Shamrock Shuffle 8K report

The Shuffle should now be labeled the Snow Fun Run...

This morning was a shock to the system.  I woke up to a text from my friend saying "This sucks" and my husband in the bathroom saying "this is not good, what a mess!"  Both were referencing the lovely, race day weather.  There was a couple of inches of snow on the ground with fat flakes falling quickly.  I anxiously waited for 1 of the 3 other girls running to text or call saying they were out.  I just needed someone else to initiate it.  Even checked the website 3 times to see f the event would be cancelled.  No such luck.  20,000 other people that signed up had the right idea and stayed home.  We choose to have an experience with 15,000 of our closest and craziest friends.

My number 1 goal for this race was to use this 8K as my weekly tempo run.  The 2nd was to average better than an 8:30 min/mile even if I thought this might be wishful thinking.  Both went out the door as soon as I saw the weather.  My goals changed to finish this as quickly and safely as possible and hope it is a sub-10.  It was cold, icy, and very wet.  They cleared the course of all the snow they could and what slush remained became ice once 15,000 runners started.  I decided to leave garmy and the ipod in my bag and just run to finish. Running on the sides of the streets was nearly impossible thanks to the lakes and rivers of icy slush that formed.  Running in the middle was full of people going slower than me and compacted slush/ice.  Due to the size and short duration of the race there was never a break in the crowd. A lot of weaving, speeding up, slowing down, and trying not to fall on my ass.  I had a near scare about 1/2 mile into the race; my right foot caught a small pothole filled with awesomeness and my ankle just gave out.  Luckily I saved myself from falling (but not from embarrassment as 2 guys pointed out my sweet moves) and I didn't twist, sprain, break the ankle.  Yay! At mile 1 the clock read 26 minutes (thanks to the long time it took to cross the start) and I heard someone comment that the elites were already done.  Thanks for the reminder.  For the rest of the race I decided to play a game only I was playing to help me to stop thinking about how miserable the elements were so I found different people out to pass or created little stories about different groups.  

Once I crossed the finish line I felt like I could have done more whether it be go faster or longer.  But I stayed as safe (albeit not dry) as possible.  

Picture time!

Here's the start.  They were having some issues getting the START to stay.  What a mess!

My friend and I at the start just trying to stay warm.  Why are we doing this again?

At the start, not quite the 35,000 people that had originally signed up earlier this year.

The crew before the race.

The awesomeness that lined the course.  

Enjoying my much deserved beer ;) - Cheers!

And a big thanks to the hubby who also braved the elements for over an hour to hold my gear! What a trooper!  

So overall it was way off from any PR but a productive morning at least.

Chip time:  44:38

Overall Place	4121 / 13294
Gender Place	1099 / 6550
Division Place	213 / 1324
Mi
Pace	8:59