Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run Race Report

I was excited and looking forward to this race because Mike decided he was going to run with me and I knew that it would be fun. We woke up bright and early around 5:30 and I ate some toast with almond butter. Mike's parents came over around 6 to stay with the boys, we left shortly after that and drove to the metro station which took us into D.C.

The weather was slightly chilly around 40 degrees. I was wearing shorts and a long sleeve shirt. The race started at 7:45 and I was supposed to be in the 4th wave of runners, but because we made a stop at the port a johns that were so far away, we missed the start of that wave and ended up behind them in the next one. Needless to say the first mile was catching up and passing people.

Mike was talking so much at the beginning, I think because he had so much coffee that morning! I'm used to running by myself so at first I asked him not to talk so much...but then I started enjoying it. He was very entertaining. He was motivating everyone, including the spectators!! it was pretty funny. During the first mile he yelled to someone on the side, "Are we there yet? how much longer to the end?" A couple of seconds later the lady on the sidelines yelled back, "9 more miles!"

One of the funny shirts I saw read, "I hope I do well in this race because I trained all day yesterday for it."

The cherry blossoms were very pretty and the weather was perfect. Once the sun came up it got a lot warmer and I decided to take off my shirt.

My plan was to run around a 9:39 pace. Earlier in the week I had checked out the race pace calculator I found on Runner's World. It's pretty cool. Based on an entry of your most recent race time and distance, this tool will predict finish times for you for a variety of common race distances. I was feeling good and enjoying the scenery. This was the first race I have ever ran with somebody and I liked it. We passed the 6 mile marker and Mike yelled to everyone around us, "Only 3.99 miles to go!" I think he did this at every mile. I was keeping a steady pace. I took my phone with me so Mike could take photos along the way. He'd run up ahead and try to get a good shot of me running. We were having fun.The last mile I pushed it. It was great to have Mike there motivating me. He even reminded me at the finish line to not stop my watch but to smile for the camera! Good advice. I finished in 1:36:12. I was happy with my time and 9:37 pace. All in all it was a great race with beautiful weather and wonderful support beside me.