Cherry Blossom Race Report

The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was a complete success for me. I love setting a goal and then hitting it on the nose. I told myself for weeks that I'd run 1:13, but in the last few days I started to change my goal to 1:16 because I didn't feel confident.

When the race started I lined up in the red corral with the other mid-packers. When they finally let us go (3 minutes behind the lead pack) I ran with my natural projected pace. I dodged around a few people who were taking it pretty slow, but who knows if they were the ones passing me late in the race. I looked at my Garmin often to ensure that I wasn't going out too fast. I maintained very even splits for the entire race and the first two miles were my slowest as I planned.

My declared plan was 2 miles 7:40, 4 miles 7:30, 2 miles 7:20, last 2 miles give it all I've got. I stuck to the general structure of this plan, but actually felt really fresh. Running the mostly flat course in the great weather must have really had an effect on me. I kind of felt mile 9 on the way back from Hains Point, but I focused on a person I wanted to beat who was picking up the pace.

This girl in pink shorts passed me and I decided that she would not beat me, but slowly she left me behind as we approached the end so I found another target. A man and his son were ahead of me. His nine year old must have joined him from the sidelines and was keeping pace with him for at least a quarter mile. Worse yet, they both stayed ahead of me! I had enough, I picked up the pace with about a half mile to go and said, "Way to go, kid" as I passed them both. Then I stretched out for an almost all out dash. I hit a 4:50 pace for the last 100 meters or so and finished with my best mile of the race. I ran a negative split and hit my goal time with the unofficial 01:12:57 (Garmin said I did better). Good enough for 935 out of 6,881 men and 211 out of 1,402 men in my age group.

I feel very accomplished and that I have quite a bit of improvement in my racing skills to go. I know that I can close better than I did - I should've left a bit more on the course.

Splits

Mile 01 - 00:07:33

Mile 02 - 00:07:22

Mile 03 - 00:07:03

Mile 04 - 00:07:20

Mile 05 - 00:07:19

Mile 06 - 00:07:13

Mile 07 - 00:07:21

Mile 08 - 00:07:16

Mile 09 - 00:07:08

Mile 10 - 00:06:57

Saturday Easy Run (5 miles - 42:37 - 8:31 min/mi)

Today I ran an easy pace (roughly 6.7 mph or an 8:57 min/mi) for 5 miles with four 400 meter strides at a 9 mph (6:40 min/mi) pace. The average pace over the entire run was 8:31 min/mi.

I have been training for quite some time now without a race. The Cherry Blossom is coming up in 7 weeks but that will be 4 1/2 months of training without a race, but that's expected for a marathon not a 10-miler.

I plan to run outside tomorrow. I hope the WB&A trail is clear of snow.

Friday Four Miler (33:21@ 8:20 min/mi)

A funny thing happened to me today when I was doing my four mile training run. I had spent some of this morning watching the replay of the 2009 Boston Marathon on the Universal Sports website. One of the most dramatic parts of that marathon was the three person race down Boyleston Street between Salina Kosgei, Dire Tune, and Kara Goucher. I noticed that Kosgei used a bit of a hunched over posture with some of her center of mass forward, ahead of her feet. I ran the first mile or so in my standard upright position and felt the typical treadmill running lethargy. I then pitched forward to emulate the 2009 Boston women's champ and could barely resist increasing my pace.

I ran the first 2.5 miles with the pace set to 7 mph (8:34 min/mi) after completing that distance I increased it to 7.5 mph (8:00 min/mi) with a fast finish final lap of 8 mph (7:30 min/mi). So, today's four mile run was 4 miles in 33:21 for an average pace of 8:20 min/mi.

During the faster portion of my run I thought of my expected race strategies. I am registered to run the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in April. I expect to set my pace for the 10-miler for 8:00 min/mi and try to negative split the second half and come in at 1:15:00. I wonder whether I have been training correctly for this speed. I have done few speed workouts and have been fairly consistently training for some kind of race since mid-November. I'll be looking for a proper training plan to get me some confidence for this time in the next few weeks. My base is strong.

Saturday Easy Run (5 miles - 47:34 - 9:31 min/mi)

Saturday Easy Run (5 miles - 47:34 - 9:31 min/mi)

I did my easy run today on my basement treadmill. I wanted to run outside, but circumstance would not allow that today. I put the five miles in like its my job and set my sights on tomorrow's 20 mile long run.

I picked up a box of GU Tri-Berry Energy Gels from REI today with hopes that they will make my long run tomorrow manageable. I haven't run 20 miles since October's marathon. I remember that the Tri-Berry flavor was my favorite from the samplings I have taken in the past. My plan is to run 14 miles at an easy pace and run the last six at my goal marathon pace.

All this running is about training for my marathons this year, but I have yet to sign up for one. I was going to run the 49th annual Washington's Birthday Marathon this year, but might not be able to make that one due to another commitment. I think I might volunteer, which would be my first race volunteering effort and could be fun. I am registered for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run on April 11 and really want to do the SunTrust National Marathon on March 20. I really need a coach to prescribe for me a training plan to transition from this plan I am on that gets me ready for the marathon and one for the ten mile run.

Thursday 4 mile run (10 x 30 secs Fartleks)

The run

No warm-up, run four miles at an easy pace. The goal here is to intersperse 10 accelerations of pace into the run and hold it for 30 seconds. These accelerations are called Fartleks.

Mileage and time: 4 miles in 33:30
Route/terrain: treadmill
Interval/race time: Ran first mile in 8:34 (7mph), then picked it up to 8mph for 30 seconds and slowed down to 7mph for the rest of the lap. I repeated this for 10 sets and finished the last half mile at 7mph.
Temperature/time of day: indoors/10:30am

How I felt

Felt good. First run in almost two weeks. I only did two elliptical workouts

Morning weight: 199.6 lbs
Mood (before/during/after): hey I'm running
Aches and pains: feeling good. The right calf tightness that I've had since last Saturday was gone when I woke this morning.
Goals: Focusing on the Cherry Blossom 10 miler - its the only race I've signed up for so far. I plan on running it in 1:20 or faster (8 min/mi). I still plan on running the SunTrust National Marathon in March, but until I sign up I gotta stay focused.