Shamrock Run 15k Race Report

It was a windy, rainy, hilly sonofabitch, but it was awesome! I missed my goal time by about 2 minutes but I hadn't accounted for the monster hills. While the weather sucked, it didn't necessarily slow me down. The hills certainly did though!!

We walked down to the waterfront with about 20 minutes before the race start with just enough time to hit the porto-potties and do a short warm up run. No time to find the girls (Sarah, Alisa, Amy, Cindy, Emily) though unfortunately. I hope everyone else had a great run!

Our lovely spring weather deteriorated rapidly since Friday and this whole weekend has been a soaker. Today we added an intense southerly wind to the mix. Fun!

My goal was to run at about my goal Half Marathon pace (7:55) which would bring me in just under 1:14:00. I guess I forgot about the little climb on Terwilliger though! I've done this run a few times and I don't know why I didn't factor that into my goal. I knew there would be hills I just didn't account for it time-wise.

The race started on time and I started off at a strong pace. We made a few turns through downtown until we were headed south up Broadway. UP Broadway. Zach had mentioned this incline but it was a little tougher than I expected. The real hills started about mile 2 and continued solid through mile 4 or so, followed by a couple more miles of some down and some up. I checked my Garmin and by mile 3.5 we were at 500 ft. elevation (started at sea level).

I held the pace somewhere between "pushing" and "not dying" which seemed ok. A lot of people were passing me, but then I had started off toward the front of the pack. I was breathing very hard but not wheezing. We climbed and climbed and climbed. The rain was coming down sideways and there were some powerful gusts that just made me laugh.

My splits are pretty chaotic, but I think that the mile markers were slightly off:

Mile 1- 8:06
Mile 2- 8:33
Mile 3- 9:23
Mile 4- 8:04
Mile 5- 8:39



Finally about mile 6 we turned left and headed south down Barbur back toward downtown. This decline wasn't at all what I'd hoped it would be! You'd think after all that climbing we'd have a screaming downhill. Nope. I swear it was flat. Dammit! I was feeling really good and my breathing was in control, but I was bordering on a side cramp which luckily never got too bad. I sped up and started passing people.

Mile 6- 7:55
Mile 7- 7:48
Mile 8- 7:44
Mile 9- 7:12
last 0.35- 2:28 (7:00 pace)

I saw Zach with about a quarter mile to go and he jumped in for a second and gave me a final boost. I saw my friends Deana and Dana right after I crossed the finish line and gave them a quick high-five.

Final time (unofficial): 1:15:57 (8:09 average pace)

My Garmin results, just for the record, were 9.63 miles and 7:53 average pace. Not official, but makes me happy to see that.

I'm actually really happy with this race! It was tough, the weather was awful, but I had a blast. I felt really good the whole time! It was a confidence booster for my upcoming half, since will be like NO hills compared to this.

After the race we found our group and Zach and I shared our thoughts and had fun telling everyone about the race. We tried to find the beer garden but it was a muddy mess of folks so we just headed over to VooDoo Doughnuts instead. The rest of the day has been spent leisurely dining at our favorite brunch spot and soaking in the hot tub. Life is good.


Photos! (the quality ones are courtesy of Zach's step dad, makes me want a nice camera)

In pre-race rain gear:


Zach's in the center of this photo heading toward the finish. I like this shot because it's a good view of downtown. Oh, and that white building on the top of the hill in the far background? We ran by that.

Zach kicking ass:

Me kicking ass (and looking hot) heading toward finish:

In the Irish Festival tent after the race listening to some Irish tunes:

VooDoo:

Dirt Doughnut (Oreo-topped)

Brunch spot (highly recommended):

Thanks for reading!