Shamrocks 5k Race Report

Well it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Not really - it was warmish for March, it was mostly cloudy, but bearable, with hints of sunshine that made it feel about 10 degrees warmer.

I was running with Jenn (who writes much funnier race reports than I do) and by running with I mean we were standing next to each other at the beginning and she waited for me at the end, in part because I drove to the race and had her purse in the car. View her blog to see the course and her report.

I would tell you more, but Blogspot ate my post and I am too exhausted to type it all again. Save as Draft my ass.

And yes, I am wearing beads with a lobster on it - or a crawfish if you want to be specific - Yeah mardi gras! And yes I used the short picture of Jenn so that she would not tower over me like the giant she actually is.

Well I'm killing time until I have to go to the dentist, so I can fill out more of what happened at the race yesterday.

So a few weeks ago, Jenn and I did theSuperbowl 5k together. She pulled my ass along and we finished in 39.00.03 min (to be precise, according to their clock) which I was excited about since it was the first 5k I had run since the Detroit Half and the Lansing Legislator. I finished under 40 and was happy with that. Since then I've been working out more, swimming, cardio karate, lifting, and running at the Y doing a mile here and there. I guess there were some improvements.

So I was a bit shocked when I saw my time for Shamrocks - 36:23. That is almost a 3 min drop in 6 weeks - CRAZY!

Here is how my race went - it was a 4 lap loop, with a big down hill at the beginning of the loop and a biiiiig up hill at the end of the loop. Lovely, let me tell you.

Jenn and I had gotten there early (still didn't get a shirt - 24 people too late) to watch the elite heat (boy can some of those people run fast) and just hang out. When our race started, I let Jenn go and I tried to enjoy my ipod, which is green so I felt justified in using it, although I usually don't when I race. Mile one was CRAZY fast 10:50. That is a 1:30 than my normal mile pace when I normally run just 1 mile. Needless to say this sorta freaked me out and had me worried about how mile 3 was going to go. Up the hill, down the hill and get to mile 2 marker - 11:34. A pretty big drop in time, but STILL nearly a minute ahead of my typical mile pace. I was starting to overheat about this time, because the sun had started to peak out from behind the clouds, I probably shouldn't have worn the vest, but I was chilly and I'm a wuss like that. Mile 3.1 - 13:53, which means mile 3 was about 13:23, give or take. A HUGE drop from mile 2, a min slower than my normal average, but after 4 hill repeats, I was just glad I was able to run the whole way. With a total watch time of 36:18 (clock time 36:23), that makes for an average pace of about 11:43. 40 seconds faster than my normal mile pace - CRAZY!!! My foot hurts like hell, but it was an awesome race and gives me hope that my Tri season won't totally be dependent on the Swim and Bike like last year.