Race Report: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, April 2, 2023

I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler this morning, finishing in a time of 1:10:19.  Which was good enough for me to win a 50th Anniversary Cherry Blossom Mug (my big goal in running this race).  It also got me tantalizingly close to breaking 70 for the first time in a few years.

Many years Cherry Blossom gets great weather, but this was one of the less optimal years.  A complex weather system gave us rain on Saturday morning and then a pleasant Saturday afternoon before a wind storm rolled in on Saturday night, just as I was trying to go to sleep.  

I'm a little paranoid about windstorms while I am sleeping since there's an old tree in our neighbor's yard that could hit our house if it fell the right way.    And...it's not like a tree has never fallen on our house before.  So I ended up spending the first half of the night trying (and failing) to sleep downstairs on a couch as the house shifted and groaned.  (B, for his part, was in his basement mancave doing mancave-type things.)  About midnight, the winds settled down and I carried my comforter and pillow back up to our bed.  I got a few hours of fairly good sleep before the alarm went off at 4:10 am.

The funny thing is that my Garmin decided that last night was a great night for sleep and that I was well rested and ready to face the day.  This is in contrast to the norm, where my Garmin insists most mornings that I need a rest day and have a low body battery when I feel totally fine.  I felt like crap when I woke up, but I decided today was a day to believe the Garmin over myself.  At least in terms of quality of rest.

***

A bit after 6 am, I left the house.  This was once again just the right time to grab my supersecret parking spot at 6:15.  Once parked, I changed into my racing shoes and confirmed my clothing choices.  

The forecast was for low 40s with sunshine and high wind.  Wearing thin tights on my legs was a given - in the last few years my legs have performed best when warm, even too warm.  As for my top, I went with a tank top and arm-sleeves after debating whether a longsleeve might be better.

I stepped outside and immediately could tell that a longsleeve was going to be too much for a race this long.  So tank top and arm-sleeves it was, and the longsleeve went into the bag I was going to check.

***

After bag check, I started to warm up.  I went with my standard warm-up routine of about 17 minutes jogging, followed by 3:00 at marathon-to-half-marathon pace, 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, and then 4x10 second strides.  17th Street was once again blocked off to traffic, so it was an ideal location to do some faster running.  Then a bit more jogging before I entered my corral about 7:20 am (the race started at 7:30 for the masses).

The corral was easily the most packed corral I have ever seen.  I don't know how I fit in there, but some how I did.  I don't remember it being that packed in the past - I suspect it's that way because 15th Street (where the race starts) is now narrower due to the installation of some bike lanes, but they haven't lengthened the corrals or reduced the # of people in each corral.

It was a very compressed 10 minutes waiting for the start.  I wanted to do a calf stretch, but no room.  Heck, it was difficult to remove my throwaway sweatshirt without bumping someone else. Another runner, a little taller than me, did manage to elbow me in the nose while checking the time on his watch.  He felt awful, but I reassured him that I didn't need my nose to run, just my feet, so no prob.

***

With a corral that packed, it was no surprise just how much a mess the first mile was.  I don't recall this race being this crowded in the first mile before - some of it may be the narrowed road due to the bike lane, and some may be that I'm starting a lot further back than I used to.  Or perhaps it was always this much of a mess and I was just in front of it before.

Regardless of the cause, it was rough. I had intentionally placed myself on the left side of the corral since the first turn was to the right, thinking that I could swing wide and avoid some of the chaos, but chaos was everywhere.  I struggled with my dystonia flaring, and I fought to get it under control.  But as soon as I got it under control, there was nowhere to go - too many people everywhere.    So I accepted that this was going to be a slow first mile, and that I'd have to wait until there was a bit more room.

Finally, somewhere around the second mile, things got a bit less crowded, though still quite busy.  I started to work on opening up my gait and relaxing forward, and began to reel people in, which I would continue to do for the rest of the race.

***

The wind was a significant factor - It was blowing from the northwest at around 25 miles per hour, with gusts higher.    This meant that some miles had a very strong headwind, some a very strong crosswind, and some a very strong tailwind.    It also meant that there were twigs and branches all over portions of the course, and paper water cups everywhere at each water stop.

As best I could, I tried to hold a steady effort, while also being strategic and taking shelter behind others when I could in the headwinds, and then opening up when I had an opportunity.  I felt my hamstrings grow tired early - a consequence of balancing against the wind, I think.

The last few miles up Hains Point to the finish were mentally and physically exhausting.  When we hit the hill at the 400m to go point, I tried to hammer but my legs felt like lead.  Then I topped the hill and saw the finish line about 150m ahead and downhill.  I managed to run this downhill decently - not flying like I used to, but I wasn't tripping over my feet either.  And that made me very happy.  

As I crossed the finish line, I glanced at the clock and noted 1:10:4x. (Like always, I didn't check my watch during the race).   I wasn't sure how long it had taken me to cross the start line after the gun, but I was sure it wasn't 40-50 seconds, so I hadn't broken 70, which was my pie-in-the-sky goal.  At the same time, I had run under 71:19, and so earned an anniversary mug (more on that below), so I was happy.  Plus I felt like there were a lot of positives from the race, including the improved downhill finish.

Also, I was cold and very sick of wind and just ridiculously happy to be done.

***

Splits were:

Mile 1: 7:53

Mile 2: 7:13
Mile 3: 7:01
Mile 4: 6:53
Mile 5: 6:52
Mile 6: 6:55

Mile 7: 6:44
Mile 8: 6:46
Mile 9: 7:04
Mile 10: 7:00

(Miles 4, 5, 7, and 8 had the strongest tailwind, while miles 1, 3, 9, and 10 were the worst for a headwind.)

When I finished and first checked my time, I assumed that the wind was my main limiter in breaking 70.  But as I look at it now, it's pretty clear that the mess that was mile 1 was the biggest factor.  Which of course is motivating me to go up to Philly and race Broad Street next month to see if I can get under 70 there.  (Broad Street is an even bigger race than Cherry Blossom, but the street is a lot wider also).

But in any event, I got my mug, so I'm happy.  As background for the mug....Cherry Blossom was first run in 1973.  The winning times that year were 51:22 for men and 71:19 for women.

(Yes, there's a big gap there - that's because women's sports weren't encouraged then the way they are now.  Now, the gap between men's and women's performances at 10 miles is closer to 5 minutes, which matches the 10-11% differential we see in running at all distances between 100m and the marathon.)

Anyhoo, on every 5 year anniversary, Cherry Blossom gives out a mug that says "I would have won this race in 1973" to anyone who runs faster than the winning times for their sex that year.  And I really wanted a mug. Everything has changed in the last few years, and paces that were once easy are now impossible.  But getting a mug seemed like something that was in reach, and it feels really good and even dare-I-say normal to have set a goal and accomplished it.

My precious

Other notes:

• I went with the Metaspeed Edge+ for this race - that's really my long distance racer of choice now, though I haven't tried the Vaporfly in some time.  Since my gait seems to be improving, perhaps I can try the Vaporfly again.
• The weather was 48 degrees with a dew point of 33 degrees and sunny.  Just perfect weather, if not for the darn wind.
• Since it was cool, I went without a water bottle for this race.  Definitely no need to drink during this one.
• A lot of good things here - I ran this race 80 seconds faster than I ran Broad Street last year.  I handled downhills better, tailwinds better, crosswinds better.  I was never alone on this course, but the dystonia only flared during the initial crazy packed miles.  So progress.
• Thin tights, a tank top, and arm-warmers were unquestionably the right choice today.
• I don't think the lousy night of sleep last night affected me at all (maybe the Garmin was right).  I made a point of getting 9+ hours of sleep on Friday night, and I think that carried me through.
• This was a no caffeine/no chocolate race.  I used to always take a fair bit of caffeine on race morning (in the form of a GU or Cliff gel), but I've discovered that it seems to make the dystonia worse - when the dystonia flares, it flares more strongly and is harder to get under control.  A bit of dark chocolate felt like it was perking me up without the strong effect of caffeine, but I've experimented with and without, and it seems like I run better without.  Sigh.
• In terms of improvement, this race is a slightly worse performance than the half-marathon I ran last month.  But...that half was in perfect weather while this was not.  So I'm thinking this shows improved fitness.  Additionally, my 15K split here was 65:37, as compared to December 2022 when I ran 66:14 for 15K in perfect weather on basically the same course.  Yup - things are definitely moving in the right direction.  I'm not forgetting about my old performances entirely, but it is nice to focus on the past two years and see the relative improvement.