Color Up 5k

Back in June I did a color run. They’re gaining a lot of popularity so there is a variety of them out there but essentially they’re all the same race – Color Up, The Color Run, Color Me Rad, Color Vibe – that’s not even close to all of them.

What it comes down to is you’re going to be thrown up on by a rainbow and dammit, you’re going to be happy about it!  I had initially registered with 3 other girls but due to situations beyond their control, none of them could attend. That meant I was all by my lonesome.

All By Myself…

GIFSoup

Fortunately, my husband is amazing and decided to at the very least ride along (still no luck in getting him to run with me). It was located in Temple, Texas at the Lions Park which was great because it gave the husband and the kid something to do while I was sweating color. She was not happy that I forced her to take a before picture with me when there was clearly more fun things to do.

I had registered for a 9am timeslot but had to be there by 8 to pick up my race bag, so I opted to jump into the 8:30 corral. We actually didn’t get started until 9am though because the EMT had not arrived yet and due to the weather (it was already 90 degrees) the race officials didn’t want to risk it.

Or at least that’s what was being said through the crowd.

They let the waves go every few minutes so everyone could get optimum time at the color points. For this race it was at every 1k point. Because of the weather, I told myself that I was just planning on enjoying the event and not trying to beat my 5k time. And that’s what I did. I helped people take pictures (there were a lot of families), I walked some, I randomly talked to people, I clapped for people who were literally rolling on the ground in the color and I just did the damn thing.

This isn’t a timed event so according to my watch: They had great aid stations and even had people with water hoses spraying us down – which felt freaking amazing. The husband got this candid* shot of me.

*definitely not candid

Those are what we like to call “fast hands”. We watched a movie once where the main character was running from something or someone that they should not have been able to outrun but they did. We assume it was because of the shape of their hands. It was distracting…and hilarious (you probably had to have been there) so there’s that. Fast hands, for the win!

I did a huge no-no for this race – I wore things I have never worn on race day before or trained in. If you’re a runner, or interested in running and have read over any article one of the things it always tells you not to do is try something new on race day.

I am apparently quite the rebel because I did the following and still finished:

Sunglasses: Overall, I didn’t like it. I’m not used to wearing glasses in every day life so by mile 1 they were sitting on top my head.
Sweatband: This came with the race bag and I’m so glad it did. It helped keep the ridiculous amount of sweat I was creating away from my eyes and it gives me hope that one day I will be able to wear a cute headband without it rolling up the back of my backless head.
New running skirt: I had previous run in a different skirt and it didn’t phase me (I’m a victim of chub rub), so when I received this one in the mail the day before I thought, “Eh, why not?” Well, here’s why not – it’s much shorter than my previous one and my thighs kept making out with each other from about the halfway point to the end. I really love the skirt – it’s Adidas – and I felt adorable in it, the shorts underneath are just too short and do not have grippies on them to keep in place. I still wear it to do other workouts in, so I count it as a win.

This is definitely not a race you go into looking to beat your time. Not because it’s hard, but because most people who have registered are looking for the experience of running through color and not running through their previous 5k time. A lot of people stopped to take pictures or were walking or would stop right in front of you to walk even though you were running right behind them.

Overall, I’ll end up doing this again. Except hopefully next time I’ll have my friends there. Maybe you? I’ll totally pick you up myself. No gas money required.

 

Until we run again!