No luck for the Irish

Imagine if you will 30,000 people wearing as much green as possible. Many in tutus and knee high socks (like me) some dressed as leprechauns, lots of them with green hair, a few green capes and even one rainbow and one pot of gold. It was complete chaos covered in green.

The chaos was the fun kind. People in good spirits despite the rain. People eager to get their run on. Certainly a jovial crowd of runners. I wouldn't expect any less for a St. Patrick's Day themed event with the reward of beer when it's done. Gotta love the Irish!

It was my first race of the season so I'd hoped to do really well and set the right tone for the season. I'd been training but probably not as much as I should have. I have been making really good progress on my distances though so I thought that might make this race a bit easier. Not so much.

Sadly I finished this race at a pace three seconds slower than my first ever 5k last year. Sad. Pathetic really. I take some small comfort in knowing that the Shamrock Run had a one mile hill that I wasn't exactly expecting and I also had to constantly dodge people who would just STOP right in front of people. The weaving back and forth between people for the full three miles was certainly a drag on time. The streets were just so packed with people it was hard to get around them. I think in races like this there should be an walking side. If you're going to walk the whole thing or even part of it, move over to that side - just while you're walking - to make room for those who are trying to run. I walk sometimes but I always try to get as far to the side of the road as possible so I'm not in someones way. I was also stopped by a MAX light rail train so that took me an extra 15-20 seconds. Doesn't sound like much but that's 5-7 seconds per mile. Overall I'm guessing I lost 30-45 seconds total in weaving and stopping. Doesn't really matter though, the timing chip says what the timing chip says. A bit frustrating. Scott had the same problem but did manage to finish at what I consider a really good pace even if he was a little frustrated too.

So I signed up for a much smaller race in May, the same one I did last year as my first attempt. That should be a better judge of how I've progressed in a years time.

I will say that before I knew what my official time was I was feeling pretty good. So the fun factor of the race was definitely there. I did run in an awesome tutu after all!

Kristy and Erin enjoying a cold beer after the race!

Note to self: You've become more competitive about time than previously imagined. This means you have to train more and run better if you intend to be happy with your race times. Kapeesh!?!