Shamrocks and Spartans

So sorry that my recap of the Shamrock Shuffle 5k is coming out so late.  I have no real excuse unless you let me use training for 70.3.  LOL

Number and race shirt pickup at the Y and I was in and out in no time at all.  Great t-shirt again.

The weather was originally supposed to be 45. I was not happy to see that it was going to be more like 30.  No my best idea, but I didn't change my race outfit.

I added a long sleeve shirt and left with my jacket and gloves.

This race is only a few miles down the road, so it was nice to not have to get up and leave the house too early in the morning.  There was 9 am start.

I was meeting my friend Sally and her friend Chelsea.  Sally is a walker who is training to walk the Blessing in July. This was her first race.

I stayed in the car as long as possible, eventually getting out to use the PP and stretch.  My buddy Michael was also running and I was so happy to see him and snap a picture.

I have to be honest, I was freezing.  My legs felt the worst.  I wished I had a real hat.  We walked down to the start together.  I wished Sally and Chelsea a good race and told them I would be waiting for them at the finish.

I was so happy to start running and to start warming up. I was so thankful for my jacket and gloves.
However, before I finished the first mile, my feet, calves and shins were bothering me. I can't say I was in pain, just very uncomfortable.  The only thing that was different was that I was wearing compression socks.

Now, I love my compression socks for recovery but I have never run in them. The socks had shamrocks on them, so I wanted them to go with my outfit.  I never dreamed they would bother me so much.  By mile three, people were passing me and I wanted to rip my socks off.

When I saw the school and the finish line, I also saw Mike who was running towards me.  He had finished in 22:xx  He ran me in with a strong finish.  My time was 34:27.

I got my water and waited for Chelsea and Sally.  Chelsea came in first and I wasn't even ready with my camera. Sorry Chelsea!  I was ready for Sally though. She came in smiling and she looked great!

From there we went to the after party at Gillian's for our free beer and food.  We were able to get our beer but after about a half hour of trying to get a waitress to order food, we left.  That bummed me out because our meal last year after this race was great!  None the less, it was a great way to spend my Sunday morning.

Now on to some Spartan news.

I have been asked to read and review a synopsis of Joe DeSena's new book, Spartan Up!  For those of you who don't know, Joe is the founder of the Spartan Race Series.

I love this partnership that I have with Spartan, even though I have not done one of their races. Yet.  My readers who have won entries from this blog have had so much fun, you can't help but want to do one.

The twenty page synopsis was fun and full of info about each chapter.  I can't wait to read the full edition.  Joe is a man who clearly means business. He is a no holds barred, strong and determined man who knows how to get things done!  This book is going to answer all your Spartan questions. Everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

You can "meet" Joe here in this video.  Cool dude, right? I am really looking forward to learning more about Joe and how he got to where he is now and how he got the Spartan Race so successful.

Now, how do you get this book?  Well, the book will be released May 13 and you can preorder a copy here.  Let me know what you think once you have read it.

I have some other news, but it will have to be a post by itself.  Look for that in a few days.

Till then, Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole