Color Me Rad 5K Los Angeles

I realize that I never finished up my review from the Tinker bell Half Marathon but I wanted to get this one up. 

On Saturday, June 7, 2014 I ran the Color Me Rad 5K. I was given 2 free entries into this run in exchange for promoting it and reviewing it after. 

I opted to have my packets mailed to me so we wouldn't have to get there so early in the morning. 

Turns out we still had to because they only mailed out shirts, bibs, tattoos, stickers and safety pins but not our sunglasses. 

I really like that we had the option of men’s or women’s shirts. I will actually wear this shirt since it fits. 

There were quite a few people wearing the shirts they gave us but I didn’t want to get mine all messed up. 

Since this run was the day after my birthday I made a shirt to celebrate. I also picked up some white knee socks. 

Our heat was at 9:00am and we arrived a little after 8:00am. The run was held at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, CA. There were plenty of signs and people directing traffic so we had no problems getting in the parking lot. We were early and had no problem getting a spot but it looked like there was ample parking. 

We headed to the registration table and were directed to the next table over to pick up our sunglasses. There were a few booths set up that we checked out as we waited for the race to start. 

There was an announcer up on stage that was getting everyone excited and he was tossing out free items like shirts and cell phone protectors. 

We took our obligatory “before” photo.

 There were photographers from the race that were taking pictures that would later be for sale on the website. Smart Car USA was there with a couple Smart Cars and they were taking picture and emailing them to people for free.

At about 8:40am we headed to the starting line. Everyone was there decked out in white.

People were tossing their colored powder before the run even started. 

I gave my 2nd entry to my boyfriend’s cousin and she brought along her granddaughter. Children under 7 are allowed to participate for free. They just don’t get a shirt or any other goodies. 

We found this to be a very family friendly event. There were a ton of kids and families. I actually ran into some of my cousins during the run. 

We made our way around the stadium, around a track and onto the color stations. 

About half way through there was a water stop. It was nice that it was bottles of water, rather than cups. 

I think I counted 4 colored powder stations, (orange, yellow, pink and purple) and one colored water station (blue).

After we crossed the finish line we were given a larger bottle of water and a granola bar as well as our packet of color. I liked that we were handed it at the end rather than have to carry it for the whole run. 

We took our obligatory “after” photos and also took another set of free Smart Car photos. 

The party around the stage was still going strong with color throws going off every 15-20 minutes. 

Overall I think this run was a blast. We had a great time and it looked like everyone else did too. Everything was well organized and the run started on time. 

We were in the pack of our heat and there was still plenty of water, granola bars, color at the stations and color packets at the end. 

I would definitely do Color Me Rad again. It’s a great way to get out there and get some exercise while having fun.

If you have any questions just let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Shwings - Wings for your shoes

I was given the opportunity to try Shwings. If you haven’t heard of them, Shwings are wings for your shoes. 

They come in so many different shapes and colors and they make your shoes look so cool! 

And I hear if you put them on your running shoes they just might make you run a little faster too! 

I wore them on my running shoes during the Diva’s Half Marathon as well as a pair on my regular shoes to Disneyland and I received so many complements! 

They are easy to install, just lace them right on. There is also a clip-on option for flip flops, and ones with slots for shoes with Velcro straps. 

Shwings are avaliable online as well as in stores. 

 If you’d like to try a pair of your own please enter my give-a-way below to win a pair of Mustache Black Sparkle Clip Ons. 

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Color Me Rad

Color Me Rad!

If you've never run a "color run" now is the time!  

Color Me Rad is coming to a city near you!  With over 100 events in the US and Canada in 2014 you're sure to find one near you. 

Color Me Rad is a 5K (3.1 mile) fun run. 

You start out in a white shirt and through out the run you'll get bombed with color until you come out tie-dyed at the end. 

For your entry fee you will receive a Rad t-shirt, a sweet set of sunglasses, a race bib, a donation to a local charity, a decal for your car and some swag from the sponsers. You will also receive one color bomb right before the finish for the final color throw. 

This is not a race, there's no time limit so anyone can participate!  

I will be running the Los Angeles event the day after my birthday!  What a RAD birthday!

Use code radrunning and save 20% off your entry fee (and they're pretty low anyway). 

Sign-up here www.colormerad.com

Let me know if you sign up and which event you'll be running!

Stay rad!

Tinker Bell Half Marathon-Expo Day

On Sunday, January 19, 2014 I ran the 3^rd annual Tinker Bell Half Marathon in Anaheim, CA.  This was my 3^rd year running this race. 

 

My mom and I headed down on Saturday morning.  We stayed at the Best Western Stovall’s on Katella.  This is my favorite hotel to stay at for Disneyland races.  It’s so close to the start and finish areas and the prices are reasonable too.  We’ve stayed here numerous times and never had any problems.  We arrived a little before 9:00am and they had a room ready for us.  We quickly unpacked, displayed our window sign and headed out to Downtown Disney for breakfast at the Rain Forest Café. 

 

After breakfast we headed to the Expo at the Disneyland hotel.  My first stop was at New Balance to see if there were still spots open for the RunDisney shoes, but they were all gone. 

We then headed down the ramp to pick up my bib.  It was quick and easy with no lines.  We then headed up to the Expo where I picked-up my shirt and goodie bag.  We received a long sleeve raspberry colored tech shirt, a Luna bar, the Official Program and two drawstring backpacks. 

 

 

The Expo seemed a little smaller than usual but there were still a lot of vendors.  Since the Expo had opened on Thursday there wasn’t much Official Merchandise left.  I was able to get my pins, but the Dooney and Bourke purses were long gone, as well as the tech jackets.

We walked around for a while and did some shopping.  I picked up another Sparkle Skirt, the only skirts I’ll run in. 

 

 After the Expo we hit the movies in DTD to see Saving Mr. Banks.  It was really good!  I knew I’d be walking a lot after the races on Sunday so I wanted to take it easy the day before. 

 

We went back to the Expo to see if New Balance was doing walk-ups but we were told they were not.  So no runDisney shoes for me this time. 

 

We then headed into California Adventure for a few rides, some photos and dinner.  

We ate at Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta.  

I had the Chicken Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta, which consists of Campanelle Pasta lightly tossed with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce.  It was $9.49 but the serving is huge.  It could be shared by two people for sure.

We then hit up the Mad T Party for a little bit but soon called it a night.  I had a 3:30am wake-up call the next morning!

 

I laid my costume out so I wouldn’t forget anything the next morning.

 

 

Next up – RACE DAY!

 

DIY Yarn Pompom's

I am running the Tinker Bell Half Marathon on January 19^th.  I’ve started to put the finishing touches on my costume.  I decided I needed pompom’s for my shoes but I didn’t want to spent $9 or $10 bucks to order some off of Etsy.com so I searched Pinterest and made my own.

 

All you need is some cheap yarn.  This was on sale at Michaels for just over $2.00.  And some cardboard.  I took a small box apart.

 

I used a drinking glass and the lid from some Airborne to draw my circles.  You will need two of these cardboard circles. 

Next I pulled out a length of yarn, cut it and began wrapping it around and around the two pieces of cardboard.  I though I’d never get done!  The yarn kept tangling up because you have to pull the whole length through the center circle each time.

I quickly gave up on that pompom and decided there had to be a better way.  I ended up cutting a small piece out of both circles.

This made it 100% easier to wrap the yarn and this way you just pull the yarn from the skein so you can wrap as much as you want.  I made about 3 layers of yarn.

Next you slide the scissors between the two pieces of cardboard and cut the yarn all the way around.  The yarn pieces should stay in the center hole of the cardboard circles. 

Then slide a long piece of yarn between the cardboard pieces and tie it tight around the yarn pieces. 

 

Slide the cardboard pieces off, trim any long pieces and fluff into a ball.

 Super easy and they look so cute!

 

183.4 Miles

I've been thinking about a New Year's resolution that I might actually keep and I decided I want to run 14 Half Marathons in 2014. This equals out to 183.4 miles which is my actual goal. 

I most likely won't be able to complete an actual Half Marathon each month but between training runs, Half's, 10K's, 5K's and virtual runs I know I can do it. 

What type of resolutions did you make?