Cherry Blossom 10-miler
I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in 65:29 this morning. I was shooting for 65 minutes, so I'm a little bummed I didn't make it, but still generally happy with my performance. I've never run a race this short before, so I have nothing to compare it with. My personal bests are a 1:30 half-marathon and two 3:00 marathons (one just over, one just under three weeks ago) .
Clearly you're supposed to be able to run shorter distances at a faster pace, but I don't really know what I can expect of my body in that regard, because I haven't tried very often. I figured that after the 2:59 marathon (6:52 pace) three weeks ago, I'd be recovered and able to go a little faster, and 6:30 pace seemed like a nice round number to shoot for. 90-95 percent of that is probably just the shorter distance, only 5 percent actually getting faster in the last three weeks. I was beat from the marathon for a solid week, and George really does not enjoy doing sub-6 miles on leash, so I didn't do much speed work, and since I rely so heavily on GPS, it's really easy to just do mile repeats to tell how fast I'm going. Obviously I need to get my butt out of bed and go to Dojo runs more often if I want real leg speed.
Finally, the race itself. I was easily able to get into the lead corral, even though my bib was for further back. There was a pace group for 6:30, but I don't think they were carrying signs during the race (just beforehand in the corral?) and the guy kept scooting forward in the corral, so I lost him, and never saw them during the race. I was close enough to the front that it wasn't too crowded. I did a 6:20 first mile, but then had to pee around mile 1.5, which cost 20 seconds. Annoying how in a race this short 20 seconds actually matters. Thankfully I'd at least done the major business at home before biking to the start. Thanks to Two Wheel Valet and WABA--the bike valet was very well run.
After the bathroom break, I basically ran close to even splits and told myself to think positive and just hang on. "I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful." There were some potholes, the cherry blossoms on Hains Point were fantastic, the crowd was good, aid stations well organized, a little bit of entertainment stations (drummers were the best, thank you volunteers). Miles 6-8 were hard. I pulled out my iPod for the last two, which maybe helped a tiny bit, but I was worked and Peter, Paul, and Mary are a little too chill for when I've already been cranked to 11 for 45 minutes (with the possible exception of If I Had a Hammer). I managed to run miles 9 and 10 a little under pace, but not enough to make up the gap, and I finished in 65:29.
Did I give it my all? I don't know. Maybe. I did feel in the last half mile that if I tripped I'd have a hard time getting up, and I felt worked after crossing the finish line, but 10 miles is so short. It feels weird to be so non-hurt just a few hours later. I suppose I'm typically fine shortly after ultras too, but I usually don't think I've gone as hard as I could have there either.
One minor complaint: the drop bag situation was poorly organized. Not to rag on volunteers, but someone over the volunteers needs to arrange drop bag trucks alphabetically, not by expected-finish-time-based bib numbers so that flow is uniformly spread over all trucks, organize the queues to the trucks, and train volunteers on the most efficient way to organize and return multiple bags per trip into the truck.
This was my second race in the absurdly expensive Nike Vaporfly 4% shoes. I love how light they are. I love the cushion. I do not love their complete lack of lateral stability. I rolled my ankle lightly two or three times just wandering around the grass of the mall pre-start and post-finish. I've got good ankles so this isn't a big deal, but seriously, they feel like a very narrow, very high platform with no stability, and they make me nervous doing anything other than running in a perfectly straight line on perfect pavement.
Very fun race overall. Not that expensive, and so close to my house. Straight shot down the 15th St bike lane. I'll definitely do it again next year.
Clearly you're supposed to be able to run shorter distances at a faster pace, but I don't really know what I can expect of my body in that regard, because I haven't tried very often. I figured that after the 2:59 marathon (6:52 pace) three weeks ago, I'd be recovered and able to go a little faster, and 6:30 pace seemed like a nice round number to shoot for. 90-95 percent of that is probably just the shorter distance, only 5 percent actually getting faster in the last three weeks. I was beat from the marathon for a solid week, and George really does not enjoy doing sub-6 miles on leash, so I didn't do much speed work, and since I rely so heavily on GPS, it's really easy to just do mile repeats to tell how fast I'm going. Obviously I need to get my butt out of bed and go to Dojo runs more often if I want real leg speed.
Finally, the race itself. I was easily able to get into the lead corral, even though my bib was for further back. There was a pace group for 6:30, but I don't think they were carrying signs during the race (just beforehand in the corral?) and the guy kept scooting forward in the corral, so I lost him, and never saw them during the race. I was close enough to the front that it wasn't too crowded. I did a 6:20 first mile, but then had to pee around mile 1.5, which cost 20 seconds. Annoying how in a race this short 20 seconds actually matters. Thankfully I'd at least done the major business at home before biking to the start. Thanks to Two Wheel Valet and WABA--the bike valet was very well run.
After the bathroom break, I basically ran close to even splits and told myself to think positive and just hang on. "I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful." There were some potholes, the cherry blossoms on Hains Point were fantastic, the crowd was good, aid stations well organized, a little bit of entertainment stations (drummers were the best, thank you volunteers). Miles 6-8 were hard. I pulled out my iPod for the last two, which maybe helped a tiny bit, but I was worked and Peter, Paul, and Mary are a little too chill for when I've already been cranked to 11 for 45 minutes (with the possible exception of If I Had a Hammer). I managed to run miles 9 and 10 a little under pace, but not enough to make up the gap, and I finished in 65:29.
Did I give it my all? I don't know. Maybe. I did feel in the last half mile that if I tripped I'd have a hard time getting up, and I felt worked after crossing the finish line, but 10 miles is so short. It feels weird to be so non-hurt just a few hours later. I suppose I'm typically fine shortly after ultras too, but I usually don't think I've gone as hard as I could have there either.
One minor complaint: the drop bag situation was poorly organized. Not to rag on volunteers, but someone over the volunteers needs to arrange drop bag trucks alphabetically, not by expected-finish-time-based bib numbers so that flow is uniformly spread over all trucks, organize the queues to the trucks, and train volunteers on the most efficient way to organize and return multiple bags per trip into the truck.
This was my second race in the absurdly expensive Nike Vaporfly 4% shoes. I love how light they are. I love the cushion. I do not love their complete lack of lateral stability. I rolled my ankle lightly two or three times just wandering around the grass of the mall pre-start and post-finish. I've got good ankles so this isn't a big deal, but seriously, they feel like a very narrow, very high platform with no stability, and they make me nervous doing anything other than running in a perfectly straight line on perfect pavement.
Very fun race overall. Not that expensive, and so close to my house. Straight shot down the 15th St bike lane. I'll definitely do it again next year.
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