Shamrock Shuffle. . .DONE!

Last Sunday I had a pretty bad run. Only made about 3.5 miles when I was going for 4.5. Sucking wind. Blah. I felt bad too because this was the last big run before the 8k (~5 miles) Shamrock Shuffle which was today. During the week I only ran once - 1.5 mi on Wednesday. I bought new shoes at the Expo though.
Yesterday, the day before the race, I got up and looked outside. It was sleeting sideways. The wind had blown the stop light on the corner of Sheridan and Briar over. Great. Let's go running. So I was pretty worried that the Shamrock Shuffle which kicks off marathon training might be a bit disappointing.

This morning it was still raining sideways (and the stop light was still down!) but not as hard. By the time I left for the El it had pretty much stopped but it was none too warm. I met my coach at the Belmont stop and we headed downtown. Didn't seem too bad down there. We jogged around the fountain and stretched a little before getting into our corral. Moo.

Surprise! Right there in our corral was my old friend Judy who I taught with for about 15 years! Lots of laughs there! Finally it's race time. We're in the 11 min/mile group and I'm just secretly hoping to get it done in an hour and not die doing it. Off we go! It's a really fun course with part of it right along the river on Wacker Drive. Coach Leah is keeping our times on her watch. . . and here they are!

Mile 1 11:24

Mle 2 11:18

Mile 3 11:11

Mile 4 10:34 (what the WHAT?)

Mile 5 10:51 (bastard hill!)

total time 55:20 YEAH!

What's good about this? Well while I'm really slow at least I got faster as I went. Also, for about the first time my breathing was normal almost the whole way. Only got ragged on that damn hill on Roosevelt Rd. near the end. I basically felt good the whole way. No real pain and a very fun race. This gives me a good feeling for continuing marathon training. It might be the shoes but I really think it's the coach. Thanks Leah!

On ward!