Late race report! \u00a0Last weekend, 4\/11\/10, was the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. \u00a0This was my third year running it and I was so excited to get a lottery spot in the race.<\/p>\n
Somehow, I managed to convince some friends from college to run the race as well. \u00a0It’s amazing how so many of us have become runners. \u00a0The joke is that we were so lazy in college that we would order pizza rather than walk to the dining hall (which couldn’t have been a full block walk). \u00a0Now we voluntarily go out and run ten miles.<\/p>\n
I was really hoping to finally make this the race where I finally break 1:50 for a ten mile race. \u00a0Yes. \u00a0I’m slow. \u00a0At the beginning of the year, this was a feasible goal, but after getting sick in March and getting thrown off my training schedule, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. \u00a0A PR was definitely a possibility though.<\/p>\n
The course itself is gorgeous. \u00a0It starts and finishes near the Washington Monument and, of course, passes tons of cherry trees. \u00a0It’s a relatively flat course, and it’s always a fun race. \u00a0It’s not a huge race, but it’s a good group of people. \u00a0The course is well-staffed, and there’s always someone offering beer somewhere along the course. \u00a0This year it was beer and Oreos. \u00a0Deeeelicious. Not that I ate any.<\/p>\n
I knew that I was the slowest of my group of friends and fully intended to finish last, which was okay by me. \u00a0I even figured I would be in the last corral. \u00a0But I was wrong! \u00a0My time from last year bumped me into the second to last corral. \u00a0A green bib at last! \u00a0I was so excited. \u00a0So we got to start together, and then promptly lost each other. \u00a0As I ran, I was checking my watch. \u00a0For the first few miles, I thought that maybe my 1:50 goal was in reach. \u00a0But as I settled into my pace, I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. \u00a0I was going to be close, but it wasn’t really doable. \u00a0That was solidified when I got stopped up at a water stop around mile 6. \u00a0I wasn’t even getting water, there was just an unusual collision of people and some girl slipped in front of me. \u00a0She was okay, but it was all a time delay.<\/p>\n
By the last mile, I just kept chanting in my head “One more mile, less than 12 minutes to go” (knowing that my pace was closer to an 11 minute mile at that point). \u00a0And I kept counting down. \u00a0Six minutes. \u00a0Five minutes. \u00a0Three minutes. \u00a0I can do anything for three minutes. \u00a0And then it was done.<\/p>\n
Final time? \u00a01:51:32. \u00a0Only 92 seconds over my goal. \u00a0And a new PR! \u00a0Averaged an 11:10 pace. \u00a0Last year it was an 11:17 pace, so I’m improving. \u00a0I’ve got two more ten milers this year (one in a week!) but I think the Cherry Blossom course is going to be where I finally hit that goal, thanks to the lack of hills. \u00a0Maybe next year!<\/p>\n
And now for the details that those of you thinking of running this race want to know. \u00a0Transportation to the race? \u00a0Easy. \u00a0Metro opens early. \u00a0Course amenities? \u00a0Water and Gatorade, pretty standard fare. \u00a0Post-race amenities? \u00a0Water, bananas, and muffins. \u00a0Again, pretty standard fare. \u00a0This year, they also offered the option to purchase a finisher’s medal (purchased when you register). \u00a0I didn’t purchase one, but I saw people wearing them and they were pretty. \u00a0The expo is small, but nice. \u00a0Good number of vendors and they do what they can to keep the lines moving. \u00a0It does get crowded picking up your number. \u00a0Not much swag involved in this race packet. \u00a0A t-shirt (that’s always horribly brightly colored) with the option of upgrading to a technical t-shirt. \u00a0Info about other races. \u00a0Nothing exciting.<\/p>\n
All in all, I’m happy with how this race turned out. \u00a0I was nervous, knowing how slow I am and how fast my friends are, but it seemed like everyone was happy to wait for the slow runners to finish. \u00a0And that’s always nice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Late race report! \u00a0Last weekend, 4\/11\/10, was the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. \u00a0This was my third year running it and I was so excited to get a lottery spot in the race. Somehow, I managed to convince some friends from college to run the race as well. \u00a0It’s amazing how so many of us have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[63,42],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n