Cherry Blossom 10 miler: Damn you, Fenty!

I ran good ol' CB this morning. My friend and I tried to get there a little later (so we don't stand around forever) and I *barely* made it. I got in the first corral just as they were marching forward with the plastic mesh separating the corrals. I was literally the last guy in. We stood there about 5 minutes and I thought this would be fun to try and get out at 6:40 (my goal pace) with not a step of warming up.

Turns out it was fine. I had to weave a bit, but nailed the first mile at 6:40 and it went by fast. Then I felt a little too good :-) Next was 6:28 and then 6:21. Yikes! HR was at 185 which is about what I expected. I could feel my threshold but felt like I was at it or just under, so I went with it, but backed off a hair. Next two were 6:34, and 6:32. I started to feel it at 5 and felt like things were going about right as I was really wanting to reach the 6 mile marker (my usual MO in a 10 miler). 6 mile split was 6:37.

Now on the old course you turned around for a gentle downhill on Rock Creek Parkway. On this one you had out to the no man's land where many a Marine Corps Marathon has gone to die. Mile 7 is 6:36 and I feel like a PR is assured. My legs are getting a bit rubbery, but after I round the end of Hains Point, what do I see?


ADRIAN FENTY! He ran 62:xx last year and I thought I had no shot, but he's right there in the next group ahead! He's not far off now! Can I PR and beat the Mayor in the same race? Well, I wussed out I'm afraid. I tried to reel him in slowly but it was going the other way and I never got closer. Still, I thought I might beat him on the chip if I could stay reasonably close since "his honor" starts right up front.

Mile 8 was 6:24, but it was short and I wasn't surprised to see 7:00 for mile 9 (6:42 pace for both). I never saw the Mayor again after he turned off Hains Point, but the time at mile 9 gave me some motivation. I realized I had a good shot at 1:05 if I just could run another at ~6:40 (which wouldn't be easy). The last mile is also the toughest with the only real uphill of the course (not much, but enough to notice on this pancake course). I saw the 800m to go mark on the ground and had already used 3:29 (7:00 pace). I can't be slowing this much? I wasn't. Last mile was 6:39 and I just made it -- 1:05:55.

Here's the killer. They just posted the results and Mr. Mayor's chip time was 1:05:53 and he finished one place ahead of me. Just two seconds!!!! Argghhhh!

Nevertheless, I'm super happy. I set a 48 second PR on essentially base training. I haven't done any intervals. I did a short tempo months ago and some really mild repeats. Other than that, the 8k is the only fast running I've done. My "workouts" are just some moderate (155-160) running every 3 or 4 days. I've done good volume and lots of runs, which has gotten my weight back down, but I've checked my records and my weight is the same as last year (164).

Full splitsahol below:

Time Split time Distance Split pace Avg. HR
0:06:40 6:40 1.01 6:37 186 (93%) -- HRM not working
0:13:09 6:28 2.03 6:19 185 (93%) -- HRM not working
0:19:30 6:21 3.06 6:13 184 (92%)
0:26:05 6:34 4.14 6:03 184 (92%)
0:32:38 6:32 5.16 6:26 185 (92%)
0:39:15 6:37 6.17 6:33 185 (92%)
0:45:51 6:36 7.17 6:37 184 (92%)
0:52:15 6:24 8.13 6:38 185 (92%)
0:59:15 7:00 9.18 6:44 184 (92%)
1:05:55 6:39 10.20 6:29 186 (93%)