I Beat the Blerch in Brecksville!

I didn’t get to write about this when I did it because of the Hot Chocolate Giveaway (Congratulations, Erin!), but here is the lowdown on the Blerch:

You know that tempting voice in your head that tells you it’s time to give up in mile 6 of your ten-miler? The voice that tells you that Halloween candy doesn’t count because it’s so tiny? The same voice that lulls you back to sleep when your alarm goes off at 5:30 to prep for your Sunday long run? That voice belongs to the Blerch.

The Blerch is a creation of Matthew Inman, known as The Oatmeal, who is a cartoonist, grammar enthusiast, Nicola Tesla groupie, and runner. The Oatmeal introduced the Blerch in his book, The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances. It is a beautiful comic that really captures distance-runners’ feelings about the sport and explains why we do what we do. As soon as I read this book, I had to buy a t-shirt and bumper sticker.

We all have a Blerch who lives inside us, and running (or any healthy physical activity) helps us to shut up the Blerch when he wants us to eat cake and sit in front of the computer clicking on mindless games. Not that I do that. Ahem.

So, when I saw that there was a Beat the Blerch 10k/Half/Full Marathon, I was pumped. Unfortunately, it sold out in ten minutes, so my dreams of traveling to meet a live Blerch (they chased runners on the course) were completely shot. Luckily, The Oatmeal sold entries to a virtual race, so I was able to beat the Blerch on my own terms and still get a medal and some cool swag. My friend/running Peep Jen also entered the race, so we decided to do a 10k together.

Want to hear about our virtual race? Want to see some cool pics of the Blerch and all the great swag I got from the race? Click here to read the full post.

It’s not too late to sign up for the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k in Columbus! Use my code, TroubleRunHat, to score a free hat with your swag!

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