Marathon Relay 2013

This year, we decided to do the marathon relay! The sun was out, all of Pittsburgh was out to cheer the runners on, and we finished the marathon in 4:07:51!! 

Thanks to all our family and friends who came out to support us! 

2012 Great Race!

Pre-race (still clean)

Well, we ran the Great Race this year! After our respective half-marathons in May (one of us ran the Pittsburgh one, the other did the Cleveland one), we have been doing short races to keep ourselves motivated to keep a training regimen going. Can't let that hard-earned muscle mass atrophy away!

All in all, we haven't been training too hard, but we figured 10 kilometers (6.25 miles) is COMPLETELY doable compared to a half-marathon (13.1 miles)!! So other than making sure to get a few short running workouts in each week, and keeping a close eye on types of foods before the race (less caffeine, less fiber), we sort of winged it.

Captain America joined the 10K fun! (blurry due to taking the picture while running) Spectators of all ages were SO excited to see him!

The course was not too bad-- a steep hill in the beginning, but otherwise a steady downhill with a few small inclines as we went from Frick Park all the way downtown to the Point. However, at about mile 4-5 as we are running on the Boulevard of the Allies ramps towards downtown, there are always spectators standing there yelling "It's all downhill from here! You can do it!" While we appreciate the encouragement, Liang had learned (the hard way) when running the same stretch at the end of the half-marathon that IT'S ALL LIES. Indeed it is generally downhill from that point to downtown, but ramps go up and down as you run in, and when you're running that at the end of a race, even a small bump still feels like a significant incline.

About 2/3 of the way through the race, it started raining steadily. We were soaking wet by the time we arrived downtown!

Photo credit: David (husband of Shannon)

 
 And last but not least, here are our results:

Liang -- 01:00:04 (9.6 min/mile)

Shannon -- 00:54:24 (8.7 min/mile)

We are super happy with our times! This was Shannon's first 10K race, and she ran it Gangnam Style all the way! (No, really, she listened to the song on repeat throughout the race...she may be on to something there!) This was Liang's second 10K race, and she beat her 2011 time (1:03:26) by over 3 minutes! 

Go us!

Photo credit: David (husband of Shannon)