Shamrock Shuffle

After using the first half-mile of this morning's Shamrock Shuffle as a warm up walk, I decided to find out if my running legs had made the trip with me. My sister had come out for this event as well, and she turned out to be quite the pacer as I cruised all the way around the Rice University campus and back to Brian O'Neill's without needing another walk break to catch my breath.

Mile 1 -- 14:56
Mile 2 -- 13:16
Mile 3 -- 12:19
Last .16 mile --1:50
5K elapsed time -- 42:21 (per Garmin Forerunner 205, uncertified course)

When we reached the pub, Wendy from Ronald McDonald House Houston greeted me with what looked like a finisher medal. On a second glance, I realized that she was merely disposing of the remaindered kids' awards from last fall's Mogie 1K Walk. It will surely claim a place in my collection cherished equally alongside the Flying Pig and RNR San Antonio medals! At least it will make another cool Christmas tree ornament.

The weather today could only be described as Spring Spectacular, and with the 10 a.m. start, participants would have needed to check their SPF if it wasn't for the abundance of trees on the Rice campus. We did spot at least one Bayou City Classic 10K bib in the crowd, which proved my suspicion that doing both events in the same morning is actually feasible for the truly race-addicted.

And so, nearly five months after Park to Park, I'm simply tickled at the idea of having running events return to my weekends.