St. Patty's Run Green 8K

Saturday afternoon I ran this super fun 8K in downtown Raleigh. It started at Tir na nOg Irish Pub, which also hosts a running club every Monday night. The race was great because it was at 3 p.m., and I could walk to the starting line from my apartment!

I was really excited because I had recruited some friends to run with me and had everyone meet at my place to walk. I think because I was with other people I was distracted while leaving and didn't realize I didn't have my Garmin or my iShuffle until we got to the race. I was treating this as a fun run at the end of marathon training, but I still wanted that Garmin to pace myself (and good thing. I didn't see one mile marker the entire race, but I know they were there). I ended up running back to my place 10 minutes before the start and realized I was going to be way too hot in the top I was wearing, so I also changed clothes really quickly.

I made it back to the start soon enough and crossed 2 minutes after the gun so I was back with families with strollers. It was fine, but it was a lot of weaving at the beginning. The race flew by for me I think because I was looking for my friends the whole time. I never found them, but somewhere along the line I must have passed one of them. Obviously by the name of the race this was a St. Patrick's Day run, but I was still shocked at the number of people wearing green!! I was decked out in full Carolina blue in preparation for that night's game versus Duke, which was amazing, by the way. GO HEELS!!

Anyways, I felt really strong the entire race. There were a lot of uphills, but they were pretty tame compared the ones I run on my normal routes. The best part was my knee didn't hurt!!! I don't know if that's because it knew it was "go time" or what... but I'll take it!!!

I crossed the finish in 44:25 which isn't a PR, but I wasn't going for one. My goal was to do the race in less than 45 minutes so yay. It blows my mind to think that in just three weeks I will have run 5 times what I ran Saturday (plus an extra 1.2 miles)!

The after party was so much fun! Race participants got a free pint glass and a beer from the local brewery Natty Green's (I think I drank Wildflower... they had several to choose from), which was quite refreshing. I missed the memo that we were all meeting at a certain spot after the race, so I went straight for the beer line when I finished before meeting up with my friends (below):

While we were hanging around, Ryan saw a booth for Shoes for Soles. You donate shoes and they go to someone in need. He wanted the T-shirt they give you for donating thinking it said something like "I love shots" (for St. Patty's Day celebrations was his train of thought there) when it really says "I love shoes." What an unpleasant surprise for him because he had to walk home barefoot!

Anyways, I hadn't run a race since Thanksgiving (it was directed by the same people, actually, for MS) and I always forget how much fun they are! I'm really looking forward to my marathon now.