Color Runniversary

July 8th, 2012.  One year wedding anniversary.  Color Run.

YAY!  We made it one year!  I'm so happy to be married to this guy, it's insane.  To celebrate our insanity, we decided to do a 5k, but not just any 5k.  The COLOR RUN.  Every kilometer you get slammed with color powder to create a very colorful body/runner.

We started off all white, and ended up rainbows!  It was so much fun.  AND, it was Mike's first 5k ever!  He finished like a pro too. 

The color was some cornstarchy substance that murdered your lungs as you were running through it, but it was worth it.  It was centered around the Art Museum *cue very confused tourists*, and afterwards there was a huge party with music and color.  Everyone threw color at the same time and it turned into a huge color cloud.  It was an awesome experience.  And it was especially awesome because Mike and I did it together!

I was really excited for Mike because it was the world's largest color run ever, and the third largest 5k ever.  I think that's a pretty cool way to start your running career. 

I hope there is always a color run around us on our anniversary because this would be an amazing and fun tradition to do every year!

Here's some pictures and a video of the "color cloud" experience!

xoxo

Yeah, imagine being right in the middle of that.  Crazy, and super fun!  I wanna do it again right now!

sun-DAY at the museum.

This past weekend I went to the art museum with some friends.  You might be wondering why we went on the first Sunday of the month, well the first Sunday of every month is free, cha-ching!  Surprisingly this was the first time I've actually entered the building.  I've run up the steps before and posed a thousand times by Rocky, obviously.  I think posing by the Rockster is required once you enter the city. 

Anywho, Sunday was the first real fall day here on the East, and I was not prepared at all.  I decided I was from Wisconsin, so I was tough enough to not wear a jacket (mistake).  Thankfully the museum had wonderful climate control.  We saw Renoir, Picasso, Eakins, Monet, and Van Gogh, just to name a few of the big dogs.  It was pretty chill, and we very much needed relaxation. 

We ended the trip with brunch at this lovely little place called Sabrina's.  One word: Stuffed french toast.  It was basically two huge pieces of french toast with cheesecake in the middle.  Mmmmm....delectable.  I still feel full.  Overall, a good Sunday with the girls!  Here are some photographs of the day.  Enjoy!
 

1. Art Museum pillars 2. First Fall Sunrise. 3. Fountain 4. Eakin's Gross Clinic painting 5.  Us planking on the art museum statues 6. Art museum 7. The four of us.

Runstoppable

I love running. I love it so much, that you get to read about two things running related today (Bonus!). Today confirmed exactly why I love it so much.

Today I ran Kelly Drive. (It's technically Fairmount Park, I think.) I'm a part of my schools running club, and this was the long run location planned for the week. It was the most amazing running experience I've had in Philly so far. There were so many people out, and it was so motivating. I was hoping to run three miles, and I ended up running five. If I could have actually found the mile markers, I would have probably turned around earlier, but I'm glad I didn't. The melting snow, mixed with the salt made it incredibly hard to see the little, barely there, white quarter mile markers.

My favorite part about running outside is the scenery (and the feeling). In Wisconsin, there is no limit to what you can and will see. The routes I ran at home were amazing, and absolutely breathtaking. Exhibit A.
I wasn't expecting the same from Philadelphia. Especially Center City Philly. Skyscrapers, smog, etc.

I was totally wrong. I mean totally. I unfortunately didn't have my camera on me during this run (mental note: next time). Exhibit B: Kelly Drive in the summer. (The 8 mile loop has trails on both sides of this river. I ran five miles of it.)
Look at that view! I knew from the beginning that this would be a pretty amazing run because we started near the Rocky steps (a.k.a. Philadelphia Museum of Art). I had no idea on the way back I'd be staring straight at the Philly skyline the entire way. Not to mention that the river I was running next to is infamous for their crew teams (Boathouse Row), so there were a lot of teams practicing on the river this morning.

I'm starting to fall in love with this city more and more every day. I did a pretty amazing job of picking an optometry school location, must say.

Oh, and did I mention that the number one reason I fell in love with running happened again this morning? I didn't? Oh dear...let me explain. Breathing. Yes, breathing. It's such a simple thing, and we all take it for granted. But it is also the most wonderful thing when you are actually aware of it. When I start running distance (I don't mean two miles, I mean 5-25) I get in the zone. I'm sure you've all heard people say that, but "the zone" is different for everyone in everything. To me, my zone is when I am no longer breathing heavy. When I've become completely aware of how relaxed I am while running. Running multiple miles. The feeling you get when it happens is indescribable. It doesn't happen to everyone, and I'm positive the only reason I can actually be relaxed and breathe slowly while running is because I've trained myself for very long distance, and you can't huff and puff for miles and miles. If you can do it, it's unbelievable.

Speaking of running. Thanks to the boy, my interest in barefoot running has been peaked. I've decided I wanted to try it, so I ran in my socks only for three miles this week. It felt amazing. I can't believe what I've been missing. There is absolutely no need for shoes, at all. The next day, however, I realized that I can't just jump into it.

I was working some muscle in my calf that I'm convinced has never received nerve impulses before because my calves were so sore. Standing, just standing felt like I was stretching my calf way past it's comfort zone. I decided I should probably get some real help on the subject, and went to the local running store. I knew my overall long-term goal was to get Vibram's FiveFingers (basically a glove, but for your foot so when you run barefoot you don't step on glass and slash your foot up), but I needed to ease into it first.

Going from cushy, comfy shoes to nothing, wouldn't have been a smart idea, and that was illustrated by my calves hatred of me the day after I tried it. I did some research before I went in, however, and I decided I should go for the next best thing. Running shoes with absolutely no support. I've decided on the Nike free run. I'm going to purchase them tomorrow.

Because of today's success stories, I decided to sign up for the Five Mile Frostbite Run which is next Saturday.

Happy {almost} Valentine's Day!