Race Review: Color and Glow 5K

Louie and I ran in the Color and Glow 5K last weekend! It was so great to participate in a fun run type of race instead of something super duper challenging like I have been this entire race season. I wasn't nervous about the distance, I wasn't worried about my time, and I wasn't concerned about coming in first place (but let's be real - I'm never too concerned about coming in first place, because I know it'll never happen :P). I was just there to have a good time!

One complaint we both had about the race was packet pick up. Participants only had 2 options - the day before the race (which was a work day) from 11 AM to 7 PM at an off-site location, or on-site the day of the race from 10 AM to 12 PM (the race started at 7:30 PM) only if you were travelling more than 80 miles to the race. A. That's super inconvenient for participants who live close but work weird hours (like me) and can't get to an off-site location, and B. What are the participants that are travelling from far away supposed to do for 7 hours after they pick up their packet? A race like this always needs pre-race packet pick up as an option. Seriously, that's a no brainer. The only time races should be allowed to get away without race day pre-race packet pick up is if there's tens of thousands of participants and it's physically impossible to hand out all of the packets right before the race. Judging by the amount of people that were at the race, I think they could have handled at least one registration tent.*

The race was held at Brockton Fair Grounds in Brockton, MA. We showed up about an hour early (which is TOTALLY unlike us) and we were able to just hang out and take in the atmosphere before lining up. The race MC was tossing out glow-sticks at the starting line, so we weaved our way to the front of the pack to catch a few and get decked out for the race.

Before the glow sticks...

...and after!

The race was scheduled to send the first wave out at 7:30, but it didn't start until about 7:50. We got a little antsy for the start of the race, but it also gave us the opportunity to take in the atmosphere, rack up out glow stick collection (I think I wound up with about 12 or so, haha), and get excited for the race to come!


Personally, I was expecting more lights along the course - kind of like the Electric Run - but the route was, for the most part, pitch black and since the majority of the race was through a field, I was super worried I was going to step into a hole (which I did a few times) and injure myself. For this reason, I was extremely careful about my footing the entire race, which definitely took away from the fun. I would love to see this course more well lit (bonus points if it's colorful lights!) in years to come.

I would like to have been covered in more paint, also. I sign up for races like these to be doused in color. We were in the first wave, so I understand that they had to conserve for the other runners, but adding in some more paint stations along the course would be awesome. (Side note - they didn't tell the voluteers not to shoot paint into the runner's faces. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other runner got their eyes painted, because I certainly swallowed some. >_>)

Either Louie and I totally beasted the course, or it wasn't a full 5K. I think we finished in about 22 minutes (neither of us timed it because we were just there for the fun!) which is extremely fast for both of us. I wasn't too surprised about the short distance (we experienced the same thing for Color Me Rad) because these types of events are more about the fun experience than completing a true 5K, which I think is awesome. I love that there are events like these to encourage people to get active and introduce them into the running world with something fun!

Post-race glow!

The race bling was really cool - colorful glow in the dark medals! It's definitely one of my more unique pieces of race jewelry. Our originally-white bibs also got totally covered in glow paint, which gave them a cool splatter effect. Loving that I have some color on my bib wall now! :)

This was a really fun race with a LOT of potential. They need to add a few things to make this a truly great event, but I think with each year this race will improve and become bigger and better. I can't wait to see where it goes! If you're looking for a fun, unique approach to fitness and night life, definitely check Color and Glow out!

P.S. Check out my video from the event! :)

To find a Color and Glow 5K event near you, visit their website www.colorandglow.com!

*It was pointed out to me that there was a registration table at the event, but it wasn't advertised at all. We were both under the impression we had to go to the times on the website. So frustrating!

What I've Been Doing

It's been a while since I've written on the blog. Riley has been picking up my slack like a champ. I wanted to check in and let you know how training is going and how a few of the races I've done were.

First, this summer was pretty rough fro training. I felt like if I was not injured then I was sick, but that did not keep me from doing some running throughout the summer.  I did do enough training to feel prepared for The Hartford Marathon, which was the goal when this blog was started.  As part of the training, I have run my furthest distance which was about 15 miles. In my preparation for the marathon, I have learned that while 20 mile long runs may be productive, they are not completely necessary.  If you can complete a 16 mile run heading into the marathon you should be okay. this is an opinion that was shared in more than a few articles.

I've, also, managed to get in some fun races as well.  Riley wrote the review for the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 so I won''t go into too much detail about that. I will say that it was an awesome event and was slightly more difficult than when I ran it last year.

The week before the Finish at the 50 race, I ran the Warrior Dash in Barre, MA with my friends Nick and Danielle.  This was a 5k obstacle race. All in all, I think it was a pretty fun race to run too. As far as obstacle races go, it was not the most difficult one that I've run. I'll get to that one in a minute. It was, however, challenging enough where someone with experience running them may still have a challenge, but it is not too daunting for new runners.  Some of the obstacles were a barbwire crawl, cargo net climb, wall climb, and up & overs.  One of the coolest things about it is that the finisher's medal doubles as a bottle opener.

The Finisher's Medal

Posing after the Warrior Dash

On September 7th I ran the Super Spartan Race in Vernon, NJ.  This race was hardest race I've ever done. It is 8+ miles and 15+ obstacles. The terrain was probably the biggest obstacle of the entire race. It was on a ski resort. For about the first two miles we had to go up the mountain. this was brutal.  The obstacles were many of the usual ones including a barbwire crawl, up and overs, rope climb, sand bag carry, and spear toss.  One of the unique twists was that their cargo net was a vertical cargo net as opposed to the angled ones that make a pyramid.  This was the biggest test of will I have done to date. The sense of accomplishment after was indescribable.  

Sandbag Carry

the Fire Jump.

Accepting that I'm about the catch a shot to the stomach and seeing the finish line.

Celebrating with a post race PBR.

Well, that's what I've been up to since my last check-in. What have you, our readers, been up to?

#POWERMONTH

It's finally here - we're in the last month leading up to our first marathon.

My last few weeks of training haven't been the best. Yesterday I set out on a 5 miler and couldn't make it through. Granted I had about zero nutrients or water in my body and it was insanely humid, so it probably wasn't the smartest idea to run at the time. I haven't really been taking care of my body the way I should be.

But for this last month, I'm making a promise to myself - get my body ready for this marathon in every way possible! I'm going to call it...

Hyration . Nutriton . Stretching . Running . Sleep

These are my 5 frames of focus for this race. Constantly drinking water (which I've actually been doing really well with!), cutting out the junk (including my high sugared-high creamed coffee x_x) and loading up on healthy foods, stretching for at least 20 minutes every day, staying on my running plan, and making sure I'm getting enough sleep.

This is where it all counts, and I want to be prepared for this race as possible. 

I think I can ask at least a month out of myself to get ready in every way!

#POWERMONTH - Let's do this!