Shamrock Half Marathon....Kick off to the Season

Earlier this year my husband had set a goal to run the Shamrock Half Marathon.  As it drew closer and I talked with my coaches it was decided I needed to do a spring half marathon.  The Shamrock Half fit the bill perfectly...the start line was a mile from my house, I had run most of the course on training runs, and my daughter's dance competition that day wasn't until late that afternoon...perfect match!

The Shamrock Half Marathon is not a PR course....it is very hilly the entire race!  My garmin had a total climb of 1,392 feet when I crossed the finish line.  I didn't have much expectation from this race as I was at a triathlon camp last weekend and when I ran on Tuesday it felt like I had lead legs and was dragging a ton of bricks behind me.  I had decided I would do with whatever my legs would give me.  My only strategy was to not kill myself the first four miles of hills.

Since this was just a long training day without much expectation I spent Friday night at the Tin Angel Cafe with a bunch of friends eating the yummiest dinner and, yes, dessert.  I woke up race morning 90 minutes before the race start and left my house 15 minutes before start time.  Yes, this was a very non-stress morning.

When I got to the race I decided I better get into some sort of race mode so I did a short little warm up, took my gu, and headed to the start line.  When the gun went off I didn't have lead legs!  I ran with a couple people for the first four miles that were holding a pace I figured was pretty good for all the hills.  Mentally I thought lets just get through these first four miles and then we can really run.  Four miles came and went, my heart rate was where I wanted and I decided it was time to start picking people off.  One my one I started targeting people.  I ignored the headwind and the uphill and just ran. I knew that for every up there was going to be a good downhill somewhere.  And when those came I ran hard!  When I got to mile 9 and picked off two more girls I figured I was somewhere near the front of the pack.  My legs were still cooperating but I knew I had one more hill at mile 10.  That hill was of the devil...it was steep!  But, once I reached the top I pushed it to the finish line.  My legs were not happy and my music was turned up louder.

I was so pleased when I crossed the finish line in 1:32:37!  I had exceeded my expectations for the day.  I am now wondering if I should just treat every race like it is all fun and no stress....as I did everything that I would NEVER do the night before a race.  Yet... I had a great day!  So, I think I am changing my mantra to the same as a good friend of mine....It is all about fun!  And today....was FUN!  I ended up placing 4th overall and 1st in age group.

I am so excited for this upcoming race season because I have chosen some super fun races with super fun people, and this year is going to be FUN!

A special thanks to my awesome triathlon team....I love these girls!  Also, thanks to GU....there is no better product in a half marathon...TriEdge, Flexr, and Switch (their glasses rock!)

And a big congratulations to my husband who reached his time goal for his half marathon as well!!  It was fun to be at the finish line to cheer him on as he is at so many of mine being my biggest cheerleader.