This past weekend we ventured down to Va Beach for Yuengling Anthem Shamrock Marathon Weekend for my sixth half marathon. Thank you mother nature for an amazing weekend! If you've heard of the Virginia Beaches Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend then you have heard of its massive bad luck with weather. From snow and sleet to freezing rain to winds gusting at over 20 miles per hour. 2018 was not the year of bad weather thankfully the race weekend just missed the snow we are now enduring her in VA!
EXPO
This was my first time running
during Shamrock weekend and I was excited. So far in 2018 I have ran 2 smaller
races, Frostbite 15k and Powhatan Solar Trail 10 miler. These races are smaller
local races which are always nice and humbling but there is something about the
rush of a larger race. So the excitement I felt bubbled over. We got to
the expo at The Virginia Beach Convention center at about 2:30 pm Saturday. The
expo although in a large space wasn't as large as I thought it would be. There
were no lines for packet pick up so I grabbed my bib (6666) and ventured into the expo. The family and I had fun taking pictures and listening to Olympian Kara
Goucher and Bart Yasso taking questions from the audience and filling us all with
their running knowledge. I was even lucky enough to snag a photo with the Mayor
of running himself! Thank you!!!
5:25am I was up. Filled with
excitement I went back and forth about what to wear. Made the decision and we
were out the door by 6:30a. I kept my throw away on all the way until the last
minute. I was in coral 4 and the race started on time so at 7:37am. It was a
cool 43 at the start. The rain that was coming down earlier had stopped and i was
thankful that the wind wasn't over the top. They called us to the start and we
were off.
I knew this course was one of
the flattest courses that I would encounter in Virginia so naturally the hope
to PR was there.. Not just PR but to run a sub 2 hour half marathon. Coral 4
was actually the coral before the 2 hour pace team so as long as I ran strong I
would have a PR and if I kept that team behind me sub 2 grasps.
Mile 1- 5
8:48, 9:20, 9:35, 9:50, 9:39
WHOA! Let’s talk about this.
8:48 is my fastest mile. Like ever in life and it happens on mile 1 of a half
marathon? When I looked down at my Garmin and saw this I was filled with "
hold up wait a minute" I knew that this mile could either make or break
me, I wasn't sure if I should pull back or dig in. I decided in that moment to
let my body do what it does. I smiled and kept on. When I came to the first
water stop I made the choice to slow down at the water stops so I could
maintain my low heart rate and preserve my legs. We entered Shore Drive at
about mile 3 and it was a quiet wooded area with no spectators and a bowed
road... I slipped down on the bike lane on the right and kept the my pace
strong. At mile 5.5 I took my GU. At this point my heart rate shot up from low
150s to low 170s (more on this later).
Mile 6-10
9:53, 9:03, 9:35, 9:34, 9:31
I felt strong, tired and like I
was working hard but strong. At the halfway mark I heard commotion behind me. I
had slowed to a walk to take my gloves up and readjust when I realized the
commotion was the 2 hour pace team coming at me like a army of one! We were on
the military base at this time. The stories I read about strong winds in this
area were true even on a beautiful day like this one. I remember feeling warm
and then bam, someone turned on the air conditioner and I could feel the chill
in the area. As I looked around you could see the beach but as were on the base
it was a rather quiet part of the race. At about mile 9 the pacer team passed
me. I let go of my hopes for a sub 2 and focused on finishing strong and injury
free.
Mile 11-13.1
9:38, 10:02, 9:34, (0.1)
7:36
Mile 11 is where the " Why
did I sign up?" Question popped up, there was a volunteer at the water
stop by mile 11 that was yelling, he had to be a coach , " this is when you
have to find your why and push. Knees up, eyes up, you got this. This is your
race, find your reason and finish strong." He was amazing! They had
amazing volunteers throughout the course but this guy was the truth! He knew
what to say to speak to the athlete in me, I grabbed some water and was on my
way. I knew the end was near. At mile 12 we split from the marathoners and were
on our way to the boardwalk! As I entered the boardwalk filled with people, I
could feel the energy, I took one last glimpse at my watch and knew that no
matter what happened in this mile.. victory and a new PR was mine! I honed in
on the Finish line which I could see in the foggy distance, I dropped my head,
drove my knees and gave it what I had left. I crossed the finish line 2:04:45!
A PR by 10 minutes!
Before I left for this race I
wrote my goals on the course map.
 |
| Written above: Stretch Goal: 1:58; Goal: 2:05 fun and safe run. |
 |
| I was hoping to sub 60 in my 10k this spring.. Guess I need a new goal!! |
 |
| Nike always seems to be a little off... 2:04:45 is the time I go by! |
 |
| I sweat heavy when I run. I try to be mindful of my salt input during racing.. this was the salt left over from my sweat. |
 |
| I love my family and thank them for always supporting me! |
 |
| Love this! So creative! |
What an amazing race weekend!
Pros:
- Great swag. Which included for the half; a bag, a beach towel, the normal shirt and medal and a hat.
- Well marked course.
- Good crowd support and a fun environment,
- There was beer on the course, I'd like to run with race for fun and drink all the beers and jello shots.
Cons:
- The expo was small for such a large space.
It was an amazing experience. I truly enjoyed myself and would love to run this race again.
Whats next for me?
I will continue training with the Petersburg YMCA for the Ukrops 10k in April. Followed by RVA Ragnar Trail run in late April. Look for updates coming as I try to do a better job maintaining my blogging life. Thanks for reading and or browsing through.. you can catch my on Instagram running my life away lol!
Comments
Post a Comment