Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5K 2015 Race Recap

Shamrock and Shenanigans 5K

I signed up for shamrocks and shenanigans pretty spur of the moment. I wanted to run a st paddys race, none of them seemed to work out with friends, and finally I just decided to run one. S&S made sense because 1) it was in ann arbor, and I've been meaning to get my butt to trader joe's for a restock; 2) it benefited Mott Children's Hospital's Save a Heart program. Where I worked for 5  years. So it was an easy choice.

I registered online a few days before. Registration fees were reasonable (~42 all said and done).

I decided to do packet pick-up morning of, which was actually kind of killer considering it felt like an hour earlier (you go DST). As I was skedaddling out of the parking lot to get to packet pick in time to get back to my car and drop off my shirt, I hit and patch of ice, and BOOM down I went. busting up both knees and my hand and ripping a hole in my really nice cw-x capris. ::crying emoji:: 😭

So that was embarrassing and unfortunate, but luckily I made it to pick-up, easily grabbed my shirt, bib, and a cute magnet, and then brought them back to the car, and walked back to the start with plenty of time to spare.

The race course was a little wonky -- lots of loops downtown to start, and then down Main St to the stadium and back. They were clearly trying to get to 3.1 while closing the least number of streets possible, which I totally get, but was a little weird to start and finish.

thanks capstone photo

It was nice to run where I ran for my last two years of law school - up and down Main street with its hills was my jam. It felt very familiar.

The worst part was that we went up this very steep (but fairly short) hill TWICE, once before mile 1 and again RIGHT BEFORE THE FINISH. thanks race planners. I don't mind short steep hills, but I was pushing myself, and that last one was a little tough.

thanks capstone photo

Final time: 26:40, for 8:36's. not my PR, but also pretty damn good for not having done speedwork in a while.

At the finish we got medals and pint glasses(!) which I loved. always nice when you can add to the pint glass collection.

Post race was bagels, bananas, ICE CREAM (WHAAAA), and granola bars. i grabbed a banana and called it good.

So that was my first 5K of 2015! Weeeeee. 

Race Recap - Meteor 5K

RACE RECAP!

So Saturday was my race in Dearborn as part of the Martian Invasion.

On Friday night my mom and I headed to the race expo. I'm sure it was not nearly as fun as some of the other expo's that occured over the weekend (I'm looking at you more|fitness women's half), but it was still fun to pick up my bib, chip, and race shirt!

I LOVE the alien theme.  I think its so freaking fun.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early, noshed a banana and some quaker oatmeal squares, and then was off to race.

My mom tagged along and was my handy photographer for the day. Thanks mom!

about to get started. nice that she told me about my tag sticking out

and i'm off

I went into the race with no expectations. I have never run a 5k before, and my longer runs usually hit around a 9 minute mile pace. Ideally, I was happy with under 30. I blew that out of the water.

Something about the competitive nature of races gave me super powers. My mantra was "you can do anything for three miles," and I did.

Despite not having run since Monday night (an easy 2 miles post-yoga), and despite still having the remnants of a cough/cold, I ROCKED the Meteor 5k.

My chip time was 24:26.1, and I ended up 2nd female in my age group, 6th overall in my age group (just shy of the cash prize!  bummer!), 19th female overall, and 79th place for the entire run. Pretty damn impressive :)

After the race I grabbed a banana and bagels, as well as PIZZA.  what a great idea for post-race food!

cutest picture ever. 

i apologize poor people for subjecting your post race faces to the blogging world

And my final reward to myself for the race was a very berry sundae from costco. 

source

SO GOOD