1st 5K AFTER Starting to Train
Saturday, March 23rd
Color Run
I completed my 1st 5K AFTER starting my training this past weekend. For those that have been following along in my last 2 ½ month run thing it has been full of challenge for me. The weather has not been too cooperative, but what do you expect it has still been winter. Then there has been lately the whole issue of shin splints in both legs to the point I could barely walk to the car. And finally this thing, called self-doubt in trying to come up with a plan on how to train.
I am following the DisneyGals Blog, Pumpkin to Princess. In the blog each week they give training advice & goals. One goal was to run a 5K around this time, so I chose a perfect one (although at the time I did not know just how perfect it would end of being as my first official 5K)
THE COLOR RUN. If you dont know about color runs here is the basic premise
a 5K where at each 1K you are colored by volunteers in a special powder paint of a different color. My 2 oldest had heard about race and really wanted to run it too! The race is run for charity...
http://thecolorrun.com/about/
As I stated before, this running thing has been a real struggle for me the last 2 ½ months and last week the self doubt in the form of nerves really hit me. I was supposed to run this with a friend, who like me started training the same time (in addition to being about the same age and fluffy-ness). Well she has taken off in her training, and each week posts her accomplishments
lets just say that each week I began feeling more and more like a failure when compared to her training). In addition to this, the shin splints got the point where any running was next to impossible. So I took the week totally off from running, not that I really wanted to but I knew I had to rest the legs and I went and found compression calf sleeves for the race to wear in order to combat the shin splints. But the friend thing was really making me think about backing out, but I knew I had to do this and maybe with the adreniline I would find out that I was capable of more than 1 ¼ miles running (without walking) and closer to her almost 3 miles running.
Friday night (after Abs track meet) we headed to the city the event was going to be held in (about 1 ½ hours from where I live) with my family, along with 1 of Abs friends (the other 2 would join us in the morning at the race). While driving Friday, I got a text and my friend and her family were not going to be joining us for the race
2 of her children were sick. I have to say that I breathed a sigh of relief that she was not joining me on the course. We spent the night in a hotel near the course, and got up early to get our registration packets (about 2 hours before race time start) 7AM. The morning was quite brisk, but it felt good to walk nearly the 1 mile from the parking lot to the registration tables
hey good warm up walk right and time to get rid of the nerves? Last night I had been seeing that registration check in line was at times 2 hours long, so we got there early and walked right up. The girls were cold so we hiked the 1 mile back to the car (this time up hill) and decided to wait in the car until closer to start time and until their 2 friends arrived for the race. At about 8:00 we headed back to the starting area to wait for the friends and get in the chute
we were engulfed in a sea of white, and learned that their friends were stuck on the highway at a standstill trying to exit for the parking area. Did I mention that 13,999 people besides me were going to be on the course? The girls stood talking with their friends on the phone, while Boo and I watched the chute line grow bigger and bigger. About 8:40 Boo gets antsy and wants to get into the chute area, I must have been really nervous because I let him go, ALONE
he had his phone and we had a meeting place set up but just as soon as he was gone I got sick to my stomach that I let a 13 year old go alone in this crowd. Abs friends got dropped off at the entrance at 8:45 and we made our way to the chute
which by now looked like this with a huge crowd behind us. The first wave started right at 9:00, but we did not move from our spot until 10:00
people were funneling in from the sides official start of the shoot in front of us.
I was so nervous and I wanted to GO
it was really hard waiting. It was this time that I understood my fellow OCD Princess and her bathroom relationship before a race. Dang, I was pulling an Ann, needing to go but I did not want to get out of line. Finally, we started moving at by 10:15 we were dancing at the front of chute ready to go about the same time I get a text from Jeff that he had Boo (who was already done with the race). When it was our time the paint flew in the air and off we went. My goal was to run at least until I reached the 2nd color (2K) and anything farther before I went into a run/walk interval would be icing on the cake. I also figured starting with 4 high school kids, that I would run most of the time with them. It quickly became apparent that running was going to be tough in this race, here is what the official ColorRun website says
Do I need to be some sweet ole runner to do this?
Oh my goodness, NO. There are plenty of other great 5ks out there to test speed and performance. This Color Run event is all about a color crazy day with friends and family. You can run, walk, crawl, or cartwheel if you wish!
Running became a case of going around/dodging people (including toddlers, dogs, strollers), even though there were race signs everywhere about walking on the left. Well my high school running partners decided they would rather have fun and even before we made it 1K they were walking. So I left them behind and continued on my weaving through the crowds towards that 1K
then towards the 2K color mark running, until
whoa, who said there would be hills? Between me and 2K color was a HUGE HILL
I have it my best but ended up walking most of it. But at the top I started my run again until I made it to 2K. Feeling good, I decided to push on farther with my run
maybe I could make it to 3K running. Well, almost made it to 3K then from there on out I was walking a running. I would walk until I caught my breath and then would start running again. My wrist Iphone holder was not working out so well, so I was not able to get my interval app going like I wanted and I left the headphones in the car thinking that it would be wiser to run without because of all the people. Lessons learned for my next race. I did manage to get the stopwatch going so I knew what my time was and at the 4K mark
from there on I decided to run as much as I could and hopefully I would reach my goal time. Crossing the finish line, was such a relief and a sense of accomplishment. I finished in :45.16, which basically is a 15 minute mile
which I had sat my goal as. Ann tells me that I probably ran a lot farther than a 5K dodging people and the time I spent getting around them probably made me closer to a 14 minute mile pace. I wove myself around to the drink station and grabbed a granola bar, and then headed to my waiting husband and 2 boys in our meeting spot and waited for the 4 teenagers who apparently had a great time...
walking and rolling around in the color. After the last couple of years we have had at Ab's prior school with mean girl drama...this picture really makes me happy, happy, happy!
This picture on the other hand does not make me happy, well what do I expect to look like after having color thrown at me, sweating, and pushing myself to get over that finish line being very much fluffy?
I certainly hope that the next 5K picture I take will look better! And those TOT pictures...amazing!
Race Reflections:
1. Perfect 1st race: No need to worry about seasoned runners on this course and being dead last. This was not about time to anyone but me and I made the time I wanted too!
2. Calf Compression Sleeves: Worked perfectly, I had no issues with shin splints during the race. Although today, 2 days later, my calves still hurt
which is a sign they did what they were supposed to do
put the stress back on the calves and away from the shins.
3. Need to find a better, Iphone running case that allows me to do more touching through the plastic to set my apps.
4. I can at least do a 5K within the Disney 16 minute time frame needed for the ToT 10-mile. Not sure if I am capable of more (at least not right now).
Where Do I Go Now:
1. Begin Week 1 of Galloways Internal Training for a 5K race (8 weeks)-I know I am farther along then week 1, but I like starting points and this will help me build up to the harder weeks so that I am more successful and help me combat the shin splints.
2. Sign up for next 5K to take place in 8 weeks-Found one at 7 weeks locally that I am going to sign up for.
3. Sign up for the ColorRun in my town for June. (A few weeks after we signed up for the one we did out of town, they announced a local ColorRun, grrr).
It sums it up well...and I would expect that we will get a discount... you just never know if it will be a public one or a pin or even the AP... or maybe even an employee (still crossing my fingers
)
I will make sure to post pics tomorrow after we are done.
Oh... and biofreeze. LOVE that stuff. that helped too. I did also get a foam roller... but ended up not really using it...so it along with the cd it came with sit in the box still.
Well, I imagine I wouldn't be weaving around people all the way through 13.1 miles and even at the finish!
scratchin maybe I will learn to not have potty issues on races soon... cause maybe that slows me a bit. 
) with a pace of 9:42 and finish time of 1:00:18. So this definitely won't be good enough to submit. But... maybe I don't care. The race has over 50k registrants. That is about twice that of the phm..so it will be packed. Not sure if I want to deal with that. The only way I was considering it is if I got a time to submit so I would not be in the back with all the walkers (not that there is a problem with walkers... but I suspect there will be quite a few of them)
What a great big sister! I am so happy that your family is getting involved in your running!
we will have to have eachothers back and remind... but ya know... last weekend I did go RIGHT before. It was not the same kind of issue I had at the phm. 
