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| DC Front Runners post-Cherry Blossom photo. Photo by Socrates, pilfered from the DC Front Runners Instagram page. |
Cherry Blossom 10-Miler
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Washington, DC
Difficulty score: 1/10 (0 for weather conditions, 1 for course profile, 0 for altitude)
Crystal City Friday 5K
Friday, April 17, 2015
Friday, April 24, 2015
Arlington, VA
Difficulty score: 4/10 (2 for weather conditions, 2 for course profile, 0 for altitude)
The Cherry Blossom 10-Miler was actually to be my first 10-mile race ever. I have wanted to do one for a while now, but it was never in the cards. In 2012, the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler was too soon after the USA Marathon, and by the time I got around to registering for the George Washington Parkway Classic 10-Miler, it was sold out. In 2013 and 2014, I didn't feel like I was in good enough shape to race either the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler or the George Washington Parkway Classic 10-Miler, having recently returned from vacations to China and not having run at all while there.
But this year, I decided I was going to do the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler. I was not running a marathon at all this spring, so I didn't have the problem of having to recover from one in time to run Cherry Blossom. I was not going to China this year, so I could keep training after I ran the Rock and Roll DC Half-Marathon and come into Cherry Blossom ready to race.
I did indeed run, and had a great experience, but I still do not have a 10-miler PR. Unfortunately, somewhere on the course around Independence Avenue and East Basin Drive, an accident occurred that left a pedestrian injured; that portion of the course had to be closed off as a crime scene and the entire race rerouted, resulting in a shortening of the race. The website reported that the length of the course was 9.39 miles, and I covered that in 1:00:29 (6:26/mile), which would have projected to a 1:04:25 for the full 10 miles. I am satisfied with that time; going into this race, I was hoping to run 1:04:59 or better. Breaking 1:04:00 would have been the cherry on top.
I ran the Crystal City Friday 5K five days later. Pacers holds this series of four Friday night 5K races each week of April every year; I had done one of these races in 2012. The best way to describe my race was "interesting." I had not raced a 5K in almost a year and a half; I had decided to do this one because I thought it would be good for me to do a shorter race from time to time. I was still recovering from the 10-miler earlier that week. I also was suffering from allergies, and the evening was warm and humid. I still managed to run 18:53 (6:05/mile); this probably was my weakest race performance this year and was not even close to my best 5K time, but given the conditions, and the fact that I think I have forgotten how to race a 5K, I was not totally surprised.
Initially, that 5K was to be my last race until September, but then after noticing that I had completely recovered by the end of the weekend and that weather conditions were supposed to be much better the next Friday, I decided to run the next 5K race in the Crystal City Friday series. The weather was indeed much better; when I arrived in Arlington, it was in the high fifties, sunny, and negligible humidity. I ran twelve seconds faster, in 18:41 (6:01/mile). This was much closer to where I hoped to be for a 5K, but still nowhere close to my PR.
Training and the Days Leading Up to Each Race
I really did not do much mileage in the weeks between the Rock and Roll DC Half-Marathon and the Cherry Blossom. Part of it was because I was tired; after taking a few weeks to recover from the Chicago Marathon, I increased my mileage again for the Rehoboth Half-Marathon, and then, after a break lasting only a week or so, I started training for the DC Half. Also, I realized that my fitness during the DC Half was essentially going to be my fitness during Cherry Blossom.
My mileage was actually substantially less than what I should have been doing for a 10-miler or a half-marathon. I think I ran twice the week right after the DC Half, and then during the following weeks, I ran four days a week. This included eight to nine-mile long runs on Sunday, six to seven miles easy on Saturday, and six-mile runs with three miles at target 10-miler pace on Tuesday and Thursday. I estimated that 10-miler pace should have been around 6:25/mile; I took the projection from the McMillan Calculator based on my time from the DC Half and made it slightly more aggressive, in part because the Cherry Blossom course was much easier and in part because I was convinced I could do better than 1:27:19 in the half. Also, I'm 33 years old and male, and I, like the vast majority of people of my age and gender, have been disproportionately faster in the shorter distances relative to my half-marathon and marathon performances. Weather was predicted to be ideal on race day, which convinced me even more that being aggressive was the right move.
After Cherry Blossom, I really could not do any quality workouts to prepare for the first of the Crystal City Friday 5K races. I still was in recovery on Tuesday, so I could not run faster than 9:30/mile pace. I did not dare to run quickly or do any more than three miles on Thursday because the race was the next day. I simply went into the 5K not knowing what to expect.
After doing the first Crystal City Friday 5K, like I had said before, I recovered relatively quickly; one advantage of a 5K race is that you can certainly recover within a few days and be ready to run another one the very next week. In the middle of the week, I decided to run the next Crystal City Friday 5K in the series. Again, I really did not do much thorough preparation; I only did a six-mile run the preceding Tuesday with the inner four miles at approximately 10-miler effort. Besides, it was too close to race day for me to make any substantial gains in 5K race fitness.
Cherry Blossom 10-Miler
The night before the Cherry Blossom, I got about three hours of actual sleep. I set my alarm for 4:55 am and went to bed at around 9:30 pm, but I spent much of that time lying awake in bed and tossing and turning. That may have had something to do with pre-race excitement, but I also did fall asleep at 2:00 pm the day before and slept soundly until 5:00 pm; that definitely had something to do with my insomnia.
I woke up when my alarm went off at 4:55 in the morning. I felt a little sleepy on my way to the start of the race, but I still felt like I could function. I was a little concerned about how my lack of sleep would affect me during the race; when it comes to lack of sleep, I really am a delicate flower.
The weather was just as nice as predicted. After arriving at the Washington Monument, I checked my bag, which was when I heard the news that the course was going to be shortened due to that accident. I then ran into Socrates and we talked a little; we both had to go to our starting corrals as we had little time left. I positioned myself about halfway between the front of the Yellow Corral and the start of the Red Corral, on the right hand side as the first turn was a right turn, and began thinking about how I would handle race circuit scoring for this race. Thorne and Daniel joined me as I waited in the corral.
The Cherry Blossom 10-Miler course has very few difficulties. As I mentioned before, it is very flat, aside from a few slight hills near the Memorial Bridge shortly after the one-mile mark and right at the end, after exiting the Hains Point loop and just before the finish. The hairpin turns at around Mile 3 on Rock Creek Parkway near the Kennedy Center and at around Mile 4 on Ohio Drive could also be a little tricky; hairpin turns often cause me to lose my rhythm.
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| Cherry Blossom 10-Miler map, from the website. |
Mile 1 (6:36): I had to do quite a bit of weaving during the initial first mile. Looking back, I should have gotten as far onto the right side as I could, even in spite of the gentle left turns that followed that first right turn; I would have had a much easier time settling into my target pace.
The Yellow Corral was for people predicted to complete the race in under 1:12:24, and within the corral, I could not find any subdivisions indicating where we should line up given our target pace (e.g. signs indication where to line up if you want to run a 6:00/mile pace, where to line up if you want to run 6:15/mile, etc.) I probably had encountered some people who were actually going to run 1:10:00 to 1:12:24 that had lined up in front of me; since I was going much faster, I had to do a lot of accelerating and decelerating and weaving in and out of people.
But after the first half of this mile, I was finally able to hit a good pace.
Miles 2 through 8 (splits: 6:26, 6:23, 6:26, 6:21, 6:25, 6:22): For the next several miles, my goal was to settle into about a 6:25/mile pace. Every so often, I made sure that I was keeping my body relaxed, and that I was not pushing the pace or making any moves just yet. Keeping my pace and effort level constant did take a bit of self-control, particularly when I saw Daniel ahead of me (sorry, Daniel; I was not about to let you beat me in this race). I also tried to resist the temptation to glance at my Garmin too often; during the days preceding this race, I made the realization that my best races were ones where I just ran at the pace my body told me to run and let whatever pace I ended up running be the pace for that day. After all, checking your pace too often can cause you to panic that you are not running fast enough, and freaking out takes energy.
I was very happy to see that many of the DC Front Runners that were not running the race were on the side of the course at various locations spectating and heckling. As I turned onto Memorial Bridge after the Mile 1 marker, I heard Ricky and Dave call out my name. At around Mile 5, I encountered Chris, JR, and Lavar. And then shortly afterwards, I saw Brian on Ohio Drive on the way to Hains Point. That is one thing I like about local races, particularly the larger ones such as this; you get to see many familiar faces on the side.
My pace remained quite constant through most of these miles. I did end up passing Daniel at around 6.5 miles into the race. Shortly after that, I started to push the pace just a little. But at the same time, I held back so I would not surge too much too soon.
Mile 8 to the end (splits: 6:22, 6:12, 2:58 for the last 0.48 miles): I kept at around a 6:22/mile pace for another mile, deciding not to accelerate just yet; I was not sure if I had three miles (or, rather 2.48 miles) at sub-6:20/mile pace at this point. Once I passed the Mile 8 marker, indicating that I only had two more miles left, I finally went into Beast Mode and started pushing the pace to 6:12/mile.
I ended up passing quite a few people during this portion of the race, but I did not remember anyone passing me. But I won't lie; these last two miles hurt. I focused on keeping as relaxed as I could and making it to the finish.
Seeing Jeremy, Joel, Nate, and JR at that turn back onto East Basin Drive gave me a boost of energy; I threw in a surge as I ran past them. I maintained my 6:11/mile pace down East Basin Drive, up that last hill right before the finish, and then down 15th Street to the finish.
I waited for the other members of DC Front Runners running this race near the bag check area, after which we all invaded the Starbucks on 14th Street and New York Avenue in accordance with our post-Cherry Blossom tradition. After a few hours there, I went home and tried, unsuccessfully, to take a nap.
April 17 Crystal City Friday 5K
When I stepped out of my apartment on Friday to head over to the race, I was taken by surprise at how warm it was. When I checked my phone, I saw it was 76 degrees. I had been teleworking that day and did not leave my apartment until it was time for me to go down to Arlington. I had my windows open, though, and it didn't feel particularly warm. When I arrived in Arlington, I could see some relatively ominous-looking rain clouds near us; the impending rain storm caused Arlington to be very humid. Even after my warm-up, I felt like sweat was dripping down my body.
The Crystal City 5K route had changed slightly since I last did it in 2012. We still started and finished in the driveway of this office complex. After the start, we would do this loop down Crystal Drive and then down this service road behind these office complexes; in 2012, we also ran down this service road, but I remember there being a hairpin turn somewhere in that area. The subsequent segment north on Crystal Drive was still the same. After winding through some side streets, we would then come to a hairpin turn at the Mile 2 mark, which definitely was not there in 2012. Finally, we would come back down Crystal Drive for the finish.
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| Crystal City Fridays 5K map, from the website. |
Since this was a circuit race, several members of DC Front Runners were running also. Harry was running this race as well; we had trained for the Richmond and Baltimore Marathons together, but this was the first race in a long time in which both of us were running.
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| Pre-race photo with the long lost Harry. Photo by Jeremy. |
Miles 1 and 2 (splits: 5:54, 5:50): I spent the first mile doing a bit of weaving and not running the tangents well, which was probably the reason why I ended up running 3.16 miles instead of closer to 3.1. I was considerably faster than some of the people who had lined up in front of me at the start. Also, the route was quite twisty in the beginning; no matter where we lined up, we would be running the tangents for half the turns and not for the others.
But once I escaped this twisty part and began my trek up that service road behind the office complexes, I started to settle into a pace. It felt manageable; I even felt like I was holding back a little. When I looked down at my watch near the Mile 1 mark, I noticed I was running at a 5:54/mile pace.
JR, Jeremy, Alfie, and Andy were near the Mile 1 marker, cheering on the runners. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Thorne on the side of the course shortly afterwards; I had no idea he was coming down to watch. Lavar was not much further, taking pictures of us as we ran by. I had so many friends watching me run today.
The second mile was even faster and felt even easier. The segment down Crystal Drive had no twists and turns like the first mile, and was slightly downhill. I dropped this woman and man with whom I ran most of the first mile, and caught several people ahead of me. Some other people passed me, but I didn't care; I felt I was still keeping a much faster pace than I predicted I would. As I approached the Mile 2 marker, I looked at my watch and noticed that I was now running closer to 5:50/mile pace. This still felt manageable; as I ran, I began thinking that I might actually run a 5K PR today. However, once I hit that hairpin turn, that changed.
Mile 3 to the end (splits: 6:11, 0:57 for the last 0.16 miles): The third mile did not feel nearly as good as the first two; I felt like I was working, yet I could not get my pace down to sub-6:00/mile. I did have trouble getting back on pace after rounding that hairpin turn, but I also think that the warmth and the humidity were catching up to me at this point. Plus, much of this part was a slight uphill.
I just kept running at the same effort to the end. A few people passed me and I just did not have the energy any longer to respond. I ran past JR, Jeremy, Andy, Alfie, Thorne, and Lavar again and threw in a little sprint as I turned onto the driveway and toward the finish line.
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| Me struggling during the last stretch of the 5K. Photo by JR. |
April 24 Crystal City Friday 5K
As mentioned before, the temperature was much cooler and the humidity was much lower. We were also blessed with abundant sunshine and a cloudless sky. The weather would have been perfect had it not been for those headwinds.
The course was exactly the same as the preceding week's Crystal City Friday 5K, so I came in with a better idea of what to expect and where the difficult parts lay. JR was also running this time, and again, we had our cheering squad of Jeremy, Andy, Alfie, and Eric.
Mile 1 (6:08): I did a much better job of running tangents through that initial twisty part of the race this time, and I managed to do it without cutting anyone off. As I turned onto the service road behind the office complexes, I glanced down at my Garmin and noticed I was running a 7:30/mile pace. That was definitely not right; looking back, what I think had happened was that the GPS still had trouble resolving even after I started the timer. This sometimes happens on runs; the GPS is unable to find signal during the first thirty seconds or so, which makes the timer continue even though my Garmin is not recording any distance. Essentially, thirty seconds pass before my Garmin detects the first hundredth of a mile that I run, ultimately resulting in an unusually slow first mile.
But I knew by feel that I was definitely not running 7:30/mile pace. I focused on running the tangents and not freaking out; I kept my effort at a constantly hard level, but not too hard that I would implode on the much more difficult third mile. On the service road, I ended up passing this guy with whom I would be locked in a struggle until the very end of the race.
My Garmin read 0.96 miles and 5:54 when I crossed the first mile marker. This also gave me reason to believe that my Garmin had a signal issue at the very beginning of the race.
Mile 2 (5:53): I kept my pace controlled throughout this section, remembering from last time that this mile was much faster than the other two. However, headwinds began to strike. Remembering my experience from the Shamrock Marathon, I tried not to charge into the headwind. Even in spite of the headwind, I was able to keep my target pace.
Aforementioned guy that I passed in the first mile on that service road passed me right back halfway through this mile.
Mile 3 to the end (splits: 6:02, 0:38 for the last 0.11 miles): Just like last time, the third mile was the most difficult for me. Again, I felt like I was working harder, even though my Garmin indicated I was running slower. The headwinds certainly did not help; I still encountered them, even though I was going in the opposite direction of what I was running in the second mile. But I did pace the third mile much better than I did last time; 6:02 versus 6:11.
At the very end of the race, I did end up passing that guy that I passed in the first mile who passed me back in the second mile at the very end. From this mile until the end of the race, I also had my sights set on JR; he was several seconds ahead of me, and I tried to catch up to him, but I could not close the gap (I am truly happy that he got a PR in this race; I'm just a little competitive).
During dinner, every few minutes I would have these chesty coughs where I would hack up slime from inside my lungs. It all cleared up shortly afterwards. I was not concerned; this is typical after I run a shorter race. I've always believed that if you're hacking up a lung after a 5K race, then you did it right.
Next Steps
I have forgotten how much 5K races hurt. They are so short and fast that it is pretty much a lung-searing effort the entire way. It isn't an effort that is strenuous enough to have you tasting that coppery lactic acid taste afterwards like an 800 meter or 1600 meter race would, but it will still leave that burning sensation in your lungs for hours afterwards. Also, due to their length and speed, they leave very little room for error.
I'm finished racing until the Navy Half-Marathon in September. I don't really like racing during the summer, not only because the heat and humidity leads to slower finishing times, but also because I have been training for fall marathons every year these past several years, and I typically prefer to spend my time and effort for training. Doing the shorter races that are typically held in the area in July and August still require at least a few days of recovery, but are not as helpful to my marathon training as long runs or high mileage would be.
This also marks the end of my 2014-15 DC Front Runners race circuit season. Spring 2015 was not exactly a season of jaw-dropping personal bests or breakthroughs, although I did manage some perfectly satisfactory performances. But I have been a little lazy this winter; my mileage has been lower. But in general, this race circuit season was a good one; my total score (431.00) was similar to last year's (430.24), I did get a half-marathon and marathon PR, qualified for Boston again (although by 72 seconds, which still probably would not be enough to allow me to run Boston in 2016), and won an age group award.
Now, I plan to take a bit of a break from running. I will still run, though, but just the bare minimum to maintain some fitness so I don't go into training for my next marathon completely out of shape. I will be doing a lot of dancing for the DC Front Runners Dance Troupe, which was excellent cross-training, did help maintain fitness also, and exercised muscles I usually don't work when I'm doing heavier mileage. But I did like having a season of less running and no marathons. Come June, I will be ready to start training for Hartford. I'll aim for a PR, and hopefully, I will run a fast enough time to allow me to run Boston in 2017.
