Scenic Sandpoint - 5k Fabulous

A few days before my planned half marathon (Scenic Sandpoint), I was stressing about the race and feeling under-trained and over-tired.  My cool-headed husband says, "why don't you just run the 5K?"  I fretted - won't you think I'm giving up?  But I signed up for the half and I have to follow through!?  He tells me it's no big deal (true) and that he'd rather see me push myself hard in a shorter distance since we both know that I can plod along through a half marathon and cover that distance (also true, and I laughed, envisioning myself plodding along!)

So, that is what I did, and I am SO GLAD!

Half Marathon start

It was really fun to race the 5k, and it was also comedic.  My sister was also running the 5k, and we thought it was scheduled to start at 9 am.  So, after watching the halfers start, and then seeing the 10k folks line up around 8:40, I casually walked over to use the bathroom.  On my walk back (around 8:45am) I hear the announcer saying that the 5k will be starting in 1 minute (?!).  So I see my husband, and quickly try to hand him my vest and long-sleeve shirt and explain to him that the race is starting, and my mom runs over asking if I've seen my sister (and I hadn't!).  Thankfully, my sister runs up as the announcer says "20 seconds to start" and we frantically try to pin her race number on her shirt.  As the race starts, I am facing the wrong direction, finishing pinning on her number and we both start running, nearly trip each other, and thankfully manage to run the rest of the race smoothly. 

See me in pink and my sister next to me in the sunglasses?

I just kind of took off at a pace that felt hard but manageable for the distance.  There were no mile markers, but I had my Garmin so I could track my pace.  It was a small race and out and back, so I counted the number of women ahead of me as they turned around.  Less than 10!  I think my miles got progressively slower, and my chest was feeling tight as I came through the final turn to the finish.  I got totally humbled though when this 12 year old girl sprinted past me to finish just under 25 minutes, I finished in 25:04.  I had to laugh because she reminded me of my 12 year old self, since that's when I started running 5k road races and loving it!

I still hope to run the half marathon another day, this just wasn't my day.  It was a beautiful morning for running, and the process of switching races was very smooth.  We had a delicious (peppery - as in, the bacon was covered in pepper) breakfast at Trinity, right next to the finish line, so we got to see my friend finish her first ever half marathon!

All in all, it was a fun day.  We originally intended to participate in this race with my mom and my other sister too, but my sister couldn't make the trip out to Idaho. =(  Hopefully, we will get her out here for another race soon!

He was cheering "Go Ms. L" for my friend, finishing her 5k race!  He was such an enthusiastic fan!

Who ran the Scenic Sandpoint Half Marathon?  What did you think?  Tell me about it!