Yes! I went to see the Hunger Games with my friends!! It did not disappoint. There were some thing that I had picture differently and some parts that they cut out 😦 but all in all it was soo amazing and Abby and I are in love with it.
I saw it in the morning and was kind of out of it for the rest of the day because I was processing it. Haven’t seen it? Watch it! It’s so amazing. I am officially obsessed. And that’s new because I don’t really obsess about much! Anyways, it was a fantastic movie and yes, I cried several times…but I didn’t really expect anything less!
The way it was filmed really drew you in so that you felt like you were part of it not just watching it from a distance. The casting was perfect (josh hutcherson!!!!!!!) for each part. Really, I have no complaints. None.
So, what happened today? Anyone remember? Hint: Look down at the countdown widget!
YES! Today was my (long-awaited) Shamrock Shuffle! I’m not sure if I told you this but on Friday I went to T. J. Maxx with Abby and Mom and got a green athletic shirt to wear for my race! So I was dressed up accordingly! 🙂
Anyways, so I was a little nervous that it would be too cold/windy because the temperature was supposed to be pretty cold and it was supposed to be windy, but the weather was literally perfect. I could not have asked for better. It was not too hot and not too cold and there was no wind.
I don't know how to flip it from here. And I'm too lazy to do the whole picture editing thing so here it is! 🙂
I was so nervous. I always am nervous before races but I guess it’s kind of good cause that gets my adrenaline going. Anyways, so I stretched and then went into my corral. There were thousands of people. It was awesome. Race atmosphere is really awesome and friendly and fun. Race atmosphere times a thousand is unbelievably amazing! So, even though I was nervous, I was also really excited. We had to be in our corrals by 8:15 and then the race officially started at 8:30. I stood around and stretched a bit more, listened to music to calm down, tried to get up to the front a little more, looked at the other people. I always feel kind of lonely at these races because I feel like everyone else has their running buddy except for me. But I really do like running by myself, because then I can pace myself. Also, I realized that a lot of people are also running by themselves. I am not alone! 🙂
I was wearing a jacket before the race started but as soon as I walked into the corral I knew that I would get too hot so I shed that waay before the race even started. 🙂
I didn’t actually start running until around 8:36 because there were so many people ahead of me. Once I finally crossed the Start line I was ready to go. I ran my first mile in 7 minutes! I knew I was going too fast to hold that pace but I’m really bad at pacing. When I have energy I don’t save it, I use it. Anyways, the crowds were amazing. Tons of people were cheering and that is really encouraging! 🙂 So my second mile was in 7:24. I slowed considerably but was still running way faster than I had expected to so I kept going. My family cheered me on:
I'm the little person in the green tank with her ponytail flying! 🙂
One of the great things about the course was that it was kind of like a 3-leaf clover. I’m not certain if that was on purpose, considering the theme. I doubt it, I just think that’s how to describe it. Anyways, the good thing about that is that my family could see me at four different points, because although it was a mile or more between each point for me, it was only a couple of blocks for them so they could beat me there and be waiting to cheer me on! 🙂
My third mile I ran in 7:42. Obviously I was tiring but I refused to be stopped! 🙂 I tried to keep going strong. I crossed the 5K line and I remember thinking to myself, “Come on Claire, you’re more than halfway done! You’ve done this before! Finish strong!” And I did more or less. I was planning on running about 8 to 8:30 minute miles but I never once ran an 8-minute mile through that whole race.
Also, I’d like to let you all know that I not only PR’d in my 8K distance but I ALSO PR’d in my 5K distance with a time of 23:39.
I ran my fourth mile in 7:53. Finally, I was on the same side as my parents so I threw them my jacket! 🙂
There I am:coat going one way, iPod flying the other direction. This could have potentially been bad.
And my fifth mile in 7:50.At this point in my race, truly the only two things I was thinking about was (1)putting one foot in front of the other and (2) not slowing down. When I passed the Mile 4 marker I knew that technically I could run a 9-minute mile and still finish in 40 minutes, but I wanted to finish sooner than that. So I kept pushing. The last mile was death. Pure death. It was a loong loong distance. I kept thinking we were almost there, but I knew we had to go around a curve and we kept going straight. I kept straining to see the Finish line. Where are you? Where are you? Guess what I saw instead? A big hill. Why do these race coordinators always put hills at the end? I think so it’s so they can weed out the real runners. The real runners are the ones who run the hill,even though they’ve been killing themselves for 4 miles already. The pretend runners are the ones that walk the hill. What I want to know is why on earth you would WALK that!! I am a strong believer of the phrase “Finish Strong” And walking the last .3 of the race is NOT finishing strong. Thank you.
Anyways, I decided to throw my hands in the air as I crossed the line. And why not? I had everything to be proud of. I felt on top of the world. So I did. I’m really hoping MarathonFoto got a picture of that!! 🙂 I was a lot more friendly this race then I have been at previous races. Usually, I feel a little self-conscious, but not today. I was soaking up the cheering and loved every minute of that race. It was so fun! 🙂
VICTORIOUS!!
So…what are the actual results? Well my overall chip time was 38:31. My 5K time was 23:39 (best time ever!! :O). I finished in 3,485th place overall out of 34,301 runners. Out of the females, I placed in 678th place out of 19, 642 runners. In my division (0-15), I’m not really certain. It says I placed fourth but I looked at the 3 ahead of me and there were actually 8 ahead of me, so I think I take ninth in my division out of 228 girls! 🙂 I will post my finishing pic ASAP. They are supposed to be posted tomorrow but I’m not sure they will be done by then! 🙂
I am very pleased.
Running on Full 