I PR'd at the Shamrock'n Half Marathon!

I am happy to report that today I ran my fastest half marathon at the Shamrock'n Half in Sacramento, CA! I have been training over the last few months and today was the day I got to put that training to the test. I woke up at 5:45 to prepare and drive to the race. I was in the first wave and shooting for a sub 2-hour finish. Fueled by Nuun Hydration, Clif Shot Bloks, and my race wardrobe courtesy of Athleta and my kicks a gift from Nike, I was ready to make this my winning race!

We got to the start line forty-five minutes early and I was freezing until the sun finally came out. My training partner and I were near the front of the corral and started promptly at 7:45. The race was through downtown Sacramento, crossed a few bridges and then hit the bike trail. I stuck with my training partner until about mile four and then ended up getting a bit ahead of her. When I looked at my Nike GPS watch and saw how fast I was going I knew if I could keep up the pace I would beat my goal.

Me at the start line of the race!

The race was relatively flat with some rolling hills. I felt really strong for the first 5-6 miles, I did slow down and try to find my training partner around mile six, but couldn't see her so I kept going. Around mile eight I started to question why I was doing this. I told myself to keep pushing. It helped that I saw a sign on the side that said "Keep going unless you puke, faint, or die." Talk about motivation! I kept pushing and actually sped up during those final five miles. My fastest mile was mile 13, which I ran at a pace of 8:17. The race ended on the field of the Sacramento River Cats Baseball team and it was really fun to round the bases to the finish chute! 

Mid race, around mile 8! 

I finished the race with a time of 1:53:45 and I waited at the finish for my training partner to come through. She crossed with a time of 2:04 and I am very proud of her! We picked up our race medals, which I absolutely love and headed up to meet our friends and take some pictures! 

At the finish with our medals! 

This race was an amazing experience and I enjoyed it so much. I had a lot of friends that ran this for their first half marathon and I am so proud of their accomplishments. I am sure this is only the first of many for them. My next half marathon is only six weeks away at the Nike Women's Marathon in Washington, DC. I am excited to see how well I do there. 

Proof that this was my fastest half marathon! 

I love the Nike App because it keeps track of my previous times and records so well. I loved seeing this after my big run today! It's such a great feeling to be able to track progress and see the positive progression over time in my running. 

I hope you all had a fun St. Patrick's Day and if you raced, congratulations!