So Cal Color Run Review

On April 22nd, 4/5ths of my old roommate crew (Jessie, Shannon, Tori, and I) reunited for a unique type of 5K- the color run!  The So Cal Color Run was held at the Great Park in Irvine, CA.  They have color runs all over the U.S., so check out the website (http://thecolorrun.com/locations/) to see if it's coming to a location near you.

Team, Sorry We're SLO

(Get it?  We went to school at Cal Poly SLO!  So clever...)

The bib/packet pick-up was held on the Friday and Saturday before the race at RoadRunner Sports and could also be done on-site, the day of the race.  We went Saturday and it was super easy and convenient.  We walked away with a gel or two, a color run t-shirt, and our powder for the race.  The powder comes in a few different colors (pink, green, yellow, blue, purple, orange) and is what is thrown at you and in the air during the run.  According to the website, the powder is essentially food-grade cornstarch and is 100% safe and natural.

The one rule of the race...wear a white t-shirt!  Why?  At each kilometer there is a "color-zone" where a designated color is thrown at the runners by color-run volunteers.  Each color-zone is a different color, so by the end of the run you should be multi-colored.  If you run close to the sides of the path it is designated a "high-color zone" as opposed to running in the middle is a "low-color zone".  Although the colored powder is safe, wearing glasses definitely come in handy and maybe even a bandana over you mouth or nose when running through the color if you have a hard time breathing.  At the end of the race there is a color festival where you are encouraged to use the powder you received (if you haven't wasted it all in the race) and join all the finishers in throwing it in the air or at one another. 

The color runs are "fun runs" and are not timed races.   They tend to start in waves that take off every 5-10 minutes to eliminate congestion, but we were not assigned to a specific wave; just show up and jump into one of them!  It's very low key, but that's not to say it's unorganized...just a lot different than a timed race.  We definitely enjoyed our run, from the pre-race shirt decorating, the run itself, to the festival at the end (which included dancing)!  There were even some post-race vendors for food and drinks, including a slurpee truck :)

Instead of posting a ton of pictures, I'll let you check out what the color run was like from the video I created as a tribute to our race!  Enjoy!

Lesson learned: fun runs are just that...fun!

It's coming to San Diego in November and I am SOOOO excited to do it again!

P.S. The color comes off skin fairly easily, but I did have some pink in my hair for a day or two after. I wouldn't suggest wearing your nicest running clothes, but the color will mostly come out.

The Places I Have Been

Why hello there! I promise I'm still alive, the last couple weeks have been busyyyyy.  I'll briefly update on some recent events and post more in depth on some things later.

Where did I leave off?...

For Easter weekend I headed back home to celebrate my friend Shannon's 25th birthday as well as enjoy Easter with my family.  We celebrated during the day at Malibu Wines (which I've blogged about before).  Wine and good friends made for a fun and drunken day.  The weather was absolutely perfect too!  I love this place -- live music, good wine, and your can bring in your own food. We continued celebrating at the birthday girls' house after our winery fun was over...Oh, and we pet a camel. Nope, not drunk at all...

On Easter, we went to church and then had brunch with my mom's side of the family.  Then it was out to my dad's house for more Easter celebrations.  One of the greatest things was seeing the foster kittens my dad and stepmom our caring for.  They were about 4 weeks old when I was there.

The greatest news of all...Shaun and I will be the proud new parents of one of these kittens in the next week or two!  Hurray!

Since I last blogged, I've also gone to Coachella...but that deserves to be its own blog post.  For now, let's just say music, friends, and a free feeling that I can only get from the music festival in the desert. 

Can I go back there, please?

And since my fun adventure, it's been work, work, work.  My internship is actually going really well and everything is looking great as far as my research progress.  I sadly can't divulge more, but yayyy science!

Last weekend I also participated in the So Cal Color Run with my college roommates.  This too will be getting it's own well-deserved post.  It's basically a 5k non-timed, non-competitive fun run where everybody wears white and by the end your are covered in a variety of colors, thanks to the colored powders in each of the "color zones" along the way.  Seriously, one of the most fun runs I've ever done!  Just a preview to keep you hooked...

San Diego Half Marathon Review

Three days later and I still have the feelings of a great accomplishment...my very first half marathon!

The expo was Saturday at Petco Park and we got to pick up our bibs, shirt, and swag bag.  There were quite a bit of people there, but everything ran smoothly and all the volunteers were super nice.  I also enjoyed walking around, trying samples and looking at the different vendors.  I even bought myself a Halo Headband to keep the sweat off my face and keep my hair back.  I have extreme difficulty with headbands staying on, even if they claim to be "no-slip", but this worked like a charm.  After expo-ing it up our only other plans were dinner at Souplantation because salad bar + soup + bread + pasta + dessert = happy Jen.  I was getting pretty nervous/excited, but tried to get to bed early for the big day.

Andi and I woke up at 5AM, but because the race fell on daylights savings time it was really 4AM...ugh!  We were out the door by 6AM and took our little stroll to the corral areas.  The gear check also happened to be right near our wave, so that was a bonus.  Only downfall is that the bathroom line were pretty long, but I had gone twice before I left home (more on this later...).

We started right on time.  I had my Garmin on and planned on going out a little bit faster than goal pace because I knew there was a pretty long hill around mile 9 and hills are not my strongest point.  I was feeling great and keeping pace, or a little under, until miles 8, 9, 10 aka the uphill portion.  My body started to fade a little-- I choked down a shot blok at mile 8, but couldn't handle any more than that.  I grabbed a water at about every other station and I grabbed Ultima once (at mile 6 I think).  They say to leave it all out there on the course, you know blood, sweat, tears...and let's just say I did, even a little pee (TMI?).  It happens, I literally couldn't help it and there were no bathrooms around.  Just don't start calling me Jen "peepeepants" Jones.  I was actually able to recover and pick it back up on the downhill portion to the finish, but I knew my "goal time" was slightly out of reach, but I still gave it my all.  Looking back on it, the whole race seems kind of like a blur. 

I know going into my first half, my only serious goal should have been to finish and to try my hardest.  I accomplished both of those things.  However, I also really felt I would be capable of running a sub-2 half...maybe I could have if it wasn't for a certain problem...  I know that I can!  I ended up finishing 2:02:19 (Andi got 2:01 and change, like a beast...we both really wanted that sub-2!). I guess this just means I'll have to sign up for another!

2:02:19

Overall: 2005/5485

Women: 802/3128 

Age Group (F 25-29): 160/632

The course itself was wonderful, starting off right next to Petco Park, running through downtown and by the harbor and into Point Loma. The hill portion happened to be in the less visually stimulating area... But once over the hill, it was into Hillcrest, past Balboa park, back into downtown, and a sweet finish inside the stadium!  For their inaugural half marathon event, I think it was run really well and it was extremely organized.  There was great volunteers and course support. 

We were welcomed by a large cheering crowd and recieved our medals.  I saw Shaun and my friend Nikki, and felt like it was all worth it! I picked up some refueling food, banana, orange, popchips, coconut water, and stole a chocolate milk for Shaun (sadly, no dairy for me and they didn't have my beloved chocolate coconut water).  The nice thing about ending at a stadium is there were plenty of restrooms to cleanup and change.  Our gear was ready as we walked up to the table...seriously, so organized!  They were also having a Celebrate San Diego event so we were treated to a free Lifehouse concert after.  The main reason I stayed though was the stadium food, because a pretzel and beer are legit refueling foods in my book.  Made it home and alternated between the floor and couch for the rest of the day whilst watching tv and movies.

My legs are finally returning to normal.  Walking up and down stairs in the lab the past two days has been not so fun.  In all, I'm totally pumped and proud of myself.  Good news is that it didn't scare me off too much and I do want to do another :)   I got a lot out of this experience and learned a lot too; for instance, I need to use the restroom right before, incorporate more hill training, and I'm capable of running faster than I think I am.  I'm not afraid to push myself or my body and it's such a rewarding experience when you push it to the limits.  This "first half marathon" has been quite the rewarding experience and it's safe to say, I got the bug!

Also, I should learn to be more photogenic in pictures! I swear I actually waved and smiled at those cameras...where are those pictures?! Ugh.  Andi on the other hand is extremely photogenic...that girl!

Looking into my next one already!  Maybe RnR San Diego in June? Or my hometown, Simi Valley half?  Hmm...decisions!

Review: My First 10k!

It's almost been two weeks, so I'm a little late to this race review BUT since pictures were just posted two days ago I'll consider myself on time :)

I ran in the Prevention Mermaid Series San Diego 10k (they also had a 5k, half marathon, and mini mermaid run) on February 11th.  I love that it was right in my own backyard :)  The course went from the south end of Mission Bay park, out for a loop at Fiesta Island, and back.  I've run out there quite a bit since moving here so I was happy to be familiar with the course.

Note: Mermaid Series put on all-women run events! Part of their mission is "building a welcoming community that inspires women from all backgrounds to uncover and realize their full potential".  I can dig that!  That's one of the reasons I signed up, others being you get jewelry instead of medal and Alison Sweeney  (Biggest Loser host!) was going to be there, speaking AND running!

The day before the race they offered packet/bib pick-up at the Mission Bay Hilton from 3pm-7pm.  I got there a little after 3pm and there was a steady flow of people, but not crowded by any means.  It's a small-ish race and they were really well organized.  They had lines for each race and we received our bibs, a bag (with some Luna Bar Minis, sunscreen, Runners World, etc.), and then picked up our long-sleeve technical tees.  I was very impressed with the shirts.  I don't often run in a long-sleeve, but it will be nice when its cold out or to lounge in because I wear workout clothes more than normal clothes.

Long-sleeve tech tee and bib

I woke up around 6am and started with my race-day prep...checked the weather, had a small cup of coffee, hydrated, and ate some oatmeal and half a banana.  The oatmeal may have been a little too heavy and I think next time I'll stick to toast and pb. All in all, I was ready to go!

Pre-race mirror pic, looking fierce.

Before I knew it it was time to head down the hill.  I was running a little later than I wished, but good thing the drive is so short and there was plenty of parking.  I warmed up from my car to the start line about 0.5 mi away.  The halfers took off ~7:30am and I made it to the line with about 10 minutes to spare for the 7:45 10k start.  I stashed my sweatshirt and water bottle by a random tree and hoped for the best (didn't have time to go find the gear storage place). It was actually sprinkling a little, but was mostly just overcast and gloomy.  I was happy with my shirt and capris attire because when I'm running I sweat like a beast and actually get pretty warm, so no jackets for me!

Oh hey, there's Alison...

She spoke before the start and she was running the 10k too!

Anyways. Back to the race! We took off and I was feeling good.  I had to do a little weaving at the beginning but nothing too bad.  I didn't want to go out too fast, so I tried to make sure I was in control/  I really didn't know what to expect going into the race because I have never run this distance before.  I knew I wanted to practice for the half and keep my mile paces under 9:10 min/mi (my GOAL half marathon pace) and would be happier if they were closer to or under 9 min/mi.  The race felt pretty spread out, especially on Fiesta Island, basically between 1.5 - 4 miles I felt like I was running by myself although there were always runners in sight.  

As always, I'm a sight to behold when running. Haha. And these are the better ones...

I kept repeating positive mantras in my head and motivating myself along.  Once off the island, there was a little turn around and the race seemed a lot bigger because 5k-ers, 10k-ers, and half-ers all seemed to be merging.  The bigger crowd helped motivate me a little and I knew I was almost there.  Before I knew it, the finish was in sight and I hustled my tired ass in!

 Woo hoo! I did it! I finished and kept 8:50 min/mi pace...not too shabby for me!

I felt pretty good with the race and was able to load up on more goodies at the post-race expo.  They had a nice assortment of stuff to eat: bananas, oranges, muffins, luna bars, and zico coconut water in a variety of flavors (aka my new obsession). I wasn't too hungry but ate a banana and drank some water (stashing the other stuff for later) while I stretched and waited for results to post.  They also had a photo booth and a booth for manicures and massages! Talk about pampering :) I took my picture at the photo booth but skipped the other stuff.  I did buy myself a sweet shirt from the Mermaid Series booth. I blame it on the runner's high.

Finisher's necklace

Results finally posted and I was 37th/296 and I was 3rd in my age group (20-24)!  I didn't realize the age group thing, but it felt pretty good (even if there were only 13 people in my age group).  Sadly I just moved up an age group last weekend...guess I'll have to start getting faster!  Unfortunately they couldn't do age group awards for the 5k or 10k because there were some timing errors.  From what I gather some of the timing chips weren't scanned properly so they weren't matching up to the bibs, etc.  I briefly worried that I probably didn't get 3rd in my age group afterall.  It took about 4 days, but they got everything sorted out and finalized the results.  Of course I would be pissed if that happened to me, but on the bright side everything was worked out.  Guess what? Still 3rd!  They emailed to say they'll be mailing out age group awards this week! Can't wait to see what it is!

I should have jumped or something, oops.

Overall: great race, smaller race sizes (5k = 504, 10k = 296, Half = 179), all women, extremely well organized (minus the timing issue), fun expo, and just a fun and positive environment.  I definitely think I'll be participating in another Mermaid Series race in the future; gotta get more jewelry yo'! 

P.S. Alison Sweeney definitely beat me (53:24)! Go girl!

Carbo Loading and Resolution Run 5k

Saturday night I convinced Shaun that because I need to "carbo load" for the 5k the following day that we should go to Olive Garden.  What can I say, those commercials really get to me and those breadsticks are delicious.  Carbo loading was really just my excuse to eat food that's not particularly "healthy", get out of the house, and have a nicer dinner out. My motto: TREAT YO'SELF!

Apparently the OG is the happening place to go to for dinner on a Saturday night because we had to wait 40 minutes.  Neither of us have been here in years and it didn't disappoint.  Breadsticks + giant bowl of salad + eggplant parmesan  = one happy Jen.  Shaun got something good too, but I was too busy eating to care but I don't remember what...some pasta thing...go figure.

I got to bed early in order to wake up early for the Resolution Run 5k!  I got up at 5:45 am, had a tiny bit of coffee, half a banana, and an Corazona's oatmeal square.  I also made sure I was properly hydrated.  Shaun and I got in the car at 6:50 and drove down the hill to Mission Bay! I love that the race was so close (about 2 miles away) and at a place I was familiar with and had run before.  Got there in time to see the 15k start at ~7 am and then I got warmed up to go.  We were off right on time, by 7:30 am.

Me, in the blue.  Race photos aren't my favorite

Overall the race felt pretty good.  I ran without music and just tried to feel it out.  For some reason I struggled for a bit through mile 2, but I was able to pick it back up.  The race wasn't too crowded and I felt like I had room to run even though we were on a small cement path.  It was weird to race again, something I haven't done since high school and I totally forgot what I was missing.  I love being a little competitive.

I know I could have gone faster, and judging on my kick I probably left a little too much in reserve that I should have left on the course.  Best pace was 6:51 min/mi, but I probably didn't maintain that for more than a few feet :)  I know that with time I'll get faster again, so I'm trying not to compare to my high school times which are a good 3-6 minutes faster, depending on the course.

Still, I finished 122nd/523 overall, 40th female overall, and 9th/32 age group.  I'm pretty happy with that.  I hope this is the first of many races to come.

Post race snacks

One of the nice things about the race was that it was "green" meaning there were no bags or tons of fliers.  We received virtual coupons and discounts.  There were bagels, fruit, and drinks at the end of the race which is always nice.  Sponsors were giving away samples and fun goodies at the post-race expo, and I walked away with a few new drinks to try.  Also, the weather was perfect; cool, the sun out for most of the run, and the fog started to roll in right near the finish.  Overall, I think I would do this race again.  It was enjoyable, not overly competitive, and a nice reminder to stick to my new year's goals.

What's your favorite thing to eat the night before a race?  Italian food!  Pasta parties hold a special place in my heart from my cross country days.

Do you have any fun race/events coming up?  I planning on a 10k in February, but I'm still trying to decide on which one.