Shamrock Shuffle

Daniel and I have been planning to do the Shamrock Shuffle for the past few months.  We started running last September (I could barely run a mile) and have been running pretty regularly since then.  Unfortunately, over the past 3 months, I've been experiencing problems with my knees, especially the right one.  Since I'm severely flat footed and I over pronate, my knees have a tendency to rotate inwards causing inflammation on the underside of the patella.  I've seen a podiatrist, orthopedic doctor, physical therapist, got new shoes and orthotics and have been working hard to control the problem.  Unfortunately, I wasn't quite able to control it on Sunday.

It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 60's.  We dressed in our Shamrock gear (thank you $.99 store) and headed down to Grant Park at about 8AM.  There were tons of people, (34,300) and the crowd was very lively.  We checked our bag and headed over to Coral E.  The race started promptly at 9:15AM.  The first 3 miles were awesome.  The course started at Grant Park and traveled through downtown Chicago crossing the river twice Shamrock Shuffle Course.  The were lots of people on the sidewalks cheering on the runners.  Daniel got several compliments on his costume from the fans.  I was loving everything about the race.  The weather was perfect, the cheers were exhilarating, and my lungs and legs were feeling awesome.  Right about when we started the 3rd mile, my right knee started to hurt.  It took about 3 minutes before the pain became really, really bad.  I was determined to keep going because I knew if I stopped I would not be able to continue running and I wanted to start and finish the race as strong as I could.  Daniel ran with me the whole time and was a great motivator.  Because of the pain, I'd say it was the most difficult physical challenge that I've ever endured.  We managed to finish in 50 minutes.  I was so surprised by our time.  Pretty good for a Jenny with a bum knee!  When we got home I opened up a box of See's Candy that Daniel bought for me that previous week.  It was supposed to be a surprise but while cleaning up I had found it the day before.  Daniel picked out each and every candy, all of them my favorites.  It was a great treat!  

We are going to sign up for the Cinco de Miler, which is on May 6th.  The physical therapist gave me a bunch of strength and stretching exercises and I'm going to create a weekly routine and work hard to get my knees into shape.  It's frustrating because cardio wise I can run 5 miles without a problem, it's my darn knees that are holding me back.  I'm determined, though, to work hard.  I've definitely caught the racing bug and will not let my knees hold me back.

A special treat after finishing the race.

Race day dinner of chicken piccata, whole wheat pasta, and broccoli.