Springtime in D.C.Race Report from the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run

Let's start off by stating the obvious. This wasn't a goal race for me. No sirree. Not after a brutal 13.1 a week prior where I got lost at mile six and still ran a respectable 1:24, not three weeks before my spring marathon, and especially not after I tripped and fell hard on broken pavement at mile 15 of a 22 mile long run two days prior. I really just wanted to go out and experience the course, having heard about it from friends and teammates over the years.

Here then are my mile splits and some of my quickie thoughts as I ran this race.

Mile 1 - 6:25
- Wow, what a gorgeous day to race. Too bad my legs feel so achy and tired.
- I'm right behind the elites in the 1B corral start. Why does it still take a quarter mile for some open leg room?
- There's so much conversation about Boston, you'd think we were running in Red Sox nation.

Mile 2 - 6:25
- My first mile split is pathetic. I must be more wiped out than I thought.
- I'm starting on the bridge across the Potomac River. The elites are already on the way back. Wow!
- I'm surrounded by so many people that are supposedly "taking it easy". Are we sure we're NOT running a marathon today.

Mile 3 - 6:26
- Someone taps me on shoulder and says Hi! It's my crazy fast friend who I met last month volunteering at the expo for the National Marathon. (He went on to run a 1:17 half marathon a day later!)
- Having a catch up conversation with another runner is not easy in the middle of a race. He is tapering for Boston while I'm learning to catch my breath while talking and running at the same time.
- I said my goodbye and wish him well on his race before watching him disappear right before my eyes.

Mile 4 - 6:51
- Running along the Potomac river, i see nothing but one cruise ship on the shimmering waters. Everything is so peaceful. Tranquility is the order of the morning.
- A woman falls on the opposite side of the divide and I start hyperventilating and taking smaller steps. I don't want to fall like that again.
- Great...one of my shoelaces is untied. I stop and lose 30 seconds to tie them back up.

Mile 5 - 6:40
- My legs are starting to tire but we still got 6 more miles to go. Will I make it?
- Maybe running races on back to back weekends is not so advisable.
- I'm looking for cherry blossoms but they are few and far between.

Mile 6 - 6:42
- The sun is up and I'm holding my own... finally
- I see crowds of people both starting and coming back on the Potomac River Bridge
- We're almost a 5K to go. Almost.

Mile 7 - 6:35
- There is so much green here. My pace for whatever reason seems more comfortable now.
- I'm still scanning for cherry blossoms and wishing I could just stop and take pictures.
- Can I even manage a 6:30 average pace for this race? Gosh. Must pick it up.

Mile 8 - 6:25
- With 5k to go, I start feeling good, like really really good. It was as if the first seven miles were just warmup for a 5k race.
- I start picking off a few people that I've been trailing behind for the whole time.
- It's sunnier now and I'm sweating. But nothing like the guy who's running this in a suit?!

Mile 9 - 6:24
- Despite the fatigue, I'm still throwing down the hammer and passing a few.
- Some people from the sideline are chanting my name. I blow kisses their way as I pass by. I have no idea who those people were.
- I'm heading back downtown now. Sadly, the cherry blossoms have mostly came and gone. Only the lush green leaves and trees remain.

Mile 10 - 6:15
- Over a small bridge and then a one mile interval to the finish
- I see a joggler running on the opposite side. The Washingotn monument is getting larger.
- The sideline coach is telling us we're 800m to the line. I start to sprint hard.
- At 400m to go, another pack of spectators shouts my name unexpectedly. I give a thumbs up as I continue my sprint. Soon, the finish line cames and I can stop.

"It was a great day for a ten mile DC run!" A Flyer friend told me after the fact. I couldn't agree more!

Final Statistics
Official time - 1:05:12 (6:31 Avg Pace)
Men's Place - 316/6901 (4.6%)
Age Group Place - 75/1408 (5.3%)

Feedback on Speed

After a brief and much needed mini-vacation to our nation’s capital for the much anticipated Cherry Blossom Festival and 10 Mile Run, I’m finally back home, ready to attend to some blog business. Although we arrived a bit late for the cherry blossoms this year and my race performance left a bit to be desired (I’ll post a race recap in the next day or two), I had a truly wonderful time in D.C. enjoying the company of great friends, visiting many national landmarks, absorbing the running vibes from thousands of runners and basking in the glorious sunshine and the beautiful spring weather.

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback on my last post! I never imagined that an innocent question about developing race speed confidence would garner such a wide range of responses ranging from running a local 5K just for the experience of “winning” to just believing and trusting my speed to a sense that I’m just too damn slow to win anything so why bother. Interesting.

While I know most of you have followed me long enough to know that my victory isn’t really measured against others, but against me and my former self, some others still have a sense that I am all about winning awards, and accolades and recognition that I’m a great and fast runner. In actuality though, nothing could be further from the truth. I run because I have a passion to do so. I train because I enjoy the journey. I set goals because they give my running a sense of direction. I am keenly aware that I am NOT an elite, or a professional or even a fast runner. Every time I line up at a NYRR race, I am more than aware just how slow I really am. However, the point that I think some fail to realize though is that I’m perfectly okay with that. I am making progress and getting faster a little bit at a time and as long as I can still attain PRs every so often, I really could care less that I’m considered slow in the eyes of many. Along the same lines, if I fail to grab sub-3 in NJM in a few weeks because I wasn’t able to run a half-marathon time below a certain threshold or train above a certain number of miles per week, I’m okay with that too! Just because race day went bad, that doesn’t mean the training was crap or that I could’ve necessarily done anything differently. Sometimes, it’s just not your day for a breakthrough race.

My point in my previous post is that if my speed for a given day for a given race, for whatever reason, was good enough to be in contention for an age group award (like it was during my 13.1), I hope that I can rise to the occasion and be confident in my racing abilities (instead of copping out, losing speed, and expecting that someone from behind to catch up and outrun me). Now I am not saying that this will occur again with any sort of frequency whether I’m running 6:00 miles or 6:25 miles, I’m just saying that I want to be prepared if the situation should ever arise again. (Don’t worry though, I won’t be actively looking for small out-of-town 5ks to slaughter just to fulfill the requirement. That’s never been my style!)

I do take all of your hearty suggestions under advisement, but please understand that I must train according to what works for me. So excuse me if my body isn’t up for pounding out heavy fast miles around a cinder block track multiple times. I rather listen to my body and avoid injuries at all cost. And if I’m still getting faster and progressing every race (even if I’m slow to begin with) than there’s obviously some method to the madness and it really shouldn’t concern anyone else but me as to how I’m doing it. No?

MIA: Race Speed Confidence

In the aftermath of Saturday's race, I've been thinking quite a lot about speed - speed as it relates to racing, speed as it relates to me, and speed as it relates to everybody else. One thing I took away from my performance that day is that I'm completely uncomfortable taking the lead in a race situation. What I mean by that is when I overtook the leader of our mini-pack at mile 5, I remember peeking back a few times within the first quarter mile to see whether he was going to take back his lead. (So maybe getting lost by mile 6 was bound to happen anyway!) Similarly, when I was running by myself, alone on an island, in the last 3-4 miles of the race, I couldn't help myself from peeking every so often to see if someone was coming to chase me down. The easy excuse is that I've never found myself in a similar situation before and so could not have been expected to know how I was supposed to act. But if I were to be honest with myself, I've watched enough telecasts of races to know that checking your backside as often as I did is not appropriate race strategy (if it was, they'd find some way to incorporate a rearview mirror to your running attire!) Yet, I couldn't help myself from doing that mid-race because I was so nervous and awkward to be where I was - alone and in the top ten, for at least a portion of the race. For once, I was more "the hunted" than "the hunter" which isn't quite as easy a role reversal to play as I'd imagine it'd be. I was unsure of my place (do I belong with the top dogs?), my pace (am I running too fast or too slow?), my time (can I get a PR? Can I come close?) and my threshold for pain. Most of all though, I lacked confidence in my own speed.

Looking back into my archived past, it's a bit ironic that I've blogged about my thoughts on speed during early April in each of the past two years. While I've always iterated that speed is extremely personal and interpretative and relative, I've never yet regarded myself as the speedy one. Maybe it's because I've never been considered an athlete growing up or maybe it's because I've yet to win an award of any significance, but my mind just lacks confidence whenever I'm asked to talk about or showcase my speed. It's almost like I don't take myself seriously enough when similarly fast people are around. It's a bit sad that I give myself every reason to FAIL before the race even begins. No wonder I grabbed 4th AG and missed out on an award...I never even truly believed I could win!

Based on what transpired Saturday, I've been having long serious discussions with myself to convince me that I'm a good runner. I seriously can't believe that I use to badger the cyclists and race the kids up hills just because I could. Now, just a couple years later, despite being slightly faster overall, I am for some reason afraid to close the deal on a race that I'm already leading in. I think it's ridiculous and a minor travesty. I have to get this aspect of my mental game in order before NJM.

Any advice, suggestions, and insights you might have, please throw them my way. If you can find me a cure, I'd be your indentured servant forever...if only they allow that sort of thing. Would you settle for my eternal gratitude instead?

Have a great rest of the week, everyone. Cherry Blossom 10 Miler for me in D.C. this weekend. It should be fun. Details to come.