Ok, it's really long but I rarely race so here goes.  Better late than never!

Just a week ago we were arriving at our destination of Green Bay. Man, what a long drive, almost 8 hours.  The whole drive out I was having second thoughts about running.  My last long run was cut short due to knee pain that I had never had before. I was on the fence about what shoes to wear until that happened so went with the Brooks Transcend that have 200 miles.  Then there is the stupid foot that has not ever been pain free since surgery in November, 2014. The medicine for inflammation and pain only helps so much.  This was only my 12th race ever, the third half and the first since September, 2014.

My goals were:

to beat 2:35:00 for a P.R.

to run without foot or knee pain

to have fun

I know the rules about not trying anything new on race day.  I did, however, buy some Sport Beans and a SPI belt to put my stuff in.  I didn’t take my phone, just Advil, gum and the sport beans.

Anyway, you already saw the photos from Jlynne’s house and the party house on Saturday.  Speaking of Saturday, ugh!  I felt awful for most of the day, good thing there are porta potties everywhere.  Now I really was having second thoughts about this race!  MrStarr and drove down to Lambeau Field to watch Amy run the 5K at 9:00.  I actually found her in the coral to wish her well, and well she did! 1st place AG award for her once again.

After the awards ceremony we went to the hotel, packed a lunch drove up to Door County. It is really pretty up there.  I imagine it gets super busy in the summer time. Had lunch at Egg Harbor then drove up to Fish Creek but didn’t do any shopping or tourist stuff. Just a few miles east is Bailey’s Point on Lake Michigan. There was a fun “Blessing of the Fleet Festival” going on there with a good band and all the artist’s booths. So, a good day to rest my legs but a bit of GI issues going on all day.  We went over to the party house for spaghetti for supper with everyone.  Jlynne said that I should take some immodium so got that on the way back to the hotel.  That did the trick and I felt fine after that, whew!

I actually slept pretty well and got organized by 6:30 to head to the race.  There were two other women from Worthington that always do Green Bay. One of them actually lives just a few houses from me. I didn’t see either one of them amid the crowds though. It was a festive atmosphere with plenty of sunshine, 61° and a slight breeze.  I was amazed at how long the porta-potty lines got! There were over 5,000 doing the half.

Once the horn sounded (the first time) It took me over 16 minutes to get to the starting line since I was in the last coral.  I wasn’t racing against anyone but just my time.  Actually, my secret goal was to get 2:30:00, a 11:27 pace.  I kept that pace for about 4 miles, even with a bathroom break.  I found a couple of women to chat with at different times so that was nice.  At mile 7 there was a long hill but I managed to run plod most of the way.  I took Erika’s advice and walked to the water stops and stopped at all of them.  I don’t do gu’s so just ate a few sports beans. You all know how warm it got, in the high 70’s by the end, but it wasn’t unbearable for me.

Coming into the final miles my i-Pod started playing “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey – I liked that. The marathon joins the half right at the street coming into Lambeau field right before going through the tunnel into the stadium.  Suddenly there are a lot more people running beside you which was kind of fun, just a lot more momentum and I ran that mile in 11:16, the second fastest.

Lon was in the bleachers by the finish line outside with the camera and got a photo, but I look kind of tired.  I had signed up for text alerts for everyone I knew that was running so I think he enjoyed having the notifications during the race.  Amy and Erika actually finished just ahead of me.

We left Green Bay early and drove to Hudson, Wisconsin to break up the trip.  His brother and wife had some other family over for a wonderful meal and I sure ate my share!  We got home at 4:00 on Monday since I needed to be at dress rehearsal for my orchestra concert.  I had time to squeeze in a manicure and pedicure and that felt wonderful!  Love, love, love those massage chairs!

Oh, here are the stats:

Chip time: 2:34:56 (this will be easy to remember!) – a P.R. by 4 seconds!

Pace: 11:50

AHR/MHR: 146/157

AG 60-64:  21/65

FEMALE: 2040 /3215

I am so glad I did this race -- it got me off my butt in the middle of winter on a regular basis.  I had so much fun meeting all the RA friends in Green Bay, just wish it wasn't so far away!

Nice race and nice race report, Starr!

Loved the story and the pictures!

Glad you enjoyed everything about the weekend.  Great to see all the pictures and accomplishments by some special folks!

Starr, thanks for this report with pictures! It was so good to see you and Lon again, you guys really added to the fun that weekend. And you had a really good race! Tell me about a lot of driving, whew! But yes, it's good to have a goal in the middle of winter to get you up and going! Now you have a new PR to shoot for with training over the summer for Portland!

Nice report Starr, and I am so happy you got your PR!  RR are never too long in my opinion and Imodium is my best friend at times.

Looking forward to meeting you in Portland, and great photo of all the Goddesses!

Love the PR and the smiles in the pictures. Thank you for sharing your adventure.

Great report Starr!! You look awesome!!