Race Review - Color in Motion 5K

Life is meant to be lived!  This race was a fun, not timed event.  Sometimes you just gotta have fun! 

It was EARLY.....holy cow!  I am not a morning person, but we had to get up and be out the door by 6am.  We stopped by to pick up my daughter's fiance and we were off.  The event was in Chicago so there were THOUSANDS of people.

Once we got there, we had to park about a mile away and walk to the event.  It was a pleasant walk along the wharf and water.   It was kind of hard to find but once it was in view, there were flags everywhere.  Since we were there fairly early, wait was minimal.  We picked up our bag with our shirt, powder packet and temporary tattoos.  We took a look at the merchandise table.  Everything was reasonably priced but we opted to just buy some extra powder.  That was an ordeal.  Apparently, someone took off with their WiFi hot spot box (intentional or not, I am unsure).  Therefore, they couldn't connect to the internet to run our (or anyone else's) credit card.  We waited for some time.  While they had plenty of volunteers, they seemed to be clueless.

We had to wait an hour or so, therefore we sat and watched the beach and water.  There was a DJ making announcements.  We soon headed towards the start.  They let groups go in waves.  That made it nice.  We were crammed like sardines but at least we didn't have to fight through to move.  We were about the third group to go.  Showered with powder, we were off.

This event is a fun, family event.  It is not timed nor is it expected to be a "competition".  Therefore, I was perplexed as people ran past me.  I even had a lady that yelled over and over "on your left" as she trotted past us - a runner's exclamation that one makes while passing someone in a race.  I yelled back that we heard her.....and I thought I was going to have to throw down by the look she gave me.  Some people.....

We made our way through the color stations - yellow started us, then blue, pink, green and orange.  It was a lot of fun.  While we walked, I have to admit that it took everything in my power not to be one of those fools running.  I wanted to just take off and run.  It was a race, afterall.  Races meant running, right?  

It seriously seemed like this event was 10 miles long.  I kept thinking that it was the longest 3 miles ever.  When I mentioned that to my husband, he said - you are used to doing 3 miles in 30 minutes.....of course walking is going to make it seem longer.

Finally, we reached the finish (and they were still releasing waves at the starting line!).  We got a water.  The volunteers handing out the waters were rude.  They were getting irritated with the participants because they weren't taking the water.  One volunteer said - "Just take the water!  Stop waiting for us to hand it to you!"  Rudeness!

The DJ was thumping and there were soooo many people.  I couldn't stand it, honestly.  Besides, I was starving.  So we left.

It was fun.  I went in with no real expectations except to come out colorful!

So the review of the event Color in Motion 5K in Chicago:
Terrain - some paved, some gravel, some mud - it weaved through a park area
Organization - it was as good as could be expected
Cost - $20 per person, received a packet of powder and a tshirt and temporary tattoos
Time of Race - 9:00am
Overall - I didn't expect much going in.  It was fun.
Award - none - it was not a competitive event
My Time - I didn't bother timing myself since I walked the entire race
Race # in our 15 in '15 Challenge - 8/15

#BeastModeActivated

Do I have something on my face?

Colors!!!!!

Afterwards....

Before...

Vacation......*insert melodramatic music here*

I went on vacation with my family this past two weeks.  We headed to Florida and even though my kids are both adults, we went to Walt Disney World.  It was a pretty good time, all in all.

Before I went, I had these ideas of grandeur.  I was going to use the resort gym, I was gonna try to run at least 3 times a week and I was going to make good choices with what I ate.  We even had a 5K we signed up for.  Yep, I was going to make sure I stuck to my plan.

Yeah, right.

While the idea seemed like a good one, it never reached fruition.  I used the gym one time.  I ran outside once and it was HORRIBLE.  My poor Indiana body wasn't used to that kind of heat and all around stickiness.  We did our 5K....that is a separate post all together.  And the food.....we won't even discuss that.

Everything I knew, everything I learned....went down the crapper.  I felt horrible, and my body started to protest with bloating and nausea and fatigue.  I don't know why I put myself through that torture!  But the popcorn, caramel apples, ice cream, burgers, fries......oh my!

So, I told my husband I was going to detox a few days before I weighed myself because I was scared to see what the number was.  Well, my curiosity got the better of me.  I weighed myself this morning.

8 pounds gained.

No joke.  Being transparent here....8 lousy pounds.  Ugh.  That may not seem like a lot to most of you but to me, it scares me to death.  I refuse to return to where I was over a year ago - 250 pounds, miserable and just existing.

Granted, the 8 pounds wasn't as bad as I was expecting but a small 5 pounds would have been a better number to swallow.

However, I had a fantastic vacation.  I feel refreshed and made some great memories with my kids.  I am glad to be home (too much of a good thing was making everyone irritable) and I am even more glad to get back to my routine.

Give me a week and that 8lbs will be gone.  I am starting a strict regimen tomorrow.  I have to detox this garbage out.  Then I will be doing 90% clean eating (loosely following the 21 day fix).  I still am shooting for losing 10 more pounds (after losing the initial 8 lbs I gained) so I can say 100 lbs down.

This post was to show we all have those days.  In my case weeks, haha.  We trip up, we get into some old habits and we feel guilty.  However, we just need to recognize the situation and get back at it.  Am I disappointed at the number on the scale?  Yea, a little bit. I would be lying if I said otherwise.  However, I am determined to get back at it.

I miss not running every other day and going to the gym.  I feel myself getting lazy.  And for me....I REFUSE to be that way.  So look out!  I will be posting an update after 21 days.  Be prepared to be amazed!

If you are feeling discouraged and feeling like you have fell off the wagon, so to speak.  Just know that you are worth it.  You can do it.  Tomorrow is a new day and all you have to do is say what's done is done.  Nothing but moving forward now.....you got this. *fist bump*

#BeastModeActivated

Our hot and miserable 5K

It's a Small World selfie

Mindquest - so much fun!  Do it!

Needs no explanation......word.

Lovin' life

Race Review - Jungle 5K

So while my family and I were on vacation, my husband and I decided to do a 5K while we were there.  So, the Saturday after we arrived at our resort, we got up at 6:00am and headed out to a local area to participate.

The day already was hot and humid.  We were not acclimated for running in that type of weather being from Indiana.  However, we figured we would just do the best we could.  That is all we ever require of ourselves.

First off, parking was horrendous.  The event was at a park near a body of water.  The area was nice but there was no one directing parking, at all.  It was a free for all.  We were already running a little behind so trying to find parking was stressful.  Many of the other people trying to find parking weren't too pleasant either.  Once we found a spot, we hurried to get our packet.  Again, nothing was marked.  We had to ask.

We picked up our packet and I was told that they were "out of medium" shirts, and I could go up or down a size.  How could they be out of my size when I pre-registered to ensure I got the right size?  Don't they set those aside for the pre-registerants?  Apparently not.  Therefore, I opted a size bigger.

We got a sample of men's deodorant (what am I gonna do with that?) and some flyers.  I tossed it all away and crammed my shirt in the fanny pack that I wear when I run.  I was not about to walk back to the van, nor was I going to layer on another shirt.

Again, we had to ask where the starting line was because we had no clue.  There was a triathlon going on as well and we felt that took precedence.  The 5K was hum-drum in comparison.  Although, it was neat to watch the triathlons pull from the water and hop on their bikes and take off.  My first time witnessing that and it was a rush just seeing it.

So, finally, our time was up and we took off.

Did I mention it was HOT?

I didn't think I could do it.  I struggled the entire 3.1 miles - huffing, puffing and sweating.  At that point, I just wanted to finish - time was irrelevant.

I saw the "finish" and gave it my all and passed a woman at the last second only to hear cowbells and realize that wasn't even the finish.  What the heck?  Then why did it say finish?  So I pushed and crossed.  I was handed a medal and I made my way to the cooling station.

Our bibs had coupons to go get snack and a beer (um, no thanks) and to put in for a drawing.  I knew I didn't place.  However, I like to stick around and hear times for my age group.  We were told that they were going to start awards and so forth at 9:30.  We had half an hour so we ate our snack (nice spread of food) and took some pics.  9:30 rolled around and a lady next to me asked when it was suppose to start.  I told her 9:30 and she was slightly irritated.  We waited until 10am and decided to leave.  We weren't going to waste an entire day of vacation to wait to hear a few numbers.

So we did and enjoyed our day.  They told us our times and pics would be posted that day.  2 days later........one of my worst times.  But that is okay - I finished.



So the review of the event Jungle 5K in Florida:
Terrain - paved trail through the park and around water, an out-and-back run
Organization - poor!  no one directing parking, nothing marked, etc.
Cost - $25 per person, pre-registration guarantees a shirt (just not the size you request apparently)
Time of Race - 8:00am
Overall - One of the worse races, poorly organized and felt like the 5K race was just an after thought compared to the triathlon
Award - everyone got a participation medal, didn't stick around to see what winners received
My Time - 31.14
Race # in our 15 in '15 Challenge - 7/15

#BeastModeActivated

At least I got a medal

This is us waiting over 30 minutes for awards to start

Hot and sucked but we finished!