10 May 2012

Color Me Rad -- No, not the band. The band's name was Color Me Badd. This is a race.

Hi, All!

It was brought to my attention today that there is going to be one heck of a 5k in Pittsburgh on August 25th.  I am jumping up and down super-duper excited about it!  Seriously, I did jump up and down for a quick second.  Nope, I not ashamed enough to keep this fact from you.


The race is called Color Me Rad,
and basically, you wear a white shirt and sunglasses and at every kilometer, people throw colored powder at you. Your shirt gets colored, your hair, your skin, all of you gets colored up. Sounds like a blast :)


It reminds me of the Celebration of Holi in India which is also called the Festival of Colors. That -------->
is a picture of Holi.






<--------------- This is a picture taken at a Color Me Rad race.  Similar concept, different reasons for the coloring of others :)






Sooo, since I'm a big nerd and excited about this race being in Pittsburgh, I posted about it on Facebook and found that quite a few people are interested in running, too.  YaY!

It got me to thinking that I should form a team called, "being.messy.beautiful" since, well, it seem that we will get messy, and color is beautiful, and well, what do you know, that's the name of this blog...

A few hours later, Roo, of Nice Girl Notes, wrote that she knows one of the creators of the race and he asked if she wanted to get a team together for the race in Hartford in two-ish weeks and she agreed. (Btw, she rocks because she totally just had a baby like a minute ago.  Okay, it was a few weeks ago, but it's her 3rd baby, and her other littles are 3 and 2. Oh, who does that sound like? You say me? What? Yeah, she's on the fast track, too, and now she is going to run a 5k? Dude, I didn't do that to #3 was 4 months old. Roo, you go girl.) Anyway, the real point is this:  The creator guy, Jon, offered her a code, "nicegirlnotesblog" for people take 20% off of registration until May 16th.  What?!  Us, too? Yes!  We can have our own team, with our own name, but when the registration box asks about who referred you (I think that it asks?  I'm tired now, and I can't remember even though I did just register), please type in, "Nice Girl Notes".  That's it.  Thanks, Roo, you rock.  You could probably "like" her in FB, too, and throw a little love her way.

I did sign up for the race a little bit ago, received my confirmation email, and I am ready to race/get colored, with you.  Go sign up!

Team name is being messy beautiful.  Last name is, well, my last name.  You should know my last name, but if you don't, email me and I'll tell you. Discount code is nicegirlnotesblog. You'll have until May16th to received both the loyalty price and the 20% off discount!  Let's be messy.beautiful together!

Blessings! and Joy!
nicole mArie




Also, please go and listen to this song.  It's been in my head all day.  Color Me Rad doesn't = Color Me Badd, but I am glad that it made me remember All 4 Love.  Dude, another also: Children of the 90's used text language before anyone knew what texting was.  Boom.

08 May 2012

Marathon Day in Pictures

Hello, All!

I did it!  I completed my first 1/2 :)  Woo!  I am still trying to process what happened on Sunday -- what I made happen on Sunday -- so there won't be many words on this post, those will come later in the week.  I just wanted to share with you the photos that I snapped quickly during my run.

My love to you.
Blessings!  and JOy!
nicole mArie

At the Expo :)
The above image was made out of all of the names of participants.  I found my name!

I simply liked these shirts :)  


 swag :)

Max took this of me at some point? 



 My heart rate monitor, my army bracelet to remind me of the soldiers that I know, living and deceased, Lightening McQueen to remind me to be confident. "I am speed.  Faster than fast, quicker than quick!" Oh, and my pace tattoo to help me gauge my performance.
 Walking over the Fort Pitt Bridge to Point State Park

 Walking under the bridge in PSP

 Finding out way to the starting corrals

 Walking toward the start...

 We are still walking toward the start, but we see it now!



 16th Street Bridge

 9th Street Bridge

 West End Bridge

 Blurry Incline Picture for the littles

Two of my favorite signs that I was able to take a picture of. These were in South Side.
 I saw the yinz guy right before the finish line, too, he recognized me and gave me a wave. 



Birmingham Bridge!

  How beautiful is this shot of the city?!  I was pleasantly surprised.  Total Luck. WTG cell phone!

 So google tracks told me that I hit 13 miles right here.  Right where it said 12 miles.  
It said I made it there in 2:24min and some sort of seconds.  hmmm.


My body was so mad at me in this moment... but I was so proud to have done what I did!  Woo!!!

 I got to add my name to the the wall after the race, a la the photo at the top were it was printed on the poster thingy :)


My friend, Dave, ran too.  It was his first 1/2.  He finished about 10 minutes ahead of me.  
Dude, we did it! 

 Standing in front of our charity booth :)  Runners for Women's Choice Network!

 Yes, I changed out of my sweaty clothes in the port-a-potty.  Thank you, lady of FB, who reminded her friend to bring extra clothes!  You are my hero!  Oh, and thank goodness for the giant sized one!

I started in the blue section in the back, and the start was the golden square at the top.  It took us 20 minutes to reach the start!

I met a perogie outside of PNC Park on our way to the car. nbd.





03 May 2012

Be a Runner of Steel.



Be a Runner of Steel.  I've been trying to concentrate on this because if you looked up the definition of emotional in the dictionary you would find this:

e·mo·tion·al:  
           1. Nicole Marie

oh? yes.

How so? Well, it depends on the moment of the day. Currently, I have a knot in my stomach, I am nervous, terrified, worried, and stressed.  This is also mixed with a little bit of excitement and the reality of Sunday morning.

Oh, that's it?  Yeah, that's all.

1/2 Marathon is on Sunday!  Yay!  I really am excited, but all of those feelings mentioned above, yeah, I feel all of those feelings, too.  I know that I can do this, I know it.  I am just worried. What time should I get there in the morning?  what do I wear?  Do I bring another set of clothes for afterward?  Will my husband make it to the finish line in time?  Will he find a parking spot?  Will I eat enough before the race?  Will I fuel properly during the race?  How sore will I be after the race?  How much will I end of walking?  Can I make it in the pace I want to make it in?  Will I injure myself?  Will I be happy?  Will I cry?  How many people will pass me?  Will it be cool enough?  I sort of want 50 degrees -ish or 60 degrees and rain ;)  I'm ok running in the rain.  Can I really be a Runner of Steel?  Will I do it?



Happier thoughts:


My goal of $2620 was reached last Friday around 4:30pm. Woo!!!!  If you have not donated yet, and would like to do so, you still can right here.  Donations will be accepted through Sunday.  Please help out if you can!

You can track my progress, if you'd like!  Automatic Facebook posts will show my split times, tweets will be tweeted -- @nicolemariearts is my twitter name, or if you'd like, you can receive texts to find out where I am and how I am doing.  Sign up here.


Interested in the course I'll be running?  Check out this animation, it's pretty cool :)

There are a bunch of neat things to explore on the Dick's Sporting Good Marathon website, go and visit.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers these next couple of days.  I really am excited, even if I am experiencing pre-race jitters ;)  I just wanted to be honest with you all.  It is what it is.

Okay, okay, I am ready to be a Runner of Steel.  Thank you for helping me get this far.  We've only got 13.1 miles left to go!


Blessings!  and Joy!
nicole mArie