I've decided to use my blog to keep track of my races. I've become an absolutely insane runner! I ran my first half marathon this past weekend...you know, the one I signed up for on my birthday last year? It was AWESOME!! I'm so in love with distance running. I can't even put it into words. I crossed the finish line and practically dashed over to my hotel to register for a dozen more!
Here is my race calendar as of right now:
4/14 - Kent Island Metric Marathon - 26.2K/16.3mi
4/28 - Iron Girl Half Marathon - Columbia, MD
5/4 - Apple Blossom 10K - Winchester, VA (Morning)
5/4 - Frederick Running Festival 5K - Frederick, MD (Evening)
5/5 - Frederick Running Festival Half Marathon - Frederick, MD (Nut Job Challenge)
5/12 - Cox Providence Half Marathon - Providence, RI
6/15 - Baltimore 10 miler (haven't registered yet, but pretty sure I'm doing this one)
7/13 - Jamestown Half Marathon - Jamestown, RI
9/14 - Diva Half Marathon - DC Wine Country (Leesburg, VA)
10/5 - Great Allegany 15K - Cumberland, MD
10/13 - Newport Half Marathon
10/19 - Tough Mudder Mid-Atlantic - Gerrardstown, WV
11/16 - Turkey Trot 10K
I'm sure I will add a couple more in there because the depth of my crazy has not yet been realized, I'm afraid!
Anyhow, here is my Shamrock Race Report:
This was my first half and I'm SO glad I chose this race. It was an awesome experience! I did the Dolphin Challenge, so I ran in the 8k Saturday, too.
I didn't have any time goals for the 8k since I was saving my energy for the 1/2 SUnday. I just had fun checking out the scenery and everyone's costumes! This was my first really big race w/ corrals and all. It did annoy me a little that walkers were in the earlier corrals than me (I ran ~10:45mm) - dodging them was a bit of a pain.
There was some unexplained delay in getting off for the half. I don't think the first corral went out until 15 min after the scheduled start and I was a ball of nervous energy, so that kind of sucked. They were quick getting people through once they did start going. We were in corral 7 and started just about 7min after "gun time." I was running with two other friends and it was a little crowded for the first couple miles and then in patches throughout, but I kind of expected that knowing we were going to be running 3 abreast the whole time.
There was awesome course support - tons of people, kids, pets out cheering us on. There were also several "beer stops" that locals put together, which I thought was really cool. I couldn't even drink my free Yuengling after the race, much less have beer during, but it added a fun element to the course. Checking out all the costumes was another highlight of this race. There was never a shortage of things to see and keep you distracted and motivated.
My friends struggled a little, but we all stuck together. Finishing down the boardwalk was amazing - it's my favorite place in the world to run! I live in WV, so I trained at mild elevation with ridiculous hills, so running flat felt A-mazing. We crossed the finish at 2:24:01 for a perfect 11mm pace. My goal for this race was to just finish under 2:30, so I succeeded! I had a stretch goal of finishing under 2:20, but I'm happy with my time for my first. When I initially registered in June last year, my predicted finish time was 3hrs! I'm amazed at how much I've improved since then! I still had gas in the tank at the finish, so that's a good sign in my book
The weather was perfect for running. It was a little windy along the ocean front stretches, but by then it felt pretty good. Once you cooled down and got through the medals & food chute, it was downright FREEZING! Thankfully the finisher item was a blanket this year! Everyone bundled right up
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