Today was the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago. The race is known officially as the start of the running season. This was my second year doing the race and I really enjoyed it.

I was hoping I would run the race in under an hour, but as usual plans went awry. This was because earlier in the week, I was starting to come down with a cold. The weather in Chicago has been fantastic lately, so coming down with a cold was not something ideal. I was hoping it might just be allergies, but sadly it was an actual cold.

I did manage to keep it from becoming a full-blown cold however. Just a bit of a runny nose and stuffiness in the morning. It did make life less than idea since it interfered with my running. Somehow though, I managed to set a new PR with the Shamrock Shuffle today. I knocked nearly 10 minutes off of last year’s time. I was so close to finishing in under one hour, but due to some struggles with the lingering cold, I am still quite pleased with my time today.

The fun thing about getting better with running is that each time I go out for a race, I manage to set a new PR. Given that I have continued on this trend since last year, I am starting to think that I might be pretty close to two hours on a half marathon by the end of the year when I will run my fourth one. I am signed up for three as of right now and honestly, I cannot wait to run more races.

Mainly to see just how much better I can get. I am even feeling that I am getting results and getting faster even when I am tired. Before that had been a thing that would never happen. But apparently, some of the speed work I did with my personal trainer has paid off.

I do have two 5Ks to run next month. Then, I will start to really get into the racing season with a 5-miler, 10-miler and then the first of four half marathons I have planned for the year. I am also fairly close to being on track with a goal that I have for myself in terms of mileage leading into the month of May.

I am really looking forward to what the year in racing and running holds for me. Now to keep being motivated and *knockonwood* stay injury-free.