Virtual Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

This morning, Greg and I ran the Virtual Cherry Blossom 10-mile race. The race was canceled due to the coronavirus, but they offered a virtual option. The virtual option allows you to run 10 miles anywhere and submit your results to the race. On Tuesday, they will publish the results on their site.

I wore my bib from 2017

Initially, we were planning to run this race on the W&OD trail with our friend Amber. She's the one who ran the 10K with me a few weekends ago. But she lives in Maryland, and for obvious reasons did not feel comfortable traveling to Virginia for a virtual race. This made things easier logistically because it meant we could run on our local neighborhood route which is flatter and less crowded than the trail. Our neighborhood route has wide roads and plenty of real estate with no major intersections to cross. It does, however, involve a lot of weaving back and forth to cover a long distance:

Virtual Cherry Blossom Race Course

We did an out-and-back on this course so it would be "fair" from an elevation standpoint. We also said we would run 10.04 miles so it would reflect the actual distance of a 10-mile race. This route is made up of gentle inclines. There are no flat portions but the inclines and declines are not steep. There is one long hill and a few very short hills; everything else I would classify as an incline or decline. According to Strava it has a total elevation gain of 185 feet. Also according to Strava, the Cherry Blossom 10-mile course has a total elevation gain of 93 feet. So our route was about twice as hilly.

I should also note that these turns are not sharp; there is plenty of room to turn like how you would on a track. It was nice not having to worry about tangents!

My official10-mile PR was 1:09:54 from 2019, so that was the time to beat. However, I had covered the 10-mile distance as fast a 1:09:06 during a half marathon, so I really wanted to beat that time.

Before the Race
We treated race morning like we would any race morning. We both wore bibs, I had half a bagel with peanut butter. I drank a serving of Generation UCAN 30 minutes before we started. We left the house at 7:05 for a target start time of 7:30. It took us about 5 minutes to drive to our start line, and then we warmed up for a little over a mile. I wore my adidas Adios 5 shoes, which are the same shoes I wore in the 10K time trial. I debated wearing the Vapofly Next%, but I realized I got those mainly to be more competitive and it wasn't worth the injury risk on a virtual race.

It was 43 degrees at the start and sunny, warming to about 49 by the end. Winds were about 4-5 mph and noticeable in some areas. Thankfully, it seemed that any headwind I encountered was also on a downhill portion. On my personal race weather scale, I give it a 9 out of 10. To have gotten a 10, it would have either needed to have been overcast or 5 degrees cooler. Obviously, I am not complaining. A 9 is pretty darn good!

After the warm up, we were both wishing for porta potties, but there was nothing around. Ironically, there were bathrooms all around us. . . but they were inside strangers' houses! After taking a final swig of water, we locked the car and were ready to go, right on time at 7:30. Neither of us carried water or took any fuel during this run. I made sure to hydrate really well on Friday and Saturday, using Generation UCAN Hydrate.

Miles 1-3
The race started and Greg shot out ahead, as I knew he would. I thought he was capable of running a sub 6:40 pace based on his training. My plan was to start at a pace of around 7:00 and gradually get faster, resulting in a negative split. On my home turf, I know this course VERY well as I run it at least twice a week. I knew that the first two miles would be net uphill, so starting on the slower side would be especially important. I focused on keeping it controlled and relaxed. Normally the first two miles of a 10-mile race feel relatively easy and sustainable, but these first two miles felt like 10-mile effort right from the start!

Mile 1: 7:02
Mile 2: 6:56
Mile 3: 6:52

Miles 4-7
That 6:52 mile for mile 3 was a little faster than planned, but I just went with it. I knew that miles 4 and 5 would both be net downhill, so I expected my pace to get faster without having to exert much more effort. I ditched my gloves during the 4th mile. I tried to throw them into a bush, but they landed on the sidewalk and I hoped they would still be there when I got back. For a split second, I had the urge to stop the Garmin and move them, but then I remembered this was a race and I couldn't stop!

It was hard to motivate myself. I had to continually repeat "it counts" and if I set a PR it would count as a real PR. It would have been so easy to stop with nobody around! The mental game was so critical here as I had no crowds cheering for me, and no other runners to compete with. It was just me and my mind, all alone in this virtual race.

When I got to what should have been the turn around based on my mapping tool, my Garmin read 4.9 so I just kept going until it was the halfway point based on my Garmin. Shortly before turning around, I saw Greg, who was over a minute ahead of me at this point. I knew he was totally crushing it and was going to PR. Miles 4 and 5 were net downhill, so I knew it was going to get harder once I turned around. I held it together for mile 6, clocking in at 6:55, but mile 7 was pretty rough and I felt like I was fading at 7:04.

I was hoping that the people out walking their dogs would notice two fast runners wearing bibs and running really hard in the middle of the street and cheer for us. But no such luck. People basically just ignored us. And probably some people were annoyed by us.

Mile 4: 6:54
Mile 5: 6:50
Mile 6: 6:55
Mile 7: 7:04

Miles 8-Finish
I had a choice: I could just coast my way to the finish time, not PR but still get a respectable time, or I could really push and see what I could do. I decided I was going to really push. Mile 8 is the mile with the "one long hill" I mentioned earlier. It starts with a nice downhill but then the uphill seems to go on forever. I knew going into it that mile 8 would be the hardest, so I tried not to look at my Garmin and focus on pushing my way up that hill. I was so gassed and clocked in at 7:10, but with only two miles left, both of which were net downhill, I told myself I could recover and maybe still PR.

Approaching the finish

At this point, my Garmin average pace read "6:59" which would have been a tie with my PR. So I knew that all I had to do was get those last two miles under 6:59 and I would be golden. But I wasn't sure if I could. I was so exhausted and everything hurt. Being on my home turf helped because I knew exactly how far away I was from the finish and I just needed to stay strong for a little while longer. When I hit 6:59 for mile 9, I knew I just had to run one mile as hard as I could and the PR could still be mine. So that is exactly what I did. I really rallied and gave it my all, and ran a 6:51 final mile.

As I was closing in on the finish line, I saw Greg approaching with my phone, and he snapped some photos of me. I can't believe he had enough time to finish, unlock the car, get the phone, and then position himself there!

After my watch beeped, I kept going for a little bit, as the goal was 10.04, but ended up stopping at 10.02 because I mis-judged the distance. Oh well! I was actually quite pleased when I realized that my Garmin also measured 10.02 for the 2019 Cherry Blossom race, which held my PR.

Mile 8: 7:10
Mile 9: 6:59
Mile 10: 6:51

After the Race
My official time for 10.02 miles was 1:09:46, which is an 8-second PR for a 10-mile race! And Greg ran 1:06:40. That is a huge PR for him! I knew he could do it though.

Greg and I drove the car to get my gloves, which were right where I had left them, and then cooled down for nearly a mile. I was so happy to be done and I was glad that I pushed myself at the end to run faster than I did last year.

Final Thoughts, Stats, and Takeaways
For the fun of it (or maybe to antagonize myself) I looked back at the three half marathons in which I ran faster than 1:09:46 for 10 miles. And then I added 8 seconds onto each of them because it took me 8 seconds to go the extra 0.02 today (I was sprinting at that point).

October 2019 Columbus: 1:09:32
November 2019 Indianapolis: 1:09:14
March 2020 One City: 1:09:29

According to Strava, my best 10-mile effort is 1:08:45. I assume that is miles 2-11 of Indianapolis, as opposed to 1-10 as I recorded above. And adding the 8 seconds, that would be 1:08:53. So I know what I am capable of. I just need the right day. And that could have been today if the race wasn't canceled.

So even though today's 1:09:46 is my fastest time for a 10-mile race, I am having trouble really seeing it as a PR because I have covered this distance faster in the past. . . three times! And then I start to wonder, if the race hadn't been canceled, and I had the opportunity to run a faster course with competition, would I then maybe have run my fastest 10.02 miles?

Looking at the big picture, I know that all of these times are within 6 months of each other, so I shouldn't expect to be getting that much faster. But part of me still feels like I am hitting a plateau and I need to do something different if I want to really breakthrough and run 1:08:xx. I think that thing is strength training. Over the past two months, I have been doing more strength training than I usually do, but it's mostly core work and I think I need to be more consistent and follow a more structured plan. The summer will be a great time to do that.

I really have no excuses now, since I don't have to commute to and from work. I could easily take a 20-minute break from work to go in basement and strength train.

A note on the shoes: my feet started to hurt during that 8th mile and I was wishing I wore my older pair of adios- the version 4. I wore the adios 4 for the One City Half and my feet felt great the whole time, but the version 5 stopped feeling good 8 miles in today.

Overall, I'm really proud with my effort level and that I simply went out there and got it done. Yes, I probably would have run faster in an actual race. And yes, I would have liked to have beaten those half marathon 10-mile times. But I gave a lot out there on the empty streets all by my lonesome, battling thoughts of "Does this even matter? Does this even count?"

We will have PR cake tonight, with Greg's PR in bigger numbers than mine. While I do think I can officially call this a PR, it just doesn't feel like one knowing that I have run that distance faster. But that's not what is most important: PRs are NOT what is most important! What is most important is everything I said above: my effort, the fact that I got out there, and the fact that I really crushed that last mile.

Up next: I think I am doing a 5K time trial, but I'm not 100% certain on that yet!

It's a bonk. It's a PR. It's Cherry Blossom!

I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler this morning in Washington DC. I was really excited about this race for a number of reasons. First and foremost, since I DNF'ed the Shamrock Marathon, this had become my "goal race" for the spring season. With a soft PR of 1:10:24, I figured I could beat that by at least a minute, and probably dip under 1:09. All of my workouts indicated that a goal pace of 6:50 was appropriate and I was prepared to crush it.

In the days leading up to the race, I felt awesome. My legs felt strong and peppy, with no lingering fatigue from high mileage marathon training. I slept well and I had a relaxed mindset. The life stress that I had mentioned prior to Shamrock had somewhat subsided, so I was in a good spot both physically and mentally.

The only question was the weather. The forecast called for 54-58 degrees with around 90% humidity. Thankfully the skies were overcast. I decided that I wasn't going to adjust my pacing or strategy for the weather. I was still going to shoot for a 6:50 average pace. However, any warmer or sunnier and I would have likely made an adjustment.

For many runners, these conditions would be ideal. For me, I run best when it's in the upper 30's. In fact all of my current PR's were set in temperatures below 40 degrees! I always say that if I'm not wearing gloves, I'm not PRing. BUT, once again, today's conditions were by no means "bad". They just weren't ideal for me. I knew this, but I still wanted to shoot for a 6:50 average pace because I didn't want to set limitations on what I could do. I didn't want the weather to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Before the Race
Even though I love the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, I do not love the packet pickup situation. In years past, the expo opened at 1:00pm on Friday, and I was able to go during my lunch break. But this year, it didn't open until 3:00pm, which meant trying to leave the city during Friday rush hour. And that could take well over an hour.

So Greg and I drove into the city yesterday to get our bibs. It took us about an hour to get in, maybe 30 minutes to get the bibs, and about 45 minutes to get out. Not horrible, but if the expo had opened earlier on Friday, we would have saved a lot of time and hassle the day before the race.

I slept relatively well last night and woke up refreshed this morning and ready to race. Greg and I ate our typical bagels + peanut butter, and brought Generation UCAN with us to drink 30 minutes before the start of the race. We left the house at 6:00am, and arrived in the city by 6:35. Not bad at all!

We parked about a mile from the start line, warmed up, went to the bathroom and got into the corral about 10 minutes prior to race start. Large races in DC can be logistical nightmares, so it was a relief that everything had gone smoothly with regards to parking and getting to the start on time.

My pace goal was 6:50. Greg didn't really know what to shoot for. He just PR'ed his marathon 5 weeks ago, but then took some time off and hadn't done much speed work since. He also didn't do a ton of speed work during his marathon training cycle due to an ankle issue. We knew his endurance was solid, but we weren't sure where his speed would land him.

Miles 1-3
The race started and I felt amazing. Of course, the first half mile is mostly downhill, so it's easy to start off really fast and feel good doing it. I fell into this trap and noticed I had been running a pace of 6:41 for the first half mile, and needed to dial it back some. The mile then ends on an uphill, so that brought my average pace in line with where I wanted it to be. At the same time, I didn't want to be a slave to the watch. I've run enough 10-milers to know how it should feel, so I wanted my body to be my guide.

These miles were crowded. Only at Cherry Blossom and Boston do I find myself running in such a crowded pack! I tried not to weave through people and focused on running the tangents. Because there are so many people, it's difficult to know where the tangents are, but I think I did a great job of finding them.

These miles felt great, and I knew I was tracking toward a major PR. I had a smile on my face and I was enjoying the experience. I knew that Greg was tailing me pretty closely because I could hear him. Since we run together so much, I know exactly what he sounds like when he's working hard. He even caught up to me during an uphill portion, but then I sped ahead on the subsequent downhill. I tend to slow down a bit when going up hills and then charge back down.

Mile 1: 6:50
Mile 2: 6:51
Mile 3: 6:46

Miles 4-7

Mile 5, photo by Cheryl Young

The race started to feel like "work" starting at mile 4. But the "work" felt completely sustainable. I stayed focused and cruised through mile 4 and 5 pretty easily. I knew that mile 6 would be the toughest of the race. There's a hill that's not too steep but every time it just seems to take something
out of me. I think it's because of where it is during the race.

Greg caught up to me right around the mile 6 marker and then passed me just before we crossed the 10K timing mat. I was really impressed with how well he was doing, given that he had only done speed work twice since his marathon five weeks ago. And. . . it was a bit demoralizing too. As I said, mile 6 is tough, and at the same time, I started to feel less peppy and more fatigued. I told myself "just wait until you get to Hains point-- it will be all flat with no turns and you will feel much better." But that didn't happen. In any event, my official 10K split was 42:43, and I was really excited about that. It's my third fastest 10K ever.

Mile 7 felt WAY harder than mile 6, and this was not a good sign. And even though the forecast showed virtually no wind, I still noticed a bit of a headwind during miles 7 and 8 as we went around Hains Point. It was minor, but given how I felt, it really drained me.

Mile 4: 6:54
Mile 5: 6:52
Mile 6: 7:02
Mile 7: 7:04

Miles 8-10
All I wanted during mile 8 was to turn around and not be running into the wind. I know, I know, the wind was VERY LIGHT, but it felt so hard. In actuality, the problem was not the wind, but the rising temperature. It was probably around 57 degrees by this point and humid, and my body does not like even a hint of warmth. Regardless, I pushed and pushed and pushed.

I wondered how I would even finish. I kept feeling like "OMG I need to stop right now!" but then I would convince myself to keep going no matter what. I seriously entered a pain cave and I was in a world of hurt. I was barely looking at my watch because I didn't want to get discouraged. All I wanted to do was to finish and be done with the torture.

I had to constantly remind myself, "You're still in the game!" Because it honestly felt like my race was over and I was no longer in control of the pace. I was just hanging on for dear life. My "You're still in the game!" mantra helped me so much. It meant that I could still PR, even though it would be modest. I knew that I would be not be happy if my "spring goal race" was a flop so I just told myself I was still in the game and I gave it all I had when I felt like I had nothing.

During mile 9, I noticed that my chest was starting to hurt. OMG- was I having a heart attack? Was I pushing myself into the danger zone? I wasn't sure, but I kept doing it!

People were passing me, but I vowed not to let that get to me. I was doing great. I was going to finish.

Mile 10, Photo by C. Young

I was still in the game and I could still PR. I remembered the 10 mile race I ran last October. I literally stopped for 20 seconds during the 8th mile because my foot was numb. And yet my time was still pretty decent. So today there would be no stopping and my time would be even better.

Finally, we were out of Hains Point and there was about half a mile to go. And it was pretty much all uphill! But I knew that if I let myself fall apart now, I wouldn't PR. And I was NOT going to fall apart in the last half mile of the race. I was too close. Not only did I have to push hard to stay on track to PR, but I had to push hard UP HILL.

So, I did what I always do when I'm racing up hill. I focused on a point about 20 feet ahead of me up the hill, and I ran as had as I could until that point, and then found another point 20 feet ahead of me and ran as hard as I could until that point. And another, and another. This way, I didn't have to look up to see how steep/long the hill was and I just focused on the next 20 feet. It works for me every time and it worked today.

At last, I was at the top of the hill, and then I sprinted my heart out on the downhill finish. The finish line clock read 1:09:23 and since I had started about 15 seconds after that I knew that if I gunned it, I could get under 1:10:10. According to my Garmin, the last 0.02 of the race was a pace of 4:47.

Mile 8: 7:09
Mile 9: 7:11
Mile 10: 7:07

After I crossed, I felt soooooo bad. I met up with Greg (who finished about a minute ahead of me) and it took me about five full minutes to be able to communicate properly. I was a wreck. I was dry heaving. But, I had my sub-1:10.

Official time: 1:09:54.
I placed 17 out of 1,249 in my age group (40-44)

After the Race
I saw a few friends at the finish line but I could barely talk to them. I was in such bad shape. But ultimately, I started to feel more normal and Greg and I walked back to our car and drove home. I immediately got into an Epsom salt bath and Greg made us coffee. Usually racing suppresses my appetite, so I wasn't hungry for lunch until about two hours after finishing.

Final Thoughts and Takeaways
To simultaneously bonk and PR in the same race speaks volumes about my fitness. And also about my mental strength. So, I'm pretty happy with that. My coach said this:

You're amazing Elizabeth! Most athletes would have given up when your body was starting to turn against you, but you fought so hard and came away with a PR... in conditions that normally destroy you! You should be so proud of yourself; I actually think this is one of your best races because you fought against the thought of stopping but continued to get a PR.

He's right! This is one of best races. Racing is not about running the absolute fastest time in ideal conditions. It's about getting the best out of yourself no matter what and I got the best out of myself. This race was very close to becoming a disaster, but I refused to let it end that way.

Part of me feels like it's not a "real" PR because I ran the first 10 miles of the Houston Half Marathon faster. Of course, it was 35 degrees! All that means is that if I ever encounter a cold 10-miler, I can shave a good chunk of time off what I ran today. I know I had a 1:08:xx in me today, but the weather unfortunately didn't cooperate. Again, today's weather was ideal for many runners, but not for me.

With only six seconds under 1:10:00, I really owe it to rallying during that last half mile, reminding myself that I was still in the game, and believing in myself. If I hadn't done all that, I definitely would have not run under 1:10:00, and I wouldn't be nearly as satisfied.

The race day countdown: why NOT to do it

With something like marathon training, where you are working toward a specific event on a specific date, it's easy to lose focus on what's happening in the present. As runners, we begin counting down to the marathon months in advance. I often post on Instagram: "Just 5 more weeks until race day!"  We are always very aware of how far away this event is, and it's easy for race day to become the day we are waiting for.

When I was training for Shamrock, I was often overwhelmed with how much I had to juggle. Not only did I have to fit the training into my busy life, but the weather threw in some curve balls, so I would have to adjust for that-- sometimes running after work or using a treadmill. During the past few months, I found myself thinking "after the marathon I will do x, y, and z".  I think I do this with most marathon training cycles, but I was more aware of it this time. It felt like certain things in life just needed to wait until I no longer had 70-80 mile weeks on my plate.

Now that the race is over, and I am getting to some of the things I pushed off, I realize I need to work on not focusing so much on that marathon date. A very simple example is taking a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to purchase some kitchen items that needed to be replaced. Sure, I could have bought them online, but I wanted to go to the store, browse the items in person, and use all my 20% off coupons! Although I enjoy shopping, this task just seemed like too much to do while I was running all those miles.

One of my friends wanted to run with me the weekend before the marathon and I told her no. My only reason was that I didn't want to have to schedule or coordinate something. I was feeling stressed out (as I blogged about previously) and I didn't want something else that I had to plan for. I didn't want to have to be somewhere at a certain time.

In reflecting on these two examples, and my overall mindset in the four weeks leading up to the race, I was feeling really over-scheduled and wanting to put everything off until after the race. I want to avoid this in the future for a number of reasons:

1. I don't want to wish my life away
The countdown to race day is always exciting, but it can be a slippery slope. If I have six weeks to race day, then that's six weeks of quality living I have to do and I want to savor and enjoy those weeks. Whether I am running, going to work, spending time with friends and family, blogging, or playing the piano, I want to be happy in the moment. If I were to live from marathon to marathon, then the rest of life would pass me by!

2. I don't want to feel stressed out by my training plan
I think this is mainly an issue during winter months when I have to adjust when I train due to snow and ice. Or if there isn't enough light in the morning to do the whole workout and get into work at a reasonable time. As I posted previously, the running itself isn't the issue-- it's the logistics. I think this will continue to be a challenge in future winters, so I will need to figure out a way to be more relaxed and accepting about moving runs around. I think that the planning and scheduling of runs got to be so much, that I didn't want to make any other plans that weren't absolutely critical. So I kept thinking "after the marathon I want to do x, y, and z."

3. The marathon isn't that important
I work really hard to prepare for a marathon. I spend 8-10 hours a week training. It's important, but it's not THAT important. I don't want to be constantly thinking to myself, "March 17th is THE day!" All days are important. Some days are more exciting than others. Some days are easily forgotten and others are extremely memorable. And yes, marathon day is really exciting and fun, and it's great to look forward to it! But I think it's a mistake for that date to be a shiny object when I think about the months and weeks ahead of me.

As runners, we need to balance the excitement of looking forward to race day with the reality that we live in the present. I need to work on this. Running is not life; running is a part of my life.

Monday morning recovery run

After I DNF'ed the marathon on Sunday, I stayed in Virginia Beach and just chilled out. Greg and I
had dinner with one of my best friends from college who lives there and it was really nice. The next morning, we did a 3-mile recovery run on the boardwalk at sunrise. It was beautiful and calming.

My coach and I both thought I was ready to dive back into training, as if this had been a half marathon. Typically after a half marathon I don't need much recovery time and I am running hard again four days later. On Tuesday I ran for 90 minutes at an easy pace and everything felt really smooth and good. Wednesday was an easy 70 minutes, and on Thursday morning I went to the track. I was scheduled for five mile repeats but I quickly realized that my legs were not as recovered as I thought so I cut it off after just two, and those two were much slower than the target. Friday was 75 minutes easy, and I noticed my legs were really dragging.

In the meantime, the "life stress" that I mentioned in my previous post has not gone away yet, but the end is in sight. When I woke up on Saturday morning, just rolling around in bed, my legs felt a little achy. I had a long run on schedule and I decided to bag it and take a rest day. I guess I didn't initially realize how much the 13.8 miles took out of me on Sunday. I figured that doing a long run on dead legs would only put me deeper into a hole, and wouldn't provide much training benefit. My coach suggested I take Sunday off as well based on this feedback, so it's been a weekend full of relaxation and catching up.

Greg and I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday and got the kitchen items we needed. I got a massage which further emphasized that my legs were not in great shape. Today I am tidying up some clutter in the house and getting a pedicure. I might go for a walk this afternoon just to get the blood flowing to my legs. My hope is that these two days off will restore my legs and I can have a quality week next week before tapering for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.

As for right now, I am not going to focus too much on that race. I need to get my legs revitalized and enjoy my weekend!

Motivated by a Mug: Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Race Report

Dear Fast Runner,

As part of the 45th Running Celebration of Credit Union Cherry Blossom, we are awarding mugs that read "I would have won this race in 1973" to all males who finish faster than 1973 winner Sam Bair's time of 51:22 and to all females who finish faster than Kathrine Switzer's winning time of 71:19. You are receiving this message because the seeded time you entered on your entry form for the 2017 race is within two minutes of these times. This means if you have a good day, you could win one of these mugs, so we wanted to let you know about these special awards.

I received this email three days ago, and determined that I HAD to have one of those mugs.

Today was my 6th time running the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I first ran it in 2007 in a time of 1:21:23 and my current 10-mile PR was on this course from 2014: 1:15:26. I had beaten this time during three half marathons, and during a training run, but of course, these weren't "official" PRs. Therefore, I didn't think I was being presumptuous by buying PR Cake ingredients last weekend. (Greg and I have a tradition of making PR cake with our times written on it.)

Background
Throughout 2009-2013, I struggled mentally with the marathon, but the 10-miler remained my sweet spot. Therefore, in 2014, when I ran a time that was very similar to my past two times, I realized I had also plateaued physically. That's when I decided it was time to hire a running coach. A few months later, I began working with McMillan Running coach Andrew and my times have steadily dropped ever since.

Ever since I ran a 1:33:36 half marathon last spring, I set my sights on a sub-70:00 10-miler. I was going to shoot for this at the Army Ten-Miler last fall, but I wasn't able to run it because I had just recovered from mono. Part of the reason I chose to run the Myrtle Beach Marathon was that I would recover in time to run the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.

I was excited to receive a "seeded" bib for this race: Bib #344. For a race of about 20,000 people, I

At the Cherry Blossom Expo, studying the elevation

considered this to be a huge honor. It didn't come with too many perks, other than starting at the front of the race and being able to get an entry without going through the lottery. I wasn't sure if I would qualify for a seeded entry, though, so I got in through the lottery anyway and received the seeded bib afterward.

In 2014, my goal had been to run a sub-7:30 pace. And according to my Garmin, I accomplished that. However, my official pace ended up being 7:32 because my Garmin logged the course as being about 10.1 miles. Knowing this, I did some research on Strava. I looked at the Cherry Blossom 10-mile "segment" and noted that to run an official time of sub-7:00, I would need to run a 6:54 pace on my Garmin. So, my new "A" goal became 6:54 Garmin/sub-70 official. And my "B" goal was to win the mug.

Before the Race
Because the metro wasn't running, Greg and I decided to get a hotel room in DC the night before. We could have probably reserved a parking spot in the city, but we live about 35 minutes away and we didn't want to have this added stress on race morning. Plus, having our own dedicated bathroom within an hour of the start time was nice!

For both the Myrtle Beach Marathon and Indianapolis Monumental, we arrived at the start line with just a few minutes to spare. I wanted to be more conservative this time, so we were in the corral 15 minutes before the start. This caused me much less anxiety! Greg and I both drank UCAN at 6:50, and at 6:55 we left the hotel and headed for the start line.

My plan was to go out at a pace of 6:50-6:53 and see how long I could hold it. I wasn't as confident about my ability to reach my "A" goal as I had been the week prior. On Thursday of this week, I ran a set of 8 x 200m and I felt really stale. In fact, by the end of the day I felt as if I was getting sick. I felt completely run down with a hint of a sore throat. I took an un-planned rest day on Friday, got plenty of rest, drank loads of water and was feeling decent by yesterday. Perhaps it was allergies. Perhaps I was still feeling the after-effects of the marathon. But whatever it was, I wasn't feeling nearly as peppy as I had been the week prior.

Anyway, shortly before the race started I ditched my throw-away hoodie and prepared myself mentally. I knew that miles 7-10 around Hains Point would be extremely challenging, and I told myself to keep pushing, no matter how hard it hurt.

Miles 1-4
The race started, and I felt decent. Not great, but okay. It was about 46 degrees, sunny, with a breeze.

Mile 1

I wore sunglasses, but the parts of the course that ran directly into the sun were difficult for me. All the runners in front of me looked like dark shadows and I could feel my face getting really warm. The race was surprisingly crowded. I remember spectating Greg at the Army 10-miler and he ran about the pace I was trying to go. And it looked like he had plenty of room around him when he ran by during mile 7. I found myself constantly weaving through people and it was difficult to get into a rhythm.

I had studied the elevation provide and expected the second mile to be slow, but surprisingly, it was one of my faster miles. My coach had advised me to push hard from the beginning and that's exactly what I did. It felt harder than expected to run the paces I was running, but I trusted that my marathon endurance would enable me to maintain these paces for 10 miles.

Mile 1: 6:55
Mile 2: 6:50
Mile 3: 6:50
Mile 4: 6:53

Miles 5-7
From experience, I knew that there was a moderate hill during mile six and that I might feel crappy at this point, but that it would feel better once I got to Hains Point at mile 7. There was a huge cheering crowd and it really energized me. I hit the 5-mile timing mat in 34:46, which had me on pace to run a 1:09:31. I was pleased with this and told myself to simply keep up the effort and I would reach my goal. However, it felt harder than expected. Based on last week's tempo run (4 miles at 6:49 average), I actually thought I would be able to run a sub-6:50 pace for this race. Additionally, I ran a 10K eight weeks ago on a very hilly course at a pace of 6:41 on un-tapered legs. So I really didn't expect these paces to be feeling as tough as they did.

During mile 7, I grabbed water from a water station and poured it over my head. And I noticed that I was definitely more comfortable in the shaded portions of the course. Sunshine and I just don't jive when it comes to racing. Unless it's below 40 degrees like it was at Myrtle Beach. I felt much better during mile 7 than I did during mile six, which (unbeknownst to me) was due to a tailwind on Hains Point. I felt like I had gotten a "second wind" and that I had my goal in the bag!

Mile 5: 6:52
Mile 6: 6:59
Mile 7: 6:56

Miles 8-10.09
But then, we turned around and there was a headwind on Hains Point. According the forecast, this was supposed to be a 7 mph sustained wind. But it felt much stronger than that. I appreciated the cooling factor, but I felt like I was fighting a formidable opponent. I pushed harder and reminded myself that I needed to stay strong and give 100% effort. So I increased my effort level and gave it everything I had, and was unable to get my Garmin pace back down into the 6:50's. I wanted to stop so badly. I felt awful. Every part of me was in pain. Based on how I felt, I knew it was unlikely that I would come in under 70:00. But I wanted that mug! I knew that I would be super disappointed if I wasn't able to attain my B goal.

During these last few miles, all I could think about was the mug. I realized my sub-70:00 was unlikely but dammit, I was going to be drinking coffee out of that mug come hell or high water. Mile 8 clocked in at 7:02.

There was another timing mat at mile 9 and I cursed it. Now there would be an official record of how slow my last mile was. Mile 9 clocked in at a pace of 7:14, and at that point my official race pace was 7:01 (which I learned after the fact, but had some sense of at the time). I was now on track to run a 1:10:08. BUT- I thought I could still run a sub-7:00 "Garmin" pace, similar to what I did in 2014 with my sub 7:30 "Garmin" pace.

Get the mug! Get the mug! At mile 9.6 we turned off of Hains Point and there was a sizable hill that was about a quarter of a mile long. Knowing how close the finish was and that I no longer had to fight the wind, I found another gear that I didn't realize I had and gunned it. After Hains Point, I had been on track to log a 7:25 mile and I knew I could sprint up that hill and make up some time. Amazingly, I had a burst of energy and average a 7:21 pace for that final mile.

But of course, there was the "extra." Strava logged my 10-mile time at 1:09:46, but officially, the sub-7:00 was a no go. Nevertheless, I was pleased to cross the finish line in 1:10:24.

Mile 8: 7:02
Mile 9: 7:14
Mile 10: 7:21
Last 0.09: 5:51 pace (downhill)

After the Race

Greg and I with our friends from the =PR= Race team

Due to my final kick, the first few minutes post-race were pretty brutal. I felt nauseous and totally knocked out. I caught up with Greg, who ran a 1:07:51. He's gotten so fast recently! And he was waiting with our friends Hannah and Alex. We met up with some other runners from the =PR= racing team and everyone seemed to have had really amazing races.

I had tossed my hand-warmers so my hands were quickly starting to get cold, so we hurried to the mug-retrieval area and I claimed my prize. On the walk back to our hotel, a random women asked if she could take a video of us talking about what we liked about the race. For me, it was the mug! Oh, and I guess the cherry blossoms, too. Greg and I then walked back to our hotel, showered, and had a nice brunch. I actually brought my mug to brunch and drank coffee out of it!

Now, time for some stats.

• This race was a PR by 5 minutes, 2 seconds from my 2014 time.
• I placed 26th in my age group out of 1,706 runners, running faster than 98.5% of them
• My actual time was 1:10:23.84, but the official results rounded up to 1:10:24.
• My 10K split was 43:18, which would have been a 10K PR as recently as last December.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I'm pleased with my performance. I did the best with what I had. Even though I kind of fell apart during the last two miles, it wasn't because I slacked. I think it was partially due to the wind, but primarily due to me just not feeling 100% for whatever reason. I honestly thought that sub-70:00 official would be well within my grasp, and I expected to be able to run about 8-9 seconds per mile faster. Stated differently, I didn't expect that I would blow up at the end given my paces for miles 1-8. Part of me wants to run the GW Parkway Classic 10-miler in three weeks for another shot. But at this point, I think I will just wait for the Army 10-miler in the fall. Which can be warm-- but I guess I will be acclimated and hopefully fitter!

The good news is that I ran a huge PR, shaving 30 seconds per mile off of my average pace. The PR cake will taste great this evening. I felt fast with my super-low bib, too! And I actually DID run 10 miles at a sub-7:00 pace, it just wasn't official. Or at least Strava thinks I did! And best of all, had this been 1973, I would have won the race outright.

Feeling Fresh

It's now been three weeks since the Myrtle Beach Marathon, and my legs are finally feeling fresh after some rest and reduced mileage weeks.

Saturday, March 25th

This recovery period has come at just the right time because work has gotten extremely crazy lately. I've been meeting with our CEO multiple times a week, and preparing for those meetings has resulted in long hours and additional stress. I'm not complaining-- I truly enjoy my job and the challenge that it brings. But suffice it to say, I'm grateful that I haven't also been trying to run 70+ mile weeks for the past three weeks.

My next race is the Cherry Blossom 10-miler, which is one week from today. My focus has been recovering 100% from the marathon and doing just enough speed to keep the legs moving. I will essentially rely on my marathon fitness as my training for this race. I qualified for a special "seeded" bib, and I'm excited to be lining up at the front of the race. Here's a recap of the past few weeks.

Week of March 6th
Mainly rest, with three runs that equated to 7 miles total. It was nice to have some time off running, and I indulged in good food and sweets! I see the week after a marathon as a week to chill out physically and mentally, and I certainly did that as much as possible. It was also a great opportunity to get more focused on my friends' running as I wasn't at all focused on my own.

Week of March 13th
This week was all easy running, and I even gave myself an extra rest day which wasn't in the schedule. The snow and high wind advisory made it an unappealing week to be outside, and combined with the long hours I was putting in at work, it was a mentally exhausting week.

Tuesday, March 14th

Monday's run (30 minutes) felt fine, but Tuesday's run (40 minutes) wasn't all that great. My hip was tightening up and I definitely could feel that something wasn't right. On top of that, we had 20+ mph sustained winds, so the run wasn't at all enjoyable. Because of my hip, and the fact that the wind got even worse on Wednesday-- strong enough to tear some of the siding off of our house-- I took an unscheduled rest day, and pushed everything back by one day. On Thursday, I was back at it with 50 minutes, which yielded 5.8 miles. By the time my "long" run of 90 minutes rolled around on Sunday, everything felt 100%. My total mileage for the week came in at 34.9

Week of March 21st
This week felt like an actual training week again. I'm hoping that the really cold/windy weather is behind us and I'm grateful that it's getting light in the mornings again. When there's ice on the ground like there was last week, I won't start my run until it's light enough to see the icy patches. Which makes it challenging to get into work on time. Last week I had to sacrifice drying my hair. I guess something's gotta give sometimes!

Monday: 5.8 miles easy at 8:41 average

Tuesday: 6.4 miles, including 15 x 30-second strides. This was my "foray" into faster running post marathon. My first few strides were kind of a shock to the system, but by the end of the workout I was down to a pace of about 6:25. This is actually a bit slow for me, since I usually run 30-second intervals at a sub 6:00 pace. But I wasn't worried. The point was just to get my legs moving quickly, not to set any records.

Wednesday: 5.2 miles easy at 8:42 average

Thursday, March 23rd

Thursday: 7.7 miles, including 4 at tempo effort. This was my first actual workout post marathon and I had no idea what to expect. Greg came with me and said he would simply try and keep up with whatever pace I set. I figured I probably lost some fitness and my legs might still be tired from the marathon, so a good target would be 7:00 or slightly under. During this past training cycle, I ran my first ever tempo run at a sub-7:00 pace, so I figured being right at 7:00 would be good. But as always, I run these things by feel and my Garmin paces were quite shocking: 6:52, 6:51, 6:52, 6:40. This is an average of 6:49! I had plenty of gas in the tank at the end, and I could have kept going at that pace.

This gives me a huge amount of confidence for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. Provided it's not too warm or windy, I think I can run a pace of 6:50-6:55 by my Garmin. Anyway, it feels great have a "new" tempo pace and to know that I've gotten to another level with my running. For about 4 years (2010-2014) my tempo pace was 7:25. And it's steadily gone down since I started working with Coach Andrew.

Friday: 5.2 miles easy at 8:29 average

Saturday: 10.7 miles at 8:26 average. Greg ran with me and kept telling me that I was pushing the pace. I honestly was not pushing the pace at all and I felt really strong. It was only 19 degrees on Thursday morning for my tempo, but it was 55 and sunny for Saturday's run. Spring in the Washington DC Metro area is so unpredictable!

Sunday: 3.4 miles easy at 8:43 average.

Total mileage for the week: 44.4

Future Plans
I'm registered for the New Jersey half marathon on April 30th, but I'm leaning toward not actually doing it. Mainly because it involves a 4-hour drive, a hotel stay, and it would take up the entire weekend. I typically love weekends like these, but I feel like I have been SO busy lately and I might just prefer to stay home. I think that setting a large marathon PR and then running a 10-miler four weeks later makes for a solid spring season-- not to mention the 5K I am doing in mid-April. It might be nice to focus on shorter stuff after Cherry Blossom.

But I am not making any final decisions until after Cherry Blossom. It will just depend on how I feel physically and mentally. Usually I'm such a rigid planner and I like to have all my races scheduled out months in advance (which is why I am registered for New Jersey).  But I'm starting to see more value in simply "rolling with the flow."

Trusting and Pushing: Cherry Blossom 10-miler Report

This morning I ran my 5th Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I used this race to practice some of the things I mentioned in my post about pushing past limits in order to get myself to the next level.

Background
Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite race distance is, I say "the 10-miler". It's short enough so that

the pain isn't horribly prolonged, but it's long enough where you don't feel like you are about to die for the entire duration of the race. I've also raced consistently well at the 10-mile distance and I feel like it's my "sweet spot" in terms of performance. In my first few years of running, I would set 10K PRs during 10-mile races.

I had a few goals for this race. The primary one was to see how much I could push myself. The weather was going to be ideal (low 40's and sunny), so there would be no unknowns there, and I knew the course, so this would be the perfect chance to really test my limits in terms of pushing. Of course, I always go into races

wanting to push my hardest, but I've never really focused on it so heavily beforehand. I've usually focused more on the time goal and not my effort level. In the two weeks leading up to the race, I thought a lot about the mental strategies I would need to use to push hard when things got tough. I remembered all the mantras I have used in past races to keep strong and I visualized myself during the last 3 miles pushing hard instead of giving in.

Cherry Blossom 2013

My other goals were to go into the race relaxed and well-hydrated and run the tangents. In terms of a time
goal, I wanted to beat my PR of 1:15:52 from 2012 and ideally get under 1:15. I tried to do this last year, but it was extremely windy during miles 7-9, so I ended up with a 1:16:10. This year, I was fairly confident in my ability to run a sub-7:30 pace, but just barely, and I know that this course always runs long on my Garmin. I suspected I would be able to run a sub 7:30 pace, but I didn't know if that would necessarily equate to a 1:14: xx.

My training in the week leading up to the race was solid. I ran 10 easy miles on Monday, 6 x 800m on Tuesday (7 total), rested on Wednesday, and then did some easy running on Thursday and Friday. My running felt good all week and I felt ready. Even though I am in the middle of marathon training, I prefer to look at my training as not just centered around one race. If I do, it puts too much pressure on me for that race. I didn't see Cherry Blossom as a tune-up for the sake of marathon fitness, but a race in and of itself to be prepared for and raced to my full ability.

Before the Race
I slept about as well as can be expected the night before the race. I woke up several times during the night wondering what time it was, but overall, I think I got about 6-7 quality hours. Greg and I woke up at 5:15 with a goal of leaving the house at 6:00. It turns out that this wasn't enough time to eat our breakfast, go to the bathroom, get dressed, and get all of our stuff together. I'm including this so that I know to wake up earlier next year! We ended up leaving the house at 6:15, and we were so rushed that Greg didn't bring his driver's license and neither of us brought money. We had our metro cards, but I wasn't even sure how much money was on mine.

Normally a situation like this would have made me a bit anxious, but instead I found it thrilling. We drove to the metro station knowing that we'd end up in DC without money or ID and only the metro cards to get back. It actually helped distract me from thinking about the race. We were also later than I wanted to be, so I was worried that we wouldn't have enough time to use the porta potties.

It turns out, we did not have enough time for that, but it was fine because we didn't need to anyway, which is a first. We got into our corral with about 15 minutes to spare, which is what I planned for, since the corrals get really crowded.

Miles 1-4
As the race started, I felt really relaxed. I was excited to finally be there as I had been anticipating this race for the past few weeks. In the spirit of pushing hard, I didn't want to look at the Garmin too much initially. I told myself to trust my experience with the 10-mile distance, and that I would know what the appropriate pace felt like. Trust. I repeated that to myself over and over during the beginning. Trust your training. Trust you can push hard for the whole race. Trust that you won't blow up. Trust your experience. I didn't look at my Garmin until it beeped for the first mile. 7:37. A little slower than planned, but better too slow than too fast. I figured I had 9 miles to get the pace down.

Mile 2 was over a bridge which included a slight uphill and then slight downhill, and then repeated as we turned back around on it. The pace was feeling challenging, but I told myself that it should feel hard for the entire 10 miles. It's not like a marathon that feels easy during the first hour or so. Again, I avoided the Garmin because I didn't want to be discouraged by a slow pace, or freaked out by a fast pace.

I carried a water bottle for the first four miles, and it felt great to finally toss it aside and have my hands free. I also didn't want to over-drink. I think I've made the mistake of drinking too much during races, resulting in cramping. I had hydrated well beforehand and I drank a good amount during miles 1-4, so I felt confident tossing the bottle and not having any more water for the last six miles.

Mile 1: 7:37
Mile 2: 7:26
Mile 3: 7:19
Mile 4: 7:15

Miles 5-7

I only looked at my Garmin when it beeped for the mile. I wanted to run by feel and not slow down or speed up based on my pace. I looked at the overall time when I crossed the 5-mile mark, and it was 37:24. I was on track for my sub-1:15 and feeling great.

There was also a timing mat for the 10K mark, which I hit at 46:33. That's a good 10K time! I thought to myself that I probably could have set a nice PR in the 10K distance today.

Mile 6 is always challenging in this race because there are a few hills and things start to hurt a lot more-- and yet you aren't really close to the finish. I always dread mile 6 of this race, but things tend to get easier when we reach Hains point at mile 7. We ran around a lot of curves during the 7th mile, and I was longing for the road to just be straight so I wouldn't have to focus on tangents. I started repeated "run to mile 7" over and over again to myself. This got rid of the negative thoughts that were starting to enter my mind. It worked so well that when I passed the mile 7 marker, I kept repeating it! I laughed at myself a bit, but the mantra was working.

Mile 5: 7:24
Mile 6: 7:36
Mile 7: 7:24

Miles 8-10
I couldn't believe I still had three miles to go. It seemed impossible and I was ready for the race to be done. I started envisioning myself dropping out at various points, which is a thought that always crosses my head

Photo by Cheryl Young

during races. I told myself to push and trust. I kept reminding myself that this was my chance to really see how hard I could push. After thinking about this for weeks, here it was-- the time when I wanted to push hard despite how tired I was feeling.

During the 9th mile there was a bit of an unexpected headwind. It wasn't horrible, but definitely noticeable, given that I was already feeling so worn out at that point. It also felt like a slightly uphill mile. But maybe I was just really tired. I glanced down at the Garmin a few times and noticed my pace was significantly slower and I was at risk for not meeting my goal. I told myself that the pain was just temporary, it would be over soon. Now was not the time to give in, after pushing so hard for the first 8 miles.

We finally hit mile 9 and had just one mile left! It was so hard! The last mile includes the biggest hill of the race and I used every ounce of energy I had to push up it. I finally reached the top, my Garmin beeped 10 miles, and then I ran a downhill stretch to the finish line.

Mile 8: 7:31
Mile 9: 7:40
Mile 10: 7:47
Last 0.7: (5:51 pace)

The Finish and Beyond
I felt like death immediately after crossing and knew that I did push past limits. I beat my PR from 2012 by 26 seconds, with an official time of 1:15:26. According to my Garmin, my average pace for the run was 7:29, which is pretty much what I predicted-- with the official race pace being a 7:32.

I found Greg about a minute after crossing, but I wasn't able to speak to him for a few minutes. We went immediately to the metro station without stopping for food or socializing, as we were both eager to be home. Fortunately, we made it back to our car without needing money or IDs! I have to say that one of the accomplishments of the day was how efficient we were at getting in and out of the city. No baggage check, no post-race food, no socializing- just the race and back home.

I placed 377 out of 10,548 women.
I placed 41 out of 1,597 in my age group (F 35-39).

I was excited to be in the top 2.5% in my age group!

Getting super data-focused, I could see this as my second "fastest" race ever. Looking at the McMilllan running calculator, the only distance where I have run a faster equivalent is the 5K.

McMillan pace equivalents

I was really pleased with my performance on this one. I achieved all of my goals: I went into the race feeling relaxed, I pushed hard when things got tough, and I ran a sub-7:30 pace. I know that my previous 10-mile PR was pretty solid, so at this stage in my running career, I don't expect to be setting huge PRs. I'm thankful to be getting faster slowly but surely, and that the 10-mile distance continues to be one where I excel.

Photo by  Cheryl Young

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Race Report

This morning I ran my 4th Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I'm really happy to be able to say that because if you asked me on Friday if I was planning on running this race, I would have said no.

Crappy Runs & Re-paying My Sleep Debt
Lack of sleep is cumulative. I've learned that I can race well if I don't get any sleep the night before a race, or even the sacred "night before the night before". With my most recent marathon, I learned that I can run well averaging less than 5 hours of sleep per night for the entire week leading up to the race. But eventually, it comes back to bite you.

I thought I would recover all my lost sleep in the week following the marathon, but that didn't happen. I took a business trip to Colorado Springs (two time zones behind me) and so I was going to sleep late and further exhausting myself through travel. Running was still going well and I was still feeling really great. The second week after the marathon, I was still feeling good and even incorporated some speed work back into my training. My paces were great and it felt as if I had never run a marathon or lost all that sleep the week before.

But then, last Saturday, I had a run that told me I needed some down time. I went for a 13-miler and while it wasn't horrible, it just didn't feel right. My legs felt heavy, my heart rate was on the higher side. It just felt harder than it should have. I prescribed myself two rest days in a row and was back at it on Tuesday of this week. But I still wasn't ready. I ran 7.5 miles easy, but it was the slowest "easy" run I've had in months. And I felt super exhausted by the end of it. I had actually planned for 8 miles, but cut it short.

I took another rest day and tried again on Thursday. Same scenario. I had to run slower than normal to keep my heart rate down. And 3 miles into it, I felt overly fatigued. I started to worry about over-training syndrome, which I have experienced once before. Friday was the worst. I woke up and felt so tired that I took a partial sick day from work so I could stay home and rest.

Sleep. That's really what my body needed most. This week, I slept about 9 hours a night, and slept straight through the night. Usually, I sleep for about 7 hours and it's rare that I sleep straight through. On top of that, I  took a nap on Friday and a nap yesterday. All that sleep, and I still felt like I needed more sleep. Even when I had mono, I did not sleep this much. With mono, I felt weak and I couldn't move around very quickly. This was different. I didn't feel weak or sick- I just felt exhausted and sleepy.

To Race or Not To Race?
I was so tired on Friday that I figured the race was definitely out. I knew the entire thing would probably be a struggle, I would be disappointed with my time, and my body would be even further worn down. I wasn't quite sure what was going on with me, but the more I think about it, I just think that I just needed to catch-up on sleep and let my body recover from the months of hard training.

I woke up on Saturday morning and felt a definite improvement from Friday, but still abnormally tired. Greg and I went into the city to pickup our bibs, so I would have the option on Sunday morning of racing or not racing. Greg, who is just coming off of an injury, didn't really care if we ran the race or not. He didn't think he was in great shape and was only doing it because he had registered.

When we got home from packet pickup I felt completely drained. I took a nap and was amazed at quickly I fell asleep. Afterwards, I felt a little better and started to think that I would do the race.

I think I would have regretted it if I didn't at least try. Even if the race didn't go well, at least I would have known that I tried. If I didn't even attempt to run it, I think I would have wondered if I would have been okay and regretted missing one of my favorite races of the year.

It was simply a matter of setting the appropriate expectations. I didn't want to sell myself short and dismiss the idea of a PR.  But at the same time, I knew that I was in this overly-tired and possibly over-trained state. I decided I was just going to go out there and do my best and get satisfaction that I pushed hard and did the best I could given the circumstances.

Pre-Race
Everything had gone so smoothly for Greg and me the last time we ran this race, so we knew exactly what our routine would be. We drove to the metro, parked, and were at the race site about an hour ahead of time. We didn't check any bags, but we both had throwaway tops to keep us warm in the 45-degree weather.

Last time we found a set of porta potties that nobody knew about and Greg remembered where they were. Just as expected, there was no line. We couldn't believe that at a race with over 15,000 runners, we could find porta-potties with no lines! And no, I will not reveal in this blog where they are! :-) I probably couldn't explain it even if I wanted to.

We lined up at the front of corral two and met up with some Capital Area Runners teammates. If I had been feeling 100%, I would have planned to stay with them, but instead I told myself to run my own race and not worry about what the others were doing. They said they were going to go out at a pace of 7:40, which sounded good to me, so I figured it would be nice to at least start with them.

The weather was almost as good as last year. Last year, the race was in the upper 40's and completely overcast. No wind. This year it was in the mid 40's and mostly sunny-- but with some wind. Last year, March had been so warm that the Cherry Blossom had already come and gone. This March, it had been so cold that the blossoms were just starting to bloom-- I didn't really notice them very much unfortunately.

Miles 1-3
This race has a downhill start so it's hard to go out slow. The first few miles were pretty uneventful, although

I do remember my feet being so cold/numb that it was weird to run on them for the first two miles. I had a

small bottle water with me that I tossed during mile 3 and I didn't have any more water after that during the race. Greg shot out at a pace way faster than me, which wasn't surprising. Even though he'd been sidelined

Noticing my coach cheering for me.

due to injury, he races extremely well and pushes really, really hard.

Mile 1: 7:35
Mile 2: 7:32
Mile 3: 7:13

Miles 4-6
I tried not to be freaked out by the 7:13. Everything felt good. I was definitely working hard early in the race, but I knew I had a great endurance base that could carry me through. Plus, that mile had a little bit of downhill.

There was an "incident" during mile 5 when there was some metal strip of something on the course and I stepped on it and it dug right into my ankle. I let out a scream and the people around me asked if I was okay. I was okay to keep running, but that definitely hurt. I didn't let it affect my running and I had forgotten about it within a few minutes.

I remember that miles 5-6 always seem to be the hardest in this race. And if I could just get past mile 6, I would be golden. Back in 2009, I gave up mentally at mile 5 and I have always regretted that.

According to my splits, I came through the 5-mile mark at an average 7:32 pace. And then the 10K mark at a 7:33 pace. I was on track to PR. I just needed to stay around 7:30 for the last 4 miles.

Mile 4: 7:26
Mile 5: 7:27
Mile 6: 7:38

Miles 7-8
I knew to expect wind here. The wind was out of the south at about 10-15 mph, and I knew that we would be running into a headwind. Hains Point is almost always windy-- even on non-windy days, so the slightest bit of real wind makes it tough. This part of the course is the same area where my windy 5K was last month, so I was very familiar with how much of a challenge the wind can pose.

Before I had looked at the wind forecast, I had been expecting the race to get easier at this point. Last year it got easier here because it's completely flat and straight with no turns or anything. But instead of getting relief, things just got tougher.

I pushed really hard through the wind and every moment was a battle. I kept looking ahead to see where the turnaround was but I couldn't see it.

Mile 7: 7:51
Mile 8: 7:47


Miles 9-10

Now that I had a tailwind, I thought I would be back down in the 7:20's again. But no such luck. I had exerted so much effort battling the wind on the way out, that I just didn't have much left to give. I knew that a

Just before the finish

PR was at stake and if I could just stay at around 7:30 I would probably get it. I also knew I was hovering around 1:15/1:16 and really wanted to get under 1:16. I was highly motivated, but also highly exhausted. I was giving everything I had and I acknowledged that I was. There was absolutely no way I could have gone any faster during this part of the race.

The last mile had a hill right before the finish. It was long. In actuality it was probably about 0.2 miles but it seemed very long and I remembered this hill from having run the race previously. I pushed and pushed and pushed, until finally there was a slight downhill to the finish. After I crossed I felt like death and once again confirmed that I gave 100% on that course.

Mile 9: 7:39
Mile 10: 7:36
Last 0.07: (6:00 pace)

I found Greg (1:13:25) and some other teammates. I couldn't even talk for like three minutes after finishing. I was so winded. My lungs hurt. I was very glad I had raced, and very glad it was over!

Takeaways
My final time was 1:16:10, which is 18 seconds slower than my PR. So close!!! However, it was a lot

windier this year than it was when I ran my PR, so I am pretty confident that I would have PRed if it hadn't been windy.

My sports psychologist likes to look at PRs in context and would probably argue that this is my best 10-mile performance because of how well I did in spite of the wind. It probably cost me 20 seconds in both mile 7 & 8 (40 seconds) and then left me too exhausted to get back down to my initial pace for the remaining two miles. So while I can't claim an official PR, It feels like a PR to me and I'm very proud of how I raced this one.

Prior to this week's sleep-fest, I was targeting a 1:14:xx for this race, so somewhere around a 7:25 pace. In training, I had recently run a 6-mile tempo at a 7:26 pace and definitely felt like I could have kept that going for 4 more miles. I don't think I have lost fitness since then, but I was very worn out going into the race and I also had the wind to contend with. My official average pace of 7:37 is something I think I could do in a half marathon.

All in all, I am glad I went to the race this morning. I was pleasantly surprised at how I performed, given how tired I had been all week, and I have a lot of great takeaways:

• I got to run one of my favorite local races
• It was nice to see so many teammates-- both on the course and as spectators cheering
• I got to practice being mentally tough and pushing through windy conditions
• I got to practice being mentally tough by hanging on at the end, when I felt completely spent
• I enjoyed the scenic course
• It felt great to be running strong, after three consecutive "crappy" runs in a row
• My official time wasn't a PR, but I think I ran stronger today than when I got my PR
• If I don't qualify for the Boston Marathon when I run Chicago this fall, I will get to run Cherry Blossom again next year! What a great consolation prize!

Now for some RunPix!

I was the 103rd women, ages 30-34. There were 2189 in my age group behind me, 4% ahead.

I was the 387th women. There were 9897 women behind me, 4% ahead

I was ahead of 81% of the male runners.

What Next

Unfortunately, I think I aggravated a nagging ankle issue during this race. I have a pain about two inches above the outside of my left ankle. It only hurts when I run and isn't tender to the touch. Does anyone know what this is? It didn't affect my race, but when I was done, I really started to notice it in the finish line chute.

I'm not sure if this is a coincidence, but two weeks ago, I accidentally jammed the edge of my car door into my leg-- about 4 inches above the outside ankle. And now the area that's painful is somewhere between the gash mark on leg and the ankle bone. I'm not sure if the two are related, but it's not like I changed my gait or have been doing high-mileage training. I started to feel the pain when running about 9 days after the car door incident. 

This coming week, I plan to use the elliptical only and keep off the ankle. If it doesn't get better by the end of the week, I will see my sports chiropractor. I'm also traveling to San Francisco tomorrow so I won't be able to keep up this 9-hours-of-sleep per night thing. I will use this week to recover from any over-training and from a potential ankle injury and try to get back at it next weekend.  Nike Women's Half marathon is next on the schedule-- I want to make it to the start line healthy and ready to go!

The Perfect Race

I've always said that the 10-miler is my favorite race distance, even though I have only ever run one of them in my life. I feel like a half marathon is just a little too long to go my fastest and a 10K is too short to get the benefit of my endurance.  I ran the GW Parkway Classic 10 miler last April in 1:26, pace of 8:44.

Before the Race

I woke up on Sunday morning, pleasantly surprised that there was no rain for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. The forecast had called for rain all throughout the race, but it hadn't started yet. I dressed in my new zebra skirt, which I have never raced in, ate some pretzels and half a zone bar, and was ready to go.

My good friend Jenny (who I run most of my races with) had taken the train in from Philadelphia the night before and my good friend Lauren (who I ran the half marathon with last weekend) came over in the morning and we all took the metro it. It was nice not to have to worry about driving, or being stuck in a horrendous three-hour-long traffic jam like at the half marathon last weekend.


We arrived downtown where shuttle buses would take us to the start line. I was not happy to learn that they were school buses, because I have a hang-up with those from a bad childhood experience. Riding that school bus brought back some bad memories, so I tried not to think about it.

When we got off the bus, we walked about half a mile to the start line. I've lived in the Washington DC area my whole life, but I have never seen the cherry blossoms. As we were walking through the park area, I kept asking my friends "Are those the cherry blossoms?" Even my out-of-town friend knew which pink bulbs were cherry blossoms and which ones were not.

The race was very well organized. We were corralled by our bib numbers, and bib numbers were based on previous race times that we had to submit during registration. I think I had submitted my 5K time of 23:32, so I was at the very front of the second wave, bib 2039. I felt like I was surrounded by really fast runners and I didn't deserve to be so close to the front. But I also didn't want to be stuck at the back like in the half marathon from the previous weekend, having to pass a bunch of people in the beginning.


I was freezing at the start line, and I was upset that I had forgotten my running gloves. My fingers were numb and white, and I had to put them in my mouth (98 degrees!) to get feeling back into them. The temperature was announced at 51 degrees. It felt more like 45. It was overcast and there was no sun.

At the start line, I meet a woman who was 49 years old and had just run her first marathon in October-- The Marine Corps Marathon. She qualified for the Boston Marathon during her first marathon, and then shaved 16 minutes off of that time at the Shamrock Marathon two weekends ago. The weekend after the Shamrock Marathon, she ran the National Half Marathon, and now she was doing the 10-miler. . . followed by Boston in mid-April! I was amazed. 49 years old, she had just started running, and she was extremely fast. Her time for this race was 1:15:50.

She was also wearing a running skirt, by the same company who made mine. Hers was all black and she said she always raced in it because it made her feel confident and powerful.  I felt the same way in my zebra skirt and matching top.


Miles 1-3
I recently read a blog from my friend Christopher, who, like me, is usually very strategic about pacing himself. But in his most recent race, he really pushed the pace beyond what he thought was capable of, but he felt good and did it anyway. He told himself "don't think-- just run!"  While I believe that a race in mainly mental, I probably analyze my pace far too much during a race and I don't listen to my body as much as I could. So, I decided that I would try for an average pace of 8:20-8:25, starting at around 8:40 and decreasing to 8:00 by the end. My goal was to finish in 1:23.

My first mile was much faster than I expected. 8:10. After all, I was running with all the fast runners at the start of the second wave. But it felt good, so I just went with it. I planned to walk through the water stations later in the race anyway, so I figured maybe it was good that I started faster than planned.  As I got to the water stations, no one was really walking through them. Once again, this was because I was with the fast runners. I probably walked for about 3-4 seconds with my water, but that was all I felt I could do with everyone running so fast around me.  Mile 3 was my slowest mile (8:30 pace) because of a slight uphill and a water station.

The course was so beautiful. It was the POLAR opposite from the run-down neighborhoods in southeast DC from last weekend. We ran over bridges, near the water, and everything was in bloom. We passed monuments and I was so proud to call this place my home.

Mile 1: 8:10
Mile 2: 8:19
Mile 3: 8:30

Miles 4-6 
After a slow mile 3, I sped up for miles 4 and 5. I wanted to run negative splits, so I knew I needed to pick up the pace a bit, even though I was on track for meeting my goal.

My Personal Record for a 10K (6.2 miles) is a pace of 8:36. I set in it 2005 in the heat. When I came to the 10K marker of this race, I looked at my watch and I noticed that I was setting a 10K PR during a 10-mile race! There was even a timing matt, and I actually sprinted to the timing mat because I thought that the results would include it as a split. I think I hit the mat at excatly 51:00.

At this point, I could see the Elite women and super-fast men on the other side of the course. I was just amazed to look at their legs and see how fast they were going.  I was surprised by the lack of crowd support. There were 15,000 runners, so I expected the crowd support to be almost like that of the Marine Corps Marathon, but it was very minimal. There were no real crowds until the last half mile.

Mile 4: 8:02
Mile 5: 8:07
Mile 6: 8:06


Miles 7-10
These were the hardest miles. We were running the reverse route of the Marine Corps Marathon miles 6-8 on Rock Creek Parkway. During the MCM, we started on one side of the road, and turned around to be on the other side of the road. This was weird because it was reversed. There was a nice downhill at the end of mile 7 that I was thankful for.

I was getting tired and I was worried that I couldn't keep my pace up. I hit somewhat of a wall at mile 8 and I just had to tell myself that I needed to keep going. Slowing down would only prolong the race. I got into this weird zone where I just blocked everything out except for my music and just focused on keeping the pace steady.

At mile marker 9, I started to feel this indigestion pain in my chest and a slight cramp in my side. But I knew I had only one mile to go, so I tried really hard to ignore the pain and just push through. As I approached the finish line, there were tons of people cheering, and I sprinted the last tenth of a mile.

Mile 7: 8:16
Mile 8: 7:57
Mile 9: 8:04
Mile 10: 7:48

My splits were somewhat negative, but not as negative as they usually are. I was happy to pull of a 7:48 at the last mile, despite the pain in my stomach.

Results
I was truly, truly amazed at my time: 1:21:23 and a pace of 8:08. I set a new personal record by over 5 minutes- and this pace is much faster than my 10K pace, ironically!!!  I think it was the zebra skirt. I felt so awesome in that thing.

I placed 190 out of 1621 in my age group.
I placed 650 out of 5520 female runners.

Both of these put me in the 89th percentile, where I usually fall around the 85th percentile. This was one of my best races ever, if not the best. Especially considering I had run a hilly half marathon (+0.24) the weekend before.


What I Learned
I know that having a strategy is important. But if you don't push yourself outside of your comfort zone, then you won't know what you are truly capable of. If I had really tried for a 1:23 exactly, then that's what I would have gotten. But I surprised myself with a 1:21:23, and I couldn't be more pleased.

After the Race
I easily found Lauren and Jenny after the race. I was even more cold after the race than before it, and my lips were turning blue. The only bad thing about this race was the post-race food. I have never run a race where they didn't have bagels at the end. And fresh ones. All they had here at the end in terms of food were bananas (which I hate) and packaged muffins. The muffins were gross, but I had one anyway.  Even that Half Marathon last weekend had like 5 different kinds of fresh bagels.  Whatever. . . I guess I can't be too picky!  It's free! (Well, sort of).

We walked back to school-bus shuttles and stopped for some photos in front of the beautiful trees.

What a wonderful day. I was so happy that it didn't rain and that I got to spend time with my two good friends.