Shamrock Run, March 18, 2012

High School buddies, Patty and Seriny, came to Vancouver for our Second Annual Girls Weekend/Shamrock Run. We vowed to do a few things differently this year, however:

• Sleep the night before (and that means more than three hours)
• No hangovers for the run
• Eat a little something before the run, which, without a hangover, is much easier to do!

And we were successful! We ended up late night shoe shopping the night before, but did get home at a decent hour and hit the sack for some great sleep.

The weather forecast was all over the board the week before the run and by Saturday night, there was a chance of snow flurries during the race. But it ended up being beautiful that morning, 34 degrees and partly sunny.

We ran as part of the Portland Triathlon Club team again this year. Patty and Seriny ran the 5K and I ran the 15K.

The 15K course changed a little bit this year, for the better. It still ran over Marquam Hill, but the route wound a little differently through downtown and I liked it better…no running partway up the Burnside Bridge and down this year.

The race was fantastic for me! I ended up with a new PR by 13 minutes with a time of 1:32:50. How amazing is that!?!? I felt great throughout the whole event. I ran the entire event, only walked during water stations and one 15 second stint by the base of the VA Hospital. It started raining on the way down the hill, and I ran as fast as I felt I could safely do with slippery roadway conditions. Here are my splits:

I didn’t have my Garmin last year, so I can’t compare my splits between the two years. Boy, do I wish I had that info!

Interestingly, my iPhone was not working that morning, wouldn’t play music more than 30 seconds at a time, so I ended up going without music, and I wonder if that helped me. I have noticed in the past that I ran faster without music, but hadn’t really tested that theory for months.

I’m super happy with my results. I felt great throughout and at the end as well. I know my training is helping greatly, as well as proper race prep the night and morning before!

Some of PTC Board: me, Jon Bero, Becky Hillary, Margaret Heald, and Zach Wiens