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.

Virginia is for Lovers (and Island Boost!)

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.

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!

Shirts & bibs

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!

If only every race morning looked like this!

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.

Jon & I, pre-race

Ready to go! (Well, almost)

Now we're ready!

 This was the first race with my Bia watch and with chocolate Island Boost. I was so excited for both!

Chocolate Island Boost & Bia! What more could a girl ask for?

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!

Jon, myself, and Cam

Jess, a fellow Tough Chik, and I

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!

Done and Done

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!

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!

Best GF lunch ever!

Mmmmm, gelato!

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).

Gluten free bread! I've never been offered gluten free bread at a restaurant like normal people before!

Burton's GF menu

Firecracker Shrimp - so good!

Backyard BBQ Burger - so yummy!

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!