Barry and I headed up to Roanoke around 6:45 this morning for the Shamrock Hill Run 10K. When we left the house it was around 46 degrees and sprinkling. On our way up the interstate it started pouring rain, but then it stopped. It poured again after we got to the high school, where packet pick-up was, but luckily it passed and the sun came out for the race. We picked up our packets, hung out in the car for a bit, and then headed down to the start line for the race. At 9:15 on the dot they fired the gun and we were off.

Mile 1- 9:55
Mile 2- 9:38
Mile 3- 9:30

After we passed mile 4, I picked out a guy up ahead  (officially nicknamed “green shorts guy”) and decided to just stay with him. About halfway through mile 4 there was a split where first loop 10K’ers go straight and those headed for the finish turn left, but there wasn’t any signage to indicate this. When I went by the split, the lady who was supposed to be directing us was talking to someone and wasn’t directing the runners. I went straight, but spent about 10-20 seconds worrying I had gone the wrong way and was headed for the finish. I actually stopped and looked back to make sure other runners who I knew were on the first loop had gone straight. They had, so I kept going, following green shorts guy. Just before mile 5 we switched from the road to a paved path that I think was part of the greenway system in Roanoke. We climbed a big hill, passed the mile 5 marker, and headed into the last mile of the race.

Mile 4- 8:45
Mile 5- 9:26
Mile 6- 9:12
Last 0.1 – 0:44 (my Garmin had the race at 0.1 miles short, that’s why my last split is only for 0.1)

Here is the elevation profile from my watch. Nice little spike at the finish, huh?

Once I crossed the finish line, I walked up the next hill with Barry and sat down on the curb. Just up ahead there were baby pools full of ice that had water bottles in them. Green shorts guy grabbed two and brought one to me and told me good job. Although we had kind of run together during the race, we never said anything to each other until then. It was really nice of him and I thanked him. I bet if I had “chicked” him (passed him) at the finish, he probably wouldn’t have brought me that water. But who knows.

We meandered up to the car, I grabbed my phone, and we made our way over to the high school gym for a little post race food. We checked the results and found Barry had placed 10th overall and 1st in his age group! He had a great race, running it in around 44 minutes. So we stuck around for the awards ceremony so he could collect his hardware.

They also had door prizes and I won a Virginia Tech pillow! Any Hokie can attest to how cool it is to win anything VT related. It’s funny (and ironic) that I have won prizes during drawings at this race and the Blacksburg Classic in February, because those are the only two races since I’ve run since I started my blog. Previously, I can’t remember ever winning anything at drawings after races. Guess the blog is good luck!

Overall this was a really enjoyable race. It was smaller, with around 300 participants. I felt like the organization was good, and everything went smoothly except for the lady who wasn’t directing runners at the split. This was the first year they have had a 10K option, and it was our first time running the race. In the past they’ve had a 5K and a 1 mile fun run, and I believe it was the 23rd year overall for the race. The weather was also really nice, too, which always contributes to a good race experience, even though it’s something that’s completely out of the race director’s hands.

Barry and I are headed up to Roanoke this morning to run the Shamrock Hill Run. The race has a 5K and 10K option (new this year), and we will be running the 10K. Over the years, I have completed 8 half marathons and numerous other 10 mile and 5K races. But somehow I’ve never run a 10K. I’m hoping to finish right around an hour or a little under.

Here’s to a guaranteed PR!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Stephanie at Now I Run nominated me for a Liebster Award! Thanks, Stephanie!!

I was grateful she thought of me and my blog, but I wasn’t quite sure what it actually meant. I tried to Google it, but you mostly get results of people’s blog posts who have received the award. Luckily, Stephanie also posted about what the award is.

Basically, it’s a way to put the spotlight on new and up and coming blogs that have less than 200 followers. When you get nominated, you post 11 random facts about yourself, answer the questions the nominator has set for you, and then nominate 11 new bloggers who are new/up and coming and give them 11 questions to answer.

11 random facts about me:

1. I have been married to my husband, Barry, for almost 3 years
2. I am a die hard Hokie fan, and I love Virginia Tech football

3. I am very allergic to cats
4. I pack my lunch every day for work
5. Growing up I swam competitively year round, played soccer, and also took piano lessons for 12 years
6. My current favorite TV show is Duck Dynasty

7. I hate being cold
8. My favorite farm animal is a cow
9. My (current) favorite color is purple
10. I have a random list of foods I don’t like: liver, asparagus, watermelon, squash, onions, chocolate, mushrooms, coconut flakes… the list goes on
11. When I was a kid I was in a circus club and I still know how to ride my unicycles. I have a standard one and one that’s 6 feet tall.

Questions from Stephanie:

I used to check it less than once a day, but now that I have a smart phone I practically check it every time an email comes in on my phone (as long as I have the phone with me).

Bloggers I’d like to nominate:
Note: I could only come up with five! There are others that I read that aren’t new/have less than 200 followers and there are others I follow that do fit the bill, but Stephanie already nominated them. Also, I hope all of the below nominees are new/up and coming blogs! They’re new to me, at least 🙂

1. When is your birth date? (you can just do month/day if you want)
2. How many siblings do you have?
3. What is your favorite color?
4. How many countries have you been to? Which ones?
5. Do you have any hidden talents? What are they?
6. What is your current TV show addiction?
7. What is your favorite workout?
8. Who is your celebrity crush?
9. Do you have a favorite team that you root for? If so, who?
10. Where did you grow up?
11. Why did you start blogging?

This morning I did my level 3 Jillian 30 day shred workout before work. When I got home from work I headed out for a 3.5 mile run at 10:00/mile pace. I just ran around on the roads around our house. It was one of those runs where you just kind of keep running around until you hit the distance you’re aiming for. The weather was a bit warmer today, getting up to 40 degrees, but it was still windy. I was able to run in shorts, though, which was nice. My legs need all the Vitamin D they can get. I realized today that I haven’t taken a complete rest day since February 17. I’ll finish the 30 day shred on Tuesday, which means next Friday will be my first complete rest day in quite some time!

That’s an advertisement I saw on the side of a bus while I was in Denver. I thought it was pretty funny!

Well the weather went and did a 180 from yesterday to today. Just when I thought we were heading into spring… Today the temperature hasn’t gotten out of the 30’s and it’s very windy. We have also had snow on and off, and at times it has snowed so hard it was a complete white out. Funny thing- the weatherman predicted a high of 52 today, but the high ended up being 36. They have this 3 degree guarantee contest where if the actual high is within 3 degrees of what the weatherman predicted they put $10 into a pot that goes to charity at the end of the month ($100 if he gets it exactly right). He was off by 16 degrees today, haha.