Category Archives: Road Races

Race Recap: The Color Run New England

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At the starting line of the Color Run (pre-color obviously)

Last Saturday I ran the famed Color Run with my college roommate and a group of new friends! The Color Run claims to be “the happiest 5k on the planet” and I have to conquer. However, there were some minor setbacks that really could have ruined the race if it wasn’t so much fun to begin with but looking at it as a whole, I thought it was a blast!

The race was located in Amesbury, Mass. and finished at the Amesbury Sports Park. The day I ran the race, the announcer at the starting line said there was nearly 11,000 people running- that’s a lot of color runners! Needless to say, the race was absolutely packed. My friends and I all wore white in order to get the most out of the color along the way. If you’re not familiar with the Color Run, it is a 5k route and at each kilometer mark the wonderful people from the Color Run throw colored corn starch at you and by the end of the race you are a fully-covered tie-dyed runner! It’s awesome.

We arrived at the Color Run around 8:30 a.m. and took the shuttle to the starting line. We were shocked by how many people were actually participating in the race so we decided to get to the starting line as soon as possible. The staffers of the Color Run released the runners in waves, separated by five minutes as to not clog the course too much. While this was a valiant effort, I still felt the course was far too crowded and I’d say the majority of people ended up walking rather than running. This caused quite a problem for those of us who wanted to run because we had to dodged and weave in between the walkers. Also, in order to get a good amount of color at the color stops at each kilometer, we had to slow to a walk. This was fine but messed with the run a bit.

Besides the crowds I thought the run itself was great! My only wish is that it was longer because it was over sooo fast! The end of the race was a big party. We were all given color packets that we were able to open at the end and throw up in the air, completely covering ourselves in color, in case we were covered enough to begin with! We were able to get samples of drinks and granola bars at the end which was good because the temperature skyrocketed during the race.

At the finish line, post-color!

One of the concerns I had for the race was the lack of water on the course. There was one water stop about halfway through the course but the water was warm and not very refreshing, especially after a ton of color got in my mouth. Another issue that was really beyond the race directors’ control was the shuttling back to the parking lots after the race. The place we had to park was about 15 minutes away because the Amesbury Sports Park couldn’t accommodate the amount of runners, which is totally understandable. When we got in line to go back to our cars we were informed there had been an accident on the highway so all shuttles had to be rerouted. We ended up standing in line for about an hour and a half, in the sun, with no water.

After running a race this was a little frustrating because we were tired and thirsty. The Color Run sent out an e-mail on July 30 apologizing for any frustrations, which I think everyone appreciated. I have friends who ran the race on Sunday and said it was fantastic and there were no issues, so I’m glad everything worked out in the end.

As you may have noticed in this post, I didn’t tell you my finish time. That’s because I didn’t have one. No one did. The Color Run is simply for fun! Plus no one would have gotten a good time anyways with the frequent stops and bobbing and weaving in between walkers. Another issue that came up during the race was some knee irritation. I think due to the bobby and weaving in between walkers I aggravated my runner’s knee. It’s still bothering me four days after the race so I’m trying to rest it and praying it will get better soon!!

Overall it was a really fun event and I would love to do it again. I hope you consider running it in your area!

…and I’m a color runner!

Week 5: Half-marathon update

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A very rain-soaked road race on the 4th of July!

This week was yet again another amazing week of training. I ran my first official road race and my longest run yet! I logged just about 19 miles this week- same total as last week, different way of adding it up.

Monday night I did a tempo run at the local track. Instead of doing my normal tempo run, I used “run interval” mode on the Run Keeper app on my iPhone. It had me run a total of 2 miles with 400-meter sprints mixed with slow running. It went really well and I ran my fastest pace at 7:32/mile.

I rested on Tuesday and did some yoga in the morning to stretch. On Wednesday, I ran my very first road race. I know this is kind of weird because I’ve been blogging about running since March but this was my very first race. It was so great (besides the fact that it was pouring)! I finished the 4-miler in 37:16 with an average pace of 9:20 which I was pretty pleased with, given the conditions.

I gave myself a total rest day on Thursday and then ran an early morning run on Friday. I wanted to test my speed especially after the race so I decided to do a 2.5-mile run around my neighborhood. I was SO excited when I came back and checked Run Keeper to see that I ran my first mile in 6:30. That was the fastest mile I have EVER run! I was so excited to see how much my work has really paid off! The one criticism I have of this run is I wish I could have done a negative split, that is running faster in the last half of the run than the first. I’m going to try to work on that in the next few weeks.

2.5 miles- average pace- 8:27, fastest pace- 6:30

Saturday was my long run day, a full 10 miles. This is the longest I have ever ran and I have to say it was my most fulfilling run yet! I ran a total of 10.26 miles in York, Maine with my cousin Paige who is also training for the half-marathon with me. Our route was pretty hilly but we were unafraid, I was even really, really excited!

Map of the 10.26 mile route.

The run was fantastic! We decided to go at an easy, what I like to call “conversational” pace. This means while running, you’re able to hold a conversation with someone without getting winded. We thought we were going pretty slow but turns out our average pace was 8:41/mile, a faster average pace than I had ever done. We finished the run in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 3 seconds. The craziest part was our fastest pace was 4:51/mile! What!?!? When I looked at the breakdown, mile by mile of our run, I couldn’t believe how well we did. We peaked at mile 8, when we ran it in 6:36 and ran our fastest pace of 4:51. In total, almost all of our miles were sub-9:00 besides the 6th mile where we had our steepest incline.

10.26 mile run: average pace- 8:41, fastest pace- 4:51.

After this week’s training I am a full believer in the biggest you can dream, you can make it happen. Four months ago I could barely run a mile without feeling like I was going to fall over and die. Now, I feel like I can go forever and I’m just getting faster. More than anything, it makes me so happy. I hope everyone else had a good week of training. Happy running!

On the run: 4 on the Fourth

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On the 4th of July, there’s a race held in York, Maine (where my family vacations and practically my home away from home), every year. It’s called the Four on the Fourth and it’s a 4-mile run starting at the high school, looping around and eventually coming down the road that runs parallel to the ocean.

I had always wanted to do the race but never did because I wasn’t a runner. This year was different. This year I was a runner so I registered for the race. The Four on the Fourth was also my first “official” race that I’ve run, even though I’ve been training hard other races for a few months.

I was very excited for this race, so much so that I couldn’t really sleep the night before and woke up before my alarm. When I got up, I looked out the window and saw it was raining. Crap. I knew that would slow down my pace and affect my finish time but there’s no getting in the way of mother nature.

I was running the race with my cousin, Paige, who’s also been training for the half with me, my friend, Lindsay, and my Uncle Joe. We are all at different levels in our running- Paige is all about speed, I’m more about distance, Lindsay is a 5-k runner and my Uncle is a recreational runner. I decided to stick with Lindsay throughout the run to keep pace with her because it was her first 4-miler.

As we stood at the start line and the national anthem was sung, the rain started coming down harder. We were already there so there was no turning back now. The gun shot and we were off. The first two miles went really well but as we turned onto the ocean road, the rain was literally pelting us in the face. In fact, it was kind of hard to see. But as we passed the 3-mile marker, Lindsay looked at her watch and realized we were really going at a good pace. As we approached the corner to turn into the final half mile my whole family was on the corner cheering for us and I got a burst of energy. I came in to the finish line with a final time of 37:16 which I was really pleased with given the conditions.

As many of you who may read my blog often know, I’m currently training for a half-marathon at the end of September. My training has been going pretty great and I’ve been working hard on increasing my mileage and increasing my speed. Part of the latter of that plan is including “tempo” runs in my weekly workout. I definitely attribute these runs to my final time at the Four on the Fourth. I did a tempo run last week and ran my fastest pace yet at 7:32.

It’s hard to believe that only four months ago I could barely run a mile and now I’m running more than I could have imagined and absolutely loving it. It sounds so cliche but if you believe in yourself, you really can accomplish anything.

Video: NYC marathon time-lapse

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I came across this video made by Gwen Schroeder on Vimeo and had to share it. Using a GoPro HD Hero 2 camera strapped to her head as she ran the 2011 NYC Marathon, she was able to compile this time-lapse video of the duration of the marathon. The camera took a picture every second, allowing her to then edit the images into one clip.

I can’t imagine running 26.2 miles with a camera attached to my head but I give Gwen the biggest of props for doing so because it allows viewers, like myself, to experience running the NYC Marathon. Also, for anyone who’s already run the race, they can relive it!

2011 New York City Marathon Time-Lapse (ING NYC Marathon) from Gwen Schroeder on Vimeo.

Finding the perfect half-marathon training program

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Courtesy Runner’s World on Pinterest

Ok, so finding the perfect half-marathon training program is a little harder than it seems. Last week I registered for my first ever half-marathon and it without a doubt terrifies me. However, according to most of my research, if you can already easily run 4 miles, in less than 14 weeks you can build up to a half-marathon- I have four months.

When looking for any good training program it’s important to stay realistic. For example, if you have a full-time job and a fluctuating schedule like myself, running every day is probably not a very realistic goal. Most of the training programs I found have you running three or four days a week with strengthening exercises and rest days in between.

After asking around and posing the question in the Sub-30 Club on Facebook, I found a good training program for me. I chose to use the Runner’s World Smart Coach (free version). This training plan allows you to insert your information- including gender, miles logged per week and your latest race time- to develop a specialized plan to fit your schedule. This is important for me because I am a full-time reporter so sometimes I have to cover late meetings and can’t fit in my run, but the smart coach allows you to adjust the plan at any time.

Also, the smart coach, like many other half-marathon training program, has you run an easy run, a “tempo” run (speedwork) and a long run each week. As your training continues it adds in an extra easy run to help you build endurance to last those 13.1 miles.

This program might not be for everyone so some other suggestions I received were:

The ‘Greatist’ Runner’s Guide

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I came across this infographic on one of my favorite fitness blogs, Greatist.com, and thought I’d share it. It’s a clear, concise and visually appealing runner’s guide, that gives you all the information you need about running, from finding the right shoe for your running type to eating the right foods to enhance your performance.

More Health and Fitness News & Tips at Greatist.

Fun races for any runner

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The Color Run

Who says running has to always be so serious? Personally, I like to switch up my running routine by running at the gym, around my town, on the beach and on trails, and there are plenty of races out there to accommodate all running styles. Whether you are looking for a scenic race, a fast race, a dirty race or just a crazy race, websites like Active.com and CoolRunning.com are great resources to help you find the perfect race. Here are some of my favorites:

  • The Color Run– This 5k race takes place all over the country and is “3.1 miles of color madness.” The Color Run is for runners of all experience levels and ages and is designed to be more about fun than about speed. Every runner is required to wear a white t-shirt and as they approach each mile marker, color paint is blasted onto them- by the end of the race “they end looking like they fell into a Willy Wonka… tie dyed… vat of colored goodness.”
  • Hollis Fast 5k– If you’re looking to get your best 5k time, you may want to sign up for this race because it is the fastest 5k in New Hampshire. The race is a USATF-certified point-to-point downhill course creating a unique run for all participants. Some of the fastest 5k times have been recorded at this race as the course drops 224 feet in elevation in the 3.1 miles. Unfortunately, this drop in elevation exceeds the state limitations to qualify times for state records, but that doesn’t have to stop you from getting your own PR!
  • Will Run for Beer race series– This race series takes place throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts and is sponsored in part by Smuttynose Brewing Company. I am running my first 5k in one of the series races in Hampton, New Hampshire and the best part of this 5k is there is free beer at the end. (No other incentive necessary!)
  • Rugged Maniac 5k– You thought the Color Run looked messy? Try the Rugged Maniac 5k, a 3.1 mile obstacle race. Each course has at least 20 obstacles that include climbing over 7-foot walls, crawling through mud, jumping over fire and more. This is for the true adventure-seeker who is sick of your average 5k and is willing to get a little rugged!
  • Luv2Run Portland– If you’re just looking for a scenic 5k to run, the Luv2Run Portland might be the right race for you. The off-road course through the Back Cove Trail in Portland is a scenic race sure to please any running who enjoys running near the ocean.