With gas and airline
prices being ridiculous and on the increase, I had debated back and forth
whether to drive or fly. I ended up doing the drive from Jacksonville FL to
Virginia Beach and it was a pretty nice ride, especially since I brought my
little companion, Molly, my Jack Russell.
We arrived in a little
under 10 hours. I didn’t stay down at the oceanfront, thinking it would be
entirely too cold to enjoy the beach. So I stayed about 15 minutes in town at
the new Town Center area, which was great because the Westin there was dog
friendly. The area was fun with bars and restaurants all in walking
distance.
It was a strange race
this year for the Yuengling Shamrock because St Pattys day fell on the Saturday
before the Sunday race day. So that meant to play smart I should celebrate the
green on Friday night right? Well, I did….but somehow ended up with a wicked
hangover which left me in bed all day Saturday, wondering if I was going to
wake with the same nauseous stomach on Race morning. And I did.
I got up super early,
about 4am, after hearing that the parking garages fill up quick. I ended up
making it down to the garage right at the start/finish line by 5am. Two hours
before start. The garage was practically empty. Great, a good half an hour I
wasted not sleeping. I sat in my car,
napped a bit, ate my Cliff bar, and updated Facebook. It was entirely too cold and windy out to walk
around outside.
This was the 40th
Annual Yuengling Shamrock race weekend, and my 2nd hometown
race. There were about 27,000 runners
participating in the weekends festivities which included an 8k, childrens
marathon, half marathon, and full marathon.
There were about 7894 half marathon finishers with 4894 of them being
women. Girl Power!
It was few block walk
to start and to the gear truck. That was a pretty good warm up at a brisk pace.
The corrals were at the Cavalier hotel. Each corral had their own starting
time. The weather was overcast, a bit windy, and about lower 50s. I decided to
layer the shirts, and wear pants. I later regretted the second shirt.
As it was getting to be
time to line up, I realized I had forgotten to charge my Garmin and my Ipod!
How in the world was I going to run without those? They had a little juice, and
I hoped they would last. However, the Ipod pooped out after Mile1. The Garmin
luckily survived. I decided this race I
would focus more on myself, my body, and my breathing. I was just amazed with
how controlled I have become over the course of the year, running the Pink
Ribbon Tutu on a Mission and actually since I started running about 5 years
ago. I was never a runner in grade school, always the last one to finish the
mile. I had even smoked as an adolescent and early adulthood. Ok, lets be
honest, it was about 15 years. I cant even look back at myself then and believe
what I did to my body! Anyways, when I
first started running as a hobby, I never thought I would get anywhere, still
breathing so heavy. It feels good to see and hear the progress!
I could hear all the runners around me
throughout the race….as they passed me and as I passed them. Some sounded like
they were going to die…hard, heavy, uncontrolled breathing, yet relentless not to
take a walk break. They were my motivation.
I listened to the footsteps all around
me….some runners just clomping away, landing heavily on their body. I tried to land quiet as a feather and
practice my midfoot landing….as I know some of my injuries from over use is the
overpronation.
I had nothing to sidetrack me from my negative
self talk that always comes at one point or another during a race. No
motivating music to get my blood pumping. No fast past songs to get my cadence
faster. Luckily, because I was not focusing on time for this race due to my
feet and because I knew I had another
race in 2 weeks, I felt like I was on a casual training run. I was surprised I was finding myself saying “oh,
this is just another 13 miles. Piece. O. Cake.!” I guess marathons can do that
to you!
It had been over a
month since I had done any running. Having an ankle problem from the breast
cancer marathon, and then 2 other feet injuries (1 race related, 1 too much fun
related). I decided to just rest, not run, and do my other regular work outs
such as pilates, trx, power pump, and spin….all without jumping or heavy
impact. I didn’t know how the day was going to go with that long of a break
from running, but I figured the worse I would do is walk.
The day went
surprisingly well. My feet were holding up well. No pain. I had a good pace for
about 6 miles, when suddenly I realized I would not be able to complete without
stopping at the porta potty. No runner ever wants to do this, but figured I wasn’t
going for a PR anyways, so why not. It took a whole 6 minutes off my time,
which would have put me into only 3 minutes slower than my PR. But I digress.
It was a good race.
Nothing too excited, but nothing went wrong either. Just another nice stroll.
We ran north towards Sea Shore State Park, ran through the park, passed some
light houses, and then back down to the Cavalier hotel, with the last couple
blocks running on the boardwalk. I would have loved to have seen more of the
ocean, but turning that last corner was absolutely amazing! The Livestrong
group was out in full force. All decked out in their yellow….they had also
chalked up the street in yellow, making it seem like a yellow brick road! They
had their cheers on in full force too, giving high fives to everyone! It was
almost breathtaking seeing, feeling, and hearing them, and then seeing the
majestic ocean in the back drop!
This race is known for
their big ‘after party.’ They put up a huge tent on the beach, give you 4 free
Yuenglings and stew, and have some great bands. It was pretty awesome, I have
to admit. Everyone dancing, and singing, and hanging around all day.
I did however, find
that the Hilton there had a pretty inexpensive buffet breakfast for $13 and
they had bonfire tables outside! I was pretty sweaty, so I thought what better
way to warm up and dry off than sit there and fill up before getting my drink
on!
After breakfast I decided to watch the full marathoners cross the finish
line since I didn’t want to put those 4 free beers to waste and I didn’t have a
runner partner to party away with. Ive only done it one other time, but that
was at home at Mile 21.This was a completely different experience! It was pretty amazing! I got to watch the top
runners come in. They were awesome in form, awesome in energy, awesome in
determination, with a few here and there that didn’t think they were going to
make it, but then their cheerleaders would bring them across….like the pacer
who turned around, ran back to the one struggling, and pushed him through….like
the mother and child who let their little child run onto the course. Daddy
picked him up and crossed the finish line with him….like the two probably newly
engaged couple, who stayed with each other, held hands, and crossed the finish
line that way….like the Fallen Navy Seal group who pushed their wounded partner
in a wheelchair the entire course, stayed together and crossed the finish line
together. …like the Tethered group who set out for a World Record for the
fastest group to finish a marathon tethered together….like the runners who were
running the race to qualify for the Boston marathon, cutting it close by
seconds. It was all full of emotion and a wonderful thing to be a part of. If
you are not a runner, or even someone looking to get into running….i would
suggest to line yourself up at a finish line of a major event and witness the
emotion these people go through. It was wonderful and Im glad I got to
experience another side of racing!