Shamrock Marathon: The Boston Qualifier

I ran my fifth marathon yesterday - the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach.  It was a great race - one I doubt I'll be able to replicate for a long time.  I ran it in 3:34:35 and qualified for the Boston Marathon, a long time goal of mine.  It was a beautiful day - mid-40s to mid-50s - perfect for running.  I ran a 'negative split' race, which means the second half was slightly faster than the first.  For the first time in all of my marathons, I didn't fall off the pace at the end of the race and was able to maintain my 8:10 pace throughout the race.  And when I finished, I truly felt like I couldn't run one more step.

The best thing about this race was having Josh and the girls there with me.  It was not easy for Josh to deal with the girls AND Blue for the 4 hours that I was gone Sunday morning.  And it is a lot of work for our family to go anywhere for a night right now.  Josh did it all without one word of complaint.  He was also 100 percent supportive of my training over the past few months.  I try to do most of my running when the girls are sleeping, but there are times when that doesn't happen and Josh never complains when I head out the door for a long run.   I'm looking forward to stepping back and relaxing on the running for the rest of the year and running Boston next April.

Some notable memories from the weekend:

• We got to see the Rapers for dinner Saturday night.  They were in town house hunting since they are moving to Virginia Beach in a few months.  We met up at Carrabba's and had fun catching up.
• The girls were great little travelers again and slept about half of the drive up and half of the drive back.  
• Blue was also a good traveler and seemed happy to be with his family.  I hope he becomes as comfortable as Jackson was traveling with us.  
• Some of my favorite signs during the race: "Duh...Winning" and "You're Pretty and Smart".  They made me smile.
• At about mile 10, the race took us through Fort Storey.  There were about 50 army men and women cheering us on and I high fived most of them.  Then about 20 yards later, there were a bunch of navy folks.  Slapped them five too. 
• At the half, the course took us down the boardwalk and I saw a yellow lab running on the beach and playing in the water.  It brought me to tears thinking about how much I miss my best pal, Jackson. 
• I had some good tunes for the race with some good recommendations from Brynn and Conor.  It's a good thing too since I ran this completely on my own. 

Pictures...

Josie and Piper waiting in the stroller for mommy to finish.

 At the end - just about to cross the finish

 All done, so happy to be done!

 Proof - and notice how far I really ran! 

At the race expo.  I really should have gotten some pictures with Josh!