Shamrock 5K: Race Recap

Appears courtesy of ROJ Running.

At least it stopped raining.

This is what I thought to myself as I scraped the snow and ice from my windshield late Sunday morning.

It was the morning of the Shamrock 15K and I was trying to convince myself it would be fun, or at least manageable to run the 9.3 miles. I went to bed on time the night before, better yet I ate well and slept well two nights before as well (since I recently read it isn’t the night before the race but the night before the night before that matters).

I was stretched and well fed, however, I could not get past how cold it was outside and how slippery parts of the road seemed.

Buzzzz. Buzzzz. My phone scooted across the counter as the text messages began to roll in from my friend Gale. What is the best route to get there? What should we wear? Do we stay with the longer distance?

A few quick last minute scans to see that I’m wearing and carrying anything and everything that I would want. IPOD? Check. Garmin? Check. Both charged? Check. Shoes, socks, pants, proper underwear, shirt, adjusted sports bra, contacts, jacket, gloves…all check. I debated if I had enough layers, but knew I’d warm up and grabbed a coat and pair of sweats to wear after the run if needed.

I arrived early for registration and discovered I was not the only person thinking the ice would be too much to navigate and more people than I could count acknowledged they were dropping to the lower distance. Guilt be gone! I exchanged my bib and collected my “goodie bag”, a few flyers and the long sleeve tech shirt…in an ugly marigold color with a logo that has been reduced to mostly advertising. Boo. A few sprays of my inhaler and I was ready to chat and stand in the bathroom line!

Out near the start I ran into a former coworker and we chatted for a moment. It was nice to remember I wasn’t a part of my former life anymore. We both agreed how the flexibility there was amazing, being treated like you mattered, or even like a person just never happened. He was getting ready to start a new job too…and was doing the 15K. They started before us and we all clapped and cheered and people who didn’t even know each other laughed and agreed they were a little braver than our crowd.

I lined up with Gale and felt a slight twinge of regret that I wasn’t doing the longer run.

We were given the signal to start and oddly I did not immediately feel overwhelmed. Part of this was the inhaler and the steroids kicking in and making me extremely hyper (or perhaps just the level of awake I should feel?) as we took off near the first hill, I was amazed at how strong I felt, how comfortable I felt and I wondered what my pace was? Before I looked I had to navigate through a few people in front of me. Normally I resign myself to stay behind a crowd, admitting I’m not strong enough to push past and stay past. This was different, the slower pace actually felt…wrong…it felt…uncomfortable. So, I wiggled my way to the left and the right and up, up and away. I caught up with Gale, who seemed pleasantly surprised by my emergence.

We hit the first hill as she was saying her leg and butt were bothering her. I tried a new thing with this hill, I paced myself. I kept my turnover high and my chin off my chest, my arms were at 90 degrees and swinging…fingers apart…no tension! I spent so much time coaching myself I didn’t realize I made it to the top, I wasn’t out of breath and I even passed a few people!

Down the other side I went, feeling fantastic, I wanted to check my pace and noticed Garmin wasn’t working properly! It never found a satellite so I was stuck knowing my overall time only, no pace, no distance…and no elevation map for this very hilly course! The first mile to half way point had a few hills, but was a lot of downhill. I made the first mile around 9:43; I made the turnaround point just over 15 minutes and lost my hope of sub 30. The second half was nearly all up hill, some gradual others intense. On the second to last hill I stopped for about 15 seconds to catch my breath, I made the mistake of looking down too long and had cut off my oxygen supply. My spirits were high and I kept passing people up so back to the running motion I went.

Finally, I saw the yellow signs for the school zone, and then the lights for the school zone and I knew I was in the home stretch.

Lungs burning and arms flying I pumped it as much as I could. I was already over 30 minutes, but was hoping to break 33. As I entered the driveway I could hear friends or lovers or coaches yelling to the small group of ladies I was near. “Let’s GO! You can do it! Beat her, beat her!”

I wasn’t sure if these ladies WOULD beat me, but where I usually run a little slower and allow them to beat me, feeling sorry for myself the whole time, something inside of me sparked and I said “NO!”. If they were going to beat me, I couldn’t stop that, but I could make them work for it. With everything I had I tore toward the finish rope, acting as if the road itself were on fire. Hoping against all odds I could outrun whoever was on my tail. I nearly caught up to one girl, but the one behind me jolted in front right before I made the flags. Given this wasn’t chip timed, I wish I had started closer to the front!

I stood in line to turn in my bib tag, thinking I was about to have a full blown asthma attack. Never have I hurt so deeply, never have I been so choppy. Out of the line I stood to the side and cheered for Gale as she entered the shoot. Together we went inside for raisin bread and chicken soup.

She may not have noticed, but I feel like the smile I wore was the biggest I have had in my entire time running. I’ve been putting in the time and it paid off. Maybe not in clock time, but in the way I took those hills, the way I felt afterward, the overall experience.

Mind you the next day I could barely walk so I need A LOT more hill work! Still, it’s nice to know what I’m capable of, and to plan what I may do in the future. The posted results would reveal those two ladies were in my age group and beat me by 2 seconds and 4 seconds (approximately). I was 28 of 43 in my age (I beat 15 people in my age group) and 150 of 249 overall (I beat almost 100 people overall) both of these numbers astound me and renew my faith in my training plan. I might not be fabulous over night…but to enjoy my sport, is well worth the extended engagement.