Shamrockin' at Virginia Beach

March 18th we picked the kids up early from school and drove down to Virginia Beach. Traffic was light and, since we didn't make any stops, we made the trip in a little over 3 hours. We drove straight to the Virginia Beach Convention Center to pick up our race numbers and goodies for the Shamrock Marathon (Alison) and 8K (Stuart). This fun-filled weekend, which also includes a half-marathon and kids' races, is popular with families because the events are spread over two days so one parent can run while the other watches the kids.

After picking up our race stuff and meeting some friends who were also participating (there were over 40 of us, including kids, from our triathlon club) we headed to our hotel, the Ocean Beach Club. The hotel is right on the boardwalk and has a pretty outdoor restaurant, where we ate dinner, and indoor and outdoor pools. On Friday temps were in the 80s so it was perfect weather to eat outside and let the kids play in the pool. They even went for a quick dip in the ocean!

Saturday was much cooler and very breezy as Stuart headed out to run the 8K race. The start was just a couple of blocks from the hotel, so the kids and I were able to amble outside just before 8:00 to see the race start. Then we wandered over to the boardwalk where we'd be able to see the runners at 3 - 4 miles. They were running into a strong headwind. We cheered on the front-runners and waited for Stuart to come through. Then we tried to get to the finish. This is where I am clearly a race-spectating rookie, becuase in order to get to the finish we needed to cross where thousands of runners were going by! This was pretty much impossible. So I told the kids we'd have to run with the runners and work our way across the street as we did. We just about managed it without incident, but I have learned an important spectator lesson!

Stuart finished the 8K (5 miles) in 42 minutes and feeling strong, so he thinks he can go faster next time! After giving him a chance to shower, we headed over to Pocahontas Pancakes just a block from our hotel. As I was carboloading for the marathon, this was a perfect place to eat; I had some great blueberry pancakes! We spent the rest of the day on the beach; I tried to rest my legs as much as possible while the kids played in the water and on the sand. In the evening we had dinner at an Italian restaurant - pasta is an essential pre-race dinner for marathoners!

Sunday morning came bright and early and I was ready to run! It was windy again and a little cooler than on Saturday, but the winds were forecast to cool down and the temperature was perfect for marathon running! All in all, I had a great race and took 7 minutes off my previous fastest time, coming in at 3:37!

After a short rest on the beach, we headed back to Northern VA. Unfortunately traffic was not as good as on the way down, and with a stop in Williamsburg for omelets and pancakes, it took us 6 hours to get home. Thankfully the boys slept for a while in the car and weren't too bothered with the long drive! My legs were pretty stiff after sitting for that long post-race, but a week later they are better and I even managed a 10 mile run yesterday!

Shamrock