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!

Tough Chiks!

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.

Melissa & I pre-race

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.

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.

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.

Texting my mom & brother

#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!

So proud of Melissa for finishing her first half!

So cold, but so happy!

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!