Shamrock Shuffle 8k

My PR in the 8k was 33:55. I had hoped to run this race around 30min, but I did not expect to break it. My training has been going well over the last 4-5 months. I've gotten my mileage up to 50 miles/week, and my fitness has improved dramatically.

I showed up to the race with Sarah and Jason around 7:15am. We got there early to check our gear and do a warmup. I love this race because it has a big turnout and I get to catch up with people that I haven't seen in a long time.

Jason and I did a 1.5 mile warmup, some drills, some strides and got in corral A. I got as close to the front as possible, which ended up being very close for such a big race (30,000 finishers).

The horn sounded and I took off. The early pace was fast, but I felt comfortable. However, this comfort wouldn't last long. After only 4:00 minutes I started to feel the fatigue set in. I began to worry that the pace was too fast. This first mile came out to 6:07 and I thought "That mile hurt pretty badly, how am I gonna hang on for 4 more miles at this pace??"

The pace felt blistering, and I knew I should have slowed down. But I only eased off slightly. I tried to relax. It was so early in the race, but I could feel the tension building inside me. My stress level was high. In my head I repeated to myself "relax in the pack".  This actually seemed to help, and it eased the tension a bit. Mile 2 came out to 6:02 and this surprised me. I thought I had slowed down.

Mile 3 was more of the same... a constant inner-battle to convince myself that I was gonna be ok. Short races are so intense that the body red-lines and goes into "damage control mode". Alarm signals are firing to the brain telling your brain that it's in an emergency situation and serious damage will occur if you don't slow down.

This is where the mental aspect comes into play. Despite the fact that my body is SCREAMING at me to slow down, can I convince myself that I will be ok if I don't slow down?

With 3 miles down and 2 remaining, I knew that I could finish strong and that I was in the midst of a great race. The pain level was high, but I felt strong and confident. I slowly started to push the pace. There were many "sub-elites" and competitive teams at this race. For the first time in my life I was up there with them, even passing a few of them. It felt good.

Mile 4 came out to 6:00, I told myself "It's on!". I began the real push. And it was a good one. I don't know where it came from because I was hurting pretty badly for most of the race. But despite the searing pain, I kept digging harder. I know I've talked about it before, but that feeling of crushing the last mile is something very special.

Remembering my earlier splits of 6:07 and 6:10, I had given up on the idea of sub-30. I needed to go under 5:40 for the last mile, and I didn't think I could do that.

But as I turned the corner the finish line came into view with a quarter mile to go.  I was shocked to see that I still had a chance to break 30:00. I kicked with everything I had, and I was able to get in under 30.

After crossing the finish line I bent over the side railing to cough, pant, spit and catch my breath. I may have looked like hell, but I was thrilled.


Mile 1- 6:07
Mile 2- 6:02
Mile 3- 6:10
Mile 4- 6:00
0.97- 5:35

FINISH- 29:56 (6:02 pace)

Last year I ran this race in 35:00. I'm happy and excited with where my fitness is at right now. The overtraining issues are a distant memory.

The Shamrock Shuffle signifies the start of racing season in Chicago. And I suspect that 2014 will be a big year.