Yesterday was the much anticipated Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in D.C. I got to the metro later than I was comfortable with and the whole way there was annoyed with myself. I was sure I was going to miss the start. Luckily for me, being slow has paid off. I was put in the purple wave which was the last to start. When I got off the metro I ran to the starting line and got there just as they were getting ready to send off the purples. Whew, I had made it just in the nick of time! It took me 1 to 2 miles to warm up and start to get into a groove I was comfortable with. I ran the Army 10-miler in 2:05:12 and became determined to finish a 10-miler in under 2 hours. I wasn't too worried about making that goal during this race though, because I had taken a few weeks off due to injury (new shoes have helped and I'm doing great now!). During mile 6 or 7, I pushed it to put some distance between myself and these 2 women who would run and pass me, then walk and I would pass them. They were wearing perfume and it was getting very annoying. I decided to put a stop to it once and for all and zoomed past. I never saw them again. I slowed it back down so I wouldn't tire out with 3-4 miles left to go. I started feeling tired in mile 8 and my feet were killing me. I told myself that there are people who go through worse pain and I kept pushing. I realized I had a chance of making my goal, so I sped up a little in mile 8 and once I saw the sign for mile 9, that was all she wrote! I kicked it in the last 800 meters and finished strong with a time of 1:58:30! It was amazing and I felt surprisingly great. My first half marathon is schedueld for May 31 and I'm actually excited for it. I'll let you know how I do! The pic above is of me and Monica (she's in my running group in the speed development program) after the race and the one below is of me finishing. I'm wearing a red tank top and a pink headband with black pants. If you see the clock, it says 2:15:05. That's the gun time from when the first wave started.
