Color Me Rad does Jersey!

As promised in my last post, I had a Color Me Rad 5k event coming up and I'm happy to say I came, I saw, I was drowned in color and I conquered, all with bestie Ashley by my side.

I think she's just as surprised as I am that we did this without busting our butts on the wet grass.

I think I'm a bit spoiled by runDisney events now, much in the same way that I'm not welcomed at Six Flags Great Adventure anymore (of my own admission because anytime I go I'm constantly comparing the parks and harshly criticizing SFGA, so it's better to just save everyone's time with me staying at home) but would I do another Color Me Rad 5k? Without a doubt.

Packet pick up was done at the Work out World in Ocean - which, if you're not familiar with that area, was kind of confusing since I saw but one sign pointing to the Color Me Rad event/gym since the whole plaza is a series of huge stores, but half the stores are closed or out of business, and the parking lot is kinda ridiculous, but that's NJ for you. Since I'm not a member of that gym, they had someone escort me to the very back of the gym where packet pickup was held who tried to get me to sign up for a membership. I was a member at the Freehold WoW for a while - was being the keyword here. Needless to say, not in a rush to sign up again soon, and she ended her sales pitch.

I did get my swag, though!

In lieu of medals, everyone gets a Color Me Rad shirt, sunglasses and some tattoos, plus the endless amount of JERSEY STRONG magnets, stickers, and tattoos that Work Out World threw in there as well. I also ordered some color bombs ahead of time, but they do give you one right before you cross the finish line as well as handfuls of it during the party at the end.

For the curious, the color bombs are colored corn starch and I now know what corn starch tastes like and feels like, and also got to experience an unanticipated side effect of colorful sneezes, too.

So Sunday arrived and we were urged to arrive 45-60 minutes before your wave. Well, I arrived at the PNC Arts Center at 8:15 and didn't find myself parking until 8:50 AM. This is especially confusing because it's not like the PNC Arts Center is ill equipped to handle huge crowds. We finally parked, got on a bus to the start line (someone on the bus was arguing with the bus driver about capacity issues - never change, NJ) and I met up with Ashley, her beau and her beautiful 5 year old daughter, who had a face full of green already since someone had got her with a color bomb.

Before! While we were still mostly clean.

 Since we were in the 9 AM wave, and it was basically starting as soon as I finally got there, I contemplated catching the next wave, but we decided "screw it" and joined anyway. I was hoping to get some time to stretch or look at all of the booths, but no such luck with the parking mess.

And we were off! We started a good jog for a while until it seemed like everyone was walking, and we hit our first color station! We didn't get much color at first, but there was more to come, of course.

Went down a steep, wet hill, up a steep wet hill, over some grass through some cones, at which point Ashley said this reminded her of Field Day at school, which it totally did, especially with the weather conditions since every field day seemed to be rainy. Finally, there were some volunteers spraying people with color instead of just throwing it on them, as it was much more liquid this time. I never asked what it was, but it was very fun and I was finally starting to earn my colors!

Back up the steep hill, down a less steep hill, past a live all girl band (who were pretty awesome!), at our first (and only) water station where they gave you tiny bottles of much appreciated water. I had my Batman utility belt on this time around, so I had some water already, but I was happy to take some more.

At this point I realized so far there were no medical attendants anywhere. At the Princess Half marathon, it seemed like they were everywhere on their bikes, medical tents were plentiful, too, but here, there was nothing. So help you God if you had a heart attack or sprained your ankle or something like that, because you were on your own. The whole time, I never saw a medic. I realize it's only a 5k and only 3 miles, but you'd think they would have had one or two dudes hanging out at the checkpoints.

Speaking of checkpoints, there really weren't any. It would have been nice to have mile markers or kilometer markers, but apart from counting down the color stations or using a GPS (I totally want a Garmin, I confess, they look awesome) or an app on your phone, you were on your own with that, too. It would have been nice to see how far long we were going on the course, but nope.

It might sound like I'm bashing the run, but I'm not. Like I said earlier, I think Disney has just spoiled me rotten in so many aspects of my life I've come to expect the Disney quality with everything now. I only have the two events to compare right now, and the one thing Color Me Rad 5k really did right was the amount of music they had playing. You didn't have to use an mp3 player, because there was music pretty within earshot pretty much everywhere. Not so with Disney.

The Color Me Rad 5k is wicked laid back. They don't even time you. The only time involved was which wave you were involved with, and even then, they weren't really checking to make sure you were in the right wave. Ashley said you pretty much could have just showed up and done the 5k without even signing up and she's pretty much spot on.

More hills, hills, hills (I should note, if you're not familiar with New Jersey, it's generally a pretty flat state until you get up to the northwest part, but in central NJ you're hard pressed to find hills - but oh, they found them in Holmdel!) and we already saw the finish line. It was a tease, but it was in sight. Ashley and I were both surprised how quickly it felt like it had already passed. We snaked over another hill, to one of our last color stations, and ta da, we were near the end! One last color station and then we received our orange color bombs. And then we finished!

We found Peter and Mike and Olivia near the finish line and stopped for some pictures. Selfies included.

COLOR!

After some light chit chat, we went to celebrate near the stage. Just as we got there, the 9:40 wave was leaving. Wait, what? I checked my phone. 9:45 AM. YAY! I hadn't even realized it was so early still. We must have crossed the line about 5 minutes previous, and we left at around 9:05 (the very end of the 9:00 AM wave), putting us at about a 35 minute 5k. Not bad, not bad at all for two girls who didn't want to bust their butt running too much on slippery slopes.

This was actually the boost of confidence I needed since I was still so bummed about my Princess Half time. I have to keep reminding myself: I was sick. Very sick. I used the portapotties so many times I lost count after the sixth time. It was Florida. It was humid. But I finished it anyway. This was my first proper run since then and I'm definitely happy with my new and improved time.

Fist pumps like true Jersians!

We partied with the 10 AM group color bomb with a white guy with dreadlocks (my step-dad's worst enemy) and then Ashley's 5 year old started running the show and was impatient, so we parted ways.

Oddly, neither of our men wanted to hug us afterwards. :(

They were parked away from us, so we went to take a bus back to our lot (as the bus lady instructed us to do) and then we were told that they weren't running buses until the race was over. I was not about to wait another hour or so just to get to the parking lot, so we walked. There was no one there to tell us this - some other runner went and asked the bus driver. Not very organized. Another reminder that I was not in a runDisney event. Sadness.

People were still walking in for their 10:20 wave while I was walking out, finished for the day. Felt pretty cool, not gonna lie.

I asked for one more picture of myself before getting into my car (which now has to be washed outside and inside, whoops) and off we went.

Champion.

I noticed as we got inside that because my arms were bent the whole time, my elbows had created a rainbow effect on my arms. Hah!

On our way back home, we stopped to let some geese and goslings pass. A good way to finish a 5k, if you ask me.

Official training for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler starts in the first week of June. Call me crazy, but I can't wait. What have you DONE to me, Disney? What have you done with my LIFE?

Until then!

"A warm welcome back to those of you who made it..

.. and a friendly word of warning, something you won't find in any guidebook. The next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling. Or you may find yourself a permanent resident.. of the Twilight Zone."

Man, I am AWESOME at the whole not writing a blog for months thing! If only I had a dime for every month I didn't post, I could probably at least afford a pack of gum by now. I'd love to say I've been so busy running every day that I haven't had time to post but that's a flat out lie. For what it's worth, I do have the Jersey Shore Color Me Rad 5k coming up on the 19th, so that's kinda cool, right?

Whatever. I'm back, and I've got a new thing to train for. I don't know what I was thinking signing up for the Princess Half Marathon and I sure as hell don't know what I was thinking signing up for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler but here we are again. I guess I really like a challenge or I'm a glutton for punishment. Maybe a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.

Dun dun DUNNNN!

I'm actually really, really looking forward to this one. When I signed up for the Princess Half Marathon, I had absolutely NO idea what to expect. My Princess Half medal is staring at me as I type this and I'm still amazed that I earned it. When I'm asked about the half, it still feels like one big, sweaty blur. Somewhere in the 12th mile, my mom asked me if we would do another one soon. I told her no. I know it was probably just my sore feet, swollen hands and dry throat influencing that answer. That was, hmm, 2 and a half months ago. There goes my conviction.

I was just back in Disney for a few days for a business trip (I know, you're jealous that your business trips don't take you to Walt Disney World) and I could feel myself cringe every time we drove over the various highway paths of the Princess Half Marathon. It was too soon to see the Magic Kingdom entrance (I'll not soon forget the automated warning telling us there was a speed bump and to watch our step playing over and over and over and over again) and go down and up the first steep hill. Anytime I walked over the bridge connecting the hub and Tomorrowland, I remembered my near break down and the very kind Tink girl who gave me renewed strength. I think the Princess Half Marathon has forever changed how I look at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, for better or worse, and now I'm about to have Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios take a turn in making my life a magical, living hell, and I'm paying $150 in registration fees for the privilege.

It's like a light, night time stroll of the Walt Disney World resort!

I make it sound all dramatic, but like I said, I really am looking forward to it this time around. Why? List time!

1. It's 10 miles. That's 3.1 miles less than a half marathon! My longest walk/run during training was 12 miles. I don't know why, but the 10 miles seems a lot more doable now that I've had a go at 13.1 miles in Florida humidity. I am not resting on my laurels by any means here. Not whatsoever. I will train the hell out of this one using Jeff Galloway's program like it's my job. But, I'm happy it's 3 miles less, that's for sure.
2. It's late in the evening instead of painfully early in the morning. I am a night owl, through and through. When I woke up at 2:30 AM to prepare for the Princess Half, my mind was blown. 2:30 is not an unusual time for me to start falling asleep. No one should ever have to wake up at 2:30 AM. Not ever. If I become president, that's the first law I'm passing.
3. It's Tower of Terror themed. Growing up, I was a tomboy and not a princess by any stretch of the imagination. I'm still pushing it. It felt odd running among the girliest girls in their tutus. Now the Tower of Terror, THAT'S more my style. It's one of my favorite attractions, ever. The cast members are among my most favorite. Did you know they have the most expensive park costumes (employee attire, for the non-Disney freaks) reaching over $1000 each because each costume is custom made for the cast member? That's what I've been told, anyway.
4. Have you SEEN the medal? It glows in the dark! Uh, AWESOME!
   
5. I've learned from my mistakes. BIG TIME. This deserves a list all its own. A list within a list. List-ception. This time around I will NOT do the following: 

• eat at Splitsville as my last big meal before the race. Delicious. Glorious atmosphere. Wonderful waiters. But not then.
• wear my wedding band and engagement ring. I love my husband but never again.
• not have a cool running gear belt that could rival Batman's. I also did not know that the volunteers would fill an entire bottle for you if you had one, and not just give you cups.
• bring a long sleeved running jacket and take it off by like, the .3rd mile. It just added extra weight.
• wear compression shorts underneath yoga pants (this worked in training but not in the half - I'll have to see how it goes this time around, but I'm definitely going to try other methods to see what feels best)
• not train outside as much. I read a quote on running that there is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people. I will not be a soft person.
• not lube up EVERYWHERE. I didn't know my under arms would chafe so much, but I paid for it the next couple days.
• not try out various energy boosters. I didn't know Cliff made decaf gels. The gel was nasty, but not having to worry about an allergic reaction to caffeine really helped and the carbs no doubt helped, too.

There's probably more that I'll harp on as the months go by. I just feel like now that I've done the half marathon, a runDisney event, and have done it in Florida no less, I'll be more prepared this time around. There SHOULD be less first time jitters and nerves (and sickness, let's not go there again) and while I haven't done this particular course before, I have a feeling there will be some familiarity to it all, like visiting an old friend that you kind of hate and it's really expensive to hang out with them but you get a medal if you last the whole time without killing anyone or yourself. Bit of a stretch of a comparison there? Yeah. But you know what I mean.

I am also going to be doing this with a very dear friend of mine, Melissa! She was there in my corner for the Princess Half to cheer on myself and her friend, Brittany, who's also going to be running in this, too! We're already in the planning process of thinking about a doable costume for the run. It's going to be amazing. I'm feeling confident and not scared out of my mind this time, although I probably should be.

Because it's a scary themed race.

Get it?

I crack myself up.