Cherry Blossom 10 Mile: Race Recap

I got up at 6, ate breakfast and headed down to the race start, which was about one mile from my hotel. I was going to wear shorts, but it was about 45 degrees and a little windy outside, so at the last minute I opted for pants. I wore my iFitness belt, which has a bib holder, and my Chica Band in Zebra. I felt like I was heading for a safari.

Like I said before, the race started out packed inside a corral with thousands of other people. I was lucky to be in the RED wave, which was the second wave to go after the elites. This still didn't keep me from avoiding spending what I thought would be my first mile passing people, passing people*...wondering when the crowd will thin out and I could get an even pace going.  It turned out to be never. There were a few people that I kept pace with the entire time; one guy in particular who had Vibrams and a Philadelphia Marathon shirt on (thanks guy!)

Race Start

The course was nice and flat, but it was very windy, which made it harder. I decided to not carry water this time, as I thought that there would be plenty of water stops. What I didn't calculate in was the fact that there would also be thousands of people vying for the same tiny cup of water. I ended up skipping the first one and barely getting a drink at the second one. Note to self: Carry water. Every time. Even if it means carrying it but not drinking it.

10 Mile Race Course

As you can see from the map, the race started and ended at the Washington Monument, and then looped around to the Lincoln before going across the Memorial Bridge. The entire time I was running on the median, trying to pass people. On the bridge there was a concrete sidewalk, but up until then it was grass. I didn't care. I was trying to find my pace.

The rest of the race, I have to admit, was kind of a blur. I remember the shirts of the people near me. Like I said, the Philadelphia guy was near me most of the time. There were also a couple of DC RnR Marathon shirts. I guess I didn't really look around me very much becuase I don't even remember passing the Lincoln memorial, and I passed it twice!

At mile 9 an older gentleman went down hard! Everyone was calling for a medic, waving their arms at passing cars and yelling at onlookers to call 911. It was quite the fiasco. I hope that guy was okay. It was really scary. It made me cry a little to think of a) something scary like that happening to anyone and b) the overwhelming support. Everyone was doing what they could, race times be damned. It was very heartwarming.

After making sure that situation was taken care of, we only had one mile left. It went really fast, since most of the spectators were concentrated near the start/finish line and were cheering for us as we went UPHILL to the finish. I swear, this course was not very hilly at all, but the biggest hill was in the last half mile.

I crossed the finish line feeling good. I probably could have run a little faster, but finding my pace was pretty much impossible. I felt like I was bobbing and weaving the entire time. Afterward, I got the obligatory "I finished" photo (the guy cut off the top of the WA monument though!), grabbed a couple of bottles of water, a banana and a muffin (the only options) and went back to my hotel for a hot shower. I was still pretty cold and walking the mile back to my hotel did little to warm me up.

I have no legs

The funniest part is that I was telling my boyfriend how glad I was that I never had to pee during the race and he said that I could just pee on the grass if I needed to (jokingly, of course). BUT NO. You can't! It says so right in the rules. (click to zoom)

It says, "Please use only the 200 porta-potties to "relieve yourselves" before and after the race. Please do not even think of fouling the Washington Monument Grounds or the National Mall. Violations of this common-sense rule will jeopardize use of the course in the future as well." 

Hey, it doesn't say anything about not peeing on the grass DURING the race.

Here are the numbers. Funny enough, mile 1 was the slowest. Usually it's my fastest mile. Mile 10 was the fastest, which is often the case. I am like a horse to the stables. Plus, I really run it out for the last tenth or twentieth of a mile. 

Mile 1: 7:55
Mile 2: 7:31
Mile 3: 7:28
Mile 4: 7:26
Mile 5: 7:40
Mile 6: 7:30
Mile 7: 7:39
Mile 8: 7:39
Mile 9: 7:31
Mile 10: 7:06

*My Garmin actually measured the course as a little long (10.13 miles). This may or may not have been due to the fact that I went up on the median (grass) quite a few times in the beginning in order to attempt to pass people.

Time: 1:16:13 (a new PR!)
Average: 7:38 pace
Women: 503/9699
Age Group: 113/2220
Overall: Unknown

Don't forget to go over to Jill's to check out the other Fitness Friday posts! 

Have you ever peed in a public place?  Have you ever had to call 911?

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Cherry Blossom: Pros and Cons

Yesterday I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race in Washington DC. I have been lucky enough to have been to DC several times before, so I did not feel pressured to go and see all the sights or stand in really long lines to get into the museums (the line for the Natural History was all the way down the block!) I had a great (leisurely)  day on Saturday wandering around, meeting up with these girls, checking out the "new to me" MLK Memorial and trying to find a few cherry blossoms. There were a few, but you could tell that the early warm weather and subsequent rain kind of ruined the timing for most of them. That didn't stop me from taking a bazillion photos, but that deserves a post of it's own.

PROS:

- The expo. I was in and out in 10 minutes. Everything was well signed; the volunteers were directing you to your next stop; there were plenty of bathrooms. Plus it was in the National Building Museum, which is a gorgeous old building. I didn't really check out the booths since there were so many people, but there were a ton of options!

- The commute. I got a hotel about a mile from the start line and it was SO NICE to leave only 15 minutes before I wanted to get there. Usually racing involves some kind of commute, but this one was a nice short one! It was so convenient! Even if you did not stay in the city, the metro is very handy. This is a definite plus!

The weather. It was not too hot. On the other hand, I was going to wear shorts, but opted for pants at the last minute because I am a wimp and I would rather be warm during the race than stand around freezing beforehand. It was probably about 45 - 50 degrees during the race.

- Port-a-potties. There must have been a couple hundred of those bad boys. Plus they had them along the course every couple of miles. However, this didn't stop the lines at the start from looking like this. I waited in line for 30 minutes even though I didn't even have to go when I got in line!

- The wave start. There were 6 (I think) different waves, which made for a much less confusing start. I was in the Red. Wave. Haha. The race began at 7:30 but the red wave didn't start until 7:33. The only thing about that is that the elite runners started at 7:20 and that is when they started the clock, so every time I got to a mile marker, the clock scared me a little bit. For example, at the first mile, the clock said 21 minutes or something like that. Ouch.

- The location. The race started and ended at the Washington Monument. You couldn't ask for a nicer place to run. Much of the course was along either the tidal basin or the Potomac, which meant running near water a lot of the time.

- Meeting up with the girls (mentioned above). It was so nice to finally put faces to the names. We did not get any photos. I am so bad at that.

- The bibs. They had our names on them! This is the first time I have ever had one with my name on it. It made me feel special, like I was an elite runner or something. I liked it.

- Water stops. There were a lot of them and they were nice and long. However, with all the people, I missed the first one because I was all the way over to the left and it was on the right. I noticed later there was a sign before each stop, but it didn't say which side the stop was going to be on and they did change sides.

- The website was very easy to navigate, was packed full of information and you could even watch the race on live streaming video if you wanted.

CONS:

- The crowd. There must have been 20,000 people. I really don't know how many there really were, but there were A LOT. Usually everyone spends the first mile or so finding their pace, passing a few people, getting passed by a few people...this happened for the entire 10 miles. There was never a time when I had a little bubble of space around me. It was very claustrophobic and I had a hard time maintaining a pace when I was constantly having to pass people.

- Speaking of passing people, and this is not the race management's fault, but what is up with people who get into a corral that is faster than their pace? It really irks me. This race was done on a wave start. I think my wave was 8 - 9 minute mile pace, yet clearly some of the people who I was passing at the beginning were slower than a 9 minute mile. Do people feel like they have to prove something? Like they are wimpy if they get in the correct corral? Because that is not the case! It's just that it's hard enough having to pass people that are going 2 seconds per mile slower than you; it's nearly impossible when they are going a whole minute slower. Get in the correct corral please.

- The "goodies" after the race consisted of water, Gatorade, bananas and muffins. That's it. Really, people? You can't get some better treats than that? I know that most of our race entry fees probably went to the street closures and security and stuff like that, but I expected a better spread.

- In fact, to top the above cop out, you also had to pay extra for a medal and/or a technical tee-shirt.

- The corrals (ie the wave start) were packed! I don't know how you were supposed to get into them either; I couldn't find a doorway. I ended up squeezing through the bars of the metal barrier in order to get in. And then I stood there, back to front with all my fellow runners. I guess I should have showered beforehand. 

- Not meeting up with Jill. She didn't have her phone with her and we set up a meeting spot for before the race but I didn't realize that there were going to be a million other people on the same corner, so we missed each other. Blogger meetup: fail.

Verdict? I probably will not do this race again. I bet that if you want to run in DC, there are a ton of other races which probably have just as nice of a course, but less people. It was a fun race on a nice course in a beautiful city, but I prefer smaller, more personal races. Besides, there are so many other places I need to see!

Now, an important question. On my 50 states list, where does this fall? Do I need a "50 states and a District" list? 

Have you ever been to DC? Have you ever been to a Cherry Blossom festival? Have you ever gotten a bib with your name on it?

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Race You to The Finish!

Have you ever signed up for a race via lottery? What about a race that was not close to where you lived? I have done it twice. The first one was the NYC Half Marathon. I had just completed my first half marathon and when my friend said he was going to put his name in the lottery, I thought why the heck not. So I did. This was in April. The race was in August. I got in. The next several months consisted of a steady decline in training, culminating in a 90 degree, 2 hour and 14 minute, painful race. The view was spectacular. I think that is the only thing that got me through. 

I should have learned my lesson. 5 months ahead of time is a little bit too far in the future for me, planning wise. Even though I am a planner. But I didn't learn. In December, I put my name in the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 mile race, which is in Washington DC. In April. I got in. In case you were wondering, I live in California.

So, now the race is about a week away. I contemplated saying, "forget about it" and staying home, but it just so happened that I had a couple extra flight miles, so I used them to get myself a ticket to DC, where I will run the race. I am  also hoping to meet up with some blogger friends for lunch, play tourist, look at the pretty flowers, see some family and to go back to a couple of the Smithsonian Museums that I haven't been to in a few years. All I can say is that there better be some cherry blossoms there or I am going to be really mad.

In the meantime, I decided to keep up my fitness by doing a few smaller and virtual races. In case you need a little motivation, some of these are a great way to get it, without having to pay for a race, travel or even leave your neighborhood! Click on the thumbnails to go to the sites and sign up!

March 10: 10k -- time: 47:28

March 20: 10k -- time: 54:47 / 8:50/mi (goes until March 25th)

10k -- March 19 - 30

5k -- March 24

5k/ 10k/ Half Marathon -- April 1 - 8

Have you ever been to Washington DC? Have you ever signed up for a race but not ran it or not trained enough? Are you signed up for any of the above virtual races?

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