My oh my, was the 2015 Shamrock Shuffle an experience. March has been an extension of Chicago’s winter, so it was not exactly the warmest day for an 8k run… I think it was about the same temperature as the Rudolph Ramble back in December and actually COLDER than my Half Marathon in JANUARY! Craziness around here.
While is wasn’t FREEZING, I’m not going to lie, I signed up for this as a Women @ Hyatt initiative to be healthy about a week ago, thinking it’d be at least 40 – 50! Wrong. It was 30s as I was in wave 1 and holy crap was the windy blowing. Actually though, the wind wasn’t a huge factor, I think the Shamrock Shuffle course, which winds through city streets & is pretty well enclosed between buildings really helped this factor.
I’m excited to say that the last two miles I really tried to turn it on, after a lazy winter of “training” – running 2 times a week for about 30 minutes and/or biking 1 – 2 times a week for around the same amount of time for my triathlons, I successfully beat both of my 8k times! I wasn’t sure I could do it with the wind & cold, but I’m pretty proud I forced a PR out of me.
Total Race Stats:
What’s next on the ol’ race agenda? The Cinco De Miler this May! Unofficially, April is Hyatt’s “Month of Giving” so there’s a few exciting Hyatt Thrive initiatives to race to raise money that I just may have to participate in as well! TBD… if anyone wants to race with me, give me a shout!