Shoes

I decided to not wear my blue shoes for the actual race. I'm saving those to wear during training and workouts. Instead I  wore my old sneakers that I typically wear for Via Arte. They've already got paint on them, so a little more can't hurt, right?    The first picture is of my shoes, the second is of Ness's, before the race.

And here is the "after" photo.  Not that much color on them. But I haven't dipped them in vinegar yet (to help set the color)  You can see some tinting around the foot opening.

Here are my blue shoes after all the training"

Now, on to the next race: Color Me Rad (Fresno) on September 29th!

Race Day!

"Before"

TODAY'S THE DAY!!

Race begins at 8:00. Our wave is at 8:45.  There are 17 people signed up for Gang Green. We've got our hula skirts.tutus, white shirts, paint, ribbons, bandannas, and sunglasses. I'm all slicked up with sunblock. Now we're off to the races...This is the ultimate reward for all of the training and hard work theses past 2-3 months.

"After"

A few hours later...

OMG This was so much fun! There were 4 Color Bomb stations throughout the race. You were blasted with either powdered or liquid paint. At the halfway point was the Water Station where my parents had volunteered. They gave us water and then pelted us with paint.

Ness and I took about an hour to complete the race, so we were right on time with our training time. Others on our time, who'd run marathons before, were waiting for us at the Finish Line. After the race, we took a group photo, bought some shirts, and then headed to the new J's Place to celebrate. I also treated myself to my first Dr. Pepper since training began.

We also decided to...dare I say it?...we're gonna do this again!  I've already signed us up for the CMR race in Fresno, and a Kaiser 5K in October!

1 More Day

FRIDAY! RACE DAY IS TOMORROW!

Trainer decided that instead of running, we should take the night off, eat a good dinner and get to bed early.  I'm not going to argue with that!

I BBQ'd hamburgers, fresh sweet corn from our garden, and peaches. For some carbs, I had made Patty's Pasta.  Delicious!!

Then we had to do some last minute shopping for shirts and ribbons. Get everything ready to go for the morning and then off to bed. 6:00am comes early for some us...

Positivity: We're Gonna Look Goofy!

2 More Days

Whoops!  Guess my "allergies" were acting up today.  We didn't do any running...

Actually, my trainer ditched me to go to dinner with her co-workers. And I can't run without my trainer, soooooo, I caught up on some Craft Wars - a show I definitely should not be watching. lol.

But, with only 2 days left, it was time to go pick up our race packets. Off I went to InShape to get our race bibs, shirts, sunglasses, paint and tattoos.

3 More Days

We had planned to take a Restorative Yoga class on the last Wednesday before the race.

I pushed myself a little more by doing an hour long cardio/slow burn yoga before the Restorative class.

We're getting so close to Race Day!!!

4 More Days

Soooo, after a few weeks of no running, followed by a weekend of gardening and running, today I was just not feeling it. BUT, we still got up off the couch and went outside.  No running, but we walked the entire length of our route.

Steps: 7185

Distance: 3.4 miles

5 More Days

mmm...Slow Runners...mmmm

Today we were only able to run for about 35 minutes, because it started getting dark. But we made sure to at least run a full mile!  

Steps: 4557

Distance: 2.157 miles

Distance (jogging): 1 mile

Positivity: Dance-A-Thon!

6 More Days

Ummm, the top picture does not apply to me. I'm sure I feel and look like the bottom picture.

With less than a week to go, this is it!. The final few days before my Spazz-Spectacular is unleashed on this town. We're really gonna make the effort to run every day this week, with the exception of Wednesday - we're already booked for a nice relaxing restorative yoga class.

Steps: 7377

Distance: 3.492 miles

Distance (jogging): .78 miles

7 More Days

Beautiful weather today. A perfect day for getting some major stuff done in the garden. I think we spent about 8 hours weeding, planting, pruning, trellis-ing, and installing (a new drip line for the fruit trees)

That definitely counts as exercise. No run required today.

By the way, we are ONE WEEK AWAY FROM RACE DAY!!

8 More Days

Continuing with the birthday festivities (and my love of Disney), the newest Disney/Pixar film Brave opened tonight.  So we had tickets to go see it after work.

Positivity: Gettin' Off Our Lazy Asses!

9 More Days

Well, today is officially Vanessa's birthday.  So I threw all of my training out the window and went to Frugatti's for dinner.

Positivity: 10 More Days!

10 More Days

2 Wednesdays before Race Day. My stalker called and wanted to go to a 1.5 hour Restorative Yoga class.   She used the excuse of "having to work on the last Wednesday before the race" so this was her only chance to go. So a group of us went. I didn't feel safe going with just my stalker. ;)

26-11 More Days

More excuses - some legit reasons, others - just laziness.  Busted water heater, replacing said water heater, Brandi Carlile concert, Disneyland, BBQ/Pool party, long work days, too tired, too hungry, too hot, too late, lots of reasons for not running during this chunk of time. (Although we did a ton of walking for two days at Disneyland)

Positivity (26 more days): There's Food!

Positivity (24 more days): Less Crabby!

Positivity (21 more days): It'll Be A Beautiful Day!

Positivity (19 more days): 20 More Days!

Positivity (16 more days): Laughing!

Positivity (12 more days): Exercising!

27 More Days

Hmm Maybe I should get sick more often.  I had my best run today!  Looks like I just might make that 1 mile goal after all.

Steps: 6864

Distance: 3.249 miles

Distance (jogging): .86 miles  (oh yeah!!)

28 More Days

Alright!  Time for the first run since I heaved all my guts out. Is it wrong to say that I missed running?

Steps: 6199

Distance: 2.933 miles

Distance (jogging): .34 miles

37-29 More Days

Whoa! Thursday night I got sick. I mean SICK.  Like, vomiting sick.  I hadn't been sick like this since I don't know when.  So obviously I wasn't going to do any puking and running.  And, since I hadn't been sick like this in a looooooong time, recovery also took a loooooong time.

So rather than do a separate post for each day I was sick, I'm just grouping them all right here.

Positivity (37 more days): Exercise Boosts Brain Power!

Positivity (35 more days): Running With Friends!

Positivity (33 more days):  RUNNING!!

Positivity (30 more days): Throwing Paint at People!

Positivity (29 more day): 30 More Days!

38 More Days

Another day of running. It never changes, huh?  Oh that's right, I'm training for a marathon!

Steps: 6122

Distance: 2.897 miles

Distance (jogging): 1.18 miles

Longest run: .5 miles

39 More Days

Looking around on the interwebs, I found a yoga sequence for runners. So, I told Ness that we were going to do a little yoga before/after each run, thereby combining her love of running with my love of yoga.

Today we finished with a 20 minute yoga sequence to help open our hips and increase overall flexibility.

Steps: 6059

Distance: 2.867 miles

Distance (jogging): 1 mile

Longest run: .39 miles

Positivity: 40 more days!!  (sigh, I give up.  Lol!)

40 More Days

Today was another no run day. The weather was just as disgusting as yesterday, so we decided to do an hour long yoga session instead. I certainly needed it after all the running we've been doing.  My body is not designed for running, it's designed for bending. lol!

Positivity: It's a Unique Type of Race!

41 More Days

Today's run was pretty miserable.  It's the first day that the heat and mugginess really affected me. It was hard to breath out on the Bike Path. We did our best anyways, and actually managed to travel around the same amount as we usually do.

Steps: 7526

Distance: 3.561 miles

Distance (jogging): .76 miles

I hope the weather isn't like this on the day of the run. Ugh.

42 More Days

Today we went out to the Bike Path and rode our bikes for an hour.  Not sure how far we went, as the pedometer didn't really work on a bike. lol  We just made sure to stay out for around the same time as we would if we were running.

Positivity: That "After-Marathon" Rush

43 More Days

Just another day of running.

Steps: 6965

Distance: 3.296 miles

Distance (jogging): 1 mile

Longest run: .38 miles

44 More Days

Another no run day. But this time, I have an excuse!! It was Open House night at my school. The night was spent wandering from classroom to classroom to see the art projects that my students had created this year.

Positivity: Buy something race related!  (Yay, shopping!!)

45 More Days

Another No Run Day.  Sadly this time, I don't even have an excuse for why we didn't run.

46 More Days

Ok, back to reality.

Distance: 6443 steps

Distance: 3.048 miles

Distance: (jogging): .91 miles

Longest continuous run: .25 miles

Positivity: Feels like flying!

47 More Days

No run today.  We were recovering from that great Vegas trip!

48 More Days

That third girl - she stalked me all the way to Vegas

Last day in Vegas. Today I carried the pedometer with me to at least measure how far we'd walked.

Steps: 4662

Miles 2.206

Positivity: Burnin' Calories!

49 More Days

Early early early this morning (like, before the rooster crows, early) we left for The Las Vegas Birthday Bash.  Ness will be turning 30 in June. We brought clothes and shoes for running, but it didn't happen today. We were too busy checking out the Donny & Marie store in the Flamingo. It's so hard to get Ness away from Dreamboat Donny.  :)

Positivity: 50 More Days!! (My count is getting closer and closer. Lol)

50 More Days

Tonight was my school's carnival. The theme was Surf's Up. I'd spent the last two weeks painting tikis and surfboards to help get decorations ready for the photo booth. So it was now time to see the finished products in action and to make our annual donation to the raffle.

Lo and behold!  I'm a winner!!  After 10 years of raffle tickets, one of our tickets was finally pulled!  $25 to Home Goods (or, thanks to the wonderfully non-working neon lights - Ho Gods)

I will call this a reward for all of the hard hard work I've put into this running.

51 More Days

I'm back!!

Trainer decided to go a little easy since we'd been couch-potatoing it for the past 3 days.

Steps: 6238

Distance: 2.952 miles

Distance (jogging): .85 miles

Positivity: COLOR-BOMBING!!

52 More Days

So day 2 of this headache.  Is it wrong to say that I am actually missing running??  Could I be converting??    Hahahahahaha!!! Don't be fooled, people.  That's just my headache making me delusional.  This headache will pass, and I'll be up and running again soon...maybe I need a Dr. Pepper...

53 More Days

Aaaaaaand again, no running today.  I was down with a nasty headache.  Even went to bed early. Ugh!

54 More Days

No running today. :(

I got tied up at work and didn't get home in time to get in a run before it got dark. With the school year winding down there's a lot of things to finish up at work

55 More Days

Oh yeah!! Beast Mode was definitely ON today!

We went out to the Bike Path for a nice long Sunday morning jog. So far, it's been my most successful day.

Steps: 9376

Distance: 4.437 miles

Distance (jogging): 1.1 miles

Longest continuous jog: .27 miles

56 More Days

Today we changed it up. Instead of running for an hour, we rode our bikes for an hour.  Obviously, the pedometer wasn't going to work so I don't know the distance we traveled. Along the way, I was attacked by a bee and a tree.

57 More Days

Steps: 6327

Distance: 2.995 miles

Distance (jogging): .59 miles

58 More Days

This was the first day out of the week that we basically said "F-- It"  We hadn't done much training at all this week and here it is Thursday evening. So tonight we were going to focus on training and not what everyone else needed.

During our route, we were coming to the end of the block. Ahead a guy was walking and turned so that he was travelling the same route as us. He started zig zagging back and forth across the street. I couldn't really see everything he was carrying, I noticed a hiking-type of backpack. But Ness noticed a chainsaw hanging from his hip. He continued zig zagging and we quickly turned the corner. Lol! Yeah, not going to risk running past the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Steps: 6550

Distance: 3.1 miles (The distance of the CMR 5K! Woo hoo!)

Distance (jogging): .96 miles

Positivity: 60 more days!  (hey, I never ever said that I was good at math.  Let's see if this will correct itself, or just how bad my counting disability really is)

59 More Days

Today was my mom's "29th" birthday. We were going to dinner at 7:00, so we couldn't do our full run route after work.

Steps: 6060

Distance: 2.868 miles

Distance (jogging): .73 miles

Positivity: Helping a Charity. (Color Me Rad is partnering with CSUB for this run. This is the college that both Ness and I graduated from.)

60 More Days

It was another No Run day.

During the week, our daily run takes us through the neighborhood as we travel over to Oleander St. We go up and down the street looking at the historical houses, reading the plaques, and picking out the things we'd like to add to Amelia (our house's name, you know, like Tara from Gone with the Wind.) Well spring is in the air and the flowers are all blooming like crazy right now.  Ness's allergies kicked in and she was feeling pretty crappy today. So we stayed in and watched New Girl instead.

61 More Days

No run for us today.  Between the garage clean-out on Saturday, and the Goal-Reaching Run yesterday morning, followed by an exciting 75th birthday party that afternoon, we needed a day to recover.

Positivity: Its a Paint-a-thon!

62 More Days

WOO HOO!!!!! Today a goal was reached!!! I ran a full mile!!!

We went out to the Bike Path today after hitting the Farmer's Market and decided to make Sundays a Longer Run Day. No set plan on how long to run, just as long as we both still felt good enough to keep going. After piecing together all of the jogs, it turns out that I ran a full mile!  So now, that's been added to the daily run - running a full mile, walking two miles.

Today I also did not have any caffeine. (Yeah, that means no Dr. Pepper!)  I don't know when my last caffeine-free day was. Next weekend, maybe I'll go two days without a Dr. Pepper.

Steps: 8334

Distance: 3.945 miles

Distance (jogging): 1.2 miles

Positivity: Out in the Sunshine

63 More Days

Saturday morning we got up and did our run before the day started. It was a good thing too! The rest of hte day was spent completely gutting the garage and installing new shelves.  So it was like two workouts in one day!  I deserve a break. Lol

Steps: 6817

Distance: 3.227 miles

Distance (jogging): .8 miles

64 More Days

Today there was no run, as I was laid up with a headache. :(