Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run - Run10 Mile

this was just over a 4 minute PR for me. that was a nice way to kick off the season. kept the first 7.5-8 miles of this race comfortably hard. I definitely felt like i was running within myself for the first 5 mile. the effort was a little more from 5-7 and then i tried to push it a little the last 2 miles. maybe on an all out effort this could have been a little faster, but i don't think by much

lap pace avg hr (lap)
1 07:56 168
2 07:40 180
3 07:33 178
4 07:13 179
5 07:25 182
6 07:25 184
7 07:34 182
8 07:35 183
9 07:24 185
10 07:17 188
11 06:33 192 (last .19 mile)


this wasn't a race that we really trained for. in fact, we kind of trained through it. training volume was 13 hours the week leading up to the race (not including race time) including a hilly 53 mile ride the day before. in the future, if i cared about my time, I should probably do a little tapering. again, not sure if it made much of a difference. i felt pretty good come race morning.

nothing. this is probably why i am still sore two days later.


training volume.


a few comments on the race:
1.) packet pick up in dc is a nightmare. it took us 4 hours to get in, get our packets and get out. pain in the butt. next year, if we do it again, we should ride our bikes in for packet pick up.
2.) they give you the option of upgrading your free cotton tee shirt to a techinically one for a (not insignificant) fee. we did this and when i got there (2 hours before the end) they had already run out of the size i ordered. the woman said they allowed size switching. this pissed me off. if you have everyone pick a size, and if you have to pay for a certain size, there should be no switching unless there are extra. i will never wear a medium shirt. they are like pajamas on me. i put my name down to be mailed the correct size. we'll see if it ever comes.
3.) the course is incredibly packed. too packed. we went off in the red wave which was the 1st or 2nd wave and we were jammed. 75% of the racers started after us. i cannot imagine what they had to fight through. my garmin read 10.16 which i completely believe was probably .16 miles of bobbing and weaving from one side of the road to the other to try to break through the mass. even at the end of the race around mile 9, it was still packed. ...and we, again, started in an early wave and worked our way up pretty well. water stations were difficult to get to because of the masses. they should have been on both sides of the road. we added 15 seconds to every mile we hit a station.
4.) 10 miles is a great distance. i really really like it. it's long enough that you have to be strategic, but short enough that you can push the pace a little. fun. this is also a great, fast, flat course.
5.) getting in on race day was no problem. we left our place at 6am and were off the metro at the race site by 6:45. nice.