1 Week to go + Starlight “Run” Race Recap

Only 1 more week to go before our very first half marathon! I’m really starting to get excited…and a little nervous. I’m not really worried about finishing it; I’m fairly certain that won’t be a problem…but I’m nervous nonetheless. Just adrenaline, I guess! Here’s the recap of the past week, and than the “race recap” of the Starlight Run which I completed yesterday with GOTR.

Monday:
3.05 miles (10:15 avg pace)
An easy run in Sunriver. A different “Waterfront Loop”. :)

Tuesday:
Travel/Yoga at home
After enjoying a delicious breakfast in Bend at The Victorian Cafe, (Tiramisu French Toast…Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds!) we made the 4 hour trek back home. When we finally arrived, we were pretty tired, and didn’t really want to head out again for Yoga at Lululemon, so we stayed home and did yoga from a DVD. It was definitely challenging, so we definitely didn’t feel lazy!

Wednesday:
We had planned to run this day, but I wasn’t feeling up to running for some reason, and J was having some lingering ankle soreness, so we skipped it. I felt pretty lazy and a bit guilty afterward, but it’s taper time, so no harm done!

Thursday:
3.3 miles (10:55 avg pace)
First Thursday! I can’t believe I almost forgot about it! Again, it was so much fun! There didn’t seem to be as many distant checkpoints this time. There was one down on Naito, but we purposely skipped it! There’s a lot of stop and go during this run, which is reflected in the pace. I think we were running closer to 9:30, but it still felt nice and easy. We enjoyed some beer afterward, and waited to hear one of our tickets read over the sound system, but no luck this time. Maybe next month!

Here we are after the run (it was another rainy day). I’m wearing my VIP shirt for shorter beer lines and extra tickets:

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
8 miles (10:13 avg pace)
We steered clear of the Rose Festival crowds, and took it nice and easy. My legs felt tired throughout the run, which I think is mostly attributed to “Taper Madness” which I’ve read about so much on other blogs. I’m not too worried about it. That’s what adrenaline on race day is for!

Starlight Run Race Recap

Results (As a Girls on the Run Running Buddy):
5K: 55 minutes (17:42 avg pace) (Watch time. NOT chip timed)
We weren’t quite the last to finish (second to last!), but what a struggle! Luckily I wasn’t alone with my buddy. I had my own (adult) Running Buddy to help push us to the end. Since the Starlight Parade begins right after the Run, we had a certain pace we had to keep. (Not my little running buddy’s style…)

The race starts with an incline…”Perfect”, I thought. Little running buddy ran for about 10ft, and we encouraged her to power walk the rest of the way. By the time we reached the top (maybe 100ft into the race) we were at the tail end of the crowd. The rest of the race was a battle trying to try and keep up. Barely a quarter of a mile into the race, we were being told by the police that we would have to pick up our pace. As we weaved through the Pearl, we were a block behind the next nearest group of runners. After exiting the Pearl, the school bus pulled up behind us. “You need to get on if you can’t hurry up.” Great. This is when the endless Cheering began. Luckily we were soon entering the crowd along the parade route. Their cheers and kiddo high-fives gave a little extra energy to little running buddy. We managed to pull ahead of the bus, but it was right behind us the entire rest of the way.

Can I just say “Thank You” to all the “helpful” crowd participants who pointed the bus out to us. We were having a hard time remembering it was there with it constantly honking at us, and the constant police sirens close behind… After 2 miles, we picked up another little running buddy who was heavily struggling to stay ahead of the bus. I thought for sure I was going to lose my voice from all the encouragement I was yelling. Finally, we crossed the 405 onto the home stretch back to Lincoln High School. We descended the final hill and turned the corner. “We’re almost there!!!” And turned another corner. “We’re probably almost there!!!” And then there it was. The finish line! “We did it. We destroyed that bus!!” 1st little buddy crossed, and soon after new little buddy crossed, and it was over. After 55 minutes of constant peppiness. It was a looooong 55 minutes, and it was over. I’ll never look at a school bus the same way again…

I don’t want to be all negative. I think this is a great program, and I think most people have a great experience as a running buddy. (Most buddies seemed to keep themselves up near the other participants.) I’ll probably try to participate again next year. I want to give it another chance. This was definitely not easy, but I felt very accomplished that we got our buddy to the finish line. I also got to see the tail end of a race, which I’ve never done before, and I can say now that I’d really rather never experience it again! :)

In other news, only one more week to go until the big day! I plan to post again before the big day with my race goals (spoiler alert: #1 = to finish!) and my thoughts going into the race. We’ve got a nice easy week ahead of us:

Monday:
3 miles

Tuesday:
REST!

Wednesday:
3 miles

Thursday:
My plan says walk for 2 miles, we’ll see what happens.

Friday:
Day off from work. Packet Pickup.

Saturday:
Helvetia Half Marathon!!!! (13.1 miles of FUN!)

Sunday:
Bask in our glory!