After several weeks of minimal running, this morning I participated in Portland’s Shamrock Run, along with approximately 20,999 other people – assuming everyone who registered showed up. I very well could have been one of those who didn’t, and would have been if I hadn’t decided to double check the packet-pick up location last night right before bed, and discovered that today is daylight whatever time.
Apparently I’m in better shape than I thought, because I was able to break 8 minute miles for a time of 1:14:05 for the 15k (and this being my first 15k, I PRed, which was inevitable yet exciting nonetheless). I felt like I was going pretty slow, but I think mostly I was sleepy. Going pretty much straight uphill for the first 4-5 miles was kind of rough too – it started on Naito, but quickly turned onto Burnside, then all the way up Broadway, all the way up Terwilliger, and then things got better from there, just going back on Barbur (where my dad surprised me by being there and waving at me) to Naito again. Around mile 3 I made racing buddies with some guy in an orange shirt, which means we were going about the same pace so every I fell behind him I would turn things up a notch until I passed him again. I didn’t tell him that we were racing buddies, but I’m pretty sure he knew. Too bad for him I beat him super bad in the end.
Around mile 7, the 8k runners meet up with the 15k runners and we run together. Shortly thereafter, there’s a water station, much like the other water stations along the course, but instead of water they hand out PBR. It’s kind of difficult to drink beer out of a paper cup while you’re running (I don’t understand why they didn’t just give us all our own cans… everyone knows it’s easier to drink out of a can than a cup), but the few sips I was able to take were enough to give me that adrenaline rush so reminiscent of the Whitman Beer Mile, that despite being fully clothed and sober, I got a burst of energy and was able to finish the race at hyperspeed. If you can’t imagine me finishing a race at hyperspeed, here’s a visual aid:
That guy on the far left beat me. I kind of saw it coming because of his wreath of laurel. I imagine it takes a certain amount of hubris to wear that during the race, but he did run faster than I did, so I won’t get hung up on that. Also, he wasn’t in my division, so no biggie. I was in the 20-24 year old female division, and got 21st out of 175. Nowhere near the #1 I would have preferred, but I’m not complaining. The last time I ran the Shamrock run was when I was 14, and I did the 8k (at a pace differing by less than 1 second per mile, interestingly enough), the winners of the whole race got their weight in beer! Now it’s something boring, like a gift certificate to a restaurant and a backpack. Edit: You can stop worrying, I just figured out that they still do the beer thing.
Now I want to remind you of a post from a while back, where I posed the question: do people actually wear [running skirts]? After this morning, I can reveal the answer. And it is yes. People do wear running skirts. But not very many. Here’s the breakdown:
Total people seen wearing skirts: 4
Number of actual runningskirts.com running skirts: 1
Number of other running skirts: 1
Number of skirts that don’t look like they’re intended for running at all: 1
Number of kilts, which I suppose aren’t technically skirts but this is still unclear to me: 1
Assuming I saw everyone in a skirt in my race, and there were 2 other runs plus a walk, let’s just go ahead and multiply my number by 4 (I’m not going to actually count the kilt since it’s a kilt and it was also for an Irish themed run), so we get 12 running skirts. Considering the 21,000 people running this morning, that comes to 0.00057% of runners wear running skirts. I’m going to go ahead and round that down to 0%, and change my “yes people do wear running skirts” to a “no, people do not wear running skirts.” At least in March. I still can’t bring myself to wear shorts outside, let alone a skirt, so I’ll keep you all updated on what happens in warmer weather runs.
Disappointment of the day: When I got home, I went to the Shamrock Run website to check the results. They hadn’t been posted yet, but I did discover that I was supposed to receive a commemorative bottle opener style medallion at the finish line, and I received no such thing! I was so angry that even though I had just gotten in bed for a nap I ran downstairs to complain to my mom. I’m really glad I did, because when I got down there she told me that they had announced that they didn’t have enough there so they will be mailing them out (although I’ll believe that when I’m holding my commemorative bottle opener style medallion in my own hands) AND she had just made me french toast.
Now I need to rest up for that 100 mile week I promised you.
Miles run this week: 9.5
Miles run in 2010: 221
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