Dirty Girl Mud Run 5K 2013

Another run has been completed! I have been very consistent with getting at least 1.5 miles in 3 times a week just to keep up the stamina. I have also graduated up to a 2.5 mile run at least once a week! I am loving the Nike+ app and all the little extras it has when you reach goals like "your fastest/longest run to date" and the fact that you can challenge your friends! I may try that feature one day soon....

So to prepare myself for the Dirty Girl Mud Run, I just extended the length of the runs I was already taking. I did not do any in-depth research into the obstacles because I did not want to freak myself out (I am afraid of heights and I am claustrophobic) so I just had it in my head that I was going to keep up with my pack of friends.
We also made these awesome Tu-tu's, since they seemed to be all the rage with the girls at these runs and even though they each took a little over an hour to make, they were worth it! Everyone went nuts over our multi-colored ones since they had seen a ton of pink ones.

We started off nice and clean and with adorably colorful Tu-tu's!

The weather was perfect.  It was a little overcast which kept it from being too hot....but we had to squint our eyes in all of our pictures!

We all cut up white shirts and wore colorful tank tops and black bottoms under the Tu-tu's.

Here is one of the group. I have such an awesome group of girl friends!












I have not gotten the email with the pictures by the professional photographers yet, but I will update when I do.

At the start line, there was a very charismatic guy talking into a mic and getting everyone pumped for the run. He was interviewing all the groups and getting team names and our reasons for running. I was awesome to see quite a few breast cancer survivors running with us and very inspiring! The course was crowded at the beginning so there was not much running going on, more like brisk walking, but once we hit the first mud pit the crowd thinned out and those of us who wanted to run were able to.
The obstacles were great for a beginner like me! There was a deep mud pit to start, then  a "how low can you go?" wall that you had to crawl under and they got increasingly more challenging or bigger. I had to skip one that was ropes that you climb across (because I have 2 broken pinkies) but I did scale a wall, climb to the top of the mud slide and go down, climb up and over the cargo net wall and climb under the tarp and into the mud pit and make it across! I was shocked that I did these things with out even hesitating....and that is saying something for me.
I lost my Tu-tu in one of the mud pits I swam through :( But the other ones were not salvageable so I did not feel too bad.

 And here we are at the end! It was so much fun and I am more excited than ever for my next run! Both of them have been so inspiring and have gone off with out a hitch. I hope I don't jinx myself or my friends!

Me and my closest friends, Kristin and Amandah.

LeeAnn got mud in her ear! She said it was coming out for 2 days after the run.

This is my favorite picture from the run :) We are a goofy group!










We left with handfuls of Paul Mitchell Shampoo and Conditioner, some cute little necklaces, and some great t-shirts!  We also got a post-run beer that was amazing :)

Here is to the first of many mud runs!!

Jenn

Running Gear

Now that I am taking this "running thing" seriously, I figured I needed to suit-up and get some cool hardware.

I wanted to keep track of how far I was running, how fast I was going, my calorie burn, and keep it all in one place. After looking online I found the Nike+ Running App.
Now I remember buying my dad something years ago that he could plug into his iPod and put on/in his shoe and it would sync his music to his run...not sure if it did anything else though. The thing cost a pretty penny so I was disgruntled when I found out he "doesn't know where he put it".
This app, however, IS FREE! And it uses the GPS in your phone to track your run, the music from your phone, and you can even have friends on there to compete on mileage with. Celebrity runners have even recorded messages that play at the end of your run as a kind of motivation. After my first run Ellie Goulding motivational which was kind of cool. You can also put in notes about your run, document what surface you are running on, how you felt, what shoes you were in, see a map of your run, and see your calorie count and pace. I all-around love this app and all the little details it has. I have not yet learned how to use the "power songs" I added to a playlist in the app, but I am sure with some fiddling I will figure it out.

So now that I have the tech side covered, I had to get outfitted. I remember getting this awesome hot pink iPhone arm band in one of my subscription boxes, so I got that out and my phone fit perfectly even with the case on it. Score. I wear it on my forearm and it doesn't move around when I swing my arms.








Now my feet, shins and knees were killing me so I figured new shoes were in order (considering I am not sure how old my current shoes were, I think I was due for some). I went to VA Runner and had them do the process of watching me walk and run and give me the class on which shoes I should get since I have a neutral-gait. The dude brought out about 9 pairs of shoes for me to try on....bless his heart. I ended up with the Brooks Glycerin 11 in 2 colors.I have ran in both pair so far and everything felt great afterwards, no pain where it shouldn't be.




Well, I think the important items are covered. I want to get some new socks, in neon colors to match my shoes of course, and some new capri-pants and sports bras. Maybe when I get up to running 2.5 miles all the way through and regularly I will get myself a pair of running shorts to celebrate!

Jenn

Color Me Rad 5K 2013

As unprepared as ever, I tackled my first 5K, the Color Me Rad  run. I does not help that I did not even remember that I had signed up for this thing until 10 days before it was to go down....whoops! I only ran one mile before to "train" for this thing. Clearly I was also going to the gym and doing classes and using the treadclimber at home...otherwise I might have died. We cut up some white shirts to wear for this thing and got some fun socks and colorful shorts to wear as well. I was actually really excited the day of the run.

This run was in Alexandria VA and we had perfect weather. It was not too hot and not humid at all, like it was meant to be!

The starting line :) At this point I thought to myself "huh, never thought I would be doing this".

Here is my shirt that I cut. Yep, that's all my chub too. Oh well, I was not the fattest person there and that was really reassuring. I mean, if they are going out and participating, that makes me feel like maybe I won't be kicked out for being the slowest runner!













Let's not forget this awesome view of our socks! They were perfect for the occasion :P

So for this run, you go half the way down, turn around and come back on the other side. It was very fun seeing everyone coming back covered in color.

Here we are upon our return! I shocked myself that I ran almost 3 full miles. I only had to take  3 little walk breaks because my foot was bothering me. It was very motivating having all these people running around me and Kristin and Courtney pushed me by making me pass people. HUGE sense of accomplishment when I made it across the finish line.

They had music and stuff playing for after you finished which was kind of neat and unexpected (for me anyway). They were shooting t-shirts, glasses, more color bombs, and bracelets into the crowd. They also have color bomb parties to color you even more than you already are!

During the color bombing....













Color color everywhere.....

I was glad I put my phone in my Lifeproof case before this! It was pink and purple all over by the end of this....and I don't want to talk about all the sweat that was on it :)

And here we are heading to post-run lunch. Trash bags and old beach towels were a must. It was worth getting up early to drive about 45 minutes north for this thing. Not only was it fun but I proved to myself that a 5K won't kill me....and trust me, I actually thought that it could.

By the way, before lunch even started we had planned to do the Cosmic Run in October! I also had forgotten that we are signed up for the Dirty Girl Run in August. Good thing I have been running regularly since the Color Me Rad Run!!







So far, not so bad :)

Jenn

Getting started....

I have never been much of a runner.....ever. In fact, in school when they made you run "the mile" for that fit test, I would always dread it. Eventually in high school I was able to knock out a 6 minute mile- that was after I had been playing soccer, cheer leading, and playing volley ball for years. Though I was happy to be able to run that fast, I still hated it.....a lot.

Even though I am pretty active, I still suck at running. When I was doing Crossfit I did the Memorial Day Murph. This work out consists of a mile run a the the beginning and a mile run at the end....it was no big shocker that I did not want to do this WOD, but I really wanted the t-shirt lol. I ended up completing it in just over 45 minutes, and for my efforts I ended up with a fracture in my sesamoid bone in my right foot. The next morning I could have sworn that my foot was rotting off, but no, it was just the pleasant feeling of osteonecrosis or "bone death". The damn little bone, which you don't actually even need, had cracked in half and did not have any blood flow to it so it died. I had to have it removed and couldn't walk on my foot for 6 weeks. I was never able to get back to Crossfit like I wanted to after that and then eventually I decided to go back to school so I could not afford it anyway.

That is where this curiosity for running comes in. I am going to school and I do not want to pay a ton of money to work out. I also want to have something more readily accessible for a work out option than going to the gym. Running. You can do it basically anywhere. Sounds good to me.

I mentioned this to my friends and they immediately had me sign up for a 5k so I would have something like a goal to train for. Well, I was stressed at work and completely forgot about the run until about 10 days before it. I went out the day I remembered and ran about a mile and felt pretty good. I figured if I only run one of the 3.1 miles in 10 days then that would be a start....I ended up running just under 3 miles that day and only had to take like 3 mini-walk breaks because of my foot.....

And that is where it started :)  Here we come running. Please be kind to me, I am still a bit scared.

Jenn