Sunday I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 10K. My physical therapist is race director and had been telling me what a fun and relaxed event this is, so I just had to sign up! I definitely wasn’t disappointed; the race start was on one of the main downtown roads and Madison turned into a sea of green. Many people were wearing costumes and the crowd was definitely living up to the “Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day” motto.
I wasn’t expecting much for the race. The course had a few killer hills and I haven’t been logging that many miles – too much time studying, always the same excuse!
My friends that I was doing the race with are all speedy gonzaleses, so we edged our way near the front. I knew I’d lose them right away but I guess that’s my fault for hanging out with a college cross country runner, a Kona qualifier, and a pro triathlete. I can’t compete with that! 🙂
I felt strong for most of the race and even managed to negative split the second half which is a good sign that I’m racing smart and am still improving. I also liked that it was an out-and-back course so I got to see a bunch of my friends on my way back to the finish.
I finished in 46:43, good for a top 10 finish out of 420 women. This is a solid one minute PR for me, which is a great start to the season and something I’ll definitely be improving on!
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