Color Run

Saturday we participated in a small local color run. LMS and Mr M did the 1 mile run while TLM and I cheered them on.

Mr M holding LMS's hand at the starting line

LMS at the first color station

after the race

Then Mr M took over kiddo duty and they all cheered me on as I ran the 5k. It wasn't timed, but I wore my Garmin so I could track myself. I ended up finishing in 37:40, only a few seconds slower than the last race I did.  So far this year I've run races 3 out of 4 months (I missed January, unfortunately), so I'm still on track with that goal.

the cloud of color dust right after the start

after the race. I had blue dust on my ear and in my hair

This is the first race I've ever worn the race shirt during the race. I know tons of people do it, but I never have: not until after I've finished the race. However, the shirts were white so the color would show, so I pulled it on over the shirt I'd put on that morning.

The 1 mile run had 4 color stations, the 5k had 5. And wow, does the colored cornstarch get everywhere and make a huge mess. I had to pull off the race shirt (thank goodness for doubling up on the shirts!), brush myself off, and put a jacket on before holding TLM, and I still got some on his clothes.

How I felt:
Not as crappy as the mud run, but not as good as the 5k a couple weeks ago. I'm not completely sure why, though probably food issues mixed with lack of sleep. Note to self: double-check my calendar before scheduling TLM's shots. The 4 month shots were on Valentine's Day (!) and he got his 6 month shots on Friday. He handles them better than LMS did (she'd get a fever and a runny nose and be grumpy), but he still gets grumpy and doesn't sleep well, which means I don't sleep well either.

My lungs didn't appreciate inhaling colored cornstarch, even if it was gluten free. I tried to hold my breath when going through the color stations, but that's just not very practical when running.  I sniffed my bottle of "Breathe" doTerra oil several times throughout the day and my lungs cleared up a lot quicker than they have in the past.

It was a nice hilly course. I'm paying more attention to hills since the half marathon I'm running in September has a net gain of 364 feet and is mostly one really long hill. I want to be prepared, so I'm trying to make sure I get lots of hill work in before then.

source

Overall thoughts:
Meh. I can now say I've done a color run, but I have no desire to do one again. It's fun and all, but the mess and the airborne dust turned me off big time. I won't be repeating this one next year. I'd planned on doing a different race in April anyway, and while it didn't work with our schedule this year, it shouldn't be a problem next year.

LMS decided to help at the finish line while waiting for me to finish and got completely covered in yellow dust. But she had fun!