Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

Finally! Gorgeous weather for a race. After slogging through a marathon in 45 degrees and constant rain, it was great fun to race in bright sun and 55 degrees.

This is the first time I've done the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, although it is viewed as a traditional "right of Spring" for local runners. I now see why. It was huge (13,000 finishers), well-organized, and featured a great course through the monuments and out Hains Point. Along with the good weather, the cherry blossoms were at their peak, making Hains Point especially beautiful.

JeanBean and I parked the car in Clarendon and took the crowded Metro to the Smithsonian stop. It was a short walk to the start at the base of the Washington Monument. We arrived early enough to wait through the porta-john lines and get to the start with plenty of time to spare (unlike our past experiences of being in the porta-john when the gun went off).

I started in the red wave, right behind the yellow wave of the elites. Each wave started 3 minutes apart. Being at the front portion of the red wave was the perfect place. Despite there being 12,000 runners, I never felt cramped, nor did I have to clip my stride or run laterally to pass people. But we did start faster than I had wanted, mostly because of adrenaline and a slight downhill in the first mile. I ended up doing the first mile in 7:15 instead of my goal pace of 7:45 to 7:50. (My overall goal was to come in under 80 minutes). Oh well - I felt great.

During the next few miles I consciously tried to throttle back, but my pace didn't slow that much: 7:21, 7:19: 7:10. I just kept reeling off the sub-7:30 miles, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. It never did. I consciously held back until I hit the eastern end of Hains Point (about mile 7:75) and then started to speed up. I did miles 8 and 9 in 7:08 and the final mile in 6:54. I finished in 1:12 and change (72 minutes), beating my goal by almost 8 minutes. I also accomplished my other goal of running negative splits, a goal I set for myself because I typically go out too fast. I am pretty happy about the race, both in terms of pacing and the result.

JeanBean had a great race too, beating her goal of 80 minutes for a sub-8:00 mile average. Strong!