July 10, 2014

Five Days of Giveaways--last chance!

I think I forgot to mention that I'm running a 5K this Saturday with my friend, Audrey. Audrey is the friend that I ran with for her first half-marathon this spring, and she turns 40 on Saturday. She thought it would be fun to run a race on her birthday, so she chose the Portofino Run for Art.

She said she'd like to set a new PR at this race, which would be 27:35. Until this summer, I would have thought that would be no problem at all for me to pace her to! But this weekend, I'll be finishing behind her, I'm sure of it. That's about an 8:50/mile pace, and I've been running in the mid- to high-9:00's, and even in the 10:00's lately. I think it's a combination of the extra weight, some bad eating habits that I've been working on, and, of course, the heat/humidity.

Today, I drove the kids to their Camp 9-1-1, and then came home to run. On the way home, I was thinking that maybe I could do an 8:50 pace for the race. I decided to try a practice run today, and see how I felt. If it was close, I'd go for it; but if not, then I'd just plan to run for fun, at a slow pace, on Saturday.

It didn't seem too hot on my way home (easy to say when I was in the air conditioned car). It was only 63 degrees, with the humidity at 83%--not horrible, but not ideal, either. Regardless, I was going to try to aim for 8:50-ish per mile.

Surprisingly, I was a little sore today from my walk with Jessica yesterday! I wasn't expecting that at all. But anyway, I headed out for my run, and as I ran down my street, I was just trying to focus on not going too fast--I concentrated on my arm swing, my posture, etc. Halfway down the street, I glanced at my watch, expecting to see 9:15 or something, and I saw 7:35/mi. Damn! I started too fast, which almost ALWAYS means I'll crash and burn later, even if I don't run very far at that pace. My best races (and training runs) have been with negative splits--starting slower and building up speed gradually.

A quarter mile in, I wanted to quit. I had gone out too fast, and couldn't breathe very well. I really wanted to just stop my Garmin and walk home. But then I told myself to try and get in ONE sub-9:00 mile. I made a deal with myself that if I got in a sub-9:00 for the first mile, then I could just jog the next two miles. That helped me to keep pushing the pace. I was trying to stay as close to 8:50 as I could, but I was still running a little too fast.

When I hit mile one, I saw that I'd finished it in 8:41, so I immediately slowed my pace to a jog. I wish I could pace Audrey on her birthday race, but I just don't want to stress about it, so I'm going to run it for fun. I was glad that I still managed one sub-9:00 mile, though ;)  The sun was beating down, and it felt so much hotter than it actually was. The sun makes a huge difference in how I feel when I run. I do much better on an overcast day.

I spent the entire second mile catching my breath from the first mile. I picked up the pace a little in the last mile, but only because I was dying from the heat and wanted to get home.


My friend Sarah is in town from Arizona, so she and her husband, Ne, are coming over tonight. I'm making pulled pork sandwiches for dinner, and we'll probably play Euchre or Cards Against Humanity. First, though, Jerry and I have to go pick up the kids and see their "graduation" ceremony from Camp 9-1-1 ;)


So today is the final day of my Five Days of Giveaways. A quick recap of what I'm giving away:

New Balance FreshFoam 920 Trail Runner shoes
Two pairs of Balega socks
RooSport pocket
Fitletic Hydration Belt and Clif Bar fuel products

Finally... I have a giveaway from Running Skirts. When I was at the Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival, there were a couple of reps from Running Skirts there for a demo. I wrote about how they had us do a fashion show (and I literally wanted the floor to swallow me up--that was SO FAR OUT of my comfort zone, I can't even describe it!).

They had tables of their products (not just skirts--they have lots of tops, arm sleeves, sports bras, headbands, etc.) and we tried on a bunch of stuff and put on a "fashion show" in front of a video camera. We were told that the winning team would receive $100 gift cards for us bloggers, as well as an extra to give away on the blog. To show how much I love and appreciate all of you, I strutted my stuff on the runway the best I could, despite wanting to just die on the spot, and scored a gift card for y'all! ;)

In addition, we were allowed to take home the clothes that were worn. I picked this cute camo skirt (it has sewn in shorts underneath).


I didn't realize it was a little too big until after I'd gotten home. It's labeled a Running Skirt size 3, but that translates to a women's size 8 normally (so if you wear a jeans size of 8, it will likely fit; and I think it's a little on the loose side, so maybe 8-10 would work).

I'd like to give away the skirt as well as the $100 gift card, and because the size of the skirt may be prohibitive to a lot of people, I'll do the two as separate drawings. There will be one drawing for the skirt, and one drawing for the gift card. The skirt is only open to the U.S. (sorry!), but the gift card will be open to anyone (it will be emailed to the winner).

To enter the drawing for the camo skirt shown above, just fill out your name and email address in the form below. I will pick a random winner on Monday, July 14th at 9:00 AM EST.


To enter the drawing for the $100 gift card to Running Skirts, same thing--just fill out the form below with your name and email address, and I'll pick a random winner on Monday, July 14th at 9:00 AM EST. (And yes, you can enter both giveaways)


Running Skirts also gave me a discount code that is good for 15% off! Just use the discount code "RUNWAYSKIRTS" for the discount when checking out.


Well, I hope you've enjoyed the Five Days of Giveaways! I will pull the winners on Monday, and announce them on Monday's post. This has been so much fun for me... I don't like to post a lot of reviews, but it's nice to be able to give some cool stuff away! A HUGE thank you to Runner's World and all of the sponsors who gave away some fun products to try out. And thank you all for reading! If it weren't for you, I never would have been invited to participate in the RW Half & Festival, which ended up being one of the best running experiences I've ever had. Good luck to all who entered the giveaways! :)

9 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the giveaways! I hope I win something, but I'm just appreciative of the gesture.

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  2. Stéphanie from BelgiumJuly 11, 2014

    So nice of you :) I'm in Europe so only could enter for the coupon... Not so bad ;D

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  3. So excited about the giveaways this week. Thanks for putting them together. I'd be doing well to get a sub 10 minute/mile 5k in any weather condition - let alone heat and humidity. I'm impressed and hope you have fun in your race this weekend

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  4. Thank you so very much for the giveaways. I think your pace is inspiring. I understand that it is slower than you are used to be I would be thrilled with sub 10 minute miles in a 5K. Keep your head up!

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  5. Jennifer in AlabamaJuly 11, 2014

    I'd kill for 63 degrees! Here it's mid 90s with 100% humidity. Every. Single. Day. ;)

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    Replies
    1. I'm right there with ya. In Louisiana here. :)

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  6. AnonymousJuly 11, 2014

    So awesome of you to pass on your awesome scores from the Heartbreak to your readers! Thanks for hosting these! :)

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  7. What Jennifer said. I would kill for 63. I was excited for 73 last night at 8 PM after a thunderstorm.

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  8. Thank you for all the fun giveaway opportunities, Katie! So nice of you to share your running goodie wealth!
    I literally LOL'd over the fashion show recap. I would have surely died on the spot too!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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