The Color Run strikes again

Three times I have signed up for the Color Run.  Three times upon signing up for the Color Run, I have sworn that I would be able to run the whole thing.  Three times I have failed.  But I'm not giving up.

Last weekend, Rocio and I braved the early early early early morning and headed to Dodger Stadium, where we fogged (fake jogged... it's totally a real thing) our way through a 3.1 mile course dotted with five stations of colored cornstarch that transformed our white shirts into a mash-up of different hues.

And this time there were hills.

The first two color runs we did were completely flat courses, but not Dodger Stadium.  Straight out of the gate, we were headed uphill, and my already unimpressive endurance was cut down dramatically by the onslaught of a mountain tall enough to intimidate even the hikiest of hikers.  Okay, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration.  Or maybe even entirely false.  Okay, so really it's just a normal hill, not even as steep as my driveway (which is crazy steep, for the record.), but when I get winded walking up hills, you can bet that running sure isn't gonna happen.

And then, once we had gone downhill for a little bit, there were all these switchbacks, making us go back up.  So I just stuck to the fogging on the downhill segments and trudged my way up on the torture uphill portions.  It was a pretty good system.  It got me to the end at least.

Since there had to be hills, I was extra grateful for the clouds that made the sun less brutal.  Our first color run was miserably hot.  I would do hills with cloud cover over a straight course in mid-afternoon under an unrelenting sun any day!

Oh, and I've lost 5 pounds since my last blog post. HALLELUJAH!

I WILL fully run a 5K soon.

The story of a mile

I've never been a runner.  Yes, I have participated in two 5ks this year, and I plan to do plenty more, but don't mistake that as a sign that I'm a runner.  I'm not.

When I was a kid, for P.E. we used to go down to the park at my dad's job with another homeschool family, the Dills.  There was a nice running trail with stops along the way for different areas of exercise.  I enjoyed the exercise stations but when it was time to run I always hated it.  I did, however, have a pretty major crush on Adam, the Dill boy who was my age, and when he took my arm and pulled me around the track, I was happy to acquiesce!  Sure, I'd run if it meant time with Adam!  But without the motivation of a cutie to run with, oh heck no!

When I was at school in Germany, my good friend and roommate Joy used to drag me out of bed when it was still dark and crack the running whip as I complained of my impending death during a very cold and dark torture session.  She was a runner and I adore her, and I needed exercise, so when we discussed running together it seemed like a good idea, but when it came down to it, I admire the determination it took on her part to get me going!  She also got me to do early morning aerobics and many other crazy things I never would have attempted on my own.  If you know me at all, you know just what an accomplishment that is... not only because she made me run, but getting me out of bed in the early morning is no easy task!  But Joy has always been able to motivate me like no other.  She rules.

Obviously lately I have been more into fitness, and I genuinely want to be a runner.  I want to love it.  I plan to do a half marathon someday, and run the entire way.  In my head it sounds glorious.  In reality, I can't run for more than a minute without stopping to walk.  As soon as I start running I think, "Why did this seem appealing?"

That happened this afternoon when I decided to see how far I could jog around the block.  One lap around is slightly more than half a mile, and a few times in the past I have alternated running and walking, but I have never run for more than thirty seconds.  Wimp.  I set out thinking I would run half the block, walk the other half and be done with it. 

I didn't even get that far.  I jogged all of 0.15 miles, to the end of my street, turned the corner and walked the 0.09 miles that makes up one short end of my block.  Then I started to jog again, thinking I'd see if I could make it the full 0.22 miles of the next street before having to turn the corner again, but I really didn't see it happening. 

But then my mindset changed.  Why stop?  I needed to just push myself a little and I knew I could do it.  When I got to the end of that street and turned the corner, I knew I could keep jogging because that street is only the length of three houses.  I would stop there. 

But then I pushed a little further, because there were only five more houses until I got home.  For sure I could make it home!  I had only planned to go around the block once and I would have run more than half of it, which is pretty good! 

Something kept pushing me though, and instead of turning in at my driveway, I kept going.  I made it to the end of my street again and forced myself to finish the last little bit.  Then I walked the rest of the way home. 

I jogged one full lap around my block: 0.57 miles!  I guarantee that is the farthest I have run in one shot since Adam Dill pulled me around the track at Hughes Aircraft when I was 12.  I know it's nothing, but it feels like a huge accomplishment for me!

Ooh, and I also got to wear my workout wristband for the first time!  It has a pocket for ID on one side, and a zipper pocket for keys on the other. I bought it at Victoria's Secret right after I did the Color Run in order to get a Color Run tank top for $5.  We had to buy something in their VSX exercise line, and I didn't want to spend $50 on running pants.

All decked out and sweaty post-run

That says runner.  It may not be true yet, but it will be.

Ooh, I need to put on some mascara.

This is the tank top I got for $5.  I wanted to wear it now and take a picture so I have a comparison shot for later on when I'm an actual runner and weigh less.  Before and after shots are fun!

I feel good right now, with that run out of the way.  I just have one question though: why does running produce so much saliva?  I probably spat 32 times during that run, one for every year of my life!  Hahaha. <--- dork.

Colors

My last name is Noah.  I love when people find out that fact, and I say to them, "Yeah, I'm a direct descendant of Noah!"

"REALLY???  That's SO COOL!"

I have gotten that response so many times, and it never gets old.  I crack up just as much every time.  People are so gullible!  Then I remind them that God wiped out the earth with the flood, except for Noah, his three sons, their wives and that boat load of animals: we are ALL direct descendants of Noah.  I just happen to have the coolest last name.  Someday when I get married and change my last name, I would love to name one of my kids Noah so I don't miss it so much.

Because of my name, I feel a sense of ownership of the rainbow.  Maybe that's a little bit ridiculous, but a large part of who I am is made up of ridiculousness, and the amount of laughter and joy that I bring to those in my life can attest for the value of ridiculousness.  I refuse to relinquish my right to ridiculousness.  And apparently I also appreciate a little alliteration.

In my journey to health and a lower and more appealing body weight, challenges are important to me.  I ran my first 5k on my birthday two months ago, and immediately signed up for the Color Run because how could I NOT????  It's full of the rainbow!  It's MY RACE!!!

This run took place yesterday in Irvine, and my friend Rocio and I drove down and participated in the madness.  It was crazy!!!  There were thousands and thousands of people there.  There was a race at 8 a.m. and another at 12:30.  When I signed up, the 8:00 race was already sold out, so we had to do the one in the horrible heat of the afternoon.

Traffic was nuts.  We allowed a lot of extra time to get there and stand in line for our t-shirts and wristbands, but we spent most of that time idling in a giant line of cars.  Here we are excited to get there and get going:

 This sign made us way too happy:

There were so many people there, so we parked about half a mile away from the start/finish lines and the registration tents.  We had to go pick up our stuff, then go back to the car to ditch the stuff, then back to the start line.  We had already walked a mile and a half by the time we started the race!  It was a good warm up.  But it was also hot and even with the sunscreen that I made sure to put on, before the race even started, I wasn't looking quite as Scandinavian as my roots would have you believe I am.

Check out the tan I got!

The run itself was harder than I anticipated, but the color part was incredible!  My goal originally was to beat my time from my birthday 5k.  I didn't.  The time was almost exactly the same, but I am actually quite happy with that fact, and this is why: my first 5k was two months ago, at 9 a.m., on a course with trees and shade.  In other words, it was probably twenty degrees cooler.  Heat saps energy and slows me down in a big way, so matching my time from last time while running in the extreme afternoon heat with no shade and on asphalt is perfectly okay with me.

Going through each color station and getting attacked with a cloud of colored cornstarch was so much fun!  There were people there to supply us with all the high-5s we could possibly want.  I like a good high-5.  Maybe not from my brother-in-law, who tries to smack your hand off and leaves it tingling for days afterward, but from pretty much anyone else in the world.

By the time we reached the finish line, my fingers felt like sausages.  I was pretty dehydrated.  But I felt great.  I was happy.  And full of color.

Here we are in all our colorful glory:

And the back.  Rocio was totally sassing that Police officer:

 

Back in the car after it was all over, we covered the seats with towels so I wouldn't get color all over me every time I get in my car for the next couple weeks.  And Rocio makes sure to look ever so beautiful for the camera.  Haha.  It's tough to get a picture of this girl really smiling.  She may be even more ridiculous than I am.

For Cookie Monster, "C" may be for cookie, but for me, "C" is for Color Run!

Haha.   I'm a dork.  And I can't wait for my next 5k!!!  One of these days I'll be able to run the whole way!