Recap of the Color Run 5K

After all the "serious" races I've run, it's nice to have a slew of no-pressure 5Ks lined up for this year....like the Color Run 5K this past Saturday. What could be more fun at a 5K than getting splashed with a different color at every K you pass? And in case someone did show up being all "serious" about their finish time, they would have been disappointed to find out that the race wasn't even timed at all (and it certainly showed, because at least 50% of the people there were walking).

We showed up in all white...




















...and left like this!

Congrats to my friend Sarah for running her first ever 5K! She's proof that the Couch to 5K program really works!











While I definitely had a great time, here are my 'critiques' of the run:

1. I'm fine with people walking a 5K--sometimes it's just about being active and allowing all family members to participate--but volunteers should have instructed all walkers to stay to one side of the street. Families and friends were leisurely walking like 5 people wide, so all of us runners had to run on the grass just to get around them. The biggest workout of the day was just weaving in and out of walkers--and again, it's not like I was sprinting, I was just trying to maintain a slow jog, but that was almost impossible at times. Plus, I almost took out a few kids...not safe.
2. The bottleneck at the end made it extremely anti-climactic. We were in the last wave of people to start, so earlier people may not have experienced coming to a complete stop around mile 2.75 like we did. People need to be instructed to move THROUGH the finish line.
3. After all the promises of "There will be PLENTY of color in the race," we were let down. At the first color station, all I got was a speck of orange on my shoulder. Most of the color on us was from our own packets that we threw at the end.
4. The run in between each color station was pretty ho-hum. It was oddly quiet. I know it's only a 5K, so I don't expect to have bands set up at every street corner like the Mini, but would it hurt to have had a little entertainment or cheering throughout the course?

Just some suggestions for next year. I know Indianapolis was thrilled to finally be added to the list of cities that the Color Run visits!

Next 5K on the agenda: Wine at the Line! Sign up with me! (They also have a 5 mile option if anyone is interested.)

Combining Two Loves: Fitness + Crafting

Thanks to the Pinterest craze, everyone has tuned into their crafty side lately. I've always enjoyed crafts and I am definitely frugal (ok, cheap) enough that DIY-ing is one of my favorite hobbies. Now, again thanks to Pinterest, I found a way to combine my cheap/crafty side with my love of exercise: DIY workout tank tops made out of old t-shirts!! If you're like me, your t-shirt drawer will barely close. And half of them I wouldn't wear to workout in (mainly because I don't workout in t-shirts in general). But when I was browsing through the t-shirt collection, I found one perfect for the task at hand: a black/white/gray tie-dye number with weird fitting, wrinkly sleeves. See below for my finished project and directions on how to make your own!

Directions for DIY workout tank-top

100 Push-Ups

I'm sure most of you have heard of the one hundred push ups training program. They have other options too, including 200 squats, 200 sit-ups and 25 pull-ups. Since I'm not in training mode for any kind of upcoming run (the only races I'm signed up for in the near future are three 5K's), I thought now might be a good time to follow the push-up training schedule, so I can focus on that 3 times per week. Then, I thought, why not take it a step further and turn it into a group fitness class here at work?

As it turns out, a member here already had the book that the one hundred push ups program is based off of, "7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups" by Steve Speirs. Speirs created a 7-week training schedule on M/W/F, doing anywhere from 5-8 sets of push-ups each time. For our "100 Push-Ups Challenge" class, we will be doing the Wednesday training together in class with some added upper body strength/endurance exercises, then participants will be asked to complete the Monday and Friday trainings on their own.

While I'm excited myself and eager to push our members in a different, short-term, specific goal-oriented class, I'm also nervous!! Can I build up to doing 100 push-ups?? Each person has to do their initial test to see how many consecutive push-ups they can currently do, in order to determine what level of the program you should follow (although in our class we're doing Intermediate 1). I did my initial test about a month ago when I first looked into the program-- my number was 44. Almost halfway...but the second half will by far be the hardest. It's not like running where you get this sudden burst of energy in the second half of the race. With push-ups, your muscles slowly fatigue from number one on.

We kick off class on July 11 and it lasts for 8 weeks (we built in one extra week so that everyone can show off their 100 push-ups on the last day!). I'll keep updates on the training schedule each week!