My First 5K - The Color Run!!

You're lookin' at a gal who has officially completed her first 5K! Whoo hoo, I did it!



Thousands of people in white shirts packed into the START chute on that unseasonably cold, cloudy July morning. Some were in bouncy groups of friends, others in family groups with parents and children, still some in couples. Very few, I think were like me - runnin' solo. Because there were so many of us, they staggered the start time and had us start in chunks. The fact that we didn't all start together and all of us were here in different posses (or, ahem, lack thereof) symbolized the fact that this wasn't really a race but a collection of people for whom this race had different meanings: a fun family outing for some, an excuse to party and stay in shape for others. And then, packed somewhere inside the herd of eagerly-waiting Color Runners, was me: for me, this race was the first step into my new journey. I definitely wasn't the only one in the crowd attempting a 5K for the first time. But I wondered how many others were using this Color Run as the starting point of a journey to conquer their doubts about what they are capable of.

My first 5K was a lot of fun. At each color station, I made sure to get close to the sides of the lane so I could get as much powdered color on me as possible - and even that didn't seem like enough.
I was able to jog a good portion of the way without stopping at first, but after a while I had to settle for run-walking. I knew this would happen - after all, I only had like 3 weeks of training. That plus the fact that it's the Color Run made it hard to be disappointed in my performance. But at one point, as I was panting through a stretch of jogging on my way to the Yellow color station, I thought: how will I EVER be able to do 10 more miles of this?! If 3.1 were giving me trouble, I couldn't imagine a time when I could ever RUN non-stop for 13 miles! Will I really be able to do this one day?

The Color Run delivered on its promise and was a very happy 5K. I ran enough of it that I felt exhilarated when I was done, ready to take on the day (the best part: I'd done all of this and it wasn't even 10:30 AM yet!). This truly was a new experience for me, and I can't wait for more. I can see how people get addicted to the thrill of completing races.

My next 5K is the "Especially for You" 5K for breast cancer prevention in my hometown of Cedar Rapids, IA. It's not until mid-October, though, so I'm trying to find another one to do between now and then to keep myself motivated and get more practice. After all, I intend to go out with a bang in my hometown 5K!

Some pics from The Color Run, July 28, 2013, Milwaukee

The BEFORE pic....

...aaaand the AFTER pic!!