The Day Before Shamrock!

The Shamrock 15K is looming!!  And unfortunately the weather won't be nearly as nice as it was last weekend.  But what can I say, it wouldn't be a Portland race without a little mist ;-)

I'm very excited to try the 15K course this year (last year I ran the 8K, which was fun and short, my first official race ever!).  The 15K is called a "challenge," because of the constant uphill in the first half of the race.  If you know Portland at all, it runs up SW Broadway, past PSU, and keeps going up SW Terwilliger.  I've heard it's beautiful, and I'm so excited.

I got out there for a little short 2-mile warmup just now, and feel pretty loose.  On Thursday, I picked up my race packet at Oregon Public House, which is a cool "non-profit" pub that selects different charitable organizations to donate portions of proceeds from meals to each month or so.  The chicken curry was fantastic, as is the "Super Team" I'm running Shamrock for:  Playworks!  Playworks is an organization that "believes in the power of play to bring out the best in every kid," and they work to organize recess and activities in elementary schools throughout the nation, this chapter specifically in the Portland metro area and SW Washington.  They help kids stay active as well as learning conflict resolution, creativity, teamwork, and all of those necessary life skills that are so important for childhood development.  I'm excited to support such a wonderful organization!

Yesterday and today was the Shamrock Run Fitness Fair, and I worked a booth to promote the Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon that is August 8th this year!  I managed to take a lap to see what kind of vendors were around, bought myself a couple more packs of Nuun replenisher and a couple of super cute glittery adjustable Yankees headbands.

Tomorrow I will most likely opt for a dri-fit long sleeve, and possibly a green tee over top to be "festive."  (Last year I ran in all black and was shamed.  Just kidding.)  I'll also wear a hat instead of a rain jacket, because I'll be running at race pace, a rain jacket may be just a bit too warm for those hills.  I hope I can maintain a fast 9:15 pace per mile, but I may be too optimistic.  The hills will be tough, and I have been working more on distance (training for marathon) than on speed as of late.

That said, I am looking forward to the music, people cheering me on, and the delicious Widmer beer and Stanford's salmon chowder at the finish!  See you there, Portland.