Lets get colorful!

It turns out that paying $45 to have someone throw colored chalk on your while you are running in the summer heat can be quite fun.  As you know (if you are keeping up with my ramblings), Ashley, Bill and I ran the color run this past Saturday.  We had to wake up at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning to pretty up.

Blues Brothers 2020

It was still dark when we left OKC.  We left about 5:30 after stopping at McDonalds for coffee.  Bill said he didn't want to spend the day with me if I only have 4 hours of sleep and no coffee.  I am not sure why, I think I could be completely pleasant under those circumstances.   

Post coffee smiles (Side note - thank you Dr. Debbie for cleaning my sparkly whites)

We arrived in Tulsa about 7:00 to pick up our race packets.  The race website said race day is crazy and it would take a long time to get your packet if you choose to pick up the day of the race.  Note to The Color Run - 5 minutes is not a long time and a ten person line is not crazy! Needless to say, with the first wave of the race starting at 8:00 and us being toward the back, there was plenty of time for lounging. 

We met up with my friend Linsey from lawschool who for some reason wanted to join our crazy crew.  God help you Linsey. 

   

The race was pretty small. I think there was only about 10 other people running. 

Traditional prerace photo

The Color Run is unlike any other 5K I have completed, both in good and bad ways.  On the one hand, you are constantly entertained, it is fun and time flies by.  On the other hand, there are no time clocks or no control over whether runners start before walkers.  Basically, extremely unorganized.  That is why I am not claiming fault for the three people I ran over with the jogging stroller while running and weaving through the crowd.  WALKERS TO THE BACK.  I kid, but seriously I wish they would have had walkers on the right, runners on the left or something.  It was impossible to run the whole thing even if you wanted to. 

 The color stations were similar to getting into a fight with about 500 lbs of colored chalk.  

In each racing packet, you get a packet of chalk to throw at the end.  We threw some of its on each other.  

True story - probably 2 -3 times throughout the race I did not recognize Bill because I thought his hair was blond.  

Evan post race 

Ashley really wanted a picture of us jumping in the air.  This is the closest we could get.  Don't be jealous of our sexiness.

Race Stats:

Date: June 23, 2012

Time: 8:00, although I am sure our wave started way later 

Weather: not to bad for June

Course: I have no idea. My mind was too preoccupied with COLOR

Overall:  race and course organization could have been better (walkers to the right), but definitely worth the experience

First Race Recap

I have read many race recaps from runners in the blog word and I am excited to finally write my own.  This weekend Bill, Evan and I traveled to Austin for the Capitol 10K, the largest 10K in Texas.  I will write tomorrow about all the excitement of the weekend, but today I wanted to do a race recap for you guys.

I signed up for this race in August 2011.  My friend Ashley, who began running  last year, had yet to run a 10K and we wanted to find something fun and big for her first one.  I think we accomplished that goal.  The Capital 10K is the largest 10K in Texas, and Texas is the second largest state in the country, so that sounded big enough, right?  It was!  There were 23,000 people running the race.  Our group included Ashley, my dad, John and myself.   My dad and brother ran in the fun run category and there were so many people in the race that runners were finishing before they were even able to start.  WOW, runners literally stretched over 6 miles in downtown Austin.  To me, that is so awesome.

In the weeks before the race, my emotions would go back and forth between nerves and excitement.  I couldn't wait to see how far I had came and finally get a true picture of where my running fitness currently is. Ashley and I really wanted our "fans" to recognize us, so we purchased neon orange shirts to run in.  

Ashley is totally blowing me out of the water in the neon shirt department.  We also had to run in our "running sunglasses" because the sun was so bright. Yes, we are very serious runners.

Here's a pic of the other runners in our group:

Anyway, back to the race.  It started at 9:00 a.m. and Ashley and I didn't cross the start until 8:57 minutes later.  The race started out at the river and ran up Congress to the Texas Capital.  From there, we ran to the UT stadium.  We then turned and ran Lake Austin Drive and then back down the river back to Congress.  I decided not to run with my headphones and instead wanted to take in the spirit of Austin.  I must say they are still "keeping it weird" in Austin.

The first three miles of the race was pretty much uphill.  It was tough.  I am not sure what pace we maintained throughout the hills because the time was not displayed throughout the course.  Bummer, I know.  Somewhere around mile three we headed back down Ceaser Chavez along the river.  I felt really good throughout the first four miles.  However, somewhere around mile 4 1/2 I started getting really tired.  It seems like every race I mentally break down in the last 2/3 of the race.  I start doubting myself and thinking that I am not going to be able to maintain pace to the finish.  I'm not sure why I do that, but I wish I could fix it.  Right when I was about to quit, I heard a spectator yelling repeatedly "Your body is trained for this, do not listen to your mind."  It was exactly what I needed to hear and it kicked my butt into gear.  I will know be yelling that at the final mile of any race I watch.

Ashley and I had a goal to finish in under an hour and our time was 59:08, a 9:30 pace.  Not bad for my first post-pregnancy race.  Ashley did amazing and could have ran faster, but she graciously slowed down for me to get water many times.  She has come such a long way and has gained so much confidence as a runner.  I cannot wait to run more races with her.  We have big plans people, big plans!

I wasn't able to get any pics of Ashley and I crossing the finish line, although I think we should get a few from the race organizers in a week or so.  I stood at the finish line to watch my dad and John cross, turned to ask Bill for the camera so that I could take a picture and my mom said "Oh look, there they are."  So, we didn't get a picture of them finishing, but did get this:

You can see day in the first row of people, at the end in the blue shorts with white stripes.  I promise, they did not walk across the finish line.

Now for the post race pics:

My favorite favorite fan and I:

My nephew was a pretty good fan as well, although I am sure he was probably there to cheer for his daddy:

I wish I would have taken a picture of Bill and I, but he was the photographer, so we completely forgot.

Race Stats:

Date:  March 25, 2012
Time: 9:00 a.m. (note to race administrators:  You live in Texas, all running should be completed before 9:00 a.m.)
Weather: HOT
Course: hilly but fast
Overall:  Had a blast and so excited to be back.