color me rad 5k

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a quick but HUGE thank you to everyone who voted/shared/retweeted/etc. about this weekends contest to win a $250 grant from Operation Jack. to quote sam from his website:

Operation Jack is my never-ending quest to help causes in need, one charitable act at a time. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know how I’m going to do it. But I have faith I’ll get it done. That’s what Operation Jack is.

OJ was willing to give back and support a great charitable cause, and our 5k in September- 65 Roses 5k - to benefit Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is very thankful.

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back in june when i won the COLOR *  ME *  RAD  * 5k giveaway from janine i was very excited! i had seen a few people on twitter/bloggy world that had done this race in various cities across the US and it looked like a ton of fun! after a few texts back and forth, a few friends decided to do the race with me and we became team "color us maybe".

as race day approached, we started trying to figure out the logistics. since there was apparently no race day packet pick up (which there really was), we needed to figure out how to get everyones bibs and shirts prior to race morning. no one actually lived close to where the race was going to be held, but luckily SB was heading down there for a family get together so she was able to get everything for us!

pre race texts (i really wish android had screen shots...)

me: i feel like crap-o-la. exhausted. so sick of running.

SB: taperitis... so gross. running makes me want to kick people in the face right now. namely myself.

me: the world is so happy to have us right now. at least were headed to the happiest 5k on the planet or some dumb shit like that.

SB: yes. fact. we are awesome. this 5k is going to be like disney...but in braintree. in a parking lot.

me: OMG WERE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!! and fun fact, my dumb phone just tried to auto correct disney to diabetes haha

SB: HAHAHA!

me: diabetes is a likely outcome from all this GU. yay running.

the pre race instructions warned us all about morning traffic chaos and insisted people arrive at 7am regardless of when your race wave was supposed to start (we were in the 8:45am wave). i left my house at 5am in order to make it down by 7ish and i was still stuck in traffic on the highway about a mile from the exit. they werent kidding when they said "traffic chaos". people were getting out of their cars and walking to the race, abandoning their driver on the highway. in true bigpimpin style, i saw a prime opportunity to be a huge jerk and cut off about 3000 people lined up on the highway and edged my way into the front of the line right before the exit. win!

just off the exit was the mall where the race was being held, and everyone was trying to get into the parking lot (read: HUGE mess). so i kept driving about a quarter mile down the road, found a small side street with this cute old man outside in his lawn and asked him if i could park in front of his house. he said that was fine and we talked for a few minutes about what was going on for the race. seemed like a nice guy but i still wasnt sure if my car was going to be there when i got back (dont worry, it was).

SB had been there for a few minutes and texted me to tell me where she was. i told her i was wearing all white, i should be easy to spot (hehe, i crack myself up). we sat around and complained a lot (were so good at that) and waited for jessie and danielle m. to show up. everything seemed pretty poorly organized and people were just walking around looking like confused (us included)... and after taking a few "before" pics, we decided we should just go to the start and get this show on the road. it didnt appear they were checking to see who was in what "wave", so off we went!

from the start line, we weaved back and forth through the mall parking lot. so scenic (really did remind me of disney actually, with all the highway running, HA!). i think we might have run a mile before ever reaching a color stop. we had caught a few color bags before the start and colored us up a bit, and took this pic after the first color stop.

then on to more parking lot weaving/running. actually, we werent really running. well, danielle was apparently trying to win the race so she kept taking off, would accidentally run into someone/try run them over, and then trot back to us. there was no shade and we were sweating like pigs in the 90 degree sun, covered in neon corn starch. i mean really, wouldnt this be your ideal sunday morning too?

i think there were 4 color stations along the way, one of which had run out of color by the time we got there and they were just dumping green water on people. there were at least 4 more waves that were sent off after us, so we were glad we snuck in when we did. at the last color stop the volunteers were pretty much handing the boxes of color to people and having the runners do it themselves, while instructing us to "roll around on the ground". which we did, duh.

purple color stop where we rolled on the ground

and then we saw the finish up ahead. huh?! danielle's garmin read 2.5 miles, which is not a 5k. sorry folks. the ending was very lame, just running under the finish line blow up arch. a few people had color bags that were thrown in the air, but i think our expectations were a bit different than what actually happened.

after going through the finish line, there was a crowd of thousands of people just standing there not moving. we figured out that there were 3 tents that people were "in line" for to get their professional pics taken. we decided to wait, but it took at least 45 minutes. and it was hot. and we continued to complain a lot. haha, even at the "happiest 5k on the planet" we can complain. who would have thought!?

so we just took a lot of pics while we waited.

i snapped this cool pic at the final color throw... i think this was kinda what we were expecting for the finish line, but it was something completely separate. there was a guy up on the platform in the upper right of the pic with a bullhorn yelling down what to do, throwing out prizes and color bags.

the final color throw

i know i said we complained a lot, but it was a fun/unique "race". for the first time having it in boston, id say they have some work to do but it could have been a lot worse. there was far too much "running" and not enough "color" along the way. it was a family friendly activity which was cool. and i wouldnt classify it as a 5k... and i know a lot of people had mishaps with the packet pick up/tshirts... but on the upside, the tshirts are AWESOME (sooooooooo soft and comfy), and there were NO lines for the port-a-pottys. FTW.

right before heading home, i texted crystal to try and find her in the color mess. it wasnt hard to find her prancing around in her tu-tu :) so happy to finally meet up with her, she rocks!! hoping to run more races with this chica in the future!



on the way home i stopped by the site of next weekends marathon to check out the course and run a few more miles. after getting lost (twice) on the run (going down two dead end streets) and getting many weird looks (yes i color myself in neon for fun, what about it....) i feel much more comfortable knowing what the course is like. also helps seeing this for the elevation (knowing ill be running it 8 times around and around and around....)

46 feet elevation gain

41 feet elevation loss (and i think that was from one of the side streets i went down on accident)

also thought this sign was pretty funny where i parked at the lake... that helps with my whole sub 4 goal i guess.

11 days!

so i lied...

...or maybe just changed my mind. either way... remember that post a few months ago where i was all "oh who cares about another marathon, ive done 5, who needs to do more... blah blah blah...." (actually it was more like "i hate running. i want a break... waaaaah waaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaah"...)

since that post, the number of times ive gone back and forth about the decision to run a marathon was ridiculous driving me crazy. id find one i wanted to run, go to the site, get out the credit card, and change my mind. (this happened at least 8 times). i kept going back to some of the reasons why i decided not to do a marathon this year... but the more i thought about it, the more i realized i really do enjoy running the races, even when the training gets tough (both mentally and physically). im pretty sure ive never actually completed an entire "training program" for any of the 5 marathons ive done (lets get real... have you? ok, its probably just me....) regardless, ive still crossed each finish line, with a smile on my face.

maybe its just the talk of everyone around me training for boston or excited for their spring/fall marathon (or the desire for an ice bath.... wait, uh, what?)... but i started longing for the training, remembering the thrill of finishing the distance (yes, us marathon runners have sick minds... we actually enjoy this pain?!), ready to try to tackle the marathon once again.

so on thursday, while everyone was awaiting 3pm to register for the marine corps marathon, i finally followed through and did a little registering myself:

(26.2 hours?! i hope they know im only running 26.2 miles...

and i also hope it wont take me 26.2 hours to do so)

(theres a marathon, a 12 hour ultra, and a 24 hour ultra)

and i just may have gotten a little carried away with this whole "i want to do a marathon" thing... cuz i did this too:

i mean, i AM on their website and all...

i havent completely sold myself on a particular training program just yet, but im leaning towards a slight modification of the pfitz 18/55 program again, (the one that i ultimately failed at last summer for the maine marathon). i didnt fail cuz of the training program itself... just lots and lots of life got in the way. i feel much stronger and a whole lot faster than last year, and i think training in the spring/early summer will be more feasable than summer/fall training (read: dear mother nature, please no heat stroke this year, kthanks). ive thought about 16/14/12 week plans, but i like the layout of the 18 week plan (despite feeling like 18 weeks is a really loooooooooong time). 

im focusing on the around the lake marathon as my goal race vs. mdi, but i couldnt pass up mdi after how beautiful it was last year (seriously, do this race!!). my work schedule doesnt always allow me to do my "long runs" on saturday or sunday, so as always i have to tweak the training program to fit. also, around the lake starts at 7pm on a friday night so my weeks can be saturday to friday instead of monday to sunday. im gonna need to figure out nutrition & fuel in a different way as well since ill be awake all day before the race.

sarah and i talked a lot during our 13 mile run today and came up with some great plans for training. im going to try doing some of my runs at night, and since my towns kinda sketchy, ill stick to running in my neighborhood (this is what i do when i run at 4am, our neighborhood is a 1 mile figure 8). this will also help get me used to the boring monotony (the marathon is a 3.17 mile loop... 8 times. sounds fun right??) and im not sure but im assuming since its at night i wont be able to wear music, so that will be a big change. the last two long runs i went without, but i had someone to talk to... so, the big question remains: who's coming to run with me? :)

needless to say im happy with my choice, and im excited to see what i can do with (hopefully) adequate/strong training. as my training progresses ill figure out my goals (although a few people already know one of them). might the loop race get boring? sure. but i know some friends who are going to be there for the ultra's and im hoping to have a few friends hanging out cheering me on every 3 miles (pretty please? ill buy you ice cream or beer! peeeeer pressure!)

and really, who doesnt love running with a headlamp?