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Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Recap

April 14, 2014 By: Courtney @ Eat Pray Run DC16 Comments

Hey y’all, I’m back! Hope you enjoyed Guest Post week on the blog — I have to say, I missed y’all ๐Ÿ™‚ Seattle was amazing and exhausting and I’m happy to be home. I thought I’d finally get around to sharing my Cherry Blossom 10 Miler recap. I may have said this before, but I think that the ten mile distance is my clear favorite distance to run. It’s long enough to really get into your preferred pace but short enough that when you are at mile 5 you are half way done. Cherry Blossom is a lottery because it’s so popular but they have a great bib transfer system if you don’t get in the lottery.

Because I’m a Zooma Annapolis Ambassador (don’t forget to use code ANNAMB2 for 10% off the race – click hereย to sign up!), I volunteered to work the Zooma Booth at the Cherry Blossom Expo the day before the race. I loved working the expo table. I got to meet a bunch of fun runners (including a woman who recognized me from my blog — how cool is that!) and chat about Zooma. It was a fun way to pass the afternoon.

working the zooma booth at the cherry blossom expo

Race day dawned a bit chilly, but I stayed with my same outfit from my marathon the previous weekend. My Lesko Shimmel, stride shorts, arm warmers and calf sleeves were a great choice. I threw on a throw away shirt for the starting line and got ready to run. I started the race with my friend Tiffany. We picked a meeting place afterwards in case we got separated. We were planning to run together and I wasn’t planning on pushing it since I was fresh off a marathon. Best laid plans…

I felt great from the start. A little cold during miles one and two, but I felt strong and knew I could run faster than miles two and three.

mile 1: 9:56

mile 2: 10:35

mile 3: 10:31

mile 4: 10:13

mile 5: 10:01

Around mile five, I started to think that even though it wasn’t my intention, I could totally PR. I told myself if I could just hold my pace, I would for sure beat my Reston 10 Miler time.

mile 6: 10:11

mile 7: 10:09

mile 8: 10:16

At mile 8.5 I saw my coach from my winter training program. It was a surprise (although it shouldn’t have been) and really pumped me up for the rest of the race. I kept up my pace (basically) during that mile even though, I did stop to give her a huge hug.

mile 9: 10:07

mile 10: 9:40

Once I got to mile 9, I knew that I had less than 11 minutes left of running and just kept telling myself that I could push hard (what I like to call throw-up pace) for less than 11 minutes. So I did. There is a teeny tiny hill at the end of the race that doesn’t feel so tiny when you are closing in on mile 10. But even with that hill, mile 10 was my fastest.

tiffany and i before the race and my results.I am proud of myself for not giving the race up when it hurt. I dug deep and pushed through the pain and was rewarded with a 3 minute PR! One week after a beast of a marathon. This race was confidence building and has me excited to start working towards a two hour half marathon!

As a total bonus, I saw SO MANY people I knew during / after this race. Jenny from Run Jenny Run found me after she finished and I was so pumped to meet her. Cyanne from Run Stretch Goย also spotted me post race and it was awesome to meet her in person. My friend Tiffany managed to run the entire race — which was her #1 goal after not running much before the race. It was my friend Ally’s first ten miler and she absolutely killed it. I could seriously go on forever — such a great race!

with cyanne after the race!

Did you race Cherry Blossom? How’d it go?ย 


Comments

  1. Kathryn @ Dancing to Running says

    April 14, 2014 at 7:48 am

    Way to go, Courtney! Congrats on the PR! Since I met Cynthia and Mar on Friday at the expo I was a bit bummed to have missed you at the race, but soon enough I’ll meet the final member of the DC Trifecta!
    Kathryn @ Dancing to Running recently posted…Weekly Training Log โ€“ Week of April 7thMy Profile

    Reply
    • cdredden@gmail.com says

      April 14, 2014 at 11:21 am

      thanks kathryn! i was sad that i missed you as well — but i’m sure we’ll meet up soon ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  2. Chaitali says

    April 14, 2014 at 9:28 am

    Congrats on the PR! It’s so interesting reading about everyone’s separate experiences for the same race. I’d love to try this one in the future at some point.
    Chaitali recently posted…Weekly reviewMy Profile

    Reply
    • cdredden@gmail.com says

      April 14, 2014 at 12:41 pm

      it’s a great race — i recommend it!

      Reply
  3. Mar @ Mar on the Run! says

    April 14, 2014 at 9:51 am

    Welcome BACK!!! you were missed ๐Ÿ™‚ I wasn’t interested in this race many months ago but then seeing all the posts and working the expo, I got jealous ๐Ÿ˜‰ yay for a new PR!
    Mar @ Mar on the Run! recently posted…RRCA Certification Weekend + WorkoutsMy Profile

    Reply
    • cdredden@gmail.com says

      April 14, 2014 at 12:48 pm

      i missed you, BRF! cherry blossom is a great race — i think you’d actually really like it!

      Reply
  4. Michelle @ Running with Attitude says

    April 14, 2014 at 10:01 am

    Welcome back! And congrats on such a great PR!!
    Michelle @ Running with Attitude recently posted…Training Check-in Week 6My Profile

    Reply
    • cdredden@gmail.com says

      April 14, 2014 at 12:53 pm

      thanks Michelle! it’s good to be back ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  5. Jennifer says

    April 14, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    What an amazing PR!! Congrats on pushing through the run. So glad to have run into you!
    Jennifer recently posted…Weekly Workout/Training in Review 4/6-4/12My Profile

    Reply
    • cdredden@gmail.com says

      April 14, 2014 at 5:02 pm

      It was great to meet you as well! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  6. Abby @ BackAtSquareZero says

    April 14, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    Great pace! Congrats
    Abby @ BackAtSquareZero recently posted…Coconut, White Chocolate, Sugar Cookie Bites โ€“ Gluten FreeMy Profile

    Reply
    • cdredden@gmail.com says

      April 14, 2014 at 5:03 pm

      Thanks Abby!

      Reply
  7. Janelle @ Run With No Regrets says

    April 14, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    Congrats on your race and PR! It must be so cool meeting fellow running bloggers, sounds like it was a great time!
    Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…My Next Race: Clean Air Council 5K!My Profile

    Reply
  8. Coco says

    April 14, 2014 at 9:26 pm

    You did great! You are so right about that hill. It is nothing in a training run, but a BEAST at the end of the race.
    Coco recently posted…The 30th GW Parkway Classic 10 MilerMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Kristen says

    April 14, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    Congrats on the PR! I really want to run this race someday!
    Kristen recently posted…Race Recap: Hershey 10kMy Profile

    Reply
  10. Cynthia @ You Signed Up For What?! says

    April 18, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    Love it! I think I’ll enter the lottery for next year, I did it once in 2007 – it’s been so long!
    Cynthia @ You Signed Up For What?! recently posted…Friday Five: Fitness GoalsMy Profile

    Reply

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