Minneapolis-Star-Tribune-runningkellometers

And the winner of the free race entry into the 13.1 half marathon is...

Congratulations to Erica! Please contact me at Runningkellometers at gmail dot com to claim your prize! You have 72 hours (until Sunday, March 17 at 10am CST) to contact me before a new winner is chosen.

The winner of the Running on the Wall medal hanger is...

Congratulations to Melanie! Please contact me at Runningkellometers at gmail dot com to claim your prize! As stated in the original giveaway post, you have 72 hours (until Sunday, January 13 at 10am CST) to contact me before a new winner is chosen.

The winner of the Haeleum bandanna is...

Congratulations to Laurel! Please contact me at Runningkellometers at gmail dot com to claim your prize! As stated in the original giveaway post, you have 72 hours (until Friday, September 28 at 9am CST) to contact me before a new winner is chosen.

Thanks for all of your entries! :) If you would like to purchase a piece of Haeleum gear for yourself, the GearBuzz deal is still going on! 50% off when you enter code "gearbuzz50" at the checkout.

The winner of my original Zipfizz giveaway never contacted me so I had to draw another winner. The new winner is:

And the winner of the Zipfizz sample pack is....

Congratulations Julie! Please send me an email within the next 48 hours to claim your prize!
runningkellometers at gmail dot com

And the winner of a brand spanking new pair of Pro Compression socks is.....

Congrats Sara! Please contact me at runningkellometers at gmail.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize!

Thanks again for all of your generous donations. I was able to meet my goal with this last raffle and I'm so grateful and so are the kids and Open Heart Magic! :)

As the previous winner did not contact me by the deadline, I have drawn a new winner! And that new winner is...

Congratulations Jill! Please email me your mailing info (including preferred size and tee color) ASAP to runningkellometers at gmail dot com so the folks at Oiselle can send out your tee in time for opening ceremonies. Please respond by Saturday, July 28 at 11:59pm CST. If I don't hear from you by then, I'm going to pick another winner.

Through Random.org, the winner of the Oiselle London Calling Tee is....

Congratulations Solana! Please email me your mailing info (including preferred size and tee color) right away to runningkellometers at gmail dot com so the folks at Oiselle can send out your tee in time for opening ceremonies. Please respond by Wednesday, July 25 at 11:59pm CST. If I don't hear from you by then, I'm going to pick another winner.

Thanks so much for all of your participation and special thanks to the folks at Oiselle for donating a tee for the giveaway!

Last week I talked about how I wasn't going to post my whiny entry. Instead, I'm posting this whiny entry today. I hate hot weather. No matter how much I put myself out there and how hard I try, my workouts still suck. I am trying to get acclimated to the heat but it just hasn't been working. I'm getting out there when it's hot out. I'm not running to the treadmill when temps are in the 90s. When it is in the high 70s, why do I still struggle!? Why did I think it was a good idea to plan a goal half marathon to work my butt off for during one of the hottest Chicago summers on record? My goal race is only 6 days away. That means the forecast is out and things are not looking good. Highs in the low 90s. Ugh. (Hopefully that means it will be in the 60s at the start of the race and when we finish, temps will still be in the low 70s. A girl can dream, right?) This is the time when I'm supposed to be focusing on what I've worked towards over the past 12 weeks. I'm supposed to be visualizing myself achieving my goal and where I'll be throughout the course. There isn't time to panic/obsess about the weather. I think I just need to make sure I have a plan B, which is something I didn't have for the Chicago Marathon. Thankfully this race is only a half marathon and not a full. BUT, I've put in the work, I've put in the sweat, and I've even put in the tears. I'm hoping that the sub 1:50 is within my grasp come 7/22. I know that no matter what happens, I'm putting it all out there and giving it all I have...

In other news, I'm back in town from Mall of America where I scored some sweet new running gear with no sales tax. Winning! :) Also, in honor of the Olympics, I'll have a giveaway on the blog tomorrow so stay tuned!

Womens 1500m Semi Final

Thanks to everyone again who contributed to my charity, Open Heart Magic, this past week for the Oiselle Raffle. Using the Random.org number generator, the winner is...

Please send me an email, Amanda, to claim your prize and we can coordinate! (runningkellometers at gmail dot com)

If you haven't won yet, stay tuned. I'll have another raffle in a few weeks!