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Formerly The Raw Project - Running on a Healthy Vegan Diet

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2017 Shamrock’n Half Marathon

March 14, 2017 by christine

Sunday started way too early as my sister and I had to be at Raley Field by 7:15 AM for the Shamrock’n half marathon which was actually 6:15 AM with spring forward. Ick! Because this race is always the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day, it often happens on the morning of spring forward but still a hugely popular half. I was pleased to see short lines for the outhouses which is something this race is better at than most, not only are there tons of outhouses, all the stadium restrooms are available to runners too and they turn half of the men’s restrooms into women’s for this event to make sure there are no lines. It also starts in 3 race waves depending what your estimated finish time will be and I started in the first wave at 7:45 AM when the sun was finally coming up. The announcer joked that the first wave is always the quietest because we’re still waking up – ha! And true.

I knew this was probably not going to be a PR or even an easy race after my final two long training runs did not go smoothly in strong and bitterly cold winds. For a half, I’m happy with 2 hours or under and usually I can come in at 1:50-something. But my quads started feeling like cement around mile 6 after pushing for a strong start.

From that point on, keeping pace was a struggle as I checked my watch and pushed with micro walking intervals to try and rest muscles between. My nose was running pretty badly too, but I found compression arm sleeves make great emergency tissue after I peeled them off!

I managed to keep up with others from my start wave even working in a lot of mirco walking intervals for the last few miles.

The route this year was considerably different from past years due to flooded bike trails and damage from all the rain we’ve been getting. In the past, heading back over the Tower Bridge meant the last mile to the finish line – not this year! We still had 2 more hilly miles up levees and around a park.

But the finish line finally came and my time was 2:05:04 – not awesome and I was bummed to not be under 2 hours. But it was a good experience and finishing with the first wave means no lines for the freebies, snacks, and beer.

Hubby sweetly met me at the finish and we hung around watching runners while waiting for my sister, then hung around a bit more for the post-race party. We decided stuffing on chips and beer probably wouldn’t be a good idea for lunch, nor would driving around Sacramento to find a place with the road closures and race traffic, so we headed to Pho Vegan Asian Cuisine to replenish with vegan noodle dishes.

And I have another half medal to add to my collection now and it was not an easy one to earn this year!

It’s given me drive to troubleshot and perfect my training a bit for the next half at the end of April. What went wrong? Crappy training weather played a role. And my pace has slowed a bit after training for a marathon I think, I was more spent with heavier mileage weeks to really push speed training intervals. Work stress probably had something to do with it too because there has been lots of that lately. But I’m looking forward to better training for the next and deciding what races I want to do between.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: half marathon, plant based runner, plant-based, race story, running, shamrock'n half marathon, vegan, vegan runner

Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    March 15, 2017 at 5:38 am

    I wouldn’t make it past the first 2 minutes! Great job! Awesome swag there at the end! Very nice

    • christine says

      March 15, 2017 at 6:45 am

      You’re so sweet, thanks! Yes in the swap – I scored a lot of flavored packs of almonds that we’ll be enjoying.

  2. Dorothy@ Fitness says

    March 15, 2017 at 5:43 am

    You’ve done an amazing job on keeping up with your goals. Wish you all the best in the future!

  3. ALOZADE A. says

    March 15, 2017 at 10:48 am

    Good posts, beautiful blog.
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  4. Linda @ Veganosity says

    March 15, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    Most people would be happy to finish, but as a runner, I totally understand your frustration with your time. Although, I think it’s a good one. Pho would be the perfect post race meal.

    • christine says

      March 15, 2017 at 3:10 pm

      Thanks and agreed it wasn’t a bad time, but knowing I can do better is frustrating. And Pho Vegan has been my comfort food go to lately.

  5. Ellie says

    March 15, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    That medal looks awesome, as does the lo mein <3 You have a great attitude about the difficulties inside the course. Way to stick it out. It's early in the season for races, you've got time to get sub-2 hours in the next one!

    • christine says

      March 16, 2017 at 9:39 am

      Thanks and it was, everything at Pho Vegan has been awesome so far. Thanks on the race, it is a difficult training season that I’ve had problems with in the past and more going on in my life now. Hopefully the next half!

  6. Gingi Freeman says

    March 16, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    That medal is actually pretty cool! I really only want to run to get all the cool bling! haha.. – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com

    • christine says

      March 16, 2017 at 3:15 pm

      That’s not bad motivation, my collection is growing!

  7. Emily says

    March 22, 2017 at 7:22 am

    The madal looks so cute and unit. I’m happy that you had a great day before St Patrick’s Day and really looking forward to your next race.

Hello! I'm Christine, an IT Professional in Northern California. I'm also passionate about a healthy, plant based lifestyle, running, fitness, and being eco-friendly. 40 (ack!), married, with furkids. Read More…

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