Me and Leigh after the race!
Me, Bree, and Leigh
Today I ran the Shamrock 4 miler in Charlotte NC. It is the 1st race in the Grand Prix Races. There are 9 races in the series. Basically on average one a month. There are a few months where there are 2. Anyway. Had a friend do the series last year and she placed in the Athena Category. So I thought....maybe I could win some hardware.....So I am going into this wanting to run...FAST. (well fast for me).
I have to admit I did not know what to expect. I have not run a shorter race in over a year. This made me nervous!
THE MORNING OF:
I got up at 0500 and went through my normal prerace routine. Spent some time with God, ate, then Bree picked me up and we went to the race. It was COLD!
THE RACE
I lined up at the starting line with Gygy, Debbie, and myself. The starting gun went off and I turned on my Ipod. The 1st song was "Welcome To The Jungle" to remind me of the pain I would experience in this race. I was having some issues with my pants. They kept falling down. So I had to keep pulling them up. I hit the 1st mile at 7:34. It was a pleasant surprise. I remember pointing this out to Debbie and kept running.
The race was an out and back course. Right before we hit mile 2 we turned to start heading back. I am not even lying when I say that the rest of the race was uphill. At mile 2 the song "No Air" came on. This reminded me that I probably went out too fast. But too late to think about that now. I was really trying to book it and just focus on my breathing so I would not cramp up....or throw up.
Mile 3 came around 23 minutes and some change. At this point I did think it would be embarrassing if I threw up on the side of the road. But I know when I cross the finish line, all the pain will be worth it.
Turned the corner on the way to the 4 miles and saw the finish line. I also saw 4 speed bumps that I have to get over. This was cruel.....Just don't fall, Just don't fall. I see the clock and book it. I want to get there before 32 minutes. I did.
Here are my stats:
I was 201 out of 850 total
12th out of 74 in my Age group
43rd out of 417 females
Chip time - 31:18 Gun time - 31:25 Ave Pace - 7:52
OTHERS STATS
Debbie finished around 32.15 minutes and came in 3rd in her AG! WOOT
Bree and Leigh also PRed....40 minutes. WOOT!
We packed up and left after the race because we were so cold! Well I was anyway. Debbie stayed for the festivities and got lots of FREE stuff.
THOUGHTS
I wanted to place in my AG, but that did not happen today. I did go as fast as I could so it was not for a lack of trying. I will now start some speed work so I can compete.
Bree, Leigh, and me....freezing!
