Cherry Pit Ten Miler Recap

On the last day of my spring break, after a week of barely being able to peel myself out of bed by 10am, I naturally set the alarm for 5:30 for a race. 

When it went off, I first laid in bed for a few minutes, wondering where the hell my damn tiger blood energy was. (That's actually what the whole 30 website calls the burst of energy their followers get, which for some reason I'm not experiencing. I'm supposed to be bounding out of bed with ease at 4am!).

After I got over my lack of tiger blood, I went to the bathroom and glared at my stupid face for a few minutes. No tiger blood, and once again, my skin is as terrible as ever. I've come to terms with it, since I first started using Oxy pads at age 10, but I just don't like being lied to. And yes, suggestions of "get pregnant" to fix it have been noted.

Every year, Washington DC hosts a race so that runners can admire the famed, beautiful cherry blossom trees. For those of you in other areas of the country that can't go see this amazing sight, I've included a picture that I printed out in 2006, scanned, uploaded to Facebook like 2 years ago, and copied and pasted tonight, because apparently that was easier than going to google images.

Sounds great, right? It probably is. But there's a lottery to get in, probably an exorbitant entrance fee, and it requires the masochist desire to lose hours of your life to complicated logistics, riding the metro uncomfortably close to really sweaty people, and standing in a porto - potty line. 

I've had some experiences both spectating and volunteering at large DC races, as well as running a few (Rock n Roll, Marine Corps, and Hot Chocolate, aka the worst day of everyone's lives), and there is only one word in the English language to describe them. Clusterf&*%. I have no idea why I couldn't get this idea through my thick skull and kept going back for more.

I'd like to say I've finally learned my lesson, but I'd probably be lying. Anyway, a local running club in Annapolis (which is about halfway between here and DC) puts on the $10 Cherry Pit Ten Miler for people who want to just show up and.... run. Imagine that! Sure, the views aren't quite as exciting, and there's no spectators. However, we arrived at 7:30 for an 8am race, and were able to park, get our bibs, pee, and still have plenty of time to run into friends, chit chat, and take awkward photos in a high school cafeteria.

No idea what the hell was going on here.

Trying to show off my coordination.

I ran in my Mizuno Wave Mushas, which are a racing flat with a little support. I'd only worn them once before, on the treadmill, and I loved them! Super comfortable, and I swear I felt a little faster. Sometimes the bottoms of my feet start to hurt in my Brooks PureFlows, but I didn't feel any of that in these shoes.

I ran this race last year, and it was one of those perfect days where the stars align, you feel great, and then the clock shocks you at the end with an unexpected PR (1:20:37). Runners only get a handful of those in their lives, so I didn't expect a repeat.

This year, I sort of wanted to run it as a extra fast tempo run for my Delaware Marathon training, but I also sort of wanted to try to PR again. Based on my splits, I guess I was committed to plan #1 during the first half, and then switched over to plan #2 after that. Garmin time 1:22:31.

Mile 7 was a hill.

I didn't think the hills were that bad last year, and I still don't, but my running buddies disagreed with me (of course, they were running like 6 minute miles, so maybe they felt those hills a little more).

Forcing them to put sweaty bodies together after races for blog pictures are why my friends love me.

Here's the elevation, it didn't seem as hilly as my neighborhood.

I wish I'd pushed it more in the first half instead of being conservative, but my legs felt great after and they still do, so maybe it was the right call. I guess I'll see when I hit the track on Tuesday. Overall though, it's a great race, I highly recommend it. Tiger blood or not, I had fun.

Ever done a race that you really, really regret? Tell me all the horror stories please!