Mission 10 Miler

This past Sunday I ran my first race of the year! The last race I ran was a 10-Miler in November. 4 months later and I'm running another local 10-Miler. It's a great distance and it's becoming one of my favorites to run.

My running has been more consistent leading up to this race, but I didn't run for 3 weeks in March. Not good! The weather has been getting better so I went out for a short run last Thursday and an even shorter run Saturday morning. Getting outside (after only running indoors for the last 4 months) built up my confidence for the race.

I ran this race last year and the weather was just awful. Rain, hail, sleet, snow...every type of precipitation you can think of, we had it during those 2 hours! This year was 1000x better. A bit windy and chilly, but the sun was out, the sky was clear, and the ground was dry. I'll take it!

The course starts and ends just outside of a baseball stadium and it's an out and back course. The only problem is you're out in the middle of nowhere (or at least it feels like it!) and the road seems to go on for forever. Finally you turn the corner and see the tent marking the turnaround. It's a beautiful thing!

I started out with the 10:00 min/mile pacer and my first 2 miles were my fastest. It was too fast for me so I had to slow down a bit. I wanted to wait until I made it to the turnaround before kicking it up. The course consists of rolling hills, with 2 bigger hills as you near the finish, and I needed to save some energy for this last mile.

My splits were 10:37/mile for the first half and 10:38/mile for the second half. Finish time was 1:46:06, my second fastest 10 miler! And I beat last year's time by 4 1/2 minutes! But really, how could I not with the drastic differences in the weather? Still, I'll take it!

See that squint? Gotta love that sun!

Thanks to the hills and me pushing it (and after a 3 week running hiatus), my quads are still sore 3 days later. Am I crazy for loving it? I guess that's why I continue to run! :)

Here are a few things I love about this race and why I plan on doing it every year that I'm able to:

• It's local and takes less than 30 minutes for me to get there
• The race fee doesn't break the bank and even if it did, it goes to a good cause (see below)
• It's a 2pm start time on a Sunday. They want everyone to have the chance to go to church in the morning before the race. How great is that? And I love that I don't have to get up super early!
• It's called "A Race for Recovery" because they support a local Rescue Mission which provides long-term residential recovery programs to the chemically addicted, food to the hungry, and clothing and furniture to the needy. This year they raised $25,000! 
• You get a nice running shirt and medal
• They have same-day packet pickup so no having to go out of my way the day before. And did I mention the race is at 2pm? Packet pickup goes until 1:30. Again, no getting out of bed super early or going out of your way!
• A great selection of post-race food and drink
• Amazing volunteers who had smiles on their faces. One even thanked me for being out there running. 

To sum it up, this is the perfect race (at least to me) and I can't wait to do it again next year! If you live in the area, definitely check it out. Maybe I'll see you out there. :)

What do you look for when signing up for a race? What's important to you? 

Cherry Blossom Ten Miler Race Recap

This past Sunday I ran the 10-miler in what I expected to be ideal race conditions. The cherry blossoms were expected to peak sometime between Saturday and Monday with a predicted high of 70 on race day. I knew it was going to be a beautiful run!

Saturday night I checked the hour by hour weather forecast and it was only going to be in the 40's in the morning. No biggie; it would warm up. Saturday had turned out to be beautiful and I knew Sunday would as well. But I hadn't anticipated the wind.

I ended up wearing my running tights, a short sleeve shirt, and my yellow Brooks pullover. I didn't want to be too hot and figured I could tie my pullover around my waist if needed. It never became necessary. 

When I was getting ready I was feeling very good and realized I looked pretty good too. I knew I would soon have hat head so I snapped a picture for proof that my hair isn't always in a ponytail! ;)

We got a late start but still made it with time to spare. I was worried, but luckily it had been for nothing. I kissed my family goodbye and went straight to my corral. I didn't want to waste any time going to the bathroom one last time. I think there were 6 corrals and it moved a lot quicker than the Rock 'n' Roll had. I ended up starting about 20 minutes after the gun went off.

 The race started and finished at the Washington Monument

As expected, it took me a couple miles to warm up and get into it. I also started out faster than I should have but I did so because I really wanted a PR. I wanted to finish the race knowing I had given it all I had. I didn't look at my phone once and the mile marker clocks didn't mean a whole lot to me so I focused on how I was feeling. Did I have more in me? Could I push a little harder?

I had forgotten just how beautiful of a course this really is. The scenery is wonderful and there aren't many hills. There were very few cherry blossom trees in bloom which was a let down and the wind was ferocious. When I got to Hains Point along the Potomac River I was running into the wind and it would not let up. This was around mile 6 and it went on for about 2 1/2 miles. It was difficult. But then I turned a corner and the wind let up and all was well.

After you hit the mile 9 marker, there are signs saying "1200 left to go", "800 left to go", and "400 left to go". These helped so much! It took the guesswork out of it and I was able to gradually kick it up until I knew I only had a quarter mile left. I weaved in and out of runners as it was still pretty tight and just focused on my pace and my race. I gave it all I had for a great finish.

Despite the crazy wind and the lack of cherry blossoms, the sun was out and it was a beautiful race. And I got my PR. I finished in 1:53:32, taking 5 minutes off my previous time! I was overjoyed!

It didn't come without it's consequences though. I was super sore the rest of the day and the next. I was also ravenous for 2 days! When we got home I ate a well deserved burrito bowl and took Jack upstairs for a nap. Surprisingly, he hadn't fallen asleep either at the race or on the metro ride home. He ended up taking a 3 hour nap and I slept for 2. I never take naps but I needed it that day! After an equally necessary shower, I put my compression socks on to help my legs recover. My knees are still slightly sore, but I ran an easy 4 miles last night and all in all I feel pretty good. 

 I forgot to get a picture after the race but I got one on the metro! Better than nothing, right?

Sunday night, reading books with Jack and wearing my awesome compression socks!

I'm running a 5K this Saturday and I'm really hoping to PR again. Can I go 3 for 3? I'm not sure what my body will allow me to do, but I'm ready to find out. And I'm so glad I won't be running a long distance run this weekend! I need a little break before I get back to it next weekend and then I've got a half on the 28th. After that? I'll be taking a week off from speed and long runs to enjoy some easy runs. And then I'll figure out what races are in my future. :)

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

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.

The results are in!

I finished the Army ten-miler!!! It was so amazing and I loved it! I ran the entire 10 miles without stopping even once. I ran slow, but I ran nonetheless. I am extremely proud of myself. We ran past the monuments (Washington, Lincoln, & Jefferson), the Kennedy Center, and the Capitol. Soldiers were all along the course at water stations, medical aid stops, etc. The weather was beautiful and it was all so great. My time was 2:05:12 so when I finally got to the finish and stopped after running for over 2 hours straight, a wave of emotion came over me. My feet were very sore and I was grateful to be done but I was proud that I had accomplished something so great. It was a wonderful experience and I'm going to try to come back next year to run it again. I have never wanted to run a marathon and after running the 10-miler I have a lot of respect for people who run for 4+ hours. I still have no desire to ever run a marathon and I will not feel any less of a runner if I never complete one. It is not a goal that I have. I would love to run a half marathon, 13.1 miles, but for right now that is the most I will attempt. Mostly, I would like to improve on my 5K and 10K times. My biggest goal is to become a stronger, better runner.

I'm still in the 10K training program. The 10K is November 2, so I will be running with the group until then. Tonight we ran at the track and did 4X800. I don't have any times but I was taking it a little easier than usual. Total I ran 3.5 miles tonight. This weekend I'm supposed to run 7. I'm working Saturday so I need to try to make it up on my own on Sunday. From now on we're going to be decreasing our long run mileage so we don't tire out before the race. After the 10K I'm hoping to resume training on my own and run a few more local races. It won't be easy to do it on my own, but after having the coaching for so long I at least know what I need to do!

The picture up top is at the start of the race at the Pentagon. There were over 26,000 registered runners. I didn't even cross the start until 20 minutes after the gun went off because there were so many people! The picture below is me right after I finished holding my finisher's chip!