Wanna Win an iPod Touch for $10?

That's right, YOU could win an iPod Touch for a $10 donation to my Leukemia and Lymphoma fund raising website. For every $10 you donate, you will receive one (1) entry into the drawing. Then on Friday, May 15th**, we'll be drawing a name during the weekly Friday Sales By 5 Pity Party. Your donation is 100% tax deductible.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. (For more information please visit lls.org)

The research that is being done is working. In forty years the survival rate for children with Leukemia has gone from 4% to 85% - A phenomenal difference.

Donate to a great cause and help be apart of the blood cancer cure!

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Sweepstakes Rules/Disclaimer

• ELIGIBILITY: This Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the U.S., including the District of Columbia (“United States”), except U.S. possessions, territories and commonwealths including Puerto Rico. Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited.

• HOW TO ENTER: Sweepstakes begins at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on April 24, 2008 and ends at 4:11 p.m. Central Time on May 15, 2009 (the “Entry Period”). To enter, click here and follow the directions for entry. Entrants will be required to donate at least $10 to Heidi Gerhardt’s Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fund raising website to be qualified for the prize. **Heidi reserves the right to extend the due date out if at least 100 entries have not been made by May 15, 2009. The new due date will not exceed June 12, 2009 at which time a winner will be drawn. Please check blog regularly for updates.

• PRIZE: (1) Grand Prize: 8gb iPod Touch. Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") is: $229.99.

• ODDS: The estimated odds of winning will depend upon the total number of eligible entries received.

• PRIZE RESTRICTIONS/CONDITIONS: Prizes are non-transferable. No substitution or cash equivalent of prize permitted except at Sponsor's discretion. Federal, state and local taxes, if any, and any other costs or expenses related to acceptance and use of the prize not specified, are the sole responsibility of the winner. iPod touch will be mailed to a winner's residence approximately 2-3 weeks after notification by Heidi Gerhardt. Winner must take delivery within 30 days of notification of availability or prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to an alternate winner.

• DRAWING: Prize will be awarded in a random drawing conducted on or about May 15, 2009, by @nanpalmero from among all eligible entries received unless the due date has been extended at which time the draw will happen no later than June 12, 2009.

• NOTIFICATION OF WINNER/AWARDING OF PRIZE: The winner will be notified by e-mail, twitter and/or a traceable form of delivery.

• LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: Heidi Gerhardt is not responsible for any late, lost, illegible, incomplete or misdirected entries or responsible for incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by Web site users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Sweepstakes.

16 Miles, Oh My!

On Saturday I got up at 6am dreading my 16 mile run. Feeling this way on a Saturday morning is not a good thing, I normally enjoy Saturday long runs. And to make my attitude worse, I walked out side to soupiness. For those of you who do not live in the south, that is another word for humidity. I was sweating before I even go to the car.

This week we added another 2 miles to our run. I told my running partners that I was going to take it easy today because I knew that my attitude was not in the right place and that I wanted to quit before I had even started. So the first 4 miles were tough, like I want to turn around and go home, tough. But at the 4 mile water stop, I drank some gatorade, had a conversation about how I was feeling with Matt and I was off and running, this time in higher spirits. I was reminded that I am doing this for a mission, for a purpose, for a cure and I had a blast for about 10 miles. I ran so well and with confidence and a great pace.

Now the last 2 miles (damn the last 2 miles) were a killer...and it doesn't matter if it's 10 miles, 12 miles, 14 miles or 16 miles. Those last 2 miles kill me every time. At this point I know it is all mental but I was glad to see the horizon of my finish line...HEB in Lincoln Height. I love you HEB, you are my start and my finish.

I went home to my ritualistically ice bath. They work like a charm EVERY time. No soreness, no achiness. I'm glad I stuck it out and finished. I would have been disappointed if I had chosen differently.

Much Love,
Heidi

I might be slacking on blog post, but not in running

So it's been WAY too long since the last time I did updating and I apologize. I've been so busy with work, fund raising, volunteering and running that when I come home, I crash. I have not made the time to do any sort of updates.

Long story short, I've been consistently running hills on Mondays, running at the local university on Tuesdays, work out on Wednesdays and pace training on Thursdays and our long runs on Saturdays.

Last Saturday's practice was canceled due to the crazy thunder and lightning, so we had to do our long run by ourselves. YIKES. I can handle 12 miles by myself, but anything else I really enjoy having someone with me. So on Sunday I met up with a few people to get my long run in. We did 16 miles and boy was I glad when I was done. I did really good until the end. Chafing is NO fun and it hurt (still does) so badly. I went home for a quick show and then off to the Sam's Club to stand in front of the doors and ask for donations. I would have been fine had I not just run 16 miles the same day, but my legs were aching so badly from standing on concrete for 7 hours straight. Needless to say, I was glad when 5:30 rolled around. I was ready to go home! Tom (another runner) and I went to EZ for some pizza and money counting. As much pain as I was in, it was worth the day. I needed it.

When I got home after running, begging for cash, eating pizza, counting a lot of money, I crashed. I did wake up later in the night and the rest of the night was miserable and so after work on Monday, I proceeded to have a little bit of a breakdown. Nothing major, just a few tears here and there. I guess the pressure of other things going on in life and then running 40+ miles a week is taking its tole on me. I guess I'm not 23 anymore. Well shoot! That sucks :)

Part of me is having a hard time defining the line between slacking and taking a needed rest and recharge? I'm not sure if I'm being lazy or my body is telling me that I need to take some downtime. So, in the end, I've decided that I'd take a few days off from running and see how I feel after that. A few days off won't hurt my training any. So no running, no volunteering and no fund raising during this week. I'm just going to work and come home and get things around the house done.

Thank you for listening to my whiny "I'm tired, stressed out, too much on my plate" blog. It really is lame in comparison to what someone with cancer has to go though, but I will pick up on Saturday and rock out another 16 miles!

Much love to you all,

Heidi

p.s. some good and cheery news: check back later in the week for my ipod touch give away. All money donated to my fundraising site from April 24th until May 8th will enter you in a drawing for the ipod touch! Tickets are $10 each!