Races...Ready or Not, Here They Come

I had a minor freakout this past weekend when I read on facebook that my next race was only 3 weeks away! YIKES! I'm running a half marathon in three weeks. Uh Oh. I'm not ready. With getting sick and having a project that runs me ragged, I haven't had the proper time to prepare. I was doing good with training but then I stopped. I decided to get up off my butt and put on my running gear right then and there. I was only going to run about 8 miles but then I had the harebrained idea that I should run 12. I was feeling good until about the 6th mile, then ok until the 9th mile, but then from 9 to 12 was killer. My knees hurt and my hips hurt. When I finished I kept thinking how hard the other 1.1 miles was going to be. This could have been because I haven't been exercising and haven't run 12 miles oh in about 2 years. Oh well, sometimes I don't make the smartest decisions sometimes.

I am running the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach on March 18th at 7am. This is the 7th anniversary of the half marathon. This is the race's 40th anniversary. I have run this race before, it was actually my first ever half marathon. This race is special because not only is there beer at the end of the race, BUT THERE IS BEER ON THE COURSE!!! Yes! As glorious as it sounds, its actually disgusting. Its on the 3rd and 10th mile (you run out and then run back) so by the 10th mile everything smells disgusting because runners take a sip of the cup then throw down the rest on the ground. So it reeks of beer. My main goal of this race is to be able to finish the race and actually be able to drink the beer. I've finished my half marathons between 2:14 and 2:29 so as long as I get sometime in that range I'll be happy.



Last year, I volunteered at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler with two sorority sisters and I remember it being SO.FREAKING.COLD. But by volunteering, I was now automatically able to run this year! Yay on being able to skip the lottery system but boo on it being so soon after the half marathon :( This is the 40th anniversary of Cherry Blossom 10 Miler and its on April 1st at 7:30 am.