Cherry Blossom 10 miler, April 6th 2008 (D.C.)
The race was amazing. It was definitely a course well designed and a great day to run in the true spirit of the sport. With the district sky overcast and the air slightly cold and misting everyone, my (green) wave of runners crossed the start line around 8:30am very close to the national monument. By the two mile marker, we had ran down past the tidal basin and all along the cherry blossoms reaching Hains point. This is when I started to be very aware of my thighs and thought for sure that I was in trouble for the remainder of the race. But, luckily the burn didn't get any worse than that initial dull throb. I hit my 2nd wind the same time I always do, right around miles 5 and 6.
Mile 7 took us all along the Kennedy center, then around and back down the same side leading to the 14th street bridge. Mile 8 on the bridge was when it really started to rain, and to make the situation worse, at the end of the bridge the course ran us around the circle and BACK OVER the bridge (No no no! We just crossed this!), which was uphill! Up until that point, we had been pretty spoiled with all of the beautiful cherry blossoms decorating a very flat course. I just didn't want to have to stop running, and this is when I pulled my upper thigh muscle, and I thought for sure I was done running and would be walking the majority of the remainder of the race. :(
This is an injury from 2 years ago, (it's essentially a groin pull) and sure enough I irritated it pretty badly once the course turned uphill. I just kept thinking no no no...of all things not something like a muscle pull can be stopping me now! Because you don't account for these things as an obstacle. You think maybe you'll get a really bad cramp that slows you down and you have to stretch it out, or just have to stop out of sheer exhaustion. But if you're not exhausted, cramping, or your lungs don't hurt, then anything else is just unfair! This new pain was completely unfair. (This never happened in training!) But I concentrated on my breathing, and the fact that we were well into mile 8 at that point, and the fact that I wanted to be able to tell my sister and everyone that I ran the entire thing, and I barreled through. All the while being pelted in the face with rain. I couldn't believe how soaked my hair was! We all looked like we had taken a shower. I guess we pretty much had :)
So, I finished crossing the bridge for the goddamn second time (still so bitter about that), rounded the corner and hit the mile 9 marker, and I took off. There's a certain way I run I think when I'm tired but can't help but continue to move quickly, and I imagine my feet to looking something like Fred's when he's driving his Flintstone car. So anyway, this is how I'm running. And I had put up with the rain for over a mile now, and I'm thinking THIS FUCKING SUCKS at this point. I somehow managed to sprint the finish again (yay!) and for the brutality of the course and weather, I still didn't feel nearly as exhausted as I did when I finished the ATM in October. So I thought for sure I hadn't pushed myself nearly as hard and that definitely my
time would be worse by at least 10 minutes if not more.
Once I stopped running, I was immediately freezing, having had nothing over my head or ears for the last 5 miles, (I had stripped off my hooded jacket halfway through) and was running in a tank. And I think the cold is what made me really dizzy suddenly. But I found water and food at the refreshment tents quickly, and was Ok. My muscle pull was definitely irritated, but I still felt great. And my thighs weren't even tingling that badly. I was just COLD!
Overall it was truly a great experience. There's nothing like being caught up in that wave of energy, that collective momentum of everyone pushing you through, and just leaving all your stress behind you stride by stride. I'm thrilled to say for the first time I ran all 10 miles without my ipod, so it was just me and my thoughts, and the passing funny casual conversation with my fellow runners that happens when you're racing. (Everyone seems to be talking about brunch plans! It's hysterical.) This truly changed the experience and I'm sure I'll always run a race without my ipod from now on.
When Nadia called me that afternoon and said the results were already posted, I couldn't believe I had actually beaten my old time by 5 minutes. I was ecstatic.
So, who's doing the next one with me? Registration has opened for the ATM in October, you know! And of course, I'm already signed up ;) I am concerned though, about my injury since it did put me out of commission for a year the last time. Most runners have knee issues, my body seems to prefer this one, and it is a common muscle pull for runners too. So, we'll see. Hopefully with a lot of conditioning, stretching and Yoga, (and probably some meds thrown in there) I'll still be out there all spring and summer :)
Thanks so much for your well wishes and support! Y'all are the best :)
