What a race. I love races so much everything leading up and about them. They are so much fun and jittery nervous excitement, it really is a blast. But before I get into the full details of the race itself, I have to tell you about what happened just about 2 hours before it.
I woke up Sunday morning (race day) at 5:30 am. I had set 3 alarms and they all went off in perfect synchronization and I woke up right on time. Though I was tired, I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom clutching my running bag. The night before, I put everything I needed into a bag that I could easily grab in the morning and drag into the bathroom. So I flipped a switch and as the light hit my eyes and my pupils dilated, I felt a sense of nerves and immense excitement wash over me. I quickly brushed my teeth, washed my face, and began to get dressed. I don’t know why, but on race day the order in which I put on my clothes has to be specific. I never care when I am just going for a run, but on the day of a race I do it slowly and the same way every time. I guess it’s just to be sure I don’t forget anything. So I put on my compression shorts and then my Adidas soccer shorts. Then I quickly put on both the pink and the blue Patagonia sports bras (ladies, if you don’t own one, you should. They are 100% worth the money). Then I put on a teal tank like under-thing; this was actually a last minute decision, but turned out to work well. Then I wore the technical shirt I got for running the National Breast Cancer ½ Marathon in February. I then put on a Smartwool jacket to keep me warm till I got down to the mall, an EMS fleece over that, and my Binghamton sweats. I then put on two pairs of socks, my favorites, Underarmor wicking below the ankle socks, and then my second favorites, Smartwool PhD Running Light Micro Socks. I then slipped into my Brooks trail shoes and was dressed. I then ate some fruit and put my hair put into this silly pigtail thing (I recently cut my hair quite short and now I can only do pigtails). I compiled all of my gear that I would be taking down with me, put on my coat, pet Lee for good luck, and walked outside to my car. Noticing that it was now 6:05 am, I quickly put my stuff in the car, got in the driver’s side, put in the key, turned it, and ggggg-ggggg-ggggg-gg, nothing. The car’s starter was working but the engine wasn’t turning over. I sat very still and said a prayer and tried again. Ggggg-ggggg-ggggg-gg, nothing. I knew that now I would be running short on time and this was a big problem. I live about a mile and a half away from the metro train station and now my car wouldn’t start. It is 6 am and though they had additional metro rail service today for runners, they did not have additional bus service in my county. I tried a couple of things before giving up at 6:16 am, knowing that I really had to get moving. So I went back up stairs and left everything that was non-essential, which also means I only took what I could run with. I was very cold so I kept the two sweater/jackets on and took along the clear plastic bag to check my bag once I got to the race start. I checked to make sure I had everything, again, and headed out. I walked to the corner checked to see if any buses would be coming soon, which they were not, and decided to run the 1.5 to the train. I went slow, about 10 minute miles and took off toward the metro. It was very dark and cold and I was a bit freaked out that now I was on a very tight time frame, on top of which I didn’t know how I would be able to get home later. I moved very quickly through the darkness seeing almost no one and checking over my shoulder to see if a bus was coming. A bus never came, but I eventually made it to the train station.
Across from the train station is a 7-11 which, thank God, was open. I went inside, made myself some Earl Grey tea and grabbed a banana. My traditional pre-race breakfast is almost always, Earl Grey tea with Splenda and skim milk, cheerios with skim milk, and a banana. My original time frame included these things, but the updated one did not, so banana and tea with half and half would have to do. I am consistently and continually grateful that my body is not picky and generally accepts with delight whatever I put in it. I was particularly concerned about the half and half, but beggars can’t be choosers. So with my goods, I scrambled down to the metro and up to the train platform, where I got to wait 10 minutes for the next train in the whipping wind and cold. On the bring side, the sun was rising and my legs were feeling good from the 1.5 mile warm up they just got. Once on the train I quickly found an empty two-seater and went to work putting the D-tag on my shoe, pinning on my race bib, and eating my banana. I slowly sipped the tea, being wary both of the fatty milk and the tight time frame I was on (read as: the likelihood of long bathroom lines at the race start). Once all of this was taken care of (it’s about a 30-45 minute trip down to the Smithsonian, so I had some time), I read through the newsletter they stuff in your race bag to calm my mind. Unfortunately this did not work. I got to the section of the newsletter explaining that the bag check closed at 7:15 am and it was 7:10 am while I was reading this, and starting to freak out yet again. I finally decided that being stressed is not going to work for me and I will do the best I can to be peaceful and calm and let whatever happens happen. Although, that being said, as soon as I got to the top of the stairs at the Smithsonian exit, I booked it over to bag check and got in right in the last minute to check my bag with my sweaters, hat, keys, and other random stuff I had with me. Oh yeah, I left my leg brace in the bag because I decided that I wasn’t going to need it. It felt amazing to not have to put on a brace for the run (and my knees were fine!!). After checking my bag, I raced over to the starting line, completely ignoring the bathrooms and my gurgley stomach. Where you stand for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler race start is based on the color on your race bib. My color was green, so I proceeded to find the green flags marking the green section and meander about with the other “green” runners. The color represents the time you expect to finish in; I think I had put down to finish in 2 hours. Last year when I was watching this race and not running, I distinctively remember the announcers calling the green and purple groups the “for fun runners.” This probably contributed to my “I must run this fast” mentality that I brought with me to the race. I lined up along the left hand side, where I normally gravitate to, and called my mom on her cell. She gave me some last words of advice and inspiration and sang me the Rocky theme song. I also got a few texts messages from a friend and my brother wishing me luck, which at 7 am is always something that impresses and inspires a runner. I had talked to my dad the night before and he too had given my words of encouragement and love. I felt like my whole family was there even though they weren’t really there. I was very confident at the start. I knew I would run well, because I have a solid running history, my injuries were healed, and I had prepared (even if it was only a little) for the race. This race was mostly about proving to myself that I could do really well on my own. It was going to be a strange feeling to run all alone, but I knew that really I wasn’t alone. I had my family and friends, there with me in spirit. You are never really alone.
So then the first gun went off at 7:32 am for the elite women runners. Everyone else was to start 10 minutes after and in 3 minute interval waves to break up congestion on the race course. I realized that this would be putting me almost 20 minutes behind in terms of starting time. This bugged me for a minute before I let it go. I just promised myself to check my watch when I crossed the start line and continually throughout the race to keep track of my actual total run time in my head. This is both difficult and confusing unless you are using a timer, which I decided against. I also wasn’t thinking about the timer until after I started to run, and at that point I just decided math games in my head would be better. This actually doesn’t work well. After about the 3rd mile you brain gets easily confused and it’s hard to keep track of your actual running time, so use the stop watch. So I waited a long long time to cross the starting line. We kept moving up and up but were walking and it was so frustrating. There was definitely easily more than the allotted 15,000 runners there that day and the beginning precessions were running behind schedule. I waited as patiently as possible to start jogging and then finally to start running. I crossed the starting line at 7:57 am, by my watch. At this race when people were crossing the start line many of them cheered, which was cool, but clearly marked that where I was running was the fun runner group. I was here for a PR. I was here to race, so I went through my mental checklist and began to implement my plan. The mental check list for me is something like the NASA checklist before a space shuttle launch. There are a variety of things one must make sure are working and are solid at the beginning of every adventure. In my case, I needed to do an internal systems check as well as an external analysis. For a race this short, I would only do 2 internal checks, one at the beginning and one at somewhere around the half way point. For longer races such as a marathon, an internal check should be done every 5 miles. I do an external check every mile. What do these checks consist of? You might ask. The internal check is going through your body and mentally checking in with your organs, muscles, and bones. This probably sounds very hippie-ish and new agey, but I try to think about that area and make sure it feels strong and ready to run. I also try and feel out any possible weaknesses or problems early on. If you work on consistently staying in check with our body, it will keep you apprised of any small injuries cropping up, such as a twinge in your patella tendon or a blister forming under your big toe. The sooner you deal with little things, the better. Sometimes a little pebble in your shoe can cause a blister so bad you can’t walk for weeks if you don’t take care of it early. Internal checks are important and that’s why I continue to do them through every race. External checks pertain to thinking about how your shorts are rubbing on your butt, if your socks are bunching up in a funny way that could be an issue, if your hair band is irritating your scalp, etc. It also means to check the swinging of your arms, your gait, your cadence, where you are letting your foot hits the ground, and keeping your back straight. Mostly this is to keep you from getting sloppy as you start to get tired and have trouble pushing on.
At the start I did my internal check noting that all systems seemed to be firing well and all lights were green. This mildly surprised me considering that I had already run 1.5 miles this morning and expected to have something bothering me by now. I did my first external check and remembered I didn’t have Vaseline. I knew that chaffing would be a problem later, but there was nothing I could do about it so I went on my way. With all hands shouting good to go, I took off down the hill and down the street adjacent to the Lincoln soccer fields and the reflecting pool. I adjusted my pace so I would run my first mile in just over 10 minutes. I kept a good eye on the clock and paced myself perfectly for the first mile. This was fine, except that I was quickly bored with the pace and decided to ramp it up a bit for mile 2. As the course curved around behind the Lincoln monument, my favorite monument, I pushed my pace down to a sub 10 minute mile. I randomly glanced over to my left as I heard a cheer go up, and saw the elite men passing the five mile mark. They had only been running for maybe 20 minutes, probably less. I thought it was very cool that we got to see them as they were passing us and racing ahead. Every year the top women finishers complete the course in just under an hour and the men in around 48 minutes. This is extremely impressing to me. As I focused back on my race, I realized that I had begun picking people off rather quickly. This is something that never really happens to me. I have run 70% of my races injured and always just had the simple goal of finishing. But this race, as mentioned in the earlier post, was different. I was racing, probably for the first time in my life. Racing certainly gives you an adrenaline kick, as does passing people. I could see how elite athletes would get used to this. For me, each person I passed felt like a victory. I was now running with the orange pack. Once we cleared the Lincoln memorial, we headed across Memorial Bridge. This is the first part of the race where the average non-elite runners in the back can see the average non-elite but a bit faster runners ahead of them. While it was cool to see the red and blue folks ahead, I decided once again my pace was a bit too slow for the orange pack and began to surge ahead. As I was pushing past folks, and when I say “pushing” I mean dodging, I had to weave in and out of people and in and out of spaces to not run into others. Many of the folks in and around my start group were running to finish, meaning they were running a 13-14 minute mile. I knew I needed to get ahead but with the massive amount of runners, finding spaces to run in steadily, at my pace, were difficult to come by. So I dodged and weaved through the thick crowd of people as we neared next mile. I found that much of this time I stared at other runner’s shoes and butts. Really when you are running there isn’t much to look at. But I have a good excuse, because I do much of my running on trails I tend to look down while I run and focus on short, focused, technical steps rather than flat longer strides that you use while road running. I am convinced that running with shorter strides and landing with a mind-foot strike is better for runners, but that’s just me. Anyway I found that most of the runners wear Asics or Saucony, which surprised me. As we all know for earlier posts, I prefer the more rugged shoe companies (Brooks, Salomon, Montrail) and I prefer trail running shoes over road shoes, and this was a road race. However, I was still surprised by much of the shoe wearers in this race. I think I only saw a handful of Brooks and only 2 other runners the entire race in trail shoes. I immediately felt akin to these other two women, one wearing Adidas trail shoes and the other in a pair of Brooks Cascadias, and also realized the three of us were vaguely running at the same pace. I am gonna take a minute to mention here that I noticed that the skills I have honed by dodging around objects in my training runs, a trait my running partners often find strange and mildly annoying, came in significant handy while navigating the crowds. As I pressed forward, passing the Kennedy Center and running along the Potomac, I noticed the first significant turn around and how much further ahead I was than I thought I would be. I suddenly saw all of the people behind me and realized that I was making really good time. I had barely paid attention to the clock up until then, but as the 5k mark approached I kept an eye out for the clock to see how I was doing in terms of time. Inconveniently, the only reason I knew this was the 3 mile mark was that I saw the blue and orange lump in the road, the casing that covers the device that records race times. The clock was blocked by volunteers and the mile marker was behind and completely obscured by both the volunteers and the clock itself. I checked the clock and then my watch to see that I had just run 3 miles in about 27 minutes a 5k PR for me. One down, one more to go. I got really excited about this and began to run even faster. I quickly blazed past the white marble stairs that overlook the Potomac behind the Lincoln and made my way into West Potomac Park (part 1). As I passed the first sign for West Potomac Park, I had a rush of nerves over come me and cause me to settle into a 9 minute per mile pace. This spot, about 6 months earlier is where I had torn several muscles (or tendons, who knows!) in my ankle during the MCM. I had just come down off of the hill from Georgetown and this was where the real struggle of that race began for me. The reminder of those hard moments sent shivers down my spine and I quickly did another internal/external systems check. Though no red flags were coming up, I found that I was a bit tired and the right side of my hip was slightly sore. The knees and ankles were still holding strong at this point. I also began to notice that the Gatorade provided at the water stations was helping immensely. I had clearly already used up the fuel from my early morning banana and was dipping into my body’s glycogen and fat reserves. As far as I knew, no kcal supplements were supplied during this race and I didn’t have any GU’s or Clif Bloxs with me. While I noted that this wasn’t great, it made me focus hard at water stations to get some of the lemon-lime Gatorade and drink it all. Losing fluids and calories through sweat was making it difficult to keep my energy levels up. Just as a side note, I normally only drink pink Gatorade and HATE with a passion all of the other flavors, but during this race every time that radioactive yellow appeared in a little green cup, I knew things would be okay and felt a surge of joy and strength. A big thanks to Gatorade during that race, it probably was the thing that helped me finish within my time goals, you know that and sheer bad ass strength. Ha ha!
I was finally able to shake off the memory of Georgetown and my ankle at a turn around I forgot there was. The run only goes on the first part of West Potomac park to West Basin Drive and then the runners are shunted back up toward the Lincoln, around the east side of the Tidal Basin (where the cherry blossom trees are all lined) and past the ever famous Jefferson memorial. The race course then took the runners behind the Jefferson and back down to West and then East Potomac Park via Ohio drive. Around mile six, I started to notice that the little achy pain in my right hip was worsening. After shaking the G-town memory, I had run faster: the past 3 miles at a pace of sub 9 minute miles and I was quite pleased with myself. Except now I was beginning to pay for my quickened pace. While the achy dull soreness from my right knee was a normal bi-product of running both fast and long and I knew would show up sooner or later, the tightening of my right side hip flexor was definitely a new and unexpected experience. I resisted the urge to push hard through the next four miles and settled back into a 9 minute per mile pace. As I was moving fluidly along, I looked out over the still waters of the Potomac and told myself, you worked hard to run this so no matter how much it hurts, don’t walk, don’t give up, this is your chance. Having a positive manta really helps in times when your struggling. I should mention that at this point I had caught and passed the green, orange, and some blue runners and moved up along with many of the red bibbed (the second wave!!) runners. I was quiet pleased with this since they had started nearly 10 minutes ahead of me. As I was drifting off into my thoughts I saw a guy run past with long flowing black curly hair and a neon yellow soccer shirt (Brasil). Though it didn’t register right away, I was like, “I know this guy.” After about a minute it clicked; he was my friend’s boyfriend. I quickly looked around for my friend and immediately spotted her. I ran up next to her and squeezed her arm; she looked over and goes “Emma! What are you doing here!?!” It was so funny that out of 15,000 runners I see my friend, who I didn’t know was also running in this race, in the crowd. We chatted about life and the race for about 1.5 miles before they were speeding up and I was slowing down. At this point we were nearing the Hains point turn around and I was starting to really struggle. I bid my friends good luck and a swift finish and settled into a 10-11 minute per mile pace. My hip flexor was tighter than a tightrope at a circus with an elephant on it and my right knee was really starting to twinge. I was having trouble bending my leg, but if I stopped to walk it would hurt more, so I kept going, slowly. I drank as much water and Gatorade as I could gulp down and kept moving through the pain. This is one of the things about running that I love, which undoubtedly also makes me crazy. I like knowing that I am hurting more than I can explain but also knowing that I can push through it no matter what. Around the next water station I heard a volunteer yell, “you’re doing great, only a mile and a quarter left!” I thought at first that she was lying and then I saw the blue and orange street lump and the time clock. This gave my legs new blood and new strength. I had felt so depleted I was ruing that I had to run earlier before the race and seriously considering walking. Hearing that I was so close to the finish, I closed my eyes for a brief moment and told myself, “Nicole, suck it up. You’ve been through worse and you’re stronger than this race.” Then I picked up my head, opened my eyes, and ran.
The end of the race takes the runners back up Ohio drive, past the Jefferson again, past the Holocaust museum, and across the finish (which was also the start line). It also takes you up a HUGE hill which, to make you more motivated NOT to walk, is lined with screaming and cheering spectators. Passing the Jefferson, I knew I was almost there and I did something I have been practicing for weeks, I kicked. The burst of energy I let loose to tear ass up that hill and across the finish line, was nothing short of dynamite. I impressed myself with how fast my legs were moving underneath me and all I could think was ‘COMMMMMMEEEE OOOOOONNNNNN!!!!’ I probably was going pretty slow by some’s standards, but I know from looking at my watch that I finished the last mile in under 8.4 minutes. When I crossed the line the clock read 1:54:01 and I couldn’t have been happier knowing that I finished within the time I said I’d finish and I knew that really it was more like 1:38. With the exception of not being able to get my hands on some water and a banana soon enough, I was overjoyed and tired. My legs felt like they had cement blocks tied to them and my hip flexor felt like a banjo string, but I was happy as a clam (however happy they are). I had run my race all on my own, but I wasn’t by myself like I thought I would be. I had my family calling and texting me with love and support throughout the race, my friends there with me “in spirit” (and my amazing friend, Rae, there for real with a sign and all), and my family and loved ones who aren’t here anymore, but watched me from the sky. I had a lot of love with me that day. After I finished I thought of all the times in my life that I had struggled through dark moments and I realized that I will always be able to make it through as long as I can keep running. It also made me realize that I will never ever stop running, because it is who I am; it makes me, me. It was an amazing and inspiring race.
I know I still owe quite a bit if running, biking, etc adventures to the blog updates and rest assured they are coming soon, but I wanted to include this race before it became a dim memory in my mind instead of a vivid one. I hope you enjoyed it and continue reading.
Go out for a run and have a beautiful day.
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