I ran the DC Road Runners Al Lewis 10 Miler last Sunday, finishing in a chip time of 1:17:55.
This race wasn't in my original plan for January. Plan A had been to run the Jacksonville Marathon in December and then use January to ease back into training. My back up plan (aka plan B) had been to run the Houston Half in January if Jacksonville didn't happen for some reason (as it didn't).
However, as the Houston Half approached, it became obvious to me that I wasn't fit enough to justify spending $1000 plus on flight and hotel for that race (yes, I had paid the entry fee, but that was a sunk cost). Plus, the Houston Half was a week earlier than usual, so I wouldn't have the Monday off after the race.
So, I bailed on Houston and shifted to Plan C - mileage and workouts. Tuesday's workout was 7 Iwo Jima hill repeats and then some squats.
Then, on Thursday, my teammate Matt mentioned this race. It cost only $10, and the weather was looking decent if not spectacular (45 degrees but potentially very windy).
The truth was that I really needed to race, since I get rusty if I go too long between races. A $10 chip timed race on a fast certified course in decent weather about a 15 minute drive away was too good a deal to pass up. It was unfortunate that I had done 7 Iwo Jima hills on Tuesday, but whatever. We were now going with plan D.
***
I had a choice between 5 and 10 miles (essentially did I want to run the course once or twice)? I chose 10 miles because I thought I would be more competitive at that distance. Additionally, I always get a fitness boost from races in the 15K to half-marathon distance range - I suspect that's because they are basically extended tempo workouts.
[Plus, as my teammate Matteo noted, the 10 miler was also a better value, at $1 per mile compared to $2 per mile for the 5 miler.]
***
Race morning dawned early as always. Bib pick-up started at 7 am and the race started at 8 am. I woke up, did my pre-run stretching/medication routine (took a Rytary 195 at 6:40 am), and checked the weather. Low to mid 40s, with overcast sky and possible gusty winds. I decided to race with thin tights, a singlet, and arm-warmers, and also bring a longsleeve shirt in case I changed my mind.
10 years ago, I would have worn shorts, but I've discovered that now, when my legs get cold they get stiff and rigid, and it's very hard to loosen them up once that happens. On the other hand, any overheating from wearing tights can be mitigated with a tank top and/or rolling my arm-warmers down.
I got to the race start around 7. After parking I grabbed my bib, pinned it somewhat poorly to my singlet (it's hard to pin a bib on while wearing the singlet), and then returned to my car to shed my winter jacket and do some final mobilizations* before putting on my racing shoes and starting my warm-up.
[*essentially, loosening up my ankles by walking on my toes, heels, outside of foot, and inside of foot for 45 seconds each; followed by some hip hinges, some walking with my knees bent, some backwards stepping, and some cariocas.]
***
I had less time before the race start than I had planned (I should have gotten there at 6:45 am). I had planned to jog for 2 miles and then start my warm-up fartlek (3:00 marathon to tempo effort, 4x30 seconds a bit faster, and 4x10 second strides). But I had to cut it down to 15 minutes of jogging and the 3 minute plus 4x30 seconds part of the fartlek. Oh well - since this was a longer race I'd have time to ease into it.
Then I joined about 200 people at the start line for the 10 miler. It's hard for me to figure out where to seed myself these days, so I just went for about 2/3rds back in the group. It was a small race on a wide course, so things would work themselves out.
The start of the race was a surprise to me. There was no loudspeaker, and while those at the front might have heard "on your mark....go" I was far enough back that I didn't. Fortunately, I had about 10 seconds of shuffle time to get to the start line, start my watch, and start running.
***
I was pleasantly surprised that running in a group was not as much of an issue as it has been in the past. I've been making a point to participate in weekly park runs as part of an easy run, and I think it's really helped me here. I could tell that I wasn't completely warmed up, but I knew that already.
The race course was an out and back on Hains Point. The Hains Point route is shaped like a V, with the course starting at the top right of the V, then traveling down and around up to the top left of the V. Turn around a cone there, and trace your steps back to the top right, and that was one 5 mile loop. The 10 mile runners turned around another cone at the finish line to go back for another 5 miles.
This structure made it easy to mentally break up the race into four 2.5 mile sections - my mental plan was to try to increase the effort after each turn-around cone. Using the first 2.5 miles to ease into the race fit perfectly into this plan.
In those early miles, I noted another woman in my age group - Mary. It's been at least 8 years since we ran together, but I wasn't surprised to see her about 50 meters ahead of me. I mentally kept an eye on her in hopes that I would be able to reel her in later.
***
I've been working a lot on my body rotation recently when running - one of my big limiters is that my back and hips get stiff and don't rotate, which severely limits my stride length. So, while one of my goals for this race was to simply get back out there, another was to keep rotating my upper body the whole time. I spent a fair amount of time during the race checking in on this..
I had several teammates in this race, and the double out-and back course meant that we had multiple opportunities to encourage each other - it came to be something I looked forward to each turn.
The wind had also picked up slightly - it wasn't awful, but just enough that one was a bit slower running into it and faster with it at your back. This was expected (I was actually relieved it wasn't worse, given the forecast). The wind also had the nice effect of breaking up the course even more, into eight sections alternating headwind and tailwind.
All of these points made the race go by a bit quicker, but 10 miles is still a long race for a rustbuster. As I approached the finish line for the first time (and the turn around cone for another 5 miles) I started to whine mentally. It took a fair amount of effort to shift my focus to the start of the third 2.5 mile section, meaning it was time to pick it up. Fortunately, there was a trail of runners just ahead of me who were fading, and so I used them as targets to pull me forward. Unfortunately (for me), Mary wasn't one of them. Instead, she was pulling further ahead.
***
A long run into the headwind preceded my approach to the final turnaround cone at the top left of the "V." As the cone came into sight, a white one-ton pickup truck (presumably US National Park Service, since this was a closed course) passed me to park near the cone. As I pivoted around the cone, the race marshal cautioned me to avoid the truck.
No problem - I definitely saw it. Internally, I smiled slightly at the universe's latest attempt to troll me by making me navigate around a truck that looked (at least from the front) exactly like the truck that hit me a few years ago. This universe-sponsored white truck trolling happens surprisingly frequently. Probably because I run a lot on NPS land and the NPS has a lot of white one-ton pickup trucks for maintenance work.
Once safely past the truck, I reminded myself that it was time to empty the tank. I couldn't see Mary ahead of me anymore, but I reminded myself that anything could happen, and emptying the tank was my best chance of catching her.
The last two miles really hurt. Racing should always be much more painful than training, and when you haven't raced in a while you lose your tolerance. That's why I generally prefer a 5K or a mile for a rustbuster - because the period of pure suffering is much shorter temporally (even though it seems like forever). But I had entered this race to rebuild that tolerance, so I needed to keep at it. And, of course, keep rotating my upper body.
 |
| Look at that upper body rotation! (though I could probably do a bit more) (picture by George Buckheit) |
***
As I approached the finish line, I saw the clock counting down from 1:17:40. I had told Matt at the start line that I thought I'd probably run between 1:18-1:19 based on my current fitness, so going under 1:18 was something to get excited about. I did my best to find a bit extra while also continuing to rotate my upper body and keeping my legs loose, relaxed, and unlocked (my legs tend to be so rigid that if I relax them as much as possible when I run, they have just the right amount of tension).
The clock just ticked over 1:18 as I crossed, but I thought that I had enough of a gap between the gun and my chip start to get me under 1:18 on chip time. Ultimately, breaking 1:18 wasn't hugely significant (it does qualify me for seeded entry to Cherry Blossom, but I had that already). But I really liked the idea beating my predicted finish time, even if only by a few seconds.
After wobbling on my feet for a few seconds, I checked my watch. Yup, 1:17:55. Cool!
Splits (using autolap on the Garmin since there were no mile markers) were:
Mile 1 - 8:11
Mile 2 - 7:56
Mile 3 - 7:55
Mile 4 - 7:39
Mile 5 - 7:44
Mile 6 - 7:34
Mile 7 - 7:44
Mile 8 - 7:45
Mile 9 - 7:28
Mile 10 - 7:29
last .07 - 31 seconds (7:09 pace).
As always, I ran this one without looking at my watch, just focusing on effort and chasing others. I'm glad I did, because those last two miles were faster than anything I've run on the track (other than 100m strides) in the past few months.
Other notes:
- Mary did beat me by a bit over a minute. However, we were both beaten in our age group by a woman whom I didn't recognize (possibly new to the area) who ran 1:11-ish. I need to up my game.
- The weather ended up being 45 degrees with a wind from the north of about 15 mph. So not perfect conditions, but pretty good for mid-January in DC.
- I wore the Hoka Rocket X3 for this race. I resisted picking them up for a while, because I had read reviews stating that they were stable but very laterally biased. However, I finally gave a pair a try, and I'm glad I did. They work well with my gait and are forgiving if my legs lock up. And they have much better traction on wet pavement than the Rocket X2 (my chief complaint about that shoe).
- My official gun time was 1:18:06; official chip time was 1:17:55.
- The course was certified for 10 miles, and yet the watch read 10.07 miles. For once, I am going to blame the tangents. Hains Point has minimal trees and no tall buildings so Garmin error is usually minimal there. However, the double out and back meant that I had to swing wide at the bottom point of the V when running counter-clockwise, so that oncoming runners could take the inside. Not a big deal, and I'm still counting the official chip time as my time, rather than whatever my watch said when it beeped for the 10th mile.
- I'm pretty happy that I ran faster than I expected based on my training - it indicates to me that my training is on the right track.
- It is such a privilege to have my body working well enough that I can hammer (and hurt) at the end of a race. I try to remember this every time I race. Because as much as race pain sucks, not being able to achieve it sucks more.
