On Sunday I ran my 13th marathon and my 3rd Shamrock Marathon. There isn’t much to say about this race except for the fact that the whole thing just sucked! From the time I got up and saw it was rainy and cold out, I just wanted to crawl back underneath my covers and go back to sleep. I thought I didn’t pay over $100 to run this race to just go back to bed. So I forced myself to get dressed and headed out the door. Luckily the start was close to where I live so I didn’t have to leave super early.
I arrived at my friend’s house around 7 am which was only a few blocks from the start that was at 8:30 am. While I was walking into a hotel to wait for the start I ran into a friend that I work with. I asked him what he was doing here and he said he was running. After he told me that I felt bad because a few weeks ago I asked him to pick up my class at the gym on Monday morning (which would be the next day). I didn't want to teach the class because I knew I would be sore from the race. He said that he would teach the class for me so I wouldn't have to. Until right now, I had no idea he was running this race too!
I was dodging puddles the whole way to the hotel so my shoes and my socks were completely wet. I am glad I brought an extra pair of socks. They were supposed to be for AFTER the race but I needed them now BEFORE we even got started
Soon enough it was time to time line up at the start. My friend had asked me what time I was planning to run and I said around 3:30-ish. He said oh good I’ll try to stick with you. I wanted to line up by the 3:30 pace group but unfortunately they only had 3:15 and 3:35. So I stayed back with the 3:35 group for a bit. My friend and I ran together for about 6 miles then he had to stop to use the port-o- potty and then we never met back up.
Right from the start I was miserable. It was rainy and cold! I tried to go as long as I could before I needed to put my headphones in. I got to about mile 11 and it was time to get some motivation with my music. The wind got even worse than before and the rain turned into a snowy mix. I had passed the 3:35 group for a bit by this time and then I saw the group coming up to pass me. I thought this may be a good thing. Now I am in a pack of runners. I will stay behind someone tall so they can block the wind. This plan worked for a bit until I started knocking elbows with others since we were so close and people in front of me would step right in puddles and water would splash up on me. By now I was coming up on mile 18. I knew despite the weather I still had some left in my tank and I wanted to pick up my pace. At this point I wasn’t really thinking of a specific time I wanted to finish in, I just wanted to finish because I was so cold and miserable!
I rounded the corner to another military base and there was a bunch of sand blowing since it was so windy. There was even a car that had gotten stuck from the sand blowing so much in the middle of the base. I knew there was only about 6 miles left from this point. Only a 10k I thought, less than an hour. I was dodging puddles the whole time while running through the base. Finally I exited and was on the home stretch, less than two miles to go. By this time I was so over this race and I wanted it to be done. Luckily some of my favorite songs came on my ipod and that helped me reach the finish line.
The only fun part about this race was when it was over! Despite the awful conditions I still managed to BQ. However, I still did better in Chicago. Either way, I was just happy to have finished. I didn’t even stick around for the after party since it was so cold even in the tent that was supposed to be heated. I got my complimentary beef stew, said hi to my friends that had finished the half earlier, and I was out! -L