That's me on the far left...rockin' the 80's look at the 31st Annual Starlight Run in Portland, Oregon. My friend Aimee is Gem from Gem and the Holograms and her friend is part of a group theme...running with the bulls.
Though dressing up is not required, there sure were lots of creative costumes. A bunch of middle-schoolers dressed up like iPod nanos. There were superheros, Wizard of Oz characters, octo-moms, bailed out CEOs and lots of hula dancers.
On the way there, Aimee and I were talking about how anyone could do a 5k and it should be no sweat! Oh boy were we wrong!!!! My recent bike rides had not prepared me for the reality of how out-of-shape I have become. We both started off strong and steady. Lots of momentum in the beginning!!! By the time we had reached the second mile marker, I could feel my body tensing up. At 2.5 miles I had to merge to the far right hand side of the street and start speed walking. It was quite humiliating to see little kids passing me up :-( That was right about the time when we started seeing the spectators....over 100,000!!!!! They were cheering us on and giving high-fives from the sidewalk. It was very inspiring. At one point, I looked around and realized that I was all alone and a guy on the sidelines screamed, "Come on girl in yellow! You can do it!" I started running again which eventually turned into a slow trot but the crowd kept me going. I finished in about 40 mintues which works out to be a little more then 13 minutes a mile. Not bad in my book considering the fact that I felt nauseated the whole last mile!
There are two lessons here;
1. Never underestimate the small runs (5k = 3.1 miles)
2. Never run in bedazzled denim converse (a week later, I'm finally healed. Pun intended)!
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