice won. I cut my run short. Something I RARELY do.

Things started out fine. Fay, Kate, Spencer and I headed out through the streets of Richmond over the James River.
It was nice. I stopped to take these pictures and then I just couldn't get started again. My brain shut off. I even considered asking one of the girls who were meeting us at the midpoint if I could have their keys to drive their cars to the finish. But, my ego is too big for that. Instead, I ran on with G (she joined us at mile five). I felt like she was pulling me the entire way. I just wanted to stop. But, I knew with every step we were getting closer. Near mile seven, we stopped for a few more pictures. Here we (Kate, G and me) are crossing the Nickel Bridge (oh, can I just mention that the entire second half of our run was a never ending hill? You know the kind. The ones that don't seem like much of a hill but just stretch on FOREVER!)
G and I dropped off Kate at her house around mile 7.5. And headed back to the cars. I had planned on 10, but nine was all I could muster. I just wanted to go home. We finished in 1:30:41, a decent pace considering the hills. Here's the post run shot ... I'm smiling so HUGE because I don't have to run anymore!
Once I got home, I jumped on the scale and realized that I was crazy dehydrated. I consumed about 32 ounces of liquid, during and after my run, but was still two pounds less than when I left. I'm thinking that might have played into my mental breakdown. Oh, well. I always have next week to redeem myself ...

And now, for the real reason you came here. The winners of the Training Tag-Alongs giveaway!!

The three winners of a Training Tag-Alongs Tee are:
Teamarcia at Running Off at the Mouth
Dallas B at OBX Running Mama
RunMom at Secrets of a Running Mom

Please email me your shirt and size preference, along with your contact info and I will pass it along to Training Tag-Alongs to get you your prize.

And the 10 winners of a 26.2 sticker are:
Michelle at LetsRollMama
Shelby (didn't link back to a blog)
Darlene at My First 5K Blog
Nicole Joy at NJoy Life
Heather at Run Faster Mommy!
Allie at That Girl is a Running Fool
1NYGirl at KBrunsDisney
Mel at Tall Mom on the Run
Jen at Setting You Free
Momma Twitch at Run Momma, Run!

Please email me your contact info and I will mail you sticker this week!

Congrats to all the winners. And don't forget to check out my Run Like A Mother: The Book Giveaway!

21 comments:

Anne said...

Love the new pic!
Good job on just getting through it...

Christine Jensen said...

Ah, those are the hardest days. Way to go making it to 9 miles on a tough day!

Anonymous said...

love the pics...and please don't beat yourself up about the run. i still think you were such a good sport.

ajh said...

Haven't read this post yet but I LOVE your new header. Those socks totally rock. I am going to have to change my header one of these days as winter is disappearing!!!

Sarah said...

LOVE that new pic at the top! Your socks are awesome!!

Teamarcia said...

Sorry about the hard run but you still look so pretty doing it!
WOOT on the win!
Thanks so much for such a cool giveaway! I'll email as soon as we're back from seeing Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Momma Twitch said...

Runs like that suck. I'm sure your next one will be better. :)

Yay for the sticker! Thanks for all the great giveaways.

Shannon said...

I hate what runs like that do to me mentally. But its important to shrug it off. You still ran 9 miles...not to shabby for a Sunday morning!

I hope your daughter is feeling better. (I'm just catching up on your posts now.)

ajh said...

Now i've read it. I think it is amazing you ran 9 when you were fighting it. You only missed one mile. NBD!! Don't beat yourself up.

Anonymous said...

It is so nice to read that others go through the same mental running challenges. You had a great run in the end!

Allie said...

Dangit! Now I'm going to HAVE to do a full marathon. LOL Thanks for the giveaway and thanks for giving me some extra motivation. I won't let this sticker down, I WILL DO 26.2...someday!

Pining for Pinterest said...

Way to go!!! Have a wonderful week :)

misszippy said...

Thanks for the great pics...you brought back memories for me of the Richmond Marathon (my pr course). Sorry it wasn't a good day for you but better runs are ahead!

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

Love your new header picture!

Glad you got that run in even if you cut it a little short. Sometimes they go a little long - it all balances out!

Congrats to all your winners!

Marlene said...

Way to push through a tough run! At least you snagged some great photos! Love the new banner pic.

Erica said...

I will just repeat what a dear blogging buddy told me (ahem that would be you) Not every run is a good one, that is why there are runners and there are non-runners! But, great job pushing through! and I can't believe I missed this give away! poop...I don't know where I was and I would have loved to meet up with you except after I was in charlottesville yesterday I had to zip back here to MD and go to another social engagemnet...grrr I will meet you soon though I swear it!

Michelle said...

Great new pic!

Thanks for the giveaway! I'm so excited. I guess now that means, I just have to start training to run the 26.2.

Was it warm there? It was in the 70s here on Saturday and I think that contributed to my sluggish run - I wasn't prepared to run in the heat. And, now, it is back to cold again.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

it must have been the day.
believe me - you were not alone. i wrote about the same thing yesterday - only my post went knee deep. ugh.

Sarah said...

Love the new pic! Where oh where did you get those socks? I love them! :)

Great job on making 9 of your 10 miles. Sometimes it's just not your day, but you still looked fab!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

LOVE LOVe LOVE the pictures..

Ummm do you still have my address?? If not let me know.. Will only be my address for a short time.. YIPPERS!!

dailone said...

I have two favorites: Yvette sport bra with front closure from Amazon ($29.9) and Champion Molded Cup Racer from Target ($18.99) - love, love, love them!