Shamrock Shuffle

Yesterday was the Madison Shamrock Shuffle. It is a great race and I do it every year. It is a hard course, but it one of my favorite races because: (1) it is typically the first race of the season; (2) it is on or near St. Patrick's day; (3) it has grown into a very big, fun race; and (4) my friend Donovan puts on the race to support the local Boys and Girls Club.

All great stuff. And I was super excited to get out there once again this year to run the 10K.

Even more exciting, Coach let me taper for this race, and I have never done that before for a 10K - or frankly any other race - during marathon training.

At least I was smiling at the finish. :)I had been pretty beat up, and 2 weeks ago had a nice cut-back week. This week was just a race prep week, so very low mileage and some speedy stuff mixed in. By the end of the week, I was feeling really great. The only wild card was that the weather was really warming up this week. I am a notoriously horrible runner in the heat, but I convinced myself that it wouldn't be too much of a factor since this was only a 10K, not a marathon.

I woke up Saturday very excited to get out there - yet very nervous since it was my first race since Grand Rapids Marathon last fall. I have been training well, but very differently than I am used to and I really have no idea what type of shape I am in. The weather was awesome - 60 degrees and overcast when I left the house. I hoped it would stay that way.

I got downtown, parked, and ran a 10 minute warmup. The sun had come out and I could tell things were heating up, so I changed out of my (very awesome) shamrock knee socks into regular running socks. Then I headed for the start line and tried to position myself so I wouldn't be stalled behind a ton of slower runners at the start. It was already quite warm (70-75? and full sun).

"St. Patrick" gave his blessing and we were off! It is a super fun start down State Street, and then a big kick up Observatory Hill. I knew the course had changed this year, but wasn't sure how. Typically, we run up Observatory Hill, down, and then up another huge hill. Not this year, we ran up, then down and over to the next cross street, so it was a much faster first mile than usually. The *lovely* pic above is just coming down Observatory. My first mile clicked off at 7:12 - perfect. Second mile 7:13. All was seemingly well, but just after mile 2 I started to fall apart. I was hot and struggling. Was it the heat? Or had I gone out too fast for my fitness level? I pushed through to the turn around point and it said 23:xx. Then and there, I pretty much gave up mentally. I was still pushing it of course, but I have a terrible habit of giving up a bit mentally once I know the PR or great race is out of reach. And yesterday was no different. On the way back, I also kept thinking about how hard that last uphill mile was going to be and how the course must be really long this year. Well, about .5 to the finish, I realized we did not have to climb Observatory again and the course was going to be right on (usually the 10K is a bit long). So I picked it up for the finish, but of course, it was too little, too late. I blazed in at a 6:20 pace, but ended up with 46:33. By far one of my slowest 10Ks ever.

Frack.

So let me share my thoughts with you. I've had a lot of really crappy races in the last couple years. And I've also had some really fun ones. Interestingly, the crappy ones are the ones I have trained for and am trying to hit a time goal. The great ones are the ones I am running for fun with my boys or the girls in my Girls on the Run program. So it is hard not to ask myself, I am simply shooting for goals that are no longer attainable? Can I really PR in races anymore or do I need to readjust to the fact that I am a bit older now? Would I be better off lining up without my Garmin and just running easier rather than trying to push myself so hard?

Or, should I just blame it on the weather. I am certainly not acclimated to 75 degrees. I have been training in temps 30-50 degrees cooler than that all season.

I don't know. And all of you that know me know that I am a hopeless optimist. I always get psyched up for my next goal race. But I am really starting to get sick of the frustration and disappointment.

So there I am.

Next week, I am starting to ramp up into my most intense training for the Wisconsin Marathon. I really only have 4 or 5 more big weeks. Hopefully I will be able to get my mental game back. And hopefully I will be able to log a better tune-up race in the process too.

** Images provided by Focal Flame Photography, which offers custom sports photography, event photography, commercial photography, executive portraits, and more. Focal Flame Photography is honored to provide photography services in the Madison, WI area and beyond. (c) 2012 All Rights Reserved. (Check them out - they are awesome).