Lucky Me

I think I've posted some version of what I'm about to write every year since I started this blog, every year since I started writing about Shamrock. I have a lot of races that I really like, and a lot that I really love, but I think that Shamrock is my favorite. When I ran this race for the first time in 2012 I had only run four races prior, and half of those (my first 5k and my first 10k) were in Virginia Beach, covering different parts of the Shamrock course and all ending on the boardwalk. It never even occurred to me that there might be another half marathon to choose for my first. My pre-Shamrock races had all been fun and a really big deal and really empowering for me, but finishing my first half marathon was on another level. When I started the Couch 2 5k program in spring 2011 I thought it would be a true miracle if I were ever actually able to complete 3 successive miles. But even when I found out that I could, in fact, complete a 5k, and started looking at longer distances, I really did not plan on ever running farther than 13.1 miles, so crossing that first Shamrock finish line was transformational. My average pace was over 12 minutes per mile and I had walked a half mile or so in the middle, but in spite of those things, I finished and truly felt like a runner for the first time in my life. I felt like I had accomplished all I could have ever hoped and dreamed I could do, and that moment, and thus this race, will forever hold a special place in my heart.

I've completed either the half or the full (plus the 8k one year) every Shamrock weekend since my first one in 2012, and it's the only race I've never missed since I started running (and I plan to continue that streak until the end of time). I just love this race weekend so much, more than all the race weekends of the rest of the year put together. It is my heart and soul. And not only is it super special for me, it's super fun! I always have my dad and at least a few friends running, and hanging out at the after-party is always a good time. It's really the highlight of my whole running year for so many reasons.

I've run the half and full and equal number of times now, and this year I returned to the half marathon after my big PR/sub-4 marathon last year. I was really happy with my race last year but I never considered running the full this year and was really excited to run the half. It was a little weird because thee last time I ran the half, two years ago, the race unexpectedly became the last time I would run for 2 months because of a foot injury. It had started to come on a couple days before the race and I don't think I did anything specifically during the race to worsen it, but as soon I crossed the finish line that year I immediately started limping and was unable to even put weight on my foot for a full week after that. It was a really scary ordeal, especially since I never actually got to the bottom of what my injury was or was caused by, so I had some superstitious apprehension about doing the half this year (even though I did the full last year with no issues and have *knock on wood* been injury-free since I came back from my foot injury).

Ultimately I was excited to run the race, even more so because Ben and I had just found out earlier that week that we are moving back to Virginia Beach! I realized this year that even though I consider Shamrock a hometown race, I have actually lived out of town for more years than not in the seven years I've been running it. So this year was my last year of traveling for this race, yay! We have been in DC for 2 years now and were in Blacksburg (southwest VA) for 2 years before that, and moving back to VB is something that we knew we would do eventually but didn't think it would be quite this soon. Moving back is a little premature but circumstances with Ben's job and life in general have necessitated it a little sooner than we thought. It's bittersweet to leave DC but we are over the moon about moving back to the beach, so that made Shamrock a little more special this year!

Shamrock was the second of three goal half marathons I have scheduled this spring (excluding Rock n Roll, which I always intended to use as a training run so I feel like it doesn't really count). I had originally planned for Shamrock to be a PR attempt, but as I got more into my training it seemed to make more sense to treat this as another stepping stone on the way to a PR, and save my big goal for New Jersey in April. When I first started training this spring I went into training and racing with the expectation that I'd be able to hit certain times just because I'd done so in the past, but I've realized recently that my past PRs haven't come when I've been chasing down a particular time, but they've been the result of me going out and seeing what I can do and what I'm capable of. I had some time goals in mind for Shamrock, but I wanted to tap into the racing mindset I used to have of going into a race with an idea of how I wanted to race it rather than a rigid time I was expecting to see at the finish line.

Goals

A Goal: Sub-1:50

I feel like I'm lying if I say I never had any thoughts about PRing this race, but I would also be lying if I said that a PR (1:48:36) was something I thought was attainable or even wanted to try to shoot for. For this race a goal of sub-1:50 acknowledged that on a perfect day a PR wasn't totally out of the question, but also that anything under that time would be close enough to my PR that I could feel really good about it and would be a huge accomplishment. I'm super happy with the progress I've made over the last couple of months, but I have only broken the 1:50 mark twice (the last time was over 2 years ago), so I knew this was not by any means a given! I've run 4 half marathons in the last several months, all well over 1:50. I've been slowly chipping away at my time but my confidence about being able to pull this off was iffy at best.

B Goal: Course PR (1:50:56)

Given that I didn't know if coming in under 1:50 was a possibility or not, a similar goal for this race was to PR the course and finish in 1:50:XX. My course PR is from two years ago, from the race when I hurt my foot. The injury actually didn't really slow me down - the repercussions mostly came afterward - and I ran like hell that year. I was hopeful that even if I missed 1:50, I could still finish in 1:50:XX and beat my course record.

C Goal: Beat my Central Park Half time from 3 weeks prior (1:52:47)

This was my "safe" goal - Central Park was a much tougher course with 500 feet of elevation gain compared to Shamrock's pancake flat course. Between that and the fact that I ran a 1:55 the weekend prior at RnR DCduring a training run/workout when I wasn't exactly racing (and also on a harder course), I was hopeful and fairly confident I could at least pull off this one.

Process Goal: Fuel!
I bonked hard during RnR DC the week before Shamrock from not fueling. Even though I've been running a lot, I haven't done a ton of 10+ mile runs so I got out of the habit of fueling correctly (i.e. at all), and I learned my lesson big time during RnR. For some reason I hate to eat anything while I run (I think it stems from GI issues in the past - sometimes I'd rather take my chances by eating nothing than have a bad reaction to what I do eat), but I forced myself to practice during a run the week before Shamrock and promised myself I would eat, even if I didn't want to, during the race itself.

Process Goal: Run a strong second half.
I can't remember the last time I felt good for the entire duration of a half marathon or where I ran the second half as fast, if not faster, than the first half. I've definitely felt stronger for the duration of my last couple half marathons than I have in a long time, but I've still had a hard time hanging on during the second half. My goal for this one was to to start off fast but controlled in hopes that I could save some energy to speed up during the second half.

Race Day

This year my dad,

Miles 1-3: Atlantic Avenue (northbound)
(8:22, 8:22, 8:18)

Since we had decided to hang back to start with the next wave, we were literally right in front of the wave as we walked up to the start line. I'm not sure I've ever been that close to the front before, at least not in a race of this size, so it was a pretty cool experience. I remember looking around in those seconds waiting to start, thinking back to all of my other Shamrock start lines, especially back to my first one when I felt so nervous I thought I was going to start bawling before I even got to running. This year I just felt so happy and grateful to be there!

Once it was our turn to start I immediately picked up my pace to try to dial in to the 8:20s Katie had prescribed for me. I noticed after a half mile or so that I might have picked it up a bit too much, because my pace was hovering in the low 8:xx range, so I backed off a little and tried to settle down for the 12.5 miles I still had to go. Even though the temperature outside wasn't tooI cold, I had gotten very cold during pre-race hour of standing around, to the point of shivering, so it took me a little while to warm up and stop feeling like the Tin Man.

During mile 1 I saw a woman with a shirt that said, "It's not luck, it's training" and, while I understand the play on the race theme, I just loved that! I couldn't help but think of

Miles 4-6: Shore Drive
(8:21, 8:36, 8:27)

I couldn't believe how fast the blocks on Atlantic Avenue passed by, and before I knew it we were making the turn into Shore Drive. I thought back to being there at mile 16 of the marathon last year and was so thankful to only be running the half this year! I couldn't imagine having run so far with so much still left to go.

The thing about the Shamrock course is that even though it has these 4 sections, none of them are particularly visually stimulating. The Shore Drive section is on a straight, tree-lined road for 3 miles. I actually find it quite peaceful, but it's not exciting. The good news was that we had changed direction and were protected by the trees so we were no longer combating the wind, and the rain had mostly to completely died down.

I had had some foot pop up out of nowhere the Thursday and Friday before the race, but it held up for the first few miles with no pain whatsoever. Then, all of a sudden, sometime during mile 4 it started to hurt, badly. I tried running on the outside of my foot, I tried running on the inside of my foot, I tried flexing my toes, I tried scrunching my toes. Each one worked for a few steps but then the pain would return and I'd have to try another approach. For a mile or so I cycled through them, sometimes actually wincing in pain and contemplated what to do. Maybe I should have stopped, gotten picked up by the medics, and taken my first DNF, but I didn’t. Mentally I was so in the zone that the only thing that felt right to do was to keep running. I accepted that there was a very real possibility that I might not be able to run for a while after I crossed the finish line, that Big Sur might be out of the picture, but I at least had to get that far. This was my race.

Miles 7-9: Fort Story
(8:24, 8:18, 8:27)

We followed a couple of bends in Shore Drive, where Ben and Bane and the rest of my family and friends had been waiting for hugs and high fives last year, but this year crowd support was understandably light (or, in my case, nonexistent). The turn into Fort Story came and I braced myself - for the wind, the boredom, and whatever invisible force exists there that has knocked me out in the past.

We made the turn into Fort Story, and as I passed the mile 6 marker shortly after, told myself to go somewhere happy for 4 miles - because Fort Story has never been and will never be that place. I can never remember the exact mileage of the Fort Story exit, but more than once I’ve made the mistake of estimating on the short side, so I made sure to overestimate and tell myself it wasn’t until mile 10.

So I hunkered down in the deep recesses of my mind. I tried to at least keep it off the pain in my foot. Although the pain wasn’t going away, I was able to manage it, and with every step I took I had one step fewer to get to the finish line. More and more steps went by and as we approached the Mile 7 marker it was nearly parallel to the ground from the wind actively blowing it over so hard. The mile that followed was straight into the wind, but every step got me closer to the exit and a change in direction, where the wind would finally work for me and not against me. Between the dunes to my left, I got a glimpse of the ocean. The sea was angry that day, my friends.

Up ahead was the Cape Henry Lighthouse and the Mile 8 marker just beyond that - the spot where my asthma forced me to start taking walk breaks during my first Shamrock, a spot that made me so disappointed in myself that first year.

Over those few miles in Fort Story we rounded the point, and as we did so, headwind became a crosswind until it was nearly a tailwind. I don't even remember seeing the mile 9 marker, I just remember being focused on getting to the gate, to finally leaving Fort Story. I knew that just outside of that gate the wind the wind would finally be at my back for the first time all day. I'd be almost to Atlantic Avenue, almost home free, just a few more miles to the finish. This was my race.

Miles 10-12: Atlantic Avenue (southbound)
(8:09, 8:06, 8:40)

We transitioned out of Fort Story and back onto Atlantic Avenue just before mile 10. There's a huge water stop/spectator spot at that point and it was so amazing to hear all the cheers! I was so relieved to feel like I was home free. I no longer had to fight the wind; I just had to keep moving forward. I had less than 30 minutes until the end and, unlike in previous years, I had a hunch that those minutes were going to go by too fast rather than too slow. My body felt like it was on cruise control and just like during the first few miles, I was surprised at how quickly the blocks were counting down. From 88th where we had reentered the North End, to 70th to 56th to 49th...somehow every time I looked up 10 blocks had somehow passed by without me realizing.

Mile 12 came too quickly and then a few minutes after that we were back where we had started and making the turn back toward the resort area. A few more minutes and it was the last turn onto the boardwalk. That same turn that last year became one of my favorite race moments ever, with its full sun, blue skies, and gently rolling waves...this year it was cloudy, gray, and crashing waves. I was so grateful to have that memory from last year, and equally as grateful to have not needed perfect conditions this year in order to run a strong, confident race. Despite the weather, despite the pain in my foot, this was my race.

Mile 13: Atlantic Avenue to the Boardwalk
(7:50)

When I made it to the boardwalk, the wind behind me was blowing so hard I could feel it pushing me. My legs fully extended. I felt weightless. I truly felt like I was flying. I could see King Neptune waiting for me, the green and white flags lining the last 100 yards, and then the finish banner just beyond that. I've never soared so freely and so effortlessly toward a finish line. This was my race.

Official time: 1:49:25
(8:22 average pace)

The weather was crappy, my foot is not okay, but I'd still go back and do it all over again. I didn't run my fastest half marathon ever, but I came damn close (2.5 minutes slower than my PR). I took 20 minutes off my course PR, and over 51 minutes off my very first Shamrock half marathon time - nearly a minute per mile for each of the 4 years that have passed since then. I showed up ready to run brave no matter what the day or my body brought me, and I did exactly that. I met my goal of honoring the runner and athlete I've become in the 4 years since I first toed a Shamrock start line. I've had prettier Shamrocks, and happier Shamrocks, but I've never had a stronger Shamrock. For the first time ever, I didn't walk one single step out on this course. For the first time ever, I never felt mentally or physically exhausted. I was never defeated.

This was my race. It will always be my race.