Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Recap

I would love to say that I had a great race at the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, and everything went well, but that is not the case. Things could not have gone much worse. This was the worst marathon experience of my life. I have never experienced so much pain and discomfort during a race. Spoiler alert: I did finish, but it wasn’t pretty. Even though it was not a good experience and I did not accomplish my goals, I am not deterred.

First, let me acknowledge my daughter, my most awesome supporter at marathons. She drives me to where I need to go, gives me snacks when she thinks I need to eat ❤️, finds places to eat, gets me to the expo, takes care of all my things while I shop, puts up with me, and so much more. She even did my nails!

Scott and I left the house at 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning. We picked up Sonja around 4 a.m. and headed to the airport for our 5:55 a.m. flight. Our route was Anchorage, Seattle, Minneapolis, and finally, Norfolk. Virginia Beach is a 20-minute drive from Norfolk. We made it in plenty of time, the flight was on time for a change, and all was good.

And then it wasn’t.

The plane displayed warning lights that the pilots were unsure of. They were told to shut the aircraft down. They left everyone on the plane, shut it down for 20 minutes, and restarted. The warning lights disappeared. 🤔 We were unconcerned about our time because we had a 1.5-hour layover in Seattle. We were pushed back from the gate and had to wait for the plane to be de-iced. After weeks of no snow, there was a huge snowstorm that morning.

During that time, it got really warm on the plane. I don’t know if the heat was responsible, but someone had some health problems, so we had to wait for a tug back to the gate so the medical team could evaluate this person. Once the person was removed from the plane, we were pushed back again, and the aircraft had to be de-iced again. By this point, we were now two hours delayed and missed all of our connecting flights.

We were rebooked to Detroit and then to Norfolk. We would only get in a couple of hours later, so we were still okay. However, our flight to Detroit was delayed, and we only had a 30-minute layover there, so we missed our connecting flight to Norfolk. We had to spend the night in Detroit and got out the next morning. FYI, our flight the following day was also delayed. In case you are wondering, surprisingly enough, our luggage made it to our destination. However, I was prepared with my running gear in a backpack I had kept on the plane.

The reason for mentioning all of these flight details is that I believe our travel to the marathon was a contributing factor to things not going so well. We were not getting any decent sleep. I was so stressed with all the delays and having to spend the night in Detroit. When the airlines rebooked us, they gave us seats in the last row at the back of the plane. Food service was delayed because of turbulence, but when they finally made it back to us, they did not have any “real” food left. They just had a snack box. We did not have any time to get food in between flights. I did bring some snacks, but not enough. I, obviously, didn’t plan on missing every one of our flights.

We made it to Virginia Beach Friday afternoon. After checking into the Hotel, we headed for the Expo. The Shamrock Marathon Expo is so well organized, and there wasn’t any waiting for anything. Being tired and not sleeping well, I wasn’t really into this year’s expo. Although, I did have to find my name. It’s a thing, right? So, instead of hanging out there, Sonja found a great place to eat, and then we returned to the hotel to rest.

Saturday, I did a 2.5-mile shakeout run while Sonja went to gather food, water, and whatever else we thought we would need. I was tired during that short run, but understandable. I thought I just needed to rest. We stayed in the hotel all afternoon, watching TV and napping. We decided to have dinner at the same place as last year- Arbuckle’s Bar and Grill. I had the Chicken Penne Pasta and Sonja had Grilled Portabella Risotto. Both were so good!

The weather at Virginia Beach was not suitable for a marathon—at least not for someone training during the Alaska winter. But it went so well last year that I thought, “Why Not?” (as my mom would always say). Race day was cloudy, with winds at 12-26 mph, gusts up to 46 mph, and temps in the low to mid-60s. While at the expo, I checked in with a 4:20 pace group and decided to run with them. That’s a 9:55 min/mile pace. I did speedwork and tempo runs during training from 9:35-9:45 without any problems, so this seemed reasonable. The pacer assured me she would go out at an even pace of around 9:53min/mile (to make up for the extra .2-.3 miles). But during the race, according to my watch, we ran at 9:30-9:45 and occasionally slowed to 9:50.

I could tell that the pace was too fast for me, and I don’t know how I rationalized that this was okay and ultimately went against my better judgment, but I stuck with it for about 8 miles. I realized I could not keep this pace for 26.2 miles, so I backed off to about 10:00 min/mile. I talked to my coach (Laura@lauranorrisrunning) about using the pace group before the race, and she agreed that would be okay. However, I am sure she assumed I had read her strategy plan on Final Surge. I had not! I don’t even know why. I forgot? Distracted? Lack of glucose/oxygen to the brain? Thought since I communicated with her, I had all the info I needed?? This plan is exactly what I needed to do! I don’t think I would have reached my goal because of so many other factors, but I would have had a better experience.

If I had read her marathon strategy plan, I think I would have relaxed and dropped back earlier. In a sense, it would have permitted me to do what I knew was right. The information would have been fresh in my mind, and maybe I would have acted on it?? I don’t know. Why stick to a plan you know is not working for you? And the sad thing is, I have run enough marathons to know that going out too fast is detrimental. What happened here?

Sonja was waiting for me at mile 13 as planned with another water bottle and more Gu, but I wasn’t feeling well. I had taken about 4 Gus and drank water and electrolyte mix during that first half, but I felt I had no energy. She cheered me on and was a great support. I ran a little better for about a mile. I tried taking a Gu, but I couldn’t stomach it. My thighs began to ache, my knees hurt, and running into a strong headwind, I had to slow the pace. And by mile 16, I started walking. I didn’t think I could go on. I called Scott in tears and told him I thought I would have to DNF. He was very encouraging and supportive. I don’t know why or how, but I continued the race. The remaining 10 miles were misery! I ended up walking more than I was running. Every time I would start to run, the pain in my legs just seemed more intense. The rest of the race was pretty much the same: walk, run, repeat to the end.

I eventually finished the Shamrock Marathon but was indifferent about it. I wasn’t happy or sad. It was what it was. I didn’t care about the after-party, getting pictures taken, or anything. I just wanted to get back to my hotel. Sonja, Teena, and Jose were at the finish line, which did lift my spirits! I was thrilled that they were there. We all walked back to the hotel together and hung out for a bit before they headed back to their home in Yorktown. They invited us to hang out at their house for the night, but I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even think of getting everything packed and driving (well, Sonja does all the driving) a little over an hour away. However, we met up with Teena the next day and had a great visit. I wish we could have stayed longer.

What went wrong?

1. My training went really well. Due to illness, I may have missed two or three runs the whole time. I was hitting all my speed workouts. Maybe I needed to slow down a little more on my easy days. But I do feel like I was running pretty easy as it was.
2. I wasn’t consistent with strength training. Although I did most of the workouts, I began to slack in the last couple of months.
3. I do a two-week taper, which is supported by the latest research. But, being in my 60s, I wonder if I need to do a three-week taper. I’m guessing (I didn’t read the research myself) that my age group is probably not where the research is focused.
4. I run four days a week with two days of strength training. Should I increase the mileage by running five days a week?
5. I wasn’t as strict with my diet. Not that I was that strict last year, but I laid off the sugary drinks and candy (I’m a junk food junkie!) I typically lose about 10 lbs as the miles build up, but that didn’t happen this year. Plus, I had gained all my weight back (and maybe a couple more lbs) when I took a break over the summer last year.
6. Hydration is complex for me. I am a heavy sweater. Even when running in the cold Alaska days, I still sweat like I am running in 100% humidity. I take electrolytes and drink water, but I don’t think nearly enough.
7. Traveling from Alaska is tiring in general. But it is hard to carb load and stay hydrated when your travel plans change unexpectedly. Missing every one of our connecting flights and having to stay overnight in Detroit was so stressful. Exhausting!

So, nothing aligned for me in this race. I guess it happens, but it is so upsetting when you have worked hard to get to this point, and nothing goes your way. Clearly, I have a lot of work to do. I will not run another spring race, but I might run a fall marathon. TBD.

I want to give a quick shoutout to Matt, who monitored our every move from Alaska and worked diligently to find flights to Norfolk when he saw (literally) that we would not make connecting flights. He also tracked our luggage and kept us updated. He called Hertz several times to update them on the flight delays and reschedule pick-up. Knowing someone was looking out for us while we were on the flight was helpful. So, thank you, Matt!

I’m still recovering and processing all that has happened. Our trip didn’t end at Virginia Beach; there is a little more to the story, so Part 2 is coming soon. Stay tuned.

Happy Running!