Running for Charity–Chicago Marathon Here I Come!!!

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So I didn’t get in.

And at first I was super bummed and quite honestly, sour grapes about the whole situation. It seemed that everyone I knew had gotten in–even my husband!! (This will be his first marathon 🙂 )

And then I started thinking.

Well, I could go and cheer my husband on for his first (knowing that I’d be back someday because I have to run Chicago) or he could decline and both of us try again next year….OR I could run for charity! Something I’ve been wanting to and planning on doing someday soon anyway 😀

After talking about it with my husband, we decided yes, this was the race and year for me to run for a charity. I knew I wanted to run for something important to me and there’s nothing more important to me than my kids. That was the focus point in choosing a charity–how can I help children. So I started looking at the list and it wasn’t long before I came across….

The Ronald McDonald House Charity

How perfect is that??

If you’ve been a reader for a while, then you know that I have a thing, an unhealthy thing, I know, for McDonald’s. Me and Ron are seriously BFFs.

Helly + Ron = <3

Helly + Ron = ❤

On a more serious note, I’ve mentioned before how I’ve been dedicating my miles for quite some time to a little boy who has an immune deficiency as part of the I Run 4 Program. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of charities specific to what he lives with. His parents often use a Ronald McDonald House when taking him or his brothers for doctor visits (in fact, they’re at one right now) and that’s a huge reason I chose this charity. It not only helps children, but parents as well. And sometimes we forget that they need help too

But I’m not going to lie–there are a few things that worry me.

Well, one thing.

I won’t make the fundraising amount.

And even though that is something that scares me, there are other things that make running for charity so appealing to me.

1.) It adds to the challenge. I mean, training for and then running 26.2 miles is already a difficult task and adding having to fundraise money ups the stress level for sure. But I’m up for the challenge. I feel like with each donation, I’ll be adding to my race’s purpose. I’ll be running for my charity but I’ll also be running for each person who contributed to my journey to get to Chicago. It’ll be fun. I can do hard things, right? 🙂

2.) It’ll be more than me. I think for me, running brings me a lot of self satisfaction. Like, I totally do it to make myself feel better, be healthier, be happy-all for me, me, me. Running for charity will mean that the race isn’t all about me, me, me but for others. For the kids who will benefit from my fundraising, for the parents who will forever be grateful for my help, for the people who donated–it will definitely be about them, not Helly.

3.) Motivation. I’ve talked about how bummed I was not being able to run Phoenix Marathon. I felt like I was so ready to nail that sub 4:30 I’ve been coveting for a while. I think adding running for charity to my training will motivate me to really push myself towards that goal in Chicago. I’m going to be pushing myself to raise money for my charity and not let those kids down and I will be putting that same effort in training for the big race and not let myself down.

4.) I’ll be part of a team. The kids that I’ll be running for will be my team. The people who will be fundraising with me will be my team (Hi Maxfitgirl!). All the people who contribute to my charity will be my team. I’m going to be surrounded by sooo much support. How freaking cool is that?

5.) A race day like no other. When I get to Chicago, having met my goal, I’ll already feel like a winner. Seriously. ❤

I hope everyone has a good weekend!! If you’d like to help get me to ChiTown,
click here for donation info. #helphelly begins NOW 😀

#TeamRMHC

#TeamRMHC

Thanks to the DC Trifecta ladies Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia for hosting the Friday Five Link up! You guys are awesome!

–Have you every ran a race for charity?

Run3rd 5k Recap

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Okay, so it’d been a while since I’d ran a race (early February? I don’t count Phoenix since I didn’t finish) and I was looking forward to running this 5k until I got sick because that meant I couldn’t properly train. That changed my goals considerably and I went into this race with a “just finish” and “have fun” mindset. Luckily, both happened 😀

There were also quite a few things I was looking forward to with this race.

1.) It benefits local public school promoting health and fitness for kids and encourages people to run for others. This was a huge appeal for me as I’m a public school teacher and am all about the kids ❤ and I’m all about running for those who can’t.

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1st I run for me.
2nd I run for my family.
3rd I run for YOU.
–from the Run3rd website

2.) Sean Astin! I’m a huge Rudy fan (if you haven’t seen this movie, DO IT!! He’s also in Goonies and Lord of the Rings). He was instrumental in getting this race set up–it was an inaugural race–and he was seriously the most humble, sweetest guy. He helped promote the race months leading up to it showing that he was serious about what and who the race was benefitting. Race day, he was everywhere. You saw him giving the kids a pep talk, talking to the people working booths, and posing for pictures with runners. I never saw or heard him say anything negative and he was in high spirits the entire time.

Pep talk!

Pep talk!

Pre-race pic! :)

Pre-race pic! 🙂

3.) Run Eat Tweet AZ –I’ve mentioned this local running group I’m a part of (they hooked me up with this race entry 🙂 ) and I absolutely love hanging out with them. In fact, I wish I could meet up with them on more events they host but between work and kids, it’s tough. When I am able to though, it’s always a guarantee blast.

Jeremy aka: King of Selfies aka: Confessions of an Amateur Athlete

Jeremy @Confessions of an Amateur Athlete (aka: King of Selfies)

#RunEatTweetAZ

@RunEatTweetAZ (Follow on twitter!)

Okay, on to the race.

My biggest struggle with shorter distance races is starting out too fast and yep, I did it again. The first mile chimed 8:09 and at the time, that felt good. I didn’t even think it was too fast. At the time.

At the start--all smiles :)

At the start–all smiles 🙂

Then my legs started to feel heavy and things were not looking good. I felt myself slow down and I saw 8:37 when I crossed the mile 2 marker. Not too bad but I knew I was struggling. My legs felt heavier and heavier with each step and I kept telling myself I had less than a mile left, finish strong. But really, I was done. Mile 3, 9:20.

The course was flat, mostly on pavement with the start and finish on a high school’s track. When I got to the track at the finish, I picked up pace to attempt whatever kick I might have, and crossed the finish line.

The face. The struggle.

I encourage you to click on this pic for a close up of my face.

The goal was sub 27 and when I looked at my watch, my first thought was “Noooo!!!!” but then I prayed the chip time gods would gift me a few seconds

and they did!

and they did!

When I saw my time on the screen, I was even more shocked to see that I had placed 3rd in my age group!! A huge shocker since I had not felt like I’d done well at all. Several of my friends had also placed so we all waited together for the award ceremony to start.

It took a while for the awards to start–a little over an hour. We were getting a little antsy but then they began. They started with the male awards and gave out all of them before beginning the female awards. I thought this was strange because usually races do male/female age groups.

Anyway, when they announced the 30-34 age group, I started walking up towards the stage until I HEARD ANOTHER NAME CALLED. Yep, someone else had place 3rd!!! I was so confused (and mortified to be honest) as I had seen my name clear as day on the time screen. My husband had seen it, my friends had seen it. We had even taken a glance at it as the male awards were called.

But when we walked back to check after I wasn’t called, there was indeed another runner’s name where mine had been earlier.

It was then that my husband remembered.

About 20 minutes after the race started, a girl had ran towards the start line–clearly late–and began the race. No one had said anything to her –but people did see her–and my husband didn’t think much of it except that it was kinda sorta a lot not fair to start so late and not have to deal with crowds.

This SAME girl was the one who bumped me!!!

I was naturally upset, not so much because I didn’t get an award (like, not at all because of that really) but because I didn’t think it was fair for runners to start waaaay after everyone else. They get an entirely different playing field. Yes, it’s the same course, but there’s no weaving around people–the course is entirely clear. I would’ve been upset for anyone who lost a place because of this happening.

Oh well. In the end, it just means I need to get faster so that it doesn’t matter if someone starts later 😀

EDIT: The race director read my recap and took time out of her busy schedule to let me know what happened!! 🙂 Check it out here.

The race overall was suuuuper fun! It was very relaxed but I appreciated the organizers taking the race seriously (despite that little aforementioned mishap). There was a virtual race option. FREE race photos. Finishers got a t-shirt AND a medal–a rarity for a 5k–AND there were age group awards. AND there were raffles galore. Your entry earned you one ticket and you could put it towards a whole bunch of things being raffled. I put mine in the autographed Rudy poster and purchased extra to increase my odds. Sadly, I did not win anything 😦 But, one of my buddies did!! He won an autographed Rudy helmet!!! Call me jealous!! 🙂

This is definitely going on my calendar as a yearly race. The entire race–pre, during, and post–was so relaxed and just an overall good experience. A total WIN!!

#Run3rd5k

#Run3rd5k

–Have you ran a race someone famous was running?

–Who have you been able to snag a pic with?

 

Rock Your Inner Warrior {a giveaway!}

Happy April Fool’s!!! Now, this ain’t no joke. A giveaway is happening. 😀

I was approached by the yummy Rockin’ Refuel to participate in Phoenix’s Warrior Dash on April 11th but if you look to your right,… a little lower…, there!

I already have a race 😦

But….someone else can do it for me! Two someone elses!! (local someone elses, that is)

The giveaway is happening on my Instagram so you’ll have to go there to enter (a bonus: you’ll get to see some random pictures of random things I see and pictures of my feet/shoes 😀 ) A winner will be chosen Friday, 12 p.m.

At first I was really bummed. Normally, I don’t do races like the Warrior Dash but because Rockin’ Refuel was a part of it, I was more inclined to do it.

I’m def a chocolate milk recovery drinker and I actually have used Rockin’ Refuel the past couple of years so I’m a huge fan. They have different flavors–chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry– but I always go for the chocolate 🙂

Here’s why:

Yes, please!

Yes, please!

More reasons here —>Rockin’ Refuel

If you’re not local or somewhere in the vicinity of Phoenix, I still suggest you check out the Warrior Dash and absolutely, most definitely give Rockin’ Refuel a shot if you haven’t already done so.

Happy Wednesday!!

❤ , helly

P.S. I was given two free entries for this giveaway. All opinions expressed in the post are truly my own. Rockin’ Refuel legit is yummy.

P.P.S. And everytime I hear or say the word Warrior, I think of Scandal’s song.. “I am the warrrrior!!!” No? Anyone? Bueller?

–Do you drink chocolate milk for recovery?

–Have you ever done a Warrior Dash or an obstacle race? (I haven’t and this would’ve been my first–oh wells)

Linking up with SD Mom and Erica Finds on their weekly Wednesday Giveaway Special! Check out their pages for more awesome giveaways!!

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