So a Fat Girl walks into a Bar...: The COLOR Run

Okay. So, it turns out that I was in such a funk, I never really gave an update on The Color Run. What an AMAZING day. It was **really** cold that day. It was in the low 40's when we left the house. I was extremely nervous for the entire car ride to Cincinnati. I thought I was getting there early, but I guess about 10,000 other people had a better definition of early than I did. It was just exciting to pull up and see all those people.

Everyone was stark white - the only colors I saw were some neon socks here and there, and a rainbow brite wig. Matt went with me to the start area and we stood and people watched for a bit. I was really anxious, and didn't want him to leave. I was petrified to be by myself in a group this large. Everyone was there with friends, or family, and I was alone. PETRIFIED. I finally agreed to let him leave, and I started walking towards the start. I burrowed my way in until I was about 2 blocks from the start. I put my headphones in, and gave myself a pep talk. Who cares if I was alone? I had been losing weight on my own. I had been training for this race alone. I had been working out alone. This was after all, about me. It had started as something for Madie and I, but it was really about me. I had done everything else alone... Why couldn't I do this?

I started getting more and more excited as the countdowns for each wave began. But if I heard "Call me Maybe" one more time - I was going to freak out. I turned the volume up, and did my best to drown out everyone else. Another countdown - inching forward. I finally sent Matt a text that said I thought I would be in the next wave or two. He was down by the river with my parents waiting for me to run by. OMG. They're counting. 5....4...3....2....1... GOOOOO!!!!

It was hard to start running - there were soo many people around - some walking, some running, some dancing. I was bobbing and weaving my way through the crowd until I could get some personal space, and I set in. Looking back now, I was going a little bit faster than I should have. I was getting tired quick. The thought of stopping to walk was just starting to creep into my head when I saw the first color station ahead of me - and just beyond that, Matt, my Mom and my Dad. The three people in the world that love me more than anything else were here for me. They came to see me run, and be successful. I will run until they are out of my sight, and then I will walk.

I made my way through the first color station (a walking break, luckily) and to my family. I started smiling when I saw them - and I saw them WAAAAYYYY before they saw me. Matt was filming me. Dad was taking pictures on their camera, and Mom was frantically screaming my name and waving. My own personal cheering section. My heart swelled. As soon as I passed them, tears streamed down my cheeks. They BELIEVED in me. It sent a jolt of adrenaline through me that carried me to the next walking point. Ahem, I mean, color station.

It really was impossible to run through the color. Everyone was walking. Some were crawling through it. I actually saw several people (at different checkpoints) actually rolling through it. Everything was just dreamlike. This was easier than I had expected it to be. The costumes were outrageous - tutus, halos, fairy wings, wigs, fake mustaches, you name it - I saw it. I even saw a bride in her wedding dress running with her groom in a tuxedo t-shirt.

When I came to my family on the way back, I stopped. Matt had held my color packets for me so I wouldn't have to carry them while I ran. He handed them to me, and they took some pictures and told me how proud of me they were. I could feel the tears coming again, so I told them I would see them at the finish line and took off. Really? The finish line? It was amazing. The sidewalks of the last block of the race were lined with thousands of people - runners, volunteers, supporters, and everyone was cheering. It was a pretty profound moment for me. In July - I had never ran more than a few seconds without getting winded. Now here it was, the first Saturday in October, and I had just crossed the finish line of my first 5K. I had set a goal of 45 minutes for the race. I completed it in 41:06 - and that was with the color station stops, and my little chat with my family before the dash to the finish. Not only had I done it, I had run every part that I could. I had done it faster than I had aimed for, and I did it alone.

It really was an amazing day - and a HUGE victory for myself. =)

Just getting there...