So, today the whole Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend races begin today! The Star Wars 5K race is not one I’ll be racing in. I hope that all who ran in this race had an amazing time! My race weekend begins with the Star Wars 10K on Saturday morning. Here’s what I’ll be wearing in the race….

This is plan B for me with this race. I had initially thought of a different Storm Trooper top. Getting this top lead to a crazy week. I ordered something on Amazon that would have been pretty cool. Unfortunately, when you’re ordering online, you don’t have the opportunity to try the clothing on beforehand. So, I went with the information I had and made the order. According to Amazon, the item was due to arrive on Wednesday. It ended up arriving on Monday. I Unfortunately, it was shipped via UPS. The UPS driver made one attempt and sent the package to a UPS store. Unfortunately, this store was only open during when I was at work. So, it would have been impossible for me to retrieve the package. After talking with UPS for a while, they re-delivered the package and it was waiting for me when I got back from the Star Wars Half Marathon Expo. After all of that, the shirt I ordered doesn’t fit right. So, it’s plan B…last year’s Star Wars 10K shirt (still Storm Troopers right?).

As for the race, I’m in corral C for the 10K. It’s a different course from last year. This year, I’m planning on taking this race as a fun one. I have no time goals whatsoever. I plan to take lots of pics and have fun along the way. I’ll attempt to run a 30 second, 60 second run/walk interval for the race when not taking pics. Of course, if I’m feeling good on race morning, I could decide to race this race with those intervals and see how it goes. However, as of now, I’m not planning on racing this race.

This is what I’ll be wearing for the Star Wars Half Marathon. As you can see, I’m not big on crazy fancy costumes to run in. Someone told me today, that’s its costume light. I absolutely love this shirt. Jedi Training Academy’s Valedictorians….Luke, Obi-Wan, and Yoda. Everything I’m wearing is “in theme” for the race without being a full blown costume.

As for strategy for the Star Wars Half Marathon…I’m planning on running 30 seconds, walking 90 seconds and see how it goes. I would love it if I could run a sub 3 hour half marathon. The plan is to only take photos during my walk breaks while in the parks. I’m not planning on stopping for character photos in the parks. However, I’m assuming that the 501st Legion will be out and about again on the streets of Anaheim/Garden Grove. If so, that’s where I’ll stop. There are generally no lines or maybe a line of one or two people. So, it’s ideal for keeping your time going well and having fun with the pictures. In order to give myself some time for the photos, I’m hoping to run miles 6 and 7 with a run 30, walk 60. If I’m up for it, I can come back to this after the 501st Legion area. Fueling strategy is to take in one Cliff Blok every 30 minutes. I’ll have one bottle of water with me and one bottle of Gator Aid as well. These bottles are in case I feel like I need them and there is no water station in sight. I will take on water or Power Aid at the stations on the course without missing any. No matter how much I try to be diligent with the liquids, it always ends up with feel. Some times I feel like the Power Aid and sometimes, I get sick of the Power Aid and take on water.

I feel like a sub three hour half is totally doable. After all, if not for the above picture (which I waited for 10 minutes in line), I would have had a sub 3 hour Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon in November. I finished with a time of 3 hours, 8 minutes and change. So, without the 10 minute wait, I would have been at 2 hours, 58 minutes and change. The Star Wars Half Marathon course is flatter than the Avengers Half Course. Also, it’s more wide open. However, this course does spend more time in the theme parks. So, course crowding issues could spring up there.  We shall see what happens on race day.

No matter what happens, it will be a very fun weekend. Can’t wait to add some more bling to the collection…and Star Wars bling at that! Have a great weekend everyone! May the course be with us all!