Glow Run

All decked out in our glow gear.

We ran the Glow Run 5k on Saturday evening.  The race started at 8:30 pm so Ty stayed home with Carter so I could run.  My mom, dad, brother Thomas, and I all ran.  I was expecting it to be similar to the Color Run we ran last summer.  At the Color Run we had to wait in the start corral for over an hour.  When we finally got started we had to weave through mostly walkers and it was slow going.  It wasn't very much fun because I just wanted to run.  I was pleasantly surprised that it only took us 15 minutes to get to the start line and there were WAY fewer walkers to weave through.  I was actually able to run 8:30 pace at the start and then 8:00 pace once I got past the big groups of people who were ahead of us in our start wave.

Ty ready for his evening with Carter.

There were sections on the course with black lights and even a tunnel full of black lights close to the finish.  The shirts we got in our race packets were black light responsive and they looked so cool as we ran through the black light sections.  We all got 4 glow bracelets, a glow necklace, and glow glasses.  Everyone got a finisher's medal which was also black light responsive.  There was an area with black lights set up for taking pictures, but none of us had our phones or cameras.

I couldn't believe how much fun I had!  I'm always a little bit skeptical of an untimed race.  Isn't that kind of the point, to see what you can do?  Especially after the Color Run, I was hesitant to sign up.  Going into the race with the mindset of just getting a run in makes it much more fun.  I would definitely do it again!

I had a couple of really good runs this past week.  Last Sunday I ran 12 miles while Carter took a nap.  My fastest 12 miles was 9:06 pace with the stroller.  I took off at 9:00 pace and it seemed so slow and sluggish.  I was afraid to go too much faster because I didn't want to wear out and finish poorly.  After I got half-way I decided to pick the pace up to what felt good and see what I finished the next mile in.  I couldn't believe it when I looked down and I had run mile 7 in 8:20.  My last 6 miles I averaged 8:15 pace.  I felt really good afterward and now I have a good idea of where I am running without the stroller.  I don't think I'm far from a half-marathon at 8:00 pace which is my goal.

After such an awesome long run I wasn't sure how I would recover for my tempo run on Tuesday.  I ended up waiting to run until after Carter was asleep for the night.  I missed him so much I didn't want to take up some of our together time by running with him.  I was up to 5 miles for my tempo run.  My goal pace for tempo runs is 8:00.  My average pace was 7:44 and I even ran my last 2 miles the fastest with my last mile in 7:30.  I'm so excited about where I am with my training that I'm even thinking about running a half-marathon in October to see where I'm at before my November half.

I'm linking up with Ashley for Move it Monday.