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!

operation jack satellite 10k

i wish i could put into words my feelings about the race i ran this week. i didnt win any awards. there was no timing chip, no water stops, actually i was the only person running the race on everett st/bridge st/methodist rd in westbrook, maine. but i wasnt the only person running this race in the united states. hell, people even ran it in another country! but it was the same race. for the same cause.

autism.

Sam started Operation Jack as his way of fighting autism, not only for his son, Jack, but for all other families and individuals affected by autism as well. he started with an idea and a gift to use his legs to run long distances, and his plan took off. sam ran 61 marathons last year (and i thought my 2 was a lot!) and raised a lot of money. on december 26th last year, the day of sams 61st marathon, there was also a "satellite option" where people could donate or fundraise and run 6.1 miles to honor what he was doing/had done throughout the year right from their own front door.


so we did it again. sam had another Operation Jack Marathon in california, and people from all over ran either a marathon, half marathon, 10k, or 6 hour race.


here were the facts sam came up with:
- Approximately 380 registered runners at the 2nd Annual Operation Jack Marathon in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
- 40 participants in the 2nd Annual Operation Jack Northwest Challenge in Portland, Oregon.
- 24 participants in the Operation Jack Satellite Marathon/Half Marathon in Houston.
- 15 participants in an Operation Jack Satellite Marathon/Half Marathon in Kabul, Afghanistan (yes, America’s finest were out there participating!).
- More than 50 people participating in satellite runs all over the country.

and, well, we all know of two people in texas who didnt run. (read THIS to read something really disturbing).


last year we had a great group of runners who represented Team Maine, tackling the distance on one of the coldest days december had to offer us (before a huge snow storm!) but we all came together and braved it for a great cause.

it was so cold even my camera fogged up!

due to the hecticness that is the holidays, we all just could not get together like we did last year, thus we were all running on our own. it was a beautiful day, about 40 degrees, and i went out to just enjoy the run and think back on this year. it ended up being a really great run, and i had negative splits (8:37, 8:30, 8:25, 8:18, 7:53, 7:20).


i thought a lot about sam, and jack, and everything else going on in my life. i had a rather emotional run but i smiled the whole way thinking that i knew what i was doing was making a difference somewhere. and its something i love to do and often take for granted. my lungs felt good, i could breathe in and out. my legs felt great, i could move them one in front of the other with ease.

2011 Operation Jack 10k: 50:32

best.medal.ever.

pre race run down

went and picked up my race stuff today for tomorrows early morning 10k so im all set and ready to go. race #7 of 12 will soon be in the books.... will it be a PR? most likely not. the course is tough with quite a few hills, and the heat and humidity is supposed to be pretty high. awesome. i PR'd at this race last year with a time of 49:00, which got me 10th in my age group. i then set a new 10k PR a month later with a time of 47:50. i think that time is going to be tough to beat on this course and also after coming off the running month from hell that was june. clearly that was my own fault, but we'll see what happens tomorrow. im not goin for any awards.

thought this was pretty cool when we got them... no more Dtags on our shoes, no more plastic rings to tie into your shoe laces. these are attached to the back of your race number! someones making a lot of money off this idea. wish i had thought of that.

good plan for tomorrow #1a: run fast. the weather report says 70 degrees at 8am, up to 83 by 11am. the race starts at 7:30, so my idea is to run as fast as i can to avoid the increasing heat.

good plan for tomorrow #1b: dont run so fast that you pass out, cuz that wouldnt be good. although i do have my RoadID, and my name is conveniently on the back of the race number (good race planning!) so at least people will know who i am when im on the side of the road in the fetal position.

good plan for tomorrow #2: wear your red white and blue to the max, including shorts, sports bra, shoe laces, and american flag ribbons in my hair. go america! (guess i should have gotten a red nike+... but at least it will match my livestrong bracelet)

bad plan for tomorrow #1: wearing the brand new shoes we got today for being one of the first 400 runners to sign up for the race. they're pretty. we'll see how it goes.

bad plan for tomorrow #2: using a gatorade prime pre game fuel. carbs + b vitamins. "prime your body to start out strong and then trust your training". never even tried the stuff. will probably provide barf-tastic results.

anyone else have race plans for tomorrow? sarah and i were wondering if these "4th of july" races were always held on the 4th... even if its a tuesday? (actually, sarahs exact words were: "i wonder if they would still have the race if the 4th of july was on a tuesday... well, i guess its still a holiday") haha. but seriously... do they?

also a little fun fact for ya'll- sam from OperationJack is running a marathon tomorrow in portland, oregon. this will be marathon #32 this year. its all for a good cause and you should check it out. i decided i would bet on his time this week, and i think he has a good chance of going 3:11. sam doesnt run with headphones, so i think he should hum some 311 songs while running so that he doesnt forget my bet. coolest thing about this? 311 has two songs called "independence day" and "running". i hope i win!