Raffle for St. Jude!!!

OK, so I know my blog is completely nonexistent for most of the year, but it is the perfect platform to raise some money for the amazing kids at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital! I am participating in a St. Jude run for the third year and am more than happy to beg you for your money ask for your donation to help the children. In return, you will have the chance to win some fabulous prizes from some even more fabulous companies! 

On August 2, my team and I will begin running, relay style, from Chicago to Peoria, IL. We will arrive in Peoria just before the annual St. Jude Telethon held on August 3 at the Peoria Civic Center. I have committed to raising at least $1,250 to earn the privilege to run. 

I'm soooo close, but I need your help! I've put together some great prizes packages with the help of some great St. Jude supporters. Here is what you can win:

Marathon Momma

Running Divas "marathon momma" T (size small) 

-Running Divas "marathon girl" performance top (size medium)

-Vitalsox compression socks (size medium)

-Lift Your Sole "26.2" necklace

-Sweaty Bands 2-pack

Running Diva #1

-"running divas" T, your choice of grey w/pink writing or hot pink w/light pink writing (size XL)

-Endure Jewelry turquoise and gold bracelet

-2 Bic Bands, pink sparkle and black & white chevron 

-"run" car magnet 

Running Diva #2

-"running divas" T, your choice of grey w/pink writing or hot pink w/light pink writing (size XL)

-Endure Jewelry turquoise and gold bracelet

-2 Bic Bands, bright stripes and bright chevron

-Lift Your Sole "Footnotes on Running" (a compilation of some great, motivational running quotes)

High Tech Runner #1

-Zippearz headphones

-Zippearz ZPro Sports Armband

-Words to Sweat by "Heathy. Happy. Strong." T

High Tech Runner #2

-Zippearz headphones

-Zippearz ZPro Sports Armband

-Words to Sweat by "No Excuses" mantra towel

Half-Marathon Momma #1
-Running Divas "half marathon momma" T (size small)

-"13.1/courage" Lift Your Sole headband

-"13.1" Lift Your Sole necklace

Half-Marathon Momma #2

-Running Divas "half marathon mom" T (size small)

-"13.1/courage" Lift Your Sole headband
-"Just Run" Words to Sweat by necklace (pictured above with other Words to Sweat by items)

Running Chic

-"Running Chics" T (size large)

-Running Chics bag

-Item of your choice at races2remember.com (except cheering sign)
-SpiBelt

CrossFit Mama

-Two sets of wrist wraps

Speed laces

Buttons

*All items in this package were donated by the fabulous Hope Epton from SportyMom.me (Thanks Hope)!!!

$5=one entry

$10=two entries

$15=three entries

$20=four entries

Donations of $25-$99 get matching entries (i.e. you donate $99, you get 99 entries)

Donations of $100+ get double entries (i.e. you donate $200, you get 400 entries) 
* Limit 2 prize packages per person (Gotta share the love)

I'll also give an extra entry for each time you share this via social media! Tell your friends on Facebook, dailymile, your blog and so on, then leave a comment here (for each share) and I'll add an entry!

** Also, anybody who donates $25 or more will receive a coupon code for 15% off an order at wordstosweatby.com **

Entries will be accepted until 10 a.m. cst Thursday, August 1. Winners will be chosen via random.org and announced the evening of Thursday, August 1. 

Good luck to all and thank you for supporting this amazing cause!!

I'm back and I'm on a mission

So maybe you hadn't noticed, but it's been a while since my last post. In the past 8 months, I've been a little busy. I've run a ton, training for races varying from 1 mile to 26.2; I got hitched; I traveled; I worked; I continued my non-stop (yet favorite) role of being a mommy; and so on. That said, we're all busy, so my excuses will stop here.

It's a good cause that prompted me revisit my abandoned blog. On July 21, I will run the St. Jude East Peoria to Peoria Run for the second year. The run is one of many satellite runs in Central Illinois that day. Participants run to the Peoria Civic Center prior to the annual St. Jude Telethon from many local cities, St. Louis, Chicago and even from the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis. Every participant is running for the kids of St. Jude.  For more details, you can visit my fundraising page (and donate if you feel so inclined).

I'm very thankful to have a healthy six-year-old son. But it's comforting to know that a place like St. Jude is there if ever needed. It costs $1.7 million to run the hospital for just one day and is mostly funded by contributions. Despite this, no family is turned away regardless of their ability to pay. Not convinced that St. Jude is an awesome, amazing place? Check out a few other quick facts.

As a fundraiser, the wonderful people at Bondi Bands are allowing me to sell those famous bands again. I had a lot of success with this fundraiser last year and am excited to offer them as a way to raise money for the kids of St. Jude for the second year. They're the perfect accessory for any running outfit and they keep the sweat and hair out of your eyes. So without further ado, here are the Bondi Bands.

All of the Bondi Bands shown here are moisture-wicking. They're great for a run, a gym workout, yoga, a trip to the grocery store, a bad hair day, lounging around the house and so much more. Pricing this year is the same as last year at $10 for 1 band, $18 for 2 and $25 for 3. This includes shipping. For questions on colors, sayings, designs or to place an order, please email me at hrichrath@hotmail.com. Thanks so much!!!

Marathon Thoughts

A little mental preparation for the marathon ...

It's Monday ...

Well, it's Monday again, and I have the perfect motivation to help get rid of that zero miles/week lingering on my Daily Mile page. Last week, I interviewed and wrote a story about two local ultramarathon runners. These guys are fathers, work full-time jobs, are active church members and still find the time to fit in the occasional 100-mile race. So while I stress about squeezing in a long run here and there to prepare for 26.2, I'll try and remember the story of these two amazing local runners. Hope you enjoy!!

To get my booty out there ...

In honor of recently signing up for the Grand Rapids Marathon, I'm going to start doing "Motivational Mondays." Each Monday I'll post some sort of motivation (whether it be a quote, a photo, a story ... ) to help keep me going. It won't necessarily always be marathon related, but it will always be motivational. 


For me Monday's are the toughest day for me when training. It's time to get back to work, I'm still aching a bit from my long run on Saturday (or Sunday if I wasn't quite motivated to run Saturday morning, like this weekend). 


The other day, I found the comic strip below. It's the perfect first Motivational Monday post as far as I'm concerned!





If anybody sees this hat in stores, would you mind picking one up for me? Pretty please?


So, what motivates you? 

Virtual Mile Entries

The drawing for prizes for the Virtual Mile will be Monday, July 25. I will choose winners via Random.org and notify them by the end of the day. Anybody else interested in entering has until 10 p.m. CST Sunday, July 24, to do so. Click here for details.

One entry each is given for every $10 donation, reporting your time and sending a photo before/during/after the run.

Here is a list of those who entered, with the numbers that correspond with their entries:

Anne Ryerson - 1, 2, 8
Hope Epton - 3, 4
Candice Hope - 5
Bethany Becker - 6, 7, 9
Kaci Naci - 10

Thanks so much and good luck!

And so it begins ...

After weeks of conversations and racking our brains, my super great running friends and I have chosen our fall marathon. We thought about running the Quad Cities Marathon, the inaugural Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon, the Des Moines Marathon and the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. All would be great races, and all would add to my goal of someday — and when I say someday, I mean probably when I'm in my 70s — running a marathon in all 50 states. But that list will continue to dwindle. After October 16, I will be able to scratch off Michigan. On that date, we will hit the streets of Grand Rapids at the 2011 Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon.

 

I always feel a little nervous when registering for a marathon. With three under my belt, that still hasn't changed. But yesterday, just before registering, I interviewed a couple local ultra marathon runners for a story I'm writing for work. I go into this interview thinking, "These guys are crazy!" During the interview, they started trying to convince me to do an ultra. At which point, I thought "These guys are carzy!" They said their training really isn't much different that that of a marathon runner. They each have full-time jobs, wives and kids and said they honestly don't have the time to log hundreds of miles each week. A key part of preparing for 50 or 100 mile ultras, they added, is mental. I had almost considered taking them up on their challenge, until mentality came into play. I'm still having issues wrapping my head around the mental challenge associated with marathon running, I'm not sure I could stretch my mind even further and tackle an ultra (even a 30-mile ultra sounds terrifying right now).

I came home from the coffee shop where I interviewed the guys, grabbed my credit card and computer, and sat down to make marathon #4 official. Just as I was about to click "Register" there was a ridiculously loud clap of thunder and my power went out. My laptop —with its dead battery and therefore dependent upon that power — turned off as well. I thought this might be a sign. But if it was, I wasn't listening! As soon as the power came back on I completed my registration. Take that, crazy loud thunder and momentary power outage!

So, I am now preparing to run 26.2 miles in precisely 86 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes and 52 seconds (according to the countdown on the marathon's website). Hopefully this chick is there with her encouraging words of wisdom, which I would assume ring true for runners of all distances:

I'll try and keep that in mind during my training runs as well! Training runs, which I should probably step up a little now that Grand Rapids is official. I'm very excited for Michigan to join Arizona, Illinois and Tennessee, raising my 50 in 50 total to four! Watch out 50 in 50 ... I'll get there someday! And, who knows, I may even run an ultra someday. But for now, I'll just have to focus on Grand Rapids ... and not shitting myself.