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Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run

Another PR! I better stop getting used to this. I know damn well it’s only going to get harder. I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run in Washington, DC yesterday morning and really just crushed it. Everything came together, and even though I didn’t run a perfect race, I still shaved nearly four minutes off my prior best 10 miles and ended up with an official time of 1:04:46 (yes, that’s really sub-6:29/mile!). But OK, I’ll stop patting myself on the back for a few minutes and write about the actual race. Full results are here.

All week, the forecast for Saturday night and Sunday was cold and rainy. I went to bed Saturday night dreaming about slogging along in the wetness. When I woke up Sunday morning I was very relieved to see that it hadn’t rain, wasn’t raining then and actually didn’t really even feel like rain. And, to make it even better, it was chilly out, but definitely not “cold”. I had also been worried about having sore legs from Saturday’s ride, but I woke up feeling great – no unusual soreness or tightness. The day was starting on a good note. I got to the Metro and a train came fairly quickly. I sat next to a guy wearing a JFK 50 miler T-shirt so I started talking with him about ultras and it turned out that in addition to some 100’s, 50’s and 48 marathons, he was a triathlete, too. Andy and I talked the during the train ride and then on the shuttle to the race site. From there, we jogged over to the packet-pick up and split up. Looking at him, watching him jog and hearing that his bib number was in the 300’s (nominally, the lower the number, the faster the runner – my number was 1757, still pretty low out of 10,000+), I figured that was the last I was going to see of Andy.

After I got my number, I met up with Matt and we walked around until it was time to line up. My number got me into the third corral and I moved pretty close to the front of the corral. The gun sounded and we were off. It took me about 20 seconds to get to the start, but it was less crowded than I’d feared. It only took me a couple hundred feet before I was running at a good pace with comfortable space. I was moving right along when I noticed that I was passing by my “friend” Andy. I was surprised about that one, but thought that maybe his body was built for distance instead of speed. Coming onto the first turn, we could see the elite men who had just made that same turn. As they sped off, you could see just how fast they were moving. It was pretty cool to see them slipping quickly away from all of us.

I was moving fast and felt like it. My breathing was a little more labored than I would have liked. We got to the first mile-marker and I looked at my watch: 6:11. Oops. That was way too fast. Coming into the race, my goal was 70 minutes – 7:00 miles. A little off my PR, but still pretty fast. I didn’t think I could keep 6:11 for a 10K, let alone 10 miles. So I slowed it down, but I was feeling good and revised my goal from 70 minutes to more like 67 or 68. For the next four miles I was just crusing. I was sort of running with a small group of people, but it felt like everyone was a little “off” and no one (including me) was maintaining a steady pace – I would pass people, they would pass me and so on. I knew that steady would be better, but I couldn’t find it there.

I suffered through miles 6 and 7. At no point was I worried about a “blow up” and I knew that I would make it, but I was certainly beginning to regret those first few fast miles. I was feeling my footsteps and concentrating on people passing me. On the other hand, I did hit the 10K mark in less than 40 minutes, which is my best 10K to date. Somewhere around there, I noticed Andy go flying by. So much for that distance-runner-not-speed-runner theory… he had just been warming up. By the time I got to mile 8, I could tell that I was in the home stretch. And I could tell that it was essentially a straight shot home. I could also see that I was going to get 1:06 easily and, as long as I kept it up, I could probably hit 1:05. By the time I hit the 9 mile marker, I wasn’t thinking anymore about suffering or heavy legs or the people around me. All I could see was 1:05. I was in the zone.

At about 9.75, I passed Marc and he shouted out to me. Closer. I was burning up inside. Closer. I couldn’t see anything except the finish line. There! My watch said 1:04:48. I did it! With 12 seconds to spare. (The official time was even more generous, giving me an extra two seconds.)

After the race, I had a nice brunch with a bunch of my friends in DC – including Matt and Krista, who both did the race.

I was thinking (again) about my fitness and the racing and starting thinking about why I’m having this relative success recently. Sure, my fitness level is at an all time high, but there’s more to it than that. Over the last year, and even more so during just the past few months, I’ve learned two important things – first, I’ve become much better at racing and second (and related), I’ve become much more confident about racing. Those two skills are very closely tied with racing success. Fitness will take you pretty far and you can get great times, but the skills of racing are tougher to come by. The one I’ve struggled with the most is the strong start. I’ve normally been a strong finisher, but I keep it cool at the start and probably don’t put enough of myself out there until it’s too late to make up that “lost” time. I’m learning not to worry so much about later in the race and I know that I can go out faster and will survive – I might blow up a little bit, but I’m not going to completely fall apart in 10 miles. I’ve done enough running races over 8-10 miles and run that distance on my own enough that it’s mentally easy. I know that the Ironman and even the Half will be a different story – and a blow up at the Ironman is an entirely different story and much greater risk than during a 10 mile road race. I’m not “used to” those distances and certainly won’t be anywhere near as confident. But hopefully, I can use my running confidence to help me in those triathlons. I won’t need to hold back as much in the swim or bike or even the beginning of the run, because I’ll know that I can get through the race.

Today is a scheduled off day and this week is a recovery week. Both came at a perfect time.

Run – April 1
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:04:46 (PR!)
Average heart rate: 163
Course: Cherry Blossom 10 mile – Washington, DC
Conditions: Excellent racing weather – low 50’s, overcast, dry, no wind

Splits:
Mile 1 – 6:11 (flying!)
2 – 6:20 (reined it in)
3 – 6:26 (still a little fast, but comfortable)
4 – 6:23
5 – 6:28
6 – 6:37 (legs feeling heavy…)
7 – 6:45 (suffering!)
8 – 6:35
9 – 6:37
10 – 6:22 (saw sub-1:05 and made it happen)

Place:
Overall: 269/10,707 (top 2.5%)
All men: 234/5,205 (top 4.5%)
Age group: 59/902 (top 6.5%)