Shamrock Half Marathon Race Recap

Alrighty, time for the main event! The Shamrock Half Marathon! I ran this race for the first time in 2011 and PRed by 25 minutes. Insane, I know! Who does that??? I was really looking forward to running it again and had a goal of running it in 2:50:00. Sadly, my training was not what it should be and my goal was to be sub-3:00:00.

Sunday morning I got up and immediately went to the window of our hotel room to see if it was raining. The forecast said it might and I was not prepared for a race that was cold and wet! Hubby said the race organizers posted the rain had stopped, so I relaxed a little. I knew I wasn't as prepared for a cold race as I would have liked to be, but no rain did make it less stressful!

I got ready and we were out the door by 6:30 a.m. to head to the start. There were 10 corrals this year! 10! That's a lot of people! And it was neat walking out of our room and seeing all the people walking to the start. We arrived near the start line and decided to walk a bit further up as last year I had to fight my way from the back to my corral. Well, this year when we walked down the side street to where I thought I should line up, I had to walk backwards...several blocks! Ugh. So many people...

I got in my corral and hubby headed to the start to cheer me on as I passed. I put myself right up front. I didn't want to be any further back than I had to be. And I waited. I didn't have a watch on, so I didn't know what time it was, but people around me started getting antsy. Apparently, it was past 7:00 a.m. and there had been no starter gun. Being so far back we really couldn't hear any of the announcements. We did her the National Anthem signer, but that was all. So, we waited. Freezing. The temperatures were in the low 40s, but the wind chill was insane! So cold!

We finally get started about 10 minutes later than we should have, which means our corral went off about 7:20 a.m. We hit the road, I saw hubby on my right, waved, and got going. The course I knew. Which turned out to be a good thing. I liked the familiarity of the course, knowing what to expect. I had my music and there were lots of people around. I found a rhythm and I went with it.

I have no photos from the race. I had actually meant to take my camera with me, but the memory card filled up on Saturday afternoon at the aquarium. Sorry!

The race went along fine. I knew I wasn't running as fast as last year, which is ok. The road out to the military base was fine. Fun little jokes on the side of the road, pretty scenery, and a nice, flat course. What I remember most about those miles is just being content running. Sounds odd, but those miles were good miles. I was somewhat warm and felt good.

I mention feeling warm because as we turned onto the base at about mile 6 that feeling of warmth went out the window. The trees on the road leading to the base blocked the wind. The base? No trees or blocking. We were just about a block from the ocean/beach and the wind was nasty! The entire time I was running on the base, my hands were so cold they hurt. That is the only thing I really regret not having with me on the run was a pair of gloves. I wore a long-sleeve pull-over that I packed last minute (thank heavens!), but gloves would have been a God send! These miles were miserable only in the sense that my hands hurt. I felt fine other than that. There were lots of people out cheering for us, which for some reason I think was more than last year. There were some lovely military personnel who came out to give high fives and I felt bad because I knew if I high fived, my hands would break. I waved and said thank you.

Once off the base, my hands started to feel a bit normal again. Not much, but they didn't hurt as badly. Just off the base my back started hurting. Ugh. That's the first time in three races that happened. I've managed to get myself in good enough condition since Philly that my back has held up fine. This race, nope. Soreness. From about mile8 on out, I had to stop several times to stretch out my back. Frustrating.

The rest of the miles were good. I knew I wasn't going to PR. I could tell from the times Garmin had that this race was going to be one of my better ones, but it wouldn't touch last year's Shamrock Half Marathon time. I turned onto the boardwalk and wow. The wind nailed me! I felt like I was pushing against a locked door. Two of the Livestrong volunteers ran along side me to the boardwalk. I'm sure in their minds that was helpful as they yelled encouraging things. To me, not so much. I run solo and to be singled out like that? Didn't like it. I'm a jerk, I know.

I hit the boardwalk and ran. I had hoped to pick up speed and nail the end, but nope. I didn't have it in me. That's ok. As I passed hubby just past Neptune, he said I looked good. I think he lied.

I felt like I just wanted the race to be over. LOL! And from this spot on the course to the finish line it wasn't far. I crossed the line at 3:01:09. 11 minutes slower than last year. Blargh. I came up to the medal volunteers and the lovely lady actually placed my medal around my neck. Thank you! I went through the corral picking up my water, Gatoraid, hat, pretzel, granola bar, banana, Shamrock cookie, FLEECE BLANKET, and finally a bag to put it all in! I stopped for the photo in front of the backdrop and the nice photographer helped me get all my stuff into the bag. I got my photo taken and it was off to find hubby to celebrate!

Here are some photos of us enjoying the after-party:

So, while I didn't get the PR I was hoping for, overall it went alright. A bit cold, but in the end I ran those 13.1 miles. I made it back to the beach. I had a good time with the hubby. I am a Dolphin Challenger again!

Did you race this weekend? How did it go?

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Shamrock 8k

Saturday morning hubby and I ran the Shamrock 8k. For him, it was a down grade from the marathon/half marathon he was going to run. He's been fighting injury and had to defer. Instead of doing nothing, he decided to at least run the 8k and I ran the 8k to complete the Dolphin Challenge again.

We arrived at the start line about 7:30 a.m. for an 8:00 a.m. start. The temps weren't too bad, around 52 degrees. We hung out, then headed to our corrals - hubby to corral 2, me to corral 5. I was pleased to once again not be in the last corral. LOL!

The race got underway on time, which is always good. Being so far back meant I didn't get started really until about 10 minutes after the start. That's o.k. I had a nice conversation with two ladies who were running their first race. They were sweet to chat with and I hope they had a great race!

As my corral got to the start area, the announcer said he saw his favorite sight - runners on both sides of him! We started off through the large Start arc

and I laughed as the live band just beyond starting playing Blink-182's What's My Age Again? Blink-182 is one of hubby's favorite bands and I had to laugh that they were playing that song. The start was chaotic honestly. So many people and many of them not understanding the whole corral system. I was stuck behind lots of people who started off walking, which made it hard to get a good start. As I ran I thought races should switch from what time do you think you'll finish to "runner," "run/walk," or "walker." Then the runners and run/walkers know where to line up and walkers were in the back. This may sound mean, but as a slow runner I deal with this all the time. I don't want to screw the fast runners who are running for prize money/medals, but it seems as if no one considers that slow runners still want to have a good race too.

Anyway...we ran down Atlantic Avenue for about 2 miles. The race takes you past much of the restaurants/hotels/activities that make up Virginia Beach. It's so flat. It's so nice. LOL!

And don't forget all the fun costumes!

Once you get past the first part of the course on Atlantic Avenue, you turn onto the boardwalk. It's such a fun part of the race honestly. I enjoy seeing all the runners ahead of me and the ocean on the side. To me, it's a pretty unique experience. Maybe not to everyone, but to me it is.

We headed down the boardwalk and enjoyed the view. This is my favorite part of the race and I took it all in. We then turned off the boardwalk and back onto Atlantic Avenue. For some reason the distance on Atlantic Avenue this time seemed long. Not sure why. But, we came up to the turn to the boardwalk

At this point I checked my Garmin and had about 6 minutes til the hour. I really wanted this race under 60 minutes. I decided at this point not to check it again until I crossed the finish line. I just ran, not knowing what would happen.

Along the way I saw hubby standing on the side of the boardwalk. Phew! He finished! I hit the finish line and was happy to finish and be standing up. I looked down at Garmin hoping beyond hope that I might have PRed, even if I didn't manage a sub-60 8k. I was disappointed. I finished in 1:02:50, 59 seconds slower than last year and 2 minutes and 51 seconds slower than I had hoped. Crap.

I went down the boardwalk, picking up my medal as I went about to cry. Honestly. I know it sounds sad, but I was really upset. As I waited in line for my medal, I heard music coming from the party tent. And I laughed. How could I not? As I stood there fighting back tears, Bob Marley's Everything Is Gonna Be Alright was playing. Alright Bob. I'll take your advice. It is going to be alright.

After grabbing my medal, food, water, and koozie, I found the hubby and we went to party in the tent.

And thank heavens we did! While I felt a drop or two of rain hit me as I walked through the finisher's line, it sure let loose after we managed to get in the tent. It poured! Oh my goodness! I felt so bad for those still out on the course. We hung in the tent until the rain calmed down and enjoyed our adult beverages. The band was great, the people were fun, and we just celebrated running the race.

And now it was time to get ready for the Shamrock Half Marathon...

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Shamrock Half Marathon

Finally! Today is the Shamrock Half Marathon (and officially St. Patrick's Day!)! It's been a long road traveled to get here, but I'm lacing up those sneakers to run 13.1 miles in hopefully under 3 hours. That's the goal. We shall see.

Hope you have a great day and run strong if you're running today too! I'll be back next week to tell you all about both races!
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Shamrock 8k

Today is the Shamrock 8k in Virginia Beach, VA. At 8:00 a.m., hubby and I will run the streets and have fantastic views of the beach. Will I PR? Probably not. Will I have fun? I sure hope so!

Have a great Saturday! Good luck to my fellow Shamrock 8ers and all you other fantastic runners out there!

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Anthem Half Marathon - March 18, 2012

It was an early morning.  I am not a morning person so this whole running thing is tough sometimes.  But, I got up at 5:30 a.m. to get myself together.  I had set out my stuff the night before which greatly reduces the amount of time one needs to get ready in the morning.

Even though it was dark out, I did remember the sunblock.  I'm white as a ghost and I knew eventually there would be sun.  We headed out about 6:00 a.m. to the start line.  Our hotel was at 29th Street, the start was somewhere around 40th Street.  Which was fine.  I didn't mind the walk and there were all sorts of people out and about heading to the start.

We got there about 6:30 a.m. and hung out chatting.  Somewhere around 6:45 a.m. Brian headed off to find a spot along the route to cheer me on and I headed to the corrals.  It was a tad chilly in the predawn darkness, but I knew it would warm up.  As I waited I realized I had to hit the little girl's room.  But the lines...they were so long.  So, I made the executive decision to wait until the first set of port-o-potties on the course.  Being in the last corral, I had plenty of time to wait until we went off and low and behold it held me in good stead.  I reached the next cross street and there were port-a-potties...with no line!  Yea!  I ducked into one and got back before the corral was sent off.  :-)  Genius!  And this comes in handy later as I never had to make a bathroom stop on the course!

What I remember from the start are three things:

1. As we waited to be set free, the Black Eyed Peas song "This is gonna be a good night" was playing.  I have good associations with this song - dancing with some good friends in Las Vegas and dancing in a club in Florence Italy with new good friends.  This song is never a bad addition to any activity.

2. The song that played immediately afterwards which was what sent us off was Will Smith's "Summertime."  I'm from the Philly area, Will Smith is from Philly.  When I hear that song it makes me think of summer and all the fun times that summer brings.  It was a great kick-off to the half marathon.

3. Though Brian wasn't sure where I would be, he found a spot along the course at the start and waited.  And we saw each other!  I was shocked!  With all those people, I didn't think we would.  He even got a photo of me starting.  It's kinda blurry...

And then I wouldn't see him until Mile 13... It was all me and my Garmin from here on out.  There won't be any more photos until the finish because I didn't take the camera this time around.  I wish I had, but I thought with the temperatures being warm I had no jacket to put it in when my hand started to hurt.  So, you'll just have to bear with me.

It was a bit crowded at the start.  Lots of people being too far up and walking.  I did quite a bit of moving, swerving, bopping.  I passed many a person on the course, which felt kinda good.  I never pass people.  I was thrilled, but tried to keep my head about me.  It's great to pass people at the beginning, it's another thing to pass them at the end. 

When Garmin went off at half a mile, I ran another 5:55.  Crazy!  I was shocked, but happy.  This stretch of the course (along with almost all of it in general) was flat.  It was a highway-type road that went past many a neighborhood, which brought out the neighbors to cheer us on.  Almost every side road had people at it cheering and encouraging us along.

When the highway-type road veered off towards the woods, there was a beer stop.  Not officially sanctioned, but random people who decided to set up a tent and hand out beer to runners who might want or need it.  I chose not to partake.  Just kept trucking along.

Brian (who ran the marathon last year) said the wooded area was kinda boring.  In a sense he was right.  It was a road with trees on either side that made a very pretty arch overhead.  But, what made it fun were the signs on the side of the road.  This is where I really wish I had my camera because I can't remember all the jokes.  The one I do remember is:

What happened when the leprechaun landed in the lake?

He got wet!

Yea, I know.  Awful.  But what's funny is this particular joke was after a ton of really punny ones and I really kept trying to figure out the catch.  Then there wasn't one.  I literally laughed out loud at this one.  I'm sure I got a funny look or two.  LOL!

Somewhere around 5 to 5.5 there was a DJ, which was nice because for some reason this race seemed really quiet.  There wasn't a lot of chatter on the course.  But, what bothered me about the DJ was she kept saying you're halfway there.  Now, if we're talking the finish line she obviously can't do math.  Which is exactly what I told the woman next to me as we passed the DJ.  But, onward we went.  

Shortly after the DJ we turned into the military base, which would be where the real turnaround point was located.  I'll be honest, this part of the course was kinda boring.  There weren't a lot of people out and about, there wasn't much to look at.  I kept looking for the lighthouse, but it never loomed over the trees.  The one thing I did like was a pretty little church on the base.  I think it was St. Theresa's. Not sure though.  It was set off from the road, tiny, and just cute.

The only part of the race that I had that "are we done yet" feeling was when I was running towards the 9ish mile water station.  For some reason it just seemed to take forever.  I was stopping at every other water stop for water and sports beans.  I didn't feel like I needed either per se, but it just seemed forever before I got to it.

After hitting the turn around point, I felt pretty good.  My goal had been to run the half somewhere between 3 hours and 5 minutes and 3 hours and 10 minutes.  I was hoping to shave some time off my Philly Half Marathon time.  Around mile 6, I felt I stood a chance of finishing under 3 hours.  But, I said to myself not to get too excited over the possibility because when you come in over three hours, but ahead of Philly you don't want to be disappointed.  Well, around mile 9 as I was drinking my water and chewing my beans, it seemed if I did the math correctly, I could really finish with a sub-3 hours half marathon.  This time I let myself get a tad bit excited and entertain the notion that I really could finish in under 3 hours.  So, low and behold at the 10 mile mark I was at 2 hours and 10 minutes with 3.1 miles to go.  Now, at my very worst 5k race I finished in 45 minutes.  This sub-3 hour half marathon was looking more and more probable.  I was getting really excited and trying to calm myself down.  When I hit mile 11 I knew there was no way, barring an injury that wouldn't let me walk the rest of the race that I wouldn't finish under 3 hours.  I wanted to jump up and down with excitement, but I figured I'd get funny looks.  LOL!  Around the 12 mile mark there was a water stop, which was not in the plans to stop at, but I decided to do so.  My throat was dry and I had time.  :-)

When I made the turn onto the boardwalk, I passed people.  Yes, at the last few hundreds of a mile, I passed people heading onto the boardwalk.  Crazy!  I came down the boardwalk and knew without a shadow of a doubt I was crossing that line in under 3 hours.  As I got close to the finish line I saw Brian again.  He yelled out did I know how fast I was going?  Uhhh...yea!  

I went past him onto the finish line.  I crossed the line and stopped Garmie - 2:51:56.  Wha??????  Holy moly!  I just smashed my half marathon time!!!  Not only did I beat my time from Philly, but I crushed it.  Oh I was happy!!  The official results were even better - 2:51:15.  :-)

After my first two half marathons I had unfortunate physical side effects.  After Princess, my back hurt.  Badly.  It started hurting at mile 10 and just didn't stop.  I was not happy.  In Philly, my back started hurting about mile 12 (which is an improvement over mile 10) and I was slightly miserable until the end.  And then, my stomach hurt afterwards.  I now realize what I did, but man, at the time I felt awful.  But Shamrock?  I felt amazing!  No back pain.  Barely any pain at all.  Some hip pain around mile 6 that lasted til the end, but it was a mild discomfort rather than a nagging pain.  After the race, no stomach pain...at all.  I felt fine.  I felt amazing.  I felt like I could have run a few more miles (and no, this does not mean I'm ready to train for a marathon!).  I just felt good.  

After crossing the finish line, I received my medal, hat, and sweatshirt.  Not too bad.  Then I found Brian on the beach.  We headed into the party tent for me to get my free adult beverages.  I chose not to partake in the beef stew, but I did partake in the beer.  Priorities. 

We hung out on the beach for quite a while, then headed in and listened to the DJ and band.  It was fun dancing around on the beach inside the tent to the music.  How I ran 13.1 miles, then danced for an hour in the tent is beyond me, but it was fun!

On the way back to the room, I had my picture taken with the sand sculpture.

Oh and how's this for a cool medal?  At the bottom is a bottle opener and hanging from the center is a removable charm.  Nice job J&A Racing!

After a shower, we stopped at Starbucks for coffee and a yummy walnut banana bread slice.  Then we wandered down the street to the stores.  We also stopped at the arcade and played some skee ball.  Because who doesn't play skee ball after a half marathon?  ;-)  It was fun!

Then I kinda crashed.  I was very tired.  We went back to the hotel and I took a nap.  Hubby woke me up about 7:00 p.m. and we headed off to CP Shuckers.  We ate there last year and it was yummy.  And it was yummy this year.  We shared Shuckers chips and enjoyed a delicious burger with fries.  Then we shared a molten chocolate cake.  :-)  After dinner it was fairly late, so we headed back to the hotel.  

It was an amazing day.  I was proud of myself.  I worked really hard the last several months training for this and for the first time I could see a marked improvement in my running.  A 25:33 minute PR??  I've been somewhat been on a high ever since.  LOL!  I suppose that's acceptable... 

Friday and Saturday, including the Townbank 8k

Friday

Friday turned out to be one crazy day!  We dropped off our cute little Higgy and Pooka for boarding and off we were to Virginia Beach.  We wanted to be out the door about 12:00 p.m., but didn't get on the road until closer to 12:45 p.m.  Oops!  So, instead of getting to the expo at 5:00 p.m., we'll get there about 6:00 p.m. I think.  No biggie.  What idiotic thinking!

We were moving along fine, until we hit the DC area, I believe.  Then traffic.  Awful, awful not moving traffic.  Not moving to the point I thought we wouldn't get to the expo and there would be no dolphin challenge for me.  I was pretty upset, but being there wasn't much I could do about it, I tried to keep it to myself.  But, hubby contacted a friend who vacations in Virginia Beach every year and we were able to get some new directions.  And with new directions came hope.

And with hope came us reaching the Shamrock Expo at 8:00 p.m.  For those who want to do the math, that would be 7 hours after leaving the house. Ugh.  We headed in and got our bibs.  I had to hit up two different tables to get the 8k and half stuff.  It was well worth it.

 Then it was off to the Shamrock Store to see what was there.  Because getting a long-sleeve t-shirt, short-sleeve technical shirt, then a hat and finisher's sweatshirt really isn't enough.  LOL!  I ended up with some sweat stuff!  A funky sweatshirt

A fun pair of socks

And a travel mug (that's not on the website...).  I liked a long-sleeve technical shirt, but they did not have my size (which is crazy to me because that size is a medium!!!).  Hubby picked up a sa-weet jacket and by this point the expo was over.  The reason?  The line to pay was so freaking long!  It was fine.  We got our goodies and headed out the door.  But not until I stopped off and picked up a cute decoration for my shoe.  :-)  I got a shamrock from BeeCause Charms.  They are the same charm people I grabbed my Princess shoe charm from at Princess.  Very nice people and from Philly!  Gotta love people wearing their Phillies pride t-shirts.

From the expo, we checked into the hotel.  I started to lay out my clothes for Saturday's run.  We hadn't eaten since breakfast and I wanted to get my stuff ready in case we got back late.  Just as we were about to head out to eat...what, we had no idea!...the fire alarm for the hotel went off.  I felt like I was back in college with a fire drill.  We headed out and went to dinner.  What was the point in hanging around?

Dinner took to us to Doughboys just down the street from the hotel.

We ordered beers from Hawaii, which was pretty good and an appetizer of cheese covered bread sticks that came with marinara sauce.  Dinner saw us chowing down on a yummy tomato and cheese pizza.  Pizza is our normal Friday night dinner, so it worked out.  Plus the pizza was delicious!  While at the restaurant we could see the fire trucks heading to the hotel.  We just kept hoping that it would still be standing after dinner....

And it was!  We went back to the hotel after dinner and everything was still standing.  Phew!  We finished getting our stuff together for the morning's race and hit the hay!  It was a long day...

Saturday

We were up early.  Well, not horribly early, but earlier than I like.  The race started at 8:00 a.m., which wasn't too bad, especially since we could walk to the start from the hotel.  It's a perfectly located hotel for EVERYTHING.  Seriously... We got dressed and headed to the start about 7:15 a.m.  We got to the corral area and just chatted and people watched.  Lots of interesting costumes and people walking around.  Since hubby and I are vastly different in our race speeds, we parted ways with about 15 minutes to go.  He to corral 3, me to corral 5 (which for the very first time in Chris corral placement history was not the last corral!!). 

 
A nice photo of the start as I headed off.  I really had no goals for this race other than to finish.  I didn't care how long it took me, how much I might walk it, or what might happen.  The goal was the dolphin pin that I could only get if I completed both races. But, here's the thing, I didn't want to run this too hard because I didn't want to mess myself up for the half the next day.  It was uncharted territory for me.  How fast can I go without hampering my performance the next day?  So, I took the camera along and figured that would slow me down.

This may seem like a strange photo, but if you look in the background you will see people running.  That's the boardwalk and those are people who are faster than I.  LOL!

A pretty neat view.  This portion of the run was probably the best part of the 8k.  You run up the boardwalk with the beach and the ocean on one side.  It was probably the best part of the race.

So, you turn off here to go back onto Atlantic Avenue.  It's kinda mean in a sense.  See that white thing in the back of the photo on the right side?  Yea, that's the party tent.  You have to turn away from the tent.  Mean.  So mean.  But, honestly, it wasn't that much further until you reach it.

The first time I ran past Neptune.  I tried to get a better shot, but it's really hard to run and take photos at the same time.  LOL!  It isn't too much further from here to the finish line.  A bit further than I would like, but that's the way it works with races...the finish line is always further away than you wish.

So, what was today's goals?  It was to finish.  It was to cross the finish line without dying.  When Garmin said the first half mile, I was at 5:55.  Ummm...what the heck???  When Garmie went off at 2.5 miles I was blown away - 30:08.  I've never run 2.5 miles that fast.  Ever.  And I was a tad bit nervous.  This was too fast.  So, I slowed down.  I purposefully slowed down.  I've never done that in a race.  I was just afraid running too strong Saturday could mess up my Sunday.  Well...when I hit the mats to set off the chip timer I looked down at Garmin and was blown away.  I set a PR.  Yes, after slowing down halfway through, I set a PR - 1:01:51. Crazy!  Going back to my last 8k, it's about 6 minutes faster.  Going back to Celtic Solstice 5 Miler in December it's about 3 minutes faster.  Wha????  Craziness.  Exciting craziness, but craziness nonetheless.

And what made it fun and exciting?  Turns out the hubby PRed as well!  He ran a heck of a race and finished before me (surprise, surprise!).  Once we found each other, which wasn't easy to do when you finish when other people do.  But that's a story for another post...

Afterwards we partied on the beach.  You can't go wrong with an after party on the beach.  :-)

After the party, we headed back to the room and showered.  It was nice.  Then we hit a place called Abbey Road for brunch.  I highly recommend it.  I had a breakfast that involved pretty much every food group - eggs, French Toast, potatoes, fruit.  It was yummy! 

We hit up the expo again afterwards because we really didn't see much of it the first time.  There were all sorts of interesting things and several things I debated about, but in the end we both decided there wasn't anything there we couldn't live without.  Then we headed back to the hotel for a little bit, changed, then headed off to dinner.

Dinner was yummy.  We hit up the same place we did last year and it wasn't not a mistake.  How can penne alla vodka be wrong???

And one of the best desserts ever...Napolean.  Oh so yummy...

After dinner, we kinda crashed.  All those carbs...back to the hotel.  We watched some hoops, Too Cute (Kittens), and called it an early night about 10:30 p.m. 

What a weekend!

This past weekend was the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Anthem Half Marathon, and Townbank 8k in Virginia Beach, VA.  Hubby and I went down to compete.  Hubby was going to run the Marathon, but he unfortunately suffered two injuries in December/January which kept him off the roads until mid-February.  He ended up having to defer until 2013, but decided to run in the 8k with me.

We both had an amazing weekend of running!  You can see a quick post from him about Saturday's race here.  He's much more technologically advanced than I and blogged from his phone!  I'll be putting up a series of posts sharing all the details of the weekend. 

But, I am going to say right now this race is incredible!  The organization, the course, the swag, and the party is unmatched!  I would not hesitate to recommend this race (and I think I did text a few friends telling them to sign up next year...), especially if you want to BQ.  J&A Racing did a downright fantastic job of organizing this whole weekend and I tip my hat to them!  Stay tuned!  Posts about the 8k, half marathon, and the swag coming up!

Race Day...Again!

Neptune on the Virginia Beach boardwalk.  I run right past him to reach the finish line.  

This image was taken at the 2011 Yuengling Shamrock Marathon by moi.

As most of you are recovering from your St. Patrick's Day celebrations, I will be getting my butt up early to run in the Anthem Half Marathon in Virginia Beach.  It is the second leg of the Dolphin Challenge, where running both the 8k and the half earns you a dolphin pin (which I hope exists somewhere so I can see what I'm killing myself for).  What am I looking forward to?

1. A flat course.  Hoping no repeats of the mile 9 hill debacle from the Philadelphia Half Marathon.
2. Seeing the light house (at least I've been told there's a light house...)
3. Crossing that finish line!  There may be a PR, there may not.  I'm still at the stage where crossing the finish line is an accomplishment all it's own!
4. All the SWAG!  A nice t-shirt with bag pick-up, then after crossing above mentioned finish line collecting my medal (!), a finisher's hat, and a finisher's sweatshirt!
5. The party!  I crashed last year with the hubby (who legitimately ran the marathon) and it was pretty sweet.  Looking forward to that celebratory Yuengling!

Enjoy your Sunday and if awake, give a thought that about 10:20ish a.m. I should be crossing that finish line!

Shamrock 8k and Half Marathon

Alrighty folks, I may be insane.  As you know, I'm signed up to run the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November.  Hubby has run the half the past two years and decided this year to go for the full.  Well, since I've now completed a half marathon, I figured what the heck?  I'll run Philly too!

Well, shortly after hubby completed the Shamrock Marathon this past March, he decided he was going to run it again in 2012.  He wanted revenge.  Totally understandable.  And when he said he would go back to do the full, I decided to do the half.  Why not?  The race is flat, has great swag (technical shirt, finisher hat, finisher t-shirt, and a finisher's medal [and we all know that's all I'll ever qualify for!]), plus a kick-ass after party with a live band, all the Yuengling you can drink, and beef stew (you can have mine).  Apparently, the after-party has been voted best post-race party and I will say, it was pretty sweet.

Now, I knew about this part of the race when hubby did it last year, but when I made the decision to run the half, I decided this was for me:

Dolphin Challenge

Not running the full marathon this year [or ever?]?  Then you might want to consider the Dolphin Challenge instead.  Dolphin Challenge participants still run the TowneBank 8k on Saturday, March 17 (St. Patrick's Day!), but then run the Shamrock Anthem Half Marathon on Sunday, March 18.  Dolphin Challenge finishers will also be mailed a commemorative pin after the event to recognize their Dolphin Challenge achievement.  Go for the extra bling--take the challenge!

So, yea, I might be insane.  I'm running an 8k (4.97 miles) the day before the half marathon (13.1 miles).  Or am I insane because I'm kinda looking forward to it?  I failed miserably at my duathlon, but for some reason I feel like I can rock this.  Will I set a PR on the half?  Uhhhh...no.  Will I let myself have a good time?  Heck yea!  Will I be excited to have TWO medals and the pin?  Heehee, yea.  :-)  I'm such a dork. 

So, I'm asking Neptune now to send me some positive vibes.  He knows the score.  He's there at the finish line welcoming the conquering heroes as they cross the finish line.  Thanks Neptune!  I know I can count on you!