Shamrock 15K Race Report

I did not have high expectations for the Shamrock 15K race yesterday. Leading into it I still felt a little fatigue from Austin and had not gotten in any speedwork. Plus it's "that time of the month" for me as well as suffering through some pretty bad GI issues that I now think may have been food poisoning from Saturday night since the hubby and I both felt pretty bad yesterday. Thank god for Pepto is all I can say! 

It was cold low 20s and there were some light flurries during the race at times but nothing too crazy. The Shamrock course is full of hills. The first 4 miles go pretty fast since there is a lot of good downhill. I probably ran a bit faster than intended early on with some miles at 6:50 pace and then I suffered for it later when mile 5 and "the big hill" came where I clocked my slowest mile at 8:45. Miles 5 and 6 were my slowest and I was able to get back on track with a 7:30ish pace to wrap it up with a 1:09:36 (7:29 pace). Given how crappy I felt yesterday I am very happy with the result. I ended up 5th female, 1st in the 35-39AG. I would like to give this one another go on a better day for me to see what I am truly capable of when feeling 100%.

This is a great and competitive little race with really nice swag including a nice 3/4 sleeve race shirt, a finisher towel and a nice glass mug for the AG winners. SARC does a nice job with their races and had plenty of food inside Woodridge Middle School after the race. I would put this one on your bucket list if you are looking for a challenging middle distance race. 

Fortunately we felt good enough post race to have a beer at R. Shea Brewing and then it was home to battle the GI troubles for the rest of the night. Today I am feeling much better albeit tired.

Next up is the Spring in Your Step 10K in Massillon on the 25th, which is supposed to be a mix of rolling hills and flat towpath. I am also planning to run a 5K a couple weeks out from the HOF Marathon. Scheduling these races helps me to get in some high quality speedwork, which I hope will toughen me up for a BQ marathon this spring at either HOF or the Cleveland Marathon!

Cheers to another successful race! Maybe the luck of the Irish?!