Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Recap

 (Image from http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/)

I had heard really great things about the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler - about the beautiful blossoms and the scenic, flat course along the tidal basin. Though I lived in DC for two years and had partaken of festival time, I was deterred from signing up because the race system used to be first come, first register. I heard nightmare stories about the website crashing from the large volume of traffic and registration closing out within 2 hours of opening! But, by the time I registered last year, they switched to a lottery system and lo and behold, on my first attempt, I got a spot into the race!

The race began at 7:30 am and it was a cool 50 degrees. I was pretty nervous because it was my first race since I began training again this year, but I succeeded in not taking things too seriously.  My race photos tell the story:

   

Here I am, it looks like I'm barely running. At this point, I told myself to run easy, so I think I was going at a 9 min mile pace. I wasn't breathing hard ... and it looks like my feet are barely moving, haha.  Also - despite race organizer predictions, the cherry blossoms were not in peak bloom.  That was a bit disappointing.

Midway, I started to pick it up. Sometimes in a race, I like to play a game where I target someone ahead of me and at minimum, tell myself not to let them out of my sight. If I can catch them, bonus points for me. There was an Asian man I followed for quite some time until he dropped me (completely without his knowledge, haha, he probably doesn't even know he was pacing me that day).

One thing I really enjoy about half marathons and shorter distance races is that just as you feel the pinch of exhaustion or that nagging, uncomfortable feeling that comes from racing hard, the race is over! And that's totally what happened here. I think mile 8 is where I began to feel the lactic acids collecting in my legs. We were coming up along Potomac Park and the edge of the water and it was so beautiful! There was a breeze from the river and the sun provided some warmth without being hot. It occurred to me that, had I not been racing, I would have enjoyed the scene. But I gritted my teeth and kept running!  Despite fatigue settling in and my disgruntled muscles, I had just enough energy to push it through with a sprint in the final 400 meters. 

 See all those red bibs? Those are people in the corral ahead of mine. Booyah!

I've never raced a 10 miler before, so technically, anything would have been a PR, I guess. But I compared this race to my previous half marathons and it was definitely a PR for pacing.

Stats:

Time:	1:21:17
Pace:	8:07.6
5 mile split:	41:05:00
10k split:	50:46:00
Overall place:	3204 / 14292
Division (F25-29) Place:	311 / 2497
Gender Place:	937 / 9348

I guess that's not too bad for just getting back into swing of things. :P  Overall, I'd recommend this race. It's really flat, scenic, and just lovely. The only downside is that there are a ton of people who run it, so you might be elbow to elbow with a stranger. I didn't find it to be too problematic, but I know a fellow running buddy found it annoying. Oh and last thing - registration fees are super cheap - at $40. Definitely on the lower side of races, but this does translate to a race with less frills and post-race snacks, which was fine by me!

In front of the Washington Monument (under construction)