I went into this race thinking that I could take it easy, enjoy myself, and I wouldn't worry too much about pace. Just run comfortably in the first half, and then just run faster in the second half, by feel. I did use my Garmin watch, but honestly didn't look at it much until the 10K mat, and then in the last couple of miles. I felt myself pushing it at the end, but I was never in "pain". I guess what I've heard for years is true: by taking it easy in the first half of a race, you can speed up and finish strong. Huh... pretty cool.
Another reason I wasn't worried about my pace was that my target race this spring is the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon in DC which is on April 28. I am hoping to pull off a big PR at this race, so this 10 miler was just a way to practice racing, and to test my fitness. The good news is that it was a great practice at a negative split, and I am feeling pretty fit!
I managed to achieve a 5 minute PR, and I felt great the whole time. I ran the first 5 miles in 44:30, and the last 5 miles in 42:46, for a total time of 1:27.16. My slowest mile was the first (9:16). It was very crowded at the beginning, and I was placed in the blue corral, which ended up being behind the 9:30 pace group. I didn't want to waste too much energy getting around people, so I just took my time to find a better pace. My fastest mile was the second to last one (8:09). The last mile had a little hill near the end, so the final mile ended up being 8:19. Pretty happy with that pace, considering I am hoping to run right around that pace for the half marathon in order to achieve the sub 1:50 time goal.
I found this race to be well organized, especially the expo. I was able to take the metro from my hotel to the expo, and I was in and out of there within just a few minutes. Great for such a big race. I did run into 2 other Oiselle team members while at the expo. They spotted my Oiselle Spike Bag and we stopped to chat for a moment and take a photo.
The morning of the race, after a restless night of sleep, I left my hotel at 6am after a quick "breakfast" of Picky Bar Cherry-Limeade Nuun, water and coffee. Breakfast of Champions, right?
I arrived at the start line of the race, which started near the Washington Monument, at approx. 6:40. There were plenty of porta potties, so I took care of that business first and then tried to stay warm until the race start. I had worn some old running clothes over my Oiselle singlet and roga shorts. I dumped the old clothes at the start. I also (wisely) wore my Oiselle arm warmers. The temp was 40 degrees, and the sun was just coming up. I passed the time before the start by listening to a great podcast from Another Mother Runner. Sarah and Dimity talked with Kara Goucher. This really helped pass the time, and it was totally motivating to hear Kara talk about preparing for the Boston Marathon! It was windy and chilly at the start. I received a nice good luck text from my best friend Michele as I was moving to the start. Thanks Michele! The race started on time (Love that!) and I crossed the start line around 7:39. There were water stops every 2 miles, but I opted to only stop for miles 4 and 6 (took Roctane Gu with 2 cups of water). In the interest of time, and the fact that I was feeling well, I skipped the other water stops. The course was great. Not boring, and the cherry blossoms were almost in full bloom. I was pretty focused on not tripping over anyone, or my own two feet, and had to remind myself to look around at the scenery. I remember some of the course because some of it is the same at the Army Ten Miler race which I did in October. There were many turns, which made it a bit difficult, but overall I really liked the mostly flat course.There was great fan support, and some along the course musicians. It was a bit windy, but nothing that I'm not used to here in central PA. At the finish line, I found that it could have been more organized with indicating where the food was. I was able to get water right at the finish, then I had to walk around for several minutes to find the food, which was bananas and muffins. I was hoping for a bagel, or maybe a protein drink, but no such luck. So, I headed towards the metro station to get back to the hotel for a warm shower and to get ready for the Oiselle Team brunch meetup.
After getting back to the hotel, I received a congratulatory text from my husband with my race time. He had checked the website for results, and he knew the "official" time before I did. That was nice. I had a nice shower, a good stretch and foam roll, packed up and headed to Open City Restaurant for brunch with some fellow Oiselle Team members. It took me a long time to find parking, which was super frustrating, but I finally made it there (after having to walk for over a mile) and it was great meeting Mollie, Stephanie V, Stephanie J, Jenna, Amanda S, Amanda P and Abby. I had a yummy egg white scramble with spinach and tomatoes, with toast, hashbrowns and a Cafe Latte. It was great chatting with the ladies, and we stopped outside after eating to take a photo in our pretty pink Oiselle t-shirts.
I made the long drive home, and was happy to be welcomed home with a delicious dinner prepared by my husband. It was a busy 24 plus hours, but I am happy that I was able to run this race. I'm planning on entering the lottery again next year, and hoping to run it, and PR again!
One more detail I loved about this race. Check out this great chart of my "stats" from the race. http://www.runpix.info/arace8/00/finord_one.php?id=8511&ev=chy13&dt=16 Can you believe I passed 782 people in the second half? And I beat the times of 54 % of the male runners? So cool.
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This is me, Abby and Stephanie at the Expo. .JPG) |
I'll be in DC for the first time in a month. I wish I could see those beautiful cherry blossoms. Congrats on the great finishing time! A 5 minute PR is big!
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