My original race plan - run a decent pace, enjoy it, hold 7:50 - 8:00 miles and don't put too much pressure on myself to PR. PRing my 10 mile once already this year (Cherry Blossom) was good for me, no reason to push it too hard. I'd enjoy the day, the atmosphere and the nice DC course, one that I'd never run before.
The REAL Race Plan -
I put myself in the front-middle section of my corral. The 1st corral behind seeded runners I believe - so 2nd corral. I told myself to keep the first 3 miles feeling easy and try to hold that pace for the entire 10 miles or better yet pick it up for the last 2 or 3 miles if all went well. I have become well aware that I have a tendency to start off way to fast (6:22 for lap 1 of a 5 miler cuz it felt easy...whoops) so I started off running what felt really easy -- I thought I'd be around 8:10 for the first mile. I looked down and it was 7:14, so I slowed myself down. I slowed down to the point where it felt nice and easy - lap 1 7:38. Oh dear, I thought I was digging myself into a hole. Mile 2 I kept the same effort level and hit a 7:35....and I still felt good. This was great! The weather was perfect as well. I had worn arm warmers with shorts and a tee, but ended up tucking the armwarmers away before the starting gun went off. Miles 3, 4, and 5 went by without a problem. Right as I was beginning to feel like I had to work I saw a friend out for a run. It was nice to have someone to keep my spirits up and push me along through mile 6 and part of 7. Thanks J. Brez!After parting ways with Brez I decided I'd stop looking at my watch and do what I could to get to the finish. The 14th St. Bridge was still waiting for me and that bridge seems to always be an unexpected heart breaker for me. It was tough, I told myself to stay behind a girl I'd been running near almost the entire time. Before I knew it I was headed back toward the Pentagon and looking for a good place to kick it in to the finish. I hadn't been watching my splits for the past couple miles so I really had no clue what my time was. If I ever wondered what perfect running weather is, I now know. It's the weather we had on October 20, 2013. I never felt hot, I never felt cold, I was sweating a bit, and the sun was shining. I never would have thought I'd be able to run like I did for 10 miles that day. So thank you, Kenn for the opportunity and thank you, Brez for pulling me along when it started getting hard.
Finish Time - 1:16:26
Average Pace - 7:36
Now it's time to figure out when I can do in the 1/2 marathon. I've never had a good 1/2 marathon. Maybe it's the fact that I only have run a 1/2 the past 3 years in March, or maybe it's that I never seem to train properly for them or pay attention to pace at all during training. Hopefully with a bit of rest, a bit more work, and being more familiar with my Garmin (as compared to last year) I can crush Rock 'n Roll USA.
