Running Update: The London 'Color Run' and Brighton Race for Life; my first 10K

Way back in June, some friends and I ran the 'Colour Color Run' (it originated in America, deal with it) in London. It was extremely colourful and a lot of fun, however I found it hard to not treat it like a usual running race. There are no prizes, medals or placings and this took some getting used to, my friends kept joking that I was taking the warm up and stretches far too seriously!

If you've never heard of the Color Run, it's a 5K event where you start off in a spangly clean white t-shirt and end up covered in a kind of powdery paint (FYI, it's dyed cornstarch)!  At each kilometre mark, there is a colour 'station' where strangers cover you in the paint at that station: pink, blue, yellow, orange then finish!

After you finish the run, a DJ plays music from a stage and you're given your very own sachet of paint to throw in the air! My friends and I had a great time that day and I've signed up for another Color Run event this year. The entrance fee and any sponsorship goes to the charity Save the Children.

I think we were some of the most colourful people on the tube that day.

In the first week of July, I ran my first 10K 'race'.  It was an event as part of the 'Race for Life' in Stanmer Park in Brighton organised by Cancer Research UK; there was also a 5K the following day. I had done some training but not 10K continuously so I was understandably nervous about how I would get on.

I invested in a new pair of trainers a week or so before the race as I as was long overdue a new pair  of trainers and my calves couldn't take it anymore! These are the Mizuno Wave Inspire 10. They're structured to correct overpronation when running and have so far been pretty good.

I knew from my previous Race for Life (5K) that it would be a welcoming atmosphere.  I highly recommend Race for Life events for any women who are new to running as they generally seem to have a friendly and fun atmosphere; it's not really a competitive event. Some people jog, some walk, some run, everyone just goes at their own pace for their own reasons! Rain was definitely brewing but it was still fairly warm, thankfully it wasn't sunny but the course was very hilly in places. I had aimed to do the 10K in an hour, I did it in 1hr 9mins so I was pretty pleased with that, considering that I'd never run a 10K or such steep inclines and I should have tried to start further at the front as there was such a hustle and bustle of runners at first, it was hard to break through.

Just before the race started...

Unfortunately, running up such a steep hill took its toll on one of my knees, I didn't realise at first and continued exercising as usual but my knee became really painful.  The advice online for 'runner's knee'  seems to be to stay off it as much as possible and ice and raise it (mind-blowing) so have stopped running and Zumba for the time-being, am finding it tough to rest up though but have worked my way through a fair bit of ibuprofen and cold gel so I definitely don't want to make it any worse. :(

After the race I had a cold pre-made smoothie (yes me, being organised, let's just take a minute to acknowledge this...). I used frozen berries, yoghurt, skimmed milk, strawberry whey protein powder and a banana. Using frozen berries makes it nice and cold and works out much cheaper than trying to buy fresh berries.

Yummy!

Pleased to have crossed the finish line :)

I would love to do another 10K in the near future and some colleagues recently mentioned a half-marathon for early next year so onwards and upwards, (without such steep hills though!).

Peebreeks xx