Race Post-Mortem: Army 10-Miler

Justin, me, and Mick post-race.  This was our last tune-up race before the Richmond Marathon.  Photo by Justin.

Sunday, October 9, 2016
Arlington, VA
Difficulty score: 2/10 (0 for weather, 2 for course profile, 0 for altitude)

The Army 10-Miler, the second of two tune-up races for my upcoming marathon, was to be my first 10-mile race ever.  People ask me why I have never run a 10-miler, in spite of having run eight marathons and more than a dozen half-marathons.  It seemed like good opportunities for a 10-miler for me never really surfaced these past several years; all the 10-mile races in the DC area took place close to or right after a fall or spring marathon.  And last year, when I finally got to run the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, it needed to be shortened to 9.39 miles due to an accident on the course.

I was excited to finally have the opportunity to run a 10-mile race.  I had reason to believe that I could achieve a very good time for my 10-miler debut so long as I didn't screw up the pacing.  The weather in DC on an October morning was usually better than the low seventies and high humidity under which I ran the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon last month, and this course was considered as fast, if not faster, than the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler.  Starting near the Pentagon, we would head north on Virginia Route 110 to Arlington National Cemetery and then across the Memorial Bridge and down Constitution Avenue.  After less than a quarter of a mile on Constitution Avenue, we would then turn left onto 20th Street Northwest and then a left on Virginia Avenue.  Virginia Avenue would then spit us out onto Rock Creek Parkway, which we would follow back south toward the monuments.  After merging onto Independence Avenue, we would do this out-and-back segment before turning onto the segment that most runners dread: the 14th Street Bridge.  The 14th Street Bridge would take us back to Arlington, where we would complete the last mile of the race through the streets of Crystal City.  All in all, this was a relatively flat course with a few hills to make things interesting.

Thus, I had set my bare minimum goal to be 1:04:20, the slowest I could run in order to score 70 points toward the DC Front Runners Race Circuit.  My primary goal was sub-1:04:00, and my "if everything went right" goal was sub-1:03:00.

Map of the Army 10-Miler (from the race website).

Training

My training this past summer was very much like my training for Chicago and Hartford: six days of running per week, with a very similar weekly structure.

• Monday: OFF
• Tuesday: a two-mile warm-up plus 25 to 40 minutes at tempo effort (between 6:18 and 6:36/mile, with adjustments for the weather) followed by a cool-down
• Wednesday: 30 to 40 minutes very easy to recover from Tuesday's tempo run
• Thursday: mini-long runs lasting between one hour and one hour 30 minutes, with most of these miles being easy (7:48 to 8:24/mile); I did occasionally throw in some marathon effort miles
• Friday: 30 to 40 minutes very easy to recover from Thursday's mini-long run
• Saturday: 50 minutes to one hour 20 minutes easy (7:48 to 8:24/mile), with hill sprints
• Sunday: long runs of one hour 30 minutes to two hours 30 minutes at 7:48 to 8:24/mile pace, with some of these being fast finish

So far, my mileage most weeks have been in the fifties or high forties, with a maximum of about 56 miles.  Training was made a little more difficult by an unusually hot and humid summer here in DC, but overall, I was able to remain very consistent with my training up to now.  Following the Army 10-Miler, I planned on two more weeks with mileage in the high fifties or low sixties, and then a taper before my marathon.

The Race

The night before the race, I had a dream that I woke up on race morning and it was 9:14 am.  After panicking and realizing that it would have even been too late to get down to the Pentagon and start with the last wave, I then decided to check my phone to see the angry messages from Mick and Justin, whom I promised to drive down to the start.  But for some reason, my phone kept crashing.  When I finally was able to get it to work, my alarm went off and I woke up.

Had that actually happened, I would have started to believe that the 10-miler was really a cursed distance for me.  But actually, getting to the start actually proceeded quite seamlessly; after a quick breakfast and my typical pre-race preparations, I picked up several other members of the DC Front Runners and made it to Arlington at 6:45.  Traffic was nowhere near as terrible as I thought it would be, and neither was parking.  I thought it was strange, though, that everyone parked in one of the parking garages suggested by the race website when there was plenty of parking on the side of the street.  I found a very convenient parking spot near the Ritz Carlton on the side of South 15th Street, while just about all of the other cars were waiting in this very long line to get into the nearby parking garages.

Temperatures were also much better for this race; high fifties with less than 80% humidity, and the latter was expected to drop substantially as time went on whereas the former would not increase too much.  When I woke up, there was a steady light rain, but that subsided by the time we all arrived at the starting area and changed into an 18-mile-per-hour wind from the north.  I was not terribly concerned about the winds; I had run a half-marathon and a marathon PR under similar conditions. Given the course and the temperatures, I went into the starting corrals thinking that a sub-1:04:00 was very achievable today.  My plan was therefore to ease into a 6:20 to 6:25/mile pace over the first two miles or so, hold that until about Mile 7, and if I felt I had something left in me at that point, I would try to bring the pace down closer to 6:15/mile.

After running into other members of the DC Front Runners and wishing them a good race, I lined up in the Yellow Corral and waited for the start.

Miles 1 and 2 (6:28, 6:22): Initially, I was running at more like half-marathon pace.  The race began on a slight but relatively steady uphill, but about 0.6 miles in, we got a pretty noticeable downhill, which I took advantage of to bring my pace to faster than 6:30/mile.  According to my Garmin, my first mile was 6:28, exactly where I wanted to be.  However, I did notice that my Garmin indicated the one mile mark a little before the actual one-mile mark sign.  I attributed that to the weaving and dodging I did during this first mile.  Halfway through this first mile, I realized I probably lined up too far back; I was passing people left and right with very little effort.

During the second mile through Arlington National Cemetery and across Memorial Bridge, I settled into a 6:22/mile pace.  This felt very controlled, I was glad to have gotten on target pace a little earlier than I thought.

Miles 3 through 5 (6:31, 6:18, 6:20): For me, Mile 3 was the most difficult mile of the entire race.  The relatively lengthy uphill on Virginia Avenue threw me for a loop; after hearing how fast this course was, I wasn't expecting anything like this.  Nonetheless, I looked at my watch and noticed my pace was closer to 6:40/mile.  I kept myself calm; knowing that if I pushed too hard up this hill, I would regret it later; after all, I still had seven more miles to go.

After we crested the top of the hill, we were treated to a brief downhill as we went through an underpass.  After another brief hill, we had a much longer and more gradual downhill segment.  I was able to take advantage of this and bring my pace down to 6:31/mile.  This was slower than what I would have liked, but I knew I could still manage sub-1:04:00 nonetheless.

For the fourth and fifth miles, I focused on getting back to 6:20 to 6:25/mile pace.  This part, in which we turned onto Rock Creek Parkway and followed it toward Independence Avenue, was flat and fast and featured very few turns, although some relatively strong winds were still coming off the river.  I ended up doing the fourth mile a little faster than what I wanted; I finished this mile in 6:18, but I still felt like I was in control of the pace.  During the fifth mile down Independence Avenue, I continued trying to hold back; I wanted to push a little, but I knew that I had some more somewhat difficult segments up ahead.

The DC Front Runners cheer squad, waiting for us at the top of the hill on Independence Avenue.  Photo from Adam.

Miles 6 through 8 (6:16, 6:17, 6:16): After the halfway mark came one of the more difficult segments: a hill leading up past the Washington Monument.  Some members of the DC Front Runners were at the top with signs, which gave me an extra boost of energy up this hill.  After this came a slight downhill and another long, flat, and straight out-and-back segment down Independence Avenue.  I enjoyed this part: in addition to it being fast, spectators were lining the course and I got to see the faster runners on their way back.  After rounding the corner at the turnaround loop and passing the Mile 6 marker, I noticed that I had indeed brought my pace down closer to 6:15/mile already.  But since I was still feeling strong, I decided to stay with it.

But one thing that I was not happy about was that my Garmin indicated 6.07 miles at the Mile 6 marker.  I had no idea how I managed to cover 0.07 extra miles given how few curves and turns there were on these past few miles, but I really preferred not to cover more than 10.10 miles today.  After all, that extra 0.1 miles could mean as much as 45 to 50 extra seconds.  For the seventh mile, I focused on maintaining my pace while trying not to weave around runners anymore.

I then turned left onto 14th Street to start my journey along the infamous 14th Street Bridge.  Most people who talk about this bridge say that not only are runners already tired at this point, but this long expanse of bridge across the river, on which there are almost no spectators, could be mentally draining.  But I myself actually did not find it to be as bad as many people have made it out to be.  It was by no means easy, especially compared to the previous miles; this bridge has some noticeable rolling hills.  But I found the third mile of this race to be far more difficult.  Meanwhile, I was able to keep my 6:15 to 6:20/mile pace with little problem.

Mile 9 through the end (6:13, 6:10, 0:32 for the last 0.1 miles): I then approached a rather unexpected difficulty in this race: the exit ramp leading to Crystal City.  Right before the exit ramp was a very sizable hill; it was not as long as some of the others I had encountered on this course, but it was substantially steeper.  In addition, I was now faced with a powerful headwind.  As I pulled myself up this hill, trying not to charge up it, I asked myself why I was encountering this kind of headwind; I was heading south and the weather forecast indicated winds were to be coming from the north.

After the exit ramp was behind me, I just focused on getting to the finish line.  Some other runners behind me had capitalized on the downhill of the exit ramp to accelerate past me.  I just decided to let them go and just run at my own pace.  I was able to catch back up with most of them and eventually drop them again, though.

Nina and her mother were cheering on members of the DC Front Runners at the Mile 9 mark, which was very much appreciated.  After waving back to them, I looked at my watch and did the math.  Sub-1:04:00 was definitely within reach; I just needed to maintain this pace and not do anything stupid.  I did find myself speeding up even more during this mile; after noticing that my Garmin indicated I was going at 5:55/mile pace, I decided to hold back a little just so I would not implode during the last half mile.

As soon as I rounded that curve back toward the Pentagon and saw the finish line, I just gave it all I had left.  I was very happy when I crossed the finish line when the first three digits of the gun (cannon) time clock were 1:03; my Garmin, meanwhile, indicated a finish time of 1:03:43.

I wanted to wait for the other members of DC Front Runners to finish, but I was told to keep moving.  As I headed toward the finisher's area, I saw Justin behind me; he had just run a 10-miler PR by more than two minutes.  We then walked to the finisher's area together, sharing notes about the race.  We decided to wait for the other members of DC Front Runners doing this race near the food area.

It was not until that afternoon when I got my official results (Army 10-Miler does not do real-time runner tracking): 1:03:42 (6:22/mile), which translates to 70.727 points toward the DC Front Runners Race Circuit (age-graded score of 69.34 times 1.02 in accordance with Race Circuit rules).  I was 383rd human out of 24014, 362nd male out of 12716, and 78th out of 1880 in the Male 30-34 age division.

Next Steps

I felt that my performance during this race was more indicative of my fitness for Richmond, since the Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon was run under less-than-ideal conditions and was probably run before I was anywhere near peak fitness.  So given my mileage, which was less than what I ran for Hartford last year but not by much, I would take my 10-miler time of 1:03:42 and multiply by 2.88 to get a projected time for my marathon: 3:03:28 (approximately 7:00/mile).  If I ended up with a time like that, I would be very happy; that would be a PR and a BQ by more than six minutes.

Thus, my plan for Richmond is to target 7:00 to 7:05 for the first 30K, with the first two miles a little slower than that, and then gradually speed up at the 30K mark for a negative split.

Other Thoughts and Observations

• I like this race a lot.  The race has a great atmosphere, is quite fast, and is executed very well.
• Metro is often accepted as the best way to get to the starting line, but it may take longer than driving to get there using Metro, particularly if you need to transfer lines or if the nearest Metro station is quite a walk from where you live.  It looks like driving can get you down to the start line relatively quickly, particularly since I-395 Southbound, the best way to get to Arlington, still remains open before the race.  Parking is also not difficult as it will be 6:00 am when you (should) arrive.  However, getting out of Arlington is a whole different story if you're driving due to all the road closures and the closure of I-395 Northbound, and this is where the advantage of Metro really comes into play.  If you drive, consider hanging around Crystal City for a bit (I would have, but I had to return to DC to prepare for a friend's birthday brunch).
• I like the finisher coins a lot (photo below).
• Winds from the north my foot.  I have always maintained that the winds are always blowing in one direction when you are running: against you.  I rarely felt any tailwinds, but headwinds were very frequent throughout the race, even when I was running southwards.

The Army 10-Miler finisher coin.