Friday, March 8, 2013

Race Fever & The Shamrock Shuffle

I think I need an intervention.  Bring me back from the DL and I now have race sign-up fever.  Last year I was "peer-pressured" into signing up for tons of 5k races, which I never do more than 1 or 2 a year.  This year, I vowed not to cave into signing up for races just because others in my run group were and "it would be fun!!".  And so far, I haven't signed up for a single 5k for 2013 (with the exception of the Warrior Dash, which I'm now not doing because of my shoulder).

I am registered for the Shamrock Shuffle 8k on April 7th.  This is one of my favorite races to do and I've done it every year since 2004 (except once when I went to Florida)...so that makes 2013 my 9th year doing it!  I looked up my previous PR for this race back in January and my fastest time was 48:04 in 2011.  What!?  48:04 is an average pace of 9:40 min/mile!  Ok...one of my main race related goals for 2013 was to PR my Shamrock Shuffle.  After looking at the time I had to beat and my recent (in January) races and running...I figured I was a shoe-in to PR!  Well, a month out and I'm just getting back into running from my month off due to my shoulder dislocations...and needless to say...I'm not as confident anymore!  I'm wondering if I'll even average a 10:00 pace!

In order to "see where I'm at" for 8k's, I signed up at the last minute for the Running O' the Green 8k in my hometown of Tinley Park for this Sunday.  It's practically in my backyard and super cheap.  My only issues were that I'm going out the night before for a birthday celebration and there will be a few drinks...plus the time change (losing an hour of sleep)...might make an 8k rough.  But I figured I won't be out until the butt crack of dawn and I've done half marathons on less sleep and more drinks so I should be good.  Plus, I'm not planning on "racing" this 8k.  I'm just running it to see how I feel.  It will give me a good indication of what I need to do to PR the Shamrock Shuffle next month.

That 8k was an impromptu race sign-up.  But I figured why stop there...I also signed up for the half marathon in Champaign (4/28) the week before the half marathon in Indy (5/4) ...I previously mentioned this to you all.  With my April filling up pretty fast (ok, only 2 races actually but also 2 races in May), I was undecided with signing up for the Quarryman Challenge in Lemont again this year.  Last year, it got cancelled on the day of the race due to rain after we all waited around for an hour (see my post here).  The race offered the 2012 participants a discounted price for 2013.

I was unsure what I wanted to do about this race.  I signed up on a whim last year the weekend before.  I didn't have a good experience with it being cancelled.  I was just kind of .. "eh..."  And after looking at my race schedule...this race falls directly after the Shamrock Shuffle and 2 weeks before the Champaign half.  If I signed up for it, that would put me with 3 races in one month.  Kind of a lot for me.  I sat on making this decision for a little while.  After looking at my half marathon training plan, however, it has me down for a 15k race that same weekend (9.3 miles).  I finally decided it was worth signing up for this 10 mile run with the discounted price since it fits into my training plan.  It's a hilly run and I am not "racing" it.  I also know Maggie will be there as well.

So there you have it...I've got 3 races in April and 2 races in May.  As long as I (knock on wood) stay injury free, I'm hoping for some good outcomes and that my running will steadily improve back or close to where I was before I injured myself.  I also have to make sure I don't succumb to too much peer pressure come those summer 5k's!

6 comments:

  1. And who can forget RAGNAR in June!?!?

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    1. Definitely did NOT forget about ragnar! I just figured I would stop with April and May in this post! :)

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  2. My sister and I ran the Shamrock Shuffle probably 15 years ago - it was a fun race back then, I am sure it's way more fun now!

    Good luck and let's keep our fingers crossed of no injuries!

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    1. Shamrock Shuffle is so different now. Even from when I first started in 2004. It's also a lot more crowded!

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  3. I love the Shuffle! One of my favorite days of the whole year.

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  4. I'm running the full challenge in Champaign this year. It'll be my first full! Good luck there on that race. I was a bit of a race fiend too this year. Glad I'm not the only one.

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