Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

Time: 53:36
Distance: 10 miles
Pace: 5:19
Map

Want to know how not to run a big 10 mile race? Don't run a half marathon the day before, drive 8 hours, sleep 6 hours, and run the opening mile in 5 minutes. Despite all those factors, I was still thinking I could run a respectable time somewhere in the 52:30 range or 5:15s.

Here's how the splits summed up my race:
5:02, 5:15, 5:05, 5:15, 5:18, 5:25, 5:34, :14 (to get back on the course's mile markers), 5:36, 5:30, 5:18.

I went out too hard the first mile, hung tough for 4 miles, sucked for a couple miles, folded for the second day in a row, got caught by my Charlotte Running Club teammates and then ran the last 1,000 meters. That's the simple summary of my race.

The more detailed summary would start back up in Columbia Heights were Ben Stern, Owen, Ben Clark and a couple of others would walk to the Metro. Our plans were to meet up with George McArdle near the start of the race at 7:10. The race time was 7:40 and my window for getting a proper warm up was gone. I ended up being able to jog about 4 minutes total from the Metro to the corner to find George and then another 4 minutes after bag checking my warm ups.

I managed to find Dan Matena and the rest of the Charlotte Running Club crew and we all made our way to near the front of the race. Before settling into the corral just behind the Kenyans and Ethiopians, I was able to see Caitlin and Megan Hovis run by at the start of the women's elite race. They received a 10 minute head start so that proper press coverage could be given to the ladies.

The race off the line was competitive and I was quick through the first mile. I didn't have any particular goals heading into the race which was probably my downfall. I wanted to enjoy the race experience and help out the CRC, however after not running up to par in the half marathon, I was seeking a bit of redemption. The pace was honest for the first 5 miles and then I fell apart. The wind in Haines Point combined with the early pace did me in. I backed off for a couple of miles and let some guys pass me. With about a mile to run I was caught by Dan Matena and John Compton. To give you a bit of perspective, I went through five miles with an official split of 26:05 to their 26:53. I picked up the pace for the final few minutes feeling recovered, but not interested in racing. I think I passed back a couple of guys and finished 37th overall a few seconds back of Compton and a few strides up on Matena.

For the second day/race in a row I crumbled when it started to hurt. I had a couple of guys to run with from miles 6 to 8, but I refused to man up. I thought I would be able to handle the entire race better than I did. It's time to get back on a more organized training/racing schedule.

After the race I was in pretty rough shape. I didn't cool down at all and on the Metro home I had to stop to vomit in a trash can. Since all I had consumed that morning was coffee and water it was a big deal. Before getting back to Owen's house we made a stop at a grocery store to purchase some Pedialyte. I didn't feel better until around noon while we were at the Red Derby and I was finally getting properly hydrated with water, Pedialyte, and a couple bloody mary's.