The Color Run: Embrace the Rainbow

So, I ran through a rainbow The Color Run last weekend. If you don't know what it is, it's basically a super fun 5k. Every kilometer corresponds to a different colored chalk (it's actually corn starch). You get blasted with blue at kilometer #1, green at #2, etc. By the end, you are completely covered in 5 different wacky colors. If by chance, you happened to run with me in Tempe last weekend, you were also completely covered in rain water and mud.

I'm in this picture... can you spot me? :)
via. 

I won't write too much (just kidding yes I will), but I wanted to give you a little glimpse into how much this run actually meant to me. For me, this little 5k, held on a rainy Saturday in Phoenix, was like someone else's Mount Everest. This was the culmination of my journey so far. You see, I signed up for this run in September, a month after my heart surgery. I needed something to look forward to, and I needed to show myself--not anybody else--how strong I really was, inside and out.

When I was running those 5 kilometers, I listened to the same playlist I listened to that first sleepless night after heart surgery. I couldn't help but remember how painful that night was, and how tired I felt. The songs that comforted me in August as I painstakingly breathed in and out, in and out, were the same songs that were powering me through each kilometer, as my legs, my lungs, and most of all, my heart, brought me all the way through that finish line in January.

For some, running a race is about getting to the finish line as quickly as possible. Not for me. I didn't break any records. I didn't PR. But I crossed, and I crossed smiling, and I crossed holding my best friend's hand. For me, it was about running, being surrounded by loved ones, and getting as colorful as possible along the way.

This run was me saying, "Come at me, life. All you colors. Blue, the sad, painful, lonely times. Green, the color of beginnings and new life. Purple, the streaks in the Arizona sunrise that greets me every morning without fail. Yellow, the bright, happy moments. Pink, the long chats with my best friends. I'm going to get messy. I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep on running. Because I'm not afraid of a little color. I'm not afraid of a little rain."