Overall, the Shamrock races in VA Beach are wonderful. If there was anything I'd change, it'd be the length of the finisher chute (or just have the ability to get out of it before walking several blocks down the boardwalk). I'm looking forward to Dolphin Challenge 2015!
They have GREAT swag. For the 8k, a long sleeve (cotton) shirt before the race and a beer coozie & medal after the race. For the half, a short sleeve (technical) shirt before the race and a hat, finisher hat, beach blanket, and medal after the race. The dolphin challenge got an additional medal. Both races got a reusable bag with the race logo/info on it. There's also a beer tent & beef stew if that's your thing.
For comparison sake:
Shamrock Dolphin Challenge 2009
place: 357/457 (in Dolphin Challenge)
age: 28
gender place: 182/259 (in Dolphin Challenge)
8k: 1:00:34
half: 2:42:08
dolphin overall time: 3:42:42
Shamrock Dolphin Challenge 2014
place: 462/750 (in Dolphin Challenge)
age: 33
gender place: n/a
8k: 1:00:01
half: 2:22:45
dolphin overall time: 3:22:46
Triathlete, Personal Trainer, Hypothyroid - working towards a healthier me!
Friday, March 28, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Shamrock 8k & Half Marathon; aka Dolphin Challenge; March 14 & 15, 2014; The Half
Pre-race
We got up nice & early. I made the oatmeal, body glided up, got dressed, ate, and then rolled out my calves a bit. (Love my Trigger Point footballer!) We walked the few blocks over to the race site to meet up with the Tough Chik ladies at 6:30ish. It was so cold! On the way over, I lost my ear cover thing, but it is what it is. It was great meeting these ladies!
I decided to start with the 2:30 pace group corral instead of the 2:15 group. I handed Jon my Space Coast jacket & proceeded to shiver until we got running.
Race
After the National Anthem, we had to wait for 6 corrals to go off. They do a pretty good job of separating the corrals to give some space on the course.
I skipped my first walk interval just to try to get out of the crowds a little bit. I noticed almost immediately that I was a bit fast. My miles were in the 10 minute range (although closer to 11 minutes still) instead of in the 11 minute range (closer to 12 minutes). At mile 3, I was a little worried that I was a bit too fast. I have a bad habit of blowing up at mile 11, so I was a bit concerned. Around this time, I saw another fellow Disneymooner, Jill, and her husband, Tim. I gave her a quick hug & said hi to him and continued on. I had a time monkey to chase down!
Around mile 6.5, I realized that I was coming in MUCH faster than I thought I would... and than I ever have. I started texting Jon on my walk breaks about once a mile from here on out. I was at the half way point at 1:09:xx (well, 6.5 on my Bia... 6.2 on my Garmin).
Mile 8-10 were a bit tough just because of the wind on Fort Story. They have pretty lighthouses!
Around mile 11, I was just waiting for the cramping in my calves to start. This is usually what happens. Instead, I felt great & was able to keep on keeping on! I texted Jon at mile 10, 11, and 12. I realized at mile 12 that I was definitely going to make it under 2:30:xx, which was my goal. I just didn't realize how much under.
I was so excited to come in at 2:22:45. I've never broken 2:30 before. Everything for this race just fell into place. I was taking Island Boost every 30 minutes, a Salt Stick every 45 minutes, and drinking water at the water stops & as needed. This is apparently exactly what I needed in 40ish degree weather. I'll have to play with the salt as it gets warmer.
Post-race
When I crossed the finish line, Jon found me & I started hyperventilating crying. I was so proud of myself. We have issues in my family... we cry when it's good or bad news! After getting through the finishing chute, I found Jon again. We chilled for a few minutes and then I had him take a million pictures.
Then we moved to the other side of the chute to wait for Melissa. She came in around 2:40 or so, which is phenomenal!
After chatting with Melissa & her parents for a few minutes, we headed back to the hotel. We made the call earlier that morning that we needed to go home that night. We were expecting snow at the house that night/the next morning, so it was the more responsible thing to do. So, we went back & I got showered and finished packing. Then it was off to lunch!
Monday morning, this is what we woke up to. Guess it was a good call to spend 5.5 hrs in the car to beat the snow.
We got up nice & early. I made the oatmeal, body glided up, got dressed, ate, and then rolled out my calves a bit. (Love my Trigger Point footballer!) We walked the few blocks over to the race site to meet up with the Tough Chik ladies at 6:30ish. It was so cold! On the way over, I lost my ear cover thing, but it is what it is. It was great meeting these ladies!
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| Tough Chiks! |
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| We are tough! |
After meeting up with the ladies for the pictures (and a very quick hello), we set off to find Melissa & her family. After some confusion about where she was, we finally found her. It was a pretty quick hello and then I headed to corral 7.
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| Melissa & I pre-race |
I was wearing both my Bia and Garmin (Forerunner 10) because the Bia doesn't have the walk/run functionality yet. I was trying to get my Bia & Garmin to connect. The Garmin actually connected before the Bia. I was a bit frustrated because the Bia was really struggling. The first time it didn't connect was my fault, I forgot to wake up the GoStick. The other three times, I'm not sure what was going on. My best guess is that standing in a crowd of almost 10,000 people, it was just having a hard time pulling down a cell signal. The Bia finally connected and all was well.
After the National Anthem, we had to wait for 6 corrals to go off. They do a pretty good job of separating the corrals to give some space on the course.
I skipped my first walk interval just to try to get out of the crowds a little bit. I noticed almost immediately that I was a bit fast. My miles were in the 10 minute range (although closer to 11 minutes still) instead of in the 11 minute range (closer to 12 minutes). At mile 3, I was a little worried that I was a bit too fast. I have a bad habit of blowing up at mile 11, so I was a bit concerned. Around this time, I saw another fellow Disneymooner, Jill, and her husband, Tim. I gave her a quick hug & said hi to him and continued on. I had a time monkey to chase down!
Around mile 6.5, I realized that I was coming in MUCH faster than I thought I would... and than I ever have. I started texting Jon on my walk breaks about once a mile from here on out. I was at the half way point at 1:09:xx (well, 6.5 on my Bia... 6.2 on my Garmin).
Mile 8-10 were a bit tough just because of the wind on Fort Story. They have pretty lighthouses!
Around mile 11, I was just waiting for the cramping in my calves to start. This is usually what happens. Instead, I felt great & was able to keep on keeping on! I texted Jon at mile 10, 11, and 12. I realized at mile 12 that I was definitely going to make it under 2:30:xx, which was my goal. I just didn't realize how much under.
I was so excited to come in at 2:22:45. I've never broken 2:30 before. Everything for this race just fell into place. I was taking Island Boost every 30 minutes, a Salt Stick every 45 minutes, and drinking water at the water stops & as needed. This is apparently exactly what I needed in 40ish degree weather. I'll have to play with the salt as it gets warmer.
Post-race
When I crossed the finish line, Jon found me & I started hyperventilating crying. I was so proud of myself. We have issues in my family... we cry when it's good or bad news! After getting through the finishing chute, I found Jon again. We chilled for a few minutes and then I had him take a million pictures.
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| Texting my mom & brother |
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| #faceyourfierce |
Then we moved to the other side of the chute to wait for Melissa. She came in around 2:40 or so, which is phenomenal!
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| So proud of Melissa for finishing her first half! |
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| So cold, but so happy! |
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| Taste Unlimited again. Yummy! |
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| Snow = Being Responsible |
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Shamrock 8k & Half Marathon; aka Dolphin Challenge; March 14 & 15, 2014; The 8k
Pre-race
We traveled to VA Beach for the Shamrock weekend races on Friday. We had to stop by the trailer before headed south, so we did that and I "encouraged" Jon to get on the road as quickly as possible.
We got to VA Beach and headed straight for the expo. Race weekend doesn't official start until packet pickup for me. I love packet pickup; it's what makes the race(s) real! We met up with my friend Melissa & her parents at the expo. I had a couple of Island Boost to give her.
After we wandered through the expo (where I picked up a sweet pair of 110% calf compression sleeves), we headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on 37th & Atlantic. Great location for the races!
We met Melissa & her parents for dinner at Carrabba's. After a great dinner & conversation, we headed back to the hotel to relax and get ready for the next morning's 8k.
The Race
The morning of the race, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise & great weather!
We had breakfast (oatmeal in a cup! Gluten free for me.), finished getting ready, and then headed out to meet up with Melissa & her family. Her dad, Cam, was going to be running the 8k.
This was the first race with my Bia watch and with chocolate Island Boost. I was so excited for both!
While we were chatting with Melissa's family, a fellow Team Tough Chik member wandered over and introduced herself. It was fun meeting a fellow team member! Hope your races went well Jess!
Before long, it was time to get in our corrals. Jon was a bit freaked because apparently I put in 45 minutes for our estimated time. Which, when we were going to be training for the run, was totally realistic! Needless to say, he refused to start in corral 4 where we were supposed to. So, we wandered back to corral 7. There was about 2 minutes between each corral. We got up to the start line & counted down our "go time".
I told Jon I'd stick with him the entire race and at his pace. I needed to keep my legs for the following day. I think Jon was a bit worried because I've been known to push the pace a bit. True to my word, I kept with him & let him be at his pace. We did a 1:00 run/1:00 walk. We skipped the first walk and ran through it because it was too close to the beginning of the race (read: too many people!). There was one other interval that I had us push through because it was too crowded again. Other than that, I left it up to Jon to set the pace.
I had such a great time. No pressure, sunny morning, calm breeze, and great company. Oh and the flat-est course ever! All runs should be like that. The funny thing is that all of the photographers caught us while we were on our walk breaks. The Bia did great! Jon didn't tell me he wanted to be under an hour. If I had known that, I would've pushed him a little more!
After the race, we caught up with Melissa & her mom. While waiting for her dad, a former teammate, Patty, finished. It was so good to see her!
Post-race
We found this sandwich shop called Taste Unlimited on my Find Me Gluten Free app. It had pretty good ratings and was within walking distance to the hotel. Perfect location! I had a Freemason (chicken salad) on gluten free bread. While non of this is even remotely Paleo, it was good to be ordering somewhat like a normal person. After lunch, we had gelato from TU as well. It was so good!
After lunch, we headed to the RV show in Hampton Roads. After about 1.5 hours or so of walking around, we were both getting tired and were ready to head back to the hotel. We chilled for a bit, grabbed coffee, found some awesome popcorn at Jody's Popcorn, and decided to head to Burton's Grille for an early dinner. They were so wonderful in how they handled gluten free dining. About 95% of their menu can be gluten free (even if they're not on the gluten free menu).
I ordered dessert to go - chocolate torte. After finishing off dinner, we headed back to the hotel to chill, enjoy the spring-like evening, and have dessert. We also played a bit of Quiz Up. We headed to bed early because I had a 7am start the next morning for the half marathon!
We traveled to VA Beach for the Shamrock weekend races on Friday. We had to stop by the trailer before headed south, so we did that and I "encouraged" Jon to get on the road as quickly as possible.
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| Virginia is for Lovers (and Island Boost!) |
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| Melissa & I with our race bibs |
After we wandered through the expo (where I picked up a sweet pair of 110% calf compression sleeves), we headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on 37th & Atlantic. Great location for the races!
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| Shirts & bibs |
The Race
The morning of the race, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise & great weather!
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| If only every race morning looked like this! |
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| Jon & I, pre-race |
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| Ready to go! (Well, almost) |
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| Now we're ready! |
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| Chocolate Island Boost & Bia! What more could a girl ask for? |
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| Jon, myself, and Cam |
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| Jess, a fellow Tough Chik, and I |
I told Jon I'd stick with him the entire race and at his pace. I needed to keep my legs for the following day. I think Jon was a bit worried because I've been known to push the pace a bit. True to my word, I kept with him & let him be at his pace. We did a 1:00 run/1:00 walk. We skipped the first walk and ran through it because it was too close to the beginning of the race (read: too many people!). There was one other interval that I had us push through because it was too crowded again. Other than that, I left it up to Jon to set the pace.
I had such a great time. No pressure, sunny morning, calm breeze, and great company. Oh and the flat-est course ever! All runs should be like that. The funny thing is that all of the photographers caught us while we were on our walk breaks. The Bia did great! Jon didn't tell me he wanted to be under an hour. If I had known that, I would've pushed him a little more!
 |
| Done and Done |
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| Patty from Team Z & I |
Post-race
We found this sandwich shop called Taste Unlimited on my Find Me Gluten Free app. It had pretty good ratings and was within walking distance to the hotel. Perfect location! I had a Freemason (chicken salad) on gluten free bread. While non of this is even remotely Paleo, it was good to be ordering somewhat like a normal person. After lunch, we had gelato from TU as well. It was so good!
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| Best GF lunch ever! |
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| Mmmmm, gelato! |
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| Gluten free bread! I've never been offered gluten free bread at a restaurant like normal people before! |
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| Burton's GF menu |
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| Firecracker Shrimp - so good! |
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| Backyard BBQ Burger - so yummy! |
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Whole 30 DONE!
That's right, I finished! That being said... now begins the reintroductions. Last night, I reintroduced corn (in the form of chips). Bad idea. I was in the bathroom before we left the restaurant. This morning, I waited until after my weight lifting session and then reintroduced oatmeal (gluten free version). So far, no problems. Thank goodness! Later today, rice. I think dinner will be back to whole 30 again because I reintroduced early yesterday.
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| Day 0 up top, Day 30 on the bottom |
This is going to be my saving guide going on from here: http://whole30.com/step-four-finished/.
My husband has been talking about potentially doing a round of Whole 30. So, depending on when he does it, I may be joining in. We'll see how it goes. I'm planning on doing another round in late October/November (mid-Oct to mid-Nov).
I'm excited to be doing reintroductions. Can't wait to see how things go!
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