I didn’t have high hopes for today’s Shamrock Shuffle. My recent workouts haven’t been so great and I weigh a lot more than I should. I also haven’t been pushing myself in runs. If I could finish in under 40 minutes, I would be happy. In truth, I would’ve liked to run a 35.
The race started off with a handicap. I forgot my Gballz. A joggler without juggling equipment is not much of a joggler. In fact, a joggler without juggling stuff is just a runner. Fortunately, my friend John Kelly who’s house I was staying at, had a bag full of new oranges. They were the perfect size so I took them and used them for the race.
The oranges were a little heavy but you know what, they felt pretty good. If you are ever in a pinch for joggling equipment, oranges are a good substitute.
I made it the whole way without a drop and in a pretty decent time. 36:13. The first mile had me breathing heavy. I even thought of stopping. Funny how when you don’t train for a race you start to think about stopping. When I saw the first timing clock, it just turned over to 8:00. I knew it took me about 1 minute to get to the start line so I felt pretty good about my time. In mile two, there was the first water stop but I skipped it. The weather was perfect for running 50+ degrees and cloudy. No water was required for the rest of the race.
My time in mile two was just around 15. Another 7 minute mile. I knew I couldn’t keep it up but I felt good. When I passed the 5K mark, I clicked my watch but didn’t look at it. I see it now says 22:30. Not bad. It’s clear that I slowed a little but I was feeling good and the “stop running” demons stayed silent. I don’t remember what mile 4 said (I think 28+) but I was just happy to have only one more mile to go. My sister hadn’t passed me so I had to keep pressing. There have been a number of races where my sister stayed behind me the entire race only to pass me in the last mile.
When I went up the hill on Roosevelt road and made the turn I felt the extra kick of energy. The speed left in my legs took me passed dozens of runners and I ran right through the finish before it clicked 37.
Whew! I made it the whole way with no drops and not no stops. I love when that happens in the Shamrock Shuffle.
In the end, my watch time was 36:13. A bit faster than I thought I would do. I was happy and set a PR for my 42 year old self. Sure, it wasn’t the fastest I’ve ever done but I don’t race against my past self. I race against myself now. And this day, I was a faster 8K joggler than I’ve ever been.
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Nice orange “goatee” you got there
I hope I forget my props some day and have to improvise like that. Maybe I’ll do it on purpose some day and see what happens.