I Colored Myself Rad!

Ah!  The long-awaited post of my Color Me Rad experience is finally here!

I was able to participate in the Color Me Rad 5K in Raleigh on October 27, 2012.  After deciding to run in the race, beginning my training in August, surviving a bout of IBS, and seeing results for the first time in my life, the big day was finally here.

My absolutely wonderful family made the trip up from SC to cheer me on, and even had T-shirts made in my honor!  Team Careful Caty was ready to run!

We all got up and had coffee around 6 Saturday morning, and made our way to Raleigh around 7 since I wanted to be there by 8.  I was all nerves the entire drive there.

We got there and waited in a line to park and thankfully we were far enough at the beginning of the pack to park on the grounds!

We got out and took some photos of us arriving, and then headed into the crowd waiting to run.

After officially pinning my number on (which I had been holding up until this point), we just sort of wandered and observed the crowd.  I also got my professional before picture taken, but I didn't care for it when I saw it and didn't end up purchasing it.

Runners are only given one color bomb, so when my family found that out, we bought many more color bombs to pelt me with!

And they were put to good use!  We didn't even try to wait til after the race!

 
We were finally able to start herding into a large group which would later be put into waves, which meant only groups of 1,000 would be let out of the group at a time to run.  This made things run a lot smoother.

My family was right there when my wave (the second wave) started, cheering and yelling, "Be careful, Caty!"

As I ran/walked the race, I saw lots of things.  Tutus, tighty-whiteys, and lots of white, of course.  It was really entertaining.  My goal was to finish in under 45 minutes, and I finished in 43!  I was so incredibly happy.  Runners receive a color bomb of their own as they cross the Finish Line, which you are supposed to save for the big color-throwing party every 5 minutes, but Luke and I decided to use it just for me.  I needed some more purple anyway.

After all was said and done, we took a few more group shots since Dave had arrived shortly after the start of the race.

Once I was satisfied enough to leave, we all piled back in the car and headed to my version of Disney World: Cici's!  I hadn't had Cici's since July and I was ready for it!

Then we all headed home and had some much-needed rest for a few hours.  We watched "Say Yes to the Dress" on Netflix all evening before everyone headed home.  I hated seeing everyone leave after such a fun day, but having them here for something so important to me was the biggest blessing I could have asked for!  AND we didn't even get any rain (we were supposed to, thanks to Sandy)!

Color Me Rad is just as rad as the name suggests, and if you are thinking about doing it, I say do it!  It supports a great cause, and it's unlike any other 5K you can run!  I'll never forget it, that's for sure.

Color Me Rad: The Aftermath, aka What I Didn't Know

I will post a detailed account of my awesome Color Me Rad experience later today or tomorrow, but here is the Aftermath first.

I ran in the Color Me Rad 5K this past Saturday in Raleigh.  This was the first race I'd ever run in, and there were already lots of things I didn't know.  But in addition, there were things that I thought future runners in this particular race might want to know before they take the colorful plunge.

The online and in-person registration process was very straight-forward and probably doesn't need to be explained.  So, let's just get to the CMR race-specific stuff.

• The shirt.  You receive an official CMR T-shirt when you participate in this race.  When you register online, you are given the option to choose sizes for the shirt.  If you choose women's sizes, the shirt will have a V-neck.  If this bothers you, order a men's shirt or a unisex shirt instead.

Not the shirt that comes with registration; this one is available in the CMR shop.

• A note about the Color Bombs.  Color Bombs are not free.  As you may or may not know, the major selling point that differentiates this race from other 5Ks is the colored corn starch that is thrown on you as you run.  That's all you know going in, is that you have colored powder thrown on you while you run 3 miles.  This isn't necessarily true.  I had imagined this setup where every person who walks through the door gets a Color Bomb (the packets of cornstarch), and they can throw them at their own leisure as there are people lined up along the race course.  The pictures I had seen never depicted otherwise, nor did any other write-ups of this race that I had read.  Here's how the whole color part works: No one is given Color Bombs upfront.  The only way you can get Color Bombs prior to the actual race is to purchase them.  They run for $3 each or 4 for $10.  As you run the course, there are 5 color stations (not sure if there's always 5 in every race, but there was in this one) where volunteers douse you with either cornstarch like the regular Color Bombs, or liquid color through sprayers.  This is how most people get their first dose of color.  As you go through each of the color stations and finally reach the end, you are handed your own Color Bomb (singular) as you cross the Finish Line.  These are generally saved for the big color explosion that happens every 5 minutes, where the runner gather in a huge group and throw the color in the air.  We of course used mine to its full potential on just me and didn't bother with the color explosion.  So, short and sweet answer, you only get one Color Bomb.  The part where you get color thrown at you as you run is only pertinent to the color stations, unless you purchase additional Color Bombs prior to the race and have someone else color you rad separately from the race.

Taken from here.

• Your skin gets a big helping of color, too.  I figured that since I had obviously had on a white shirt and that you could pull up my sleeves and see my still-colorless arms after my family pelted me with Color Bombs, that my skin under the shirt was also colorless.  Never been more wrong.  You might could wear thicker layers to help this point if your race falls on a cold morning, but you will be running, so keep that in mind.  I only realized this 8 Color Bombs, 5 color stations, and the Finish Line Color Bomb later, once we were already home and all begging for the shower.  I stood in the shower and undressed, to avoid spilling any loose powder still on the shirt in the floor of the bathroom.  When I finally peeled off my shirt, my skin was an identical match to it!  I couldn't believe it, my skin almost looked painted!  (Please note, if you run this race in the future, and don't have an enthusiastic family who pelts you with color beforehand on top of the color from the color stations, your case may not be as bad as mine was.  But to those who are running alongside an enthusiastic posse, be warned!)  Also, the liquid color that was mentioned in the last bullet will most definitely stain your skin, no question.  In my excitement, whenever I passed a color station, I would stand with my arms up and turn in a circle, to get color wherever I could.  This led to the green liquid color going into the armholes of my shirt, which resulted in my still-green armpits.  No lie, that was the only color I just could NOT get rid of in my shower.  Here's your best chance for color survival: If you get any liquid color on you, try and aim for your front.  If you get the liquid color on your back, you will need a good friend in the shower with you to scrub it off!  Once you are through with the race and have colored yourself rad as much as you want to, jump.  Like, jump-up-jump-up-to-get-down kind of jumping.  Get as much loose powder off of you as you can.  Have someone beat you like a rug if you wish.  Once you are in the shower in hopes of seeing a rainbow going down the drain at your feet, use a wash cloth!  I had hopes, that even though my skin was a tie-dye mess, that maybe it was just powder residue and would come off with water alone.  Wrong!  Once I finally asked for a wash cloth, it helped tremendously.  If you already use a wash cloth as part of your shower regimen, good for you.  I don't, I use a loofa, so it didn't automatically occur to me to use one.

Also from here.

• Your hair will feel like straw.  Your hair is the next most popular place for color to go aside from your white shirt.  If you're a male runner with short hair, or a female runner with super short hair, this bullet won't be nearly as bad for you.  If you have hair around shoulder length like mine, or longer, you're in for a treat.  The liquid color won't get your hair nearly as bad as your skin, although it will stain your scalp.  Again, bend over and head bang.  Shake out as much loose powder as you can.  Run your fingers through your hair to help the powder stuck on your scalp to get loose or fall out.  Once you are in the shower, you'll want to wash your hair (along with your face, etc) more than once.  The first time, you will see lots of color falling down your legs and down the drain.  The second time, you may not see any, but wash it at least a second time anyway.  It'll help your hair to not feel so scarecrow-y.  The CMR site also recommends using leave-in conditioner for this same reason.

Taken from here.

• Bring some kind of seat/phone/camera cover.  It may not be a first thought so close to race day, but remember that this colored powder gets on everything.  If you plan to run with an mp3 player or phone, or even if you're just a bystander with one, put it in a baggie and seal it up!  Same goes for any cameras.  Tell anyone coming to cheer you on this same thing.  Everyone who came to see me on Saturday left with color on their phones, cameras, clothes, and hair, just like me.  Also remember to cover your car seat(s) with something; a blanket, towels, cellophane, whatever you want to use.

This, too, is from here.

I think that's all the Aftermath stuff I wanted to mention.  If this list comes across as cynical, I'm very sorry for that.  This was such a fun race to participate in, and I feel like any other races I run will only shimmer in comparison to the shine of Color Me Rad.  I would definitely recommend it; it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to be sure.  These are just the things that nobody told me, and I wanted to make sure they were printed somewhere for someone to find who might want to know them!  If there's anything else you'd like to know, here is CMR's official FAQ page.  You can also feel free to leave a comment below and I'll be glad to answer any additional questions you have here as well.

Caty Waterfield and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

If you have never read this book, you should.  It's cute.

I had the worst day yesterday.  And I don't know why.

I'm guessing it was hormones and a little stress.  This is Lady Week for me (my absolute least favorite week of any month), and I'm guessing that had a lot to do with it.

I'm also really stressed out about the race this Saturday.  I cannot believe it is this Saturday!  It's always so unreal to me when what was once a date becomes an actual day.  I feel unprepared in the understandable sense that I've never done this before.  I don't know what I'm supposed to do or what the protocol for anything is.  I didn't think I'd get to this age, aside from the whole children vantage point, where I'd still have to deal with firsts.  It scares the hell out of me.  My entire family (which is 4 people, you understand) is coming up for this, and I really don't want them to come all this way to watch me fail epically.  They would never feel that way, of course, but I would.  I'm awful hard on myself.

I guess there's a first time for everything.  I'd also like to think that since this race is such a big affair, they'd expect people who'd never raced before, and accommodate.  Here's hoping!

Yesterday, I showed really classic signs of depression.  I had zero energy, no appetite, I was really tired, and I didn't really care about anything.  I sat in my rocker, feeling sad and looking out the window.  I didn't do dishes or laundry.  I wasn't in any physical pain, and I almost didn't feel anything at all.  After I ate dinner, I fell asleep on the couch for several hours and then Justin woke me up to go to bed.  It was quite scary as I usually don't feel like that, and I'm glad that's over!

On a happier note, check this out!

This is what I saw in the mirror at work today.  (Oh, and by the way, this is the only bathroom mirror we have in the building.  It is propped up against the wall between the men's and women's rooms.  The individual bathrooms do not have mirrors in them.  Just how to they expect me to know if I'm about to wreck myself if I can't check myself??)

Anyway, I really like my silhouette here.  I was very pleasantly surprised. :)  In related news, I've lost 7 pounds as of this morning!  That was a nice surprise, too.  That's almost two bags of sugar!  It's the little things...

Sweat.

I'll apologize upfront: this is kind of gross, but I wanted to post it for my own benefit because this is a big deal to me.  If this is going to bother you, please skip ahead to the next post.

This morning marked the second time I was able to run an entire mile without stopping.  Do not misunderstand.  It was a slow mile.  I think it took me 15 minutes.  The first time I was able to run the mile (Sunday, Sep. 30), it was a very slow little not-really jog/not-really walk.  This morning, I started off that same way, but got a little faster the longer I went.  I had Pizzula to help me.  I downloaded the free audio book, which is read by the author and a good friend of mine, Dave.  It has helped me tremendously the last few times I've gone running to stay on track.  Music is very distracting to me, and perhaps the sounds of someone's constant (even monotonous at points) voice is much less distracting for me.

When I got in today from running the one mile and walking a half-mile cool down, I went into the bathroom to rinse my face and get the sweat off.  That was when I saw it.  I actually had sweat on my shirt!  I know, gross.  But it's a big deal for me!  And to make matters even better...

I had sweat all down my back, too!  Two big spots on the back.  The photo above isn't the best depiction of it, but it was 8 a.m., and all I wanted was a shower so this wasn't a well-planned snapshot.  This is a big accomplishment to me, because it means I am actually getting a good workout!  I'm getting the results everyone else gets!  That's big.  I was so happy over my own sweat this morning, it was kinda funny.

And now, I'm going to do something else that is just a big a milestone.  I'm gonna do a side-by-side comparison of where I was in July, and where I am now.  Ironically, I'm even wearing the same clothes!  Before is on the left, this morning is on the right.

What do you think?  This is super personal for me, I don't like doing this, but I feel like I can see some results!  I think there's definitely some definition coming in around the tummy area, and an all-around smaller tummy, too.  Maybe my arms are a little smaller, too?  I mean, it's not Betty Boop or anything, but I can dig it.

Crisp.

I got up this morning and went running.  The air was so crisp and it was the best feeling I've had in a long time when the air stung the back of my throat as I sucked it in.  Ahh, fall is upon us!

I had decided I wasn't going to decorate for fall until it felt like it outside, despite all my friends and favorite blogs having started their decorating back on September 1.  And despite the most amazing drink in the entire world, the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks, coming out that day as well (which I also have sadly not partaken in yet).  But if this weather keeps up, it looks like I may just have to decorate this weekend while Justin is judging at the Escapist Expo.  Oh, the horror. ;)

In other news, if you recall, I was contacted through Indeed by a woman named Kim Mills over at Career Partners International about a job opening.  I had a phone interview with her back on the 20 of August, and last Thursday, the 6 of September, I had the second-round, in-person interview with her at the CPI headquarters in Chapel Hill.  I felt good afterward, having "studied" all night reviewing possible interview questions and answers (none of which were even asked in the interview; not the 5-year plan, not "tell us why we should hire you," nada!).  Kim said that CPI was attempting to release a new product by the 25 of this month and she was juggling the interview process for this position on top of the product release (which is her actual position at CPI, product manager), so she wasn't sure when I'd hear back from her.  But I heard something within a month of the last interview, so here's hoping!

I am getting more and more afraid of the race in October.  At first, it was like, "It's just running."  But now, as we are getting closer, I am realizing that I have never run a stupid race before, and it's a long race for me. Three miles doesn't seem to be anything to anyone else, but it sure is to me!  When I was out this morning, my brain just refused to wake up.  I couldn't get into it, and I didn't do a very good job.  This cannot happen on race day.  Sigh.  As with everything that comes with a deadline, I guess I'm just freaking out because it's actually going to happen now.  At one point, it was just a far-away date on the calendar, but now it's only 45 days away!  That's pretty crazy.  I really need to step my game up.

My race countdown on RunKeeper.

I guess that's all for now.  I shall return later when I have something else incredibly compelling, witty, and awesome to write about.

Pumped-Up Kicks

I went running for the first time this morning in several days.  According to RunKeeper, my last run was August 10!!  There was a big reason for this, and trust me - it wasn't laziness.

I hurt my stupid legs almost two weeks ago.  As you may know, I've been training for Color Me Rad, which is coming to Raleigh in October.  I still had a long road to go down if I wanted to run at all in the race.  Man, was I in some pain!  I don't remember how it started, or specifically when, all I remember is feeling this hollow pain in the side of my left knee; this long pain like taffy being stretched.  I remember breathing sharply because the pain in my legs was so bad trying to walk Bonnie down the stairs that I almost couldn't breathe at all.  The night before, I was fine.  I woke up the next morning, and thought everything was situation-normal until I started walking down the stairs.  After I had lived with ice packs on both knees for almost a week and worried Justin and Mother half to death, I looked to the Internet for answers.

Upon starting my research, I thought I had Runner's Knee.  This made sense.  Maybe I had been running more/farther or pushing myself too hard and now it was catching up with me.  But after a little more time scouring the 'net, I found out I matched every symptom for Iliotibial Band Syndrome, or IBS.  I found out that Runner's Knee usually affects the knee cap.  People who have Runner's Knee can barely breathe on their knee cap without it hurting.  I had no pain whatsoever there.  IBS on the other hand, affects the side of the knee, where the ligament is.  And that, my friends, is where this immense pain was radiating from.  As far as I can tell (since I never went to a doctor), I pulled the ligament in my leg that runs down my thigh and is attached to my tibia (front leg bone).  After I knew all of this, I was then able to find out what caused the pain in the first place.  My shoes!

Yes, apparently, after a long time, your running shoes are not meant for running anymore.  I was not aware of this.  I was under the impression that the more broke-in your shoes were, the better.  It's almost the complete opposite, as I've discovered.  I was still wearing these little white Sketchers that we bought my freshman year of high school to try out for the dance team!  Yeah, those shoes were 11 years old.  And they were slowly but surely killing my ligaments.  I just couldn't believe that shoes could cause that kind of pain in my legs.  And having to walk up and down stairs (one of the biggies for what not to do while healing) was necessary everyday of my life.  I was coming out even at 0.  I wasn't getting any better and I wasn't doing anything to make it any worse.  Justin had pretty much forbade me from doing anything exercise-related out of fear of me making it worse.  I was icing my legs in between rubbing Aspercreme on them.  For nearly two weeks, I was pretty miserable.

Then, on the weekend of the 18th, Justin and I went home to visit our families.  My mom was super insistent on buying me a new pair of running shoes.  After seeing the price tag (my new kicks were a whopping $113!  I've never spent that much on shoes in my life!), I told her it was just too much money, but we did walk out of the store with them.  The day we bought them, I wore them out of the store.  I wore them that entire day until I went to bed.  And when I woke up the next morning, there was no pain.  None.  It was like it had never happened.  I couldn't believe it!  After a diet of Aleve and tears for two weeks, the pain just disappeared!  It was a miracle.

So, here they are: Asics women's running shoes, model #GT-2170, in Storm / Electric Violet / Lightning, size 8.5.  You can go here if you'd like to read about all the cool features of these shoes.

I went running this morning and got to feel the sweet, sore burning of my lungs for the first time in a little over two weeks.  It was fabulous.  So, if you're feeling any of the symptoms of IBS, go buy some new shoes!!  They will change your life (as any shoe-loving woman will tell you). 

Like a High School Loner...

I finally have a date!

I finally know when Color Me Rad Raleigh is.  It will be Saturday, October 27 at 9 a.m.  Now I can tell people the day instead of just the month!  This is exciting, indeed.

Last night, I ran around my parking lot THREE times!  As in, I made a complete circle around my parking lot three times.  Not consecutively, but still!  This is a big deal.

Here's what's not a big deal...my "before" picture.  I want to track progress and the only way do that is in pictures so I can see for myself.  Ugh, I hate this.  Without further ado, me:

Day 1: July 29, 2012.

I know.  Seriously, what business do I have taking these kinds of pictures.  But, this is me.  I look a little more rough than usual here because I had just finished exercising and was beat.  I only remembered to take a picture of myself as I was getting ready to hop in the shower.

Maybe this is just more motivation to do something.  To get out and run!  I found the coolest bible verse yesterday that I'm going to write on my running shirt.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Tim. 4:7

Those are exactly the three things I want out of this 5K.  To do my best, to finish, and to have faith that God will help me!

Here I come, October! :)

Cue Rocky Theme

I decided that I am going to train for Color Me Rad in Raleigh during October.  God gave me several signs last week and I am accepting them!

First, Justin surprised me with the tropical gummy bears from Duke that I love so much, which are rainbow colored.  Then, it rained enough to call for a second Ark that same night, and I thought it might be nice to run in the rain.  After that same rain shower, there was a full rainbow in the complex parking lot!  So, God is showing me a lot of colorful signs that I need not ignore! :)

In related news, I started working out yesterday.  I did a Netflix workout for roughly 35 minutes, rested until around 8:30 last night and then walked/jogged outside for roughly 35 minutes as well.  I bought all this healthy stuff at the store the other day; strawberries and bananas for smoothies, broccoli, already had pickles, bought some goldfish.  I've been counting my calories all day today.  From my calculations, after dinner tonight I will have consumed approximately 1,405 calories.  I think that's great, but I'm probably going to have to step up that number closer to 2,000 for endurance training.  I don't know, honestly.  I'm just kinda making this up as I go and hoping for the best.

I feel like I should mention that I'm not trying to lose weight.  I'm trying to complete the 5K in 8 weeks.  If I lose weight during the next 2 months, that's great.  But for once, I'm not trying to get the big number down.  If I do that, I'll have a different outlook and perspective on this, and I don't want that.  Anyway, just wanted that to be clear.

I ate yogurt today and actually liked it!  It was Yoplait Light in Strawberry Shortcake.  It didn't taste like its namesake, but it was SO sweet and good!  It left the best taste in my mouth.  You must understand, yogurt has never done this for me.  It has always tasted sour to me.  That was a pleasant surprise.

I'm excited to do this.  I really hope I can stick with it.  Normally, people have a hard time starting something, but once they get in the groove, they can stick it out.  I am the complete opposite.  Starting something is no biggie for me, it's staying with it that always defeats me.  So, I think I'm off to a good start.  I just hope I can prove this to myself!  Prayers are appreciated from random blog-readers. :)

Perhaps I Will Color Myself Rad

If you've never heard of Color Me Rad, it's a 5K marathon where all the runners/walkers wear white and are pelted with colored cornstarch.  Everyone ends the race looking like a tie-dyed mess.  And it looks like so much fun.  And it's coming to Raleigh...

I'm very much considering doing this.  I have a little less than 3 months (depending on what day the marathon is in October) to run/train for the marathon.  I've seen several blogs where people have participated and it looks like a lot of fun.  From what I can find as far as pricing, it's also only $35 to register.  Color Me Rad Raleigh takes place at the Time Warner Country Music Pavilion and benefits the Special Olympics of North Carolina.  I just don't see a downside here.


Well, there is one.


I'm such a lazy ass, I don't know if I'll be able to actually run the race, but I want to do it to have fun and have an awesome memory.  I'm not looking to "win" or come in first, or even really get a good time.  I just want to do this.  As long as I finish, I will have won.  I do, however, want to run a little bit and get in a little shape before doing this.  Even if I just walk the whole thing, a 5K is still no easy feat.


I'm really excited about this. :)