Shamrock Shuffle 2019 {Race Recap}

Ran my 8th Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday! 

TL;DR version: I got my 2nd fastest time and had fun with some great people. 

Saturday morning we ran over to the expo with our neighbors and met up with some of our run club. 

Did the expo thing, got some swag and had fun. It seemed better than last year-maybe more consolidated. Last year I kept thinking “where’s the other room of vendors?”

This year we had a record 41 people and 8 teams running for Our run club- Mikkeller Running club!

When I signed up for the race back last year, I had grand goals to train for low 6’s and try to place in my AG (you never know who’s going to show up, blah blah) but in December I started feeling really crappy. I gained 10lbs and a lot of body fat. I attribute it to the residual effects of Ironman training and elevated cortisol. 

I trained fairly well, but never felt great despite an average of 45 miles per week.  My speedwork was around 6:00/mile but I always felt really tired and not fresh, even outside of running. 

Goal for Sunday was revised to: sub 35 and I’ll be happy. I ran a 10k with Ze avg 7:00, so I figured that not being dog aided (pulled) I could probably hold it for 5 miles.

Woke up Sunday morning, had a coffee and a slice of my latest homemade red fife wheat loaf.  We walked over to grant park to meet our team. 

41 people ran with us. I’m still so blown away at what this community has become.

We dropped our bags after pics and headed to our corrals.

The cool thing about having a running club is that you’re never alone- especially at this race. There were at least 10 people from MRC in the same corral as me.

Obligatory skyline shot. 

We lined up initially close to the start- I remarked how empty it was but then realized it was still pretty early. As the corral filled up, I decided to get out of the herd of 5 minute milers and start at the back. Didn’t want to get trampled- yes I still have trauma over the Chicago marathon 2011 when I got tripped in the first 400m due to idiots.  

A few of us started the race together- which was nice. I felt really good maintaining high 6’s but didn’t feel mentally into this race while running. I stuck with Matt and MH for like 2 miles and eventually they started pulling away. I tried to keep up but was stuck on my pace. 

Crossed the 5k in 21:17 - not bad considering how I’ve felt for the past few months.

(Actual manually lapped splits)

Finished in 34:19. I was happy to break 35 again and was content with my time.  We ran into more teammates since about 10 of us finished within a few minutes of each other. 

Its where we discovered that we placed 2nd in the team division!

We got our bags and walked towards the fountain to chill while our other teammates finished. We ran into MRC Seattle captain John at the fountain. It was great to meet him finally!

We made sure to get a group picture post race too. 

I am just so proud of our entire group- people PR’d like L by 5 minutes!! For others it was the longest they’ve ever run.  So inspired by these folks. 

I wasn’t too far off my time from last year despite feeling quite meh. I have to thank my rabbits Matt and MH- I wouldn’t have run as fast if it wasn’t for them. To see people I knew ahead of me kept me more engaged had I been there all alone. 

8 years of shamrock data. 🤓

We went to Ballast Point to celebrate and hydrate and eat. I love these people.

And then went to Lone Wolf where potentially bad decisions were made.

Overall, I’m really happy with how this race went, and how I paced with relatively even splits. I’m going to go to the doctor soon to see if something is out of whack because I’m sick of feeling dull. And I want to be 100% for Chicago Marathon Training.


8th Shuffle in the books! Looking forward to doing a 10k in a month and then really getting into marathon training. (And also looking forward to figuring out why I feel so flat all the time and fixing it!)

Extremely thankful for this amazing group of people. 

Housekeeping: (40f/calm)

Took a sis gel 10 min prior to the race

No water during the race

Long sleeve with singlet and shorts- overkill. Drop the long sleeve. 

Hustle Up The 875 [Hancock] 2019 {Race Recap}

A few weeks ago I climbed up this 94 story building again. 

A few days prior I did 100 floors in 16:00 on the stair step. I knew that stair step does not equal real stairs. I get so winded climbing 20 floors in my building.

Race morning we took an Uber up to the 875. I met up with coworkers- I was on a work sponsored team and we took some pics before getting in line. 

I didn’t really have a goal. I didn’t feel as in shape as I did last year- I’m heavier and not running as much but wanted to be around my time from 2018.

We took more selfies before we got in line.

There he is in line a few people behind me.

I got all my stuff together and was ready to climb 94 floors.

I ended up starting my watch about a minute into the climb because I got distracted at the start. The volunteers were super nice while they let people go every 8 seconds to avoid crowding.

My plan for this “race” was to keep an even pace- basically a slow steady walking pace the entire time. And to not stop. 

Around floor 9 I saw a flash of light and was confused. Then I realized there was a photographer.

So I looked up and they took another picture of me.

Around floor 33 I saw a sign saying we were a third of the way complete. My legs were basically trashed by that point. It was such a contrast to last year when my HR was through the roof. This year my legs were useless Gumby legs.

I put my head down, passed about 40+ people, and started climbing- using my hands on the stairs. Not sure if it helped but it made sense at the time. I was hurting. 

I heard cheers and was happy to know the end was near. 

I finished in 19:05- about a minute slower than last year. A little after I finished, I Spotted L who finished under 21:00.

I was so happy to be done. I swear the building grew more stairs!

The views were nice.

The wind was crazy strong too- the elevators were moving slowly and there was a long wait to get back down. Luckily I have a hookup in the building and we were able to take the freight down without wait.

It was fun- as fun as something like that can be. It’s for a great cause- and is a good challenge, so I’ll keep coming back.

We climbed up that!

After going home and freshening up, we went to Half Acre to celebrate.


First race of 2019 is in the books! Next up is my running club’s beer mile and the Shamrock Shuffle.