A WALK WITH ROY G. BIV

This morning started off bright and early... actually, wait, strike that... The morning started off early around 4:45am when I was jolted awake by my alarm. Groaning, I rolled over and hit snooze cursing the day I decided to sign up for The Color Run. Who gets up this early to run for fun!? This is just nuts. I actually rolled over to Kyle and said, "I don't even want to go. Too tired." But off we went to the City of Brotherly Love for some colorful exercise.

We started off very clean and matching 22,000 other people wearing white.

L-R Karen, Toni, Me, Kyle

We got to the Art Museum area around 6:30am and it was already jam-packed with people getting ready to run. I don't think I've ever seen that many people at one time just milling around waiting to get powder thrown in their faces. Even the Warrior Dash (seemingly) had less people!

Our team name was Color Me Pretty, how precious, and it involved some co-workers that I ran with as well. I was lame though and didn't do a very good picture timeline with them.




I am a bad friend-coworker.
You can smack me.

But not until all the fun and magic happens in 3...2...1... ROY G. BIV!


7:49am and we're off! Kyle decides that my work friends have longer legs, run faster and will run the entire thing so he takes off with them. Karen, Toni and I have other plans; they're called the "we all have had some type of injury let's not aggravate it today" plans. Besides, I was totally in this thing for the magical elf dust that would be thrown on me.

So, our trio soldiered on at our own pace along with our new friends.

c/o Madeline Schueren

Pink, blue, orange, green, purple! As you ran through some of the color stations you actually saw people ROLLING in it! There were color hoarders everywhere trying to steal all the fun!! I was going to have some, they had to share! So as I ran through each station I kept yelling, "pick me! pick me! throw some at me! in my hair! pick me!" No shame.

The yellow station had the most energetic dust throwers. It was pure sunshine mayhem in that group! You had magical elf dust in your hair, up your nose and (most likely) down your pants. It was like being on the sun and feeling it's rays; it sure felt like I was on the sun considering the heat!

After I passed through it my hair would puff when my ponytail swung.

c/o Madeline Schueren (Grace!)

As we rounded the finish line I wasn't thinking, "Yay! We did it!" or "Boo! It's over." I stopped running to look at Karen and Toni and said, "A hill? At the end?! Crazy people." Ha! Ending it with a bang!

Now, I wasn't with Kyle the entire race and I'm not entirely sure when the change happened. But somewhere in the midst of thousands of people a zombie came out, attacked him and turned him into one of the undead! OMG! Just look at him! He was about ready to pounce on us and clearly had already bitten other people. He has the bloodstains to prove it!

I really wasn't in the mood to join the Zombie Apocalypse so I am glad he left me alone.

Clearly, this is the most fabulous look you've ever seen. If I had the option, I would be covered in magical dust morning, noon and night. Also, take note: It seems that Kyle has lost a little bit of zombie because he's starting to look more normal.

Haha.

Walking back to the car afterwards I was tired. Up way too early and exercising with the dawn is just too much to take; but the minute I heard someone say, "is this even legal?" I perked up. If it's illegal and fun I probably want in (hi mom!). So, Karen and I proceeded to jump into the fountain front of the Art Museum.

And that, my friends, is The Color Run. An untimed, walk-run 5K. You in next year?! HOLLA!!!

50 FLIGHTS. 1,088 STEPS.

On Saturday, I completed the Fight For Air Climb with the American Lung Association. It was fifty flights of steps at the Logan Center in Philadelphia, PA. We climbed to support research for lung cancer, emphysema and COPD, asthma, etc. Some of my extended family has exercise-induced asthma and I have issues with breathing during high allergy season (especially if my aunt Agnes gets us lost in the pollinated woods, do NOT forget that inhaler). The climb was a great way to raise awareness, raise money and also get my exercise in for the day.  =)

Our team was sponsored by Barclays and included myself, uncles Shem and John and my aunt Marie.

I trained for the event at the YMCA for about 2 months. They have a stair climber that is like a miniature escalator so it was easy. When I first started, I could barely stand the stair climber for 5 minutes. That thing really is like torture! But since then I've come to love the torture and am up to climbing the Eiffel Tower (100 flights) in 30 minutes. I'm trying to interval train now to bring that time down.

For the Climb for Air our times were:

Marie: 13:22
Shem: 13:59
Christine: 15:36
John: 16:17

I don't know how well I'd have done if I didn't train; I'm still not in the best shape but keeping up with my triathlon running aunt is pretty good.

The view  from the top

After we huffed and puffed up the stairs we headed to this diner-restaurant called The Continental for breakfast and mimosas. Yum! It was the fanciest diner food I've ever had; can you say Brioche French Toast with Apple Compote?! YUM! Shem was so excited that he even did a pole dance on the way!

... and here is the delicious!

I know, I know. You're jealous. Maybe if you do the stair climb next year I'll take you out to breakfast too... and oh, uncle John? I owe you $20. Don't forget! It was definitely a great way to spend the morning even though I was up early on a Saturday. Maybe next year we'll be "century climbers" and do 100 flights of steps. Hahahahahaha!!!

yeah. right.