2016 Army Ten Miler

Scroll all the way down to the end of the post for the tl;dr version.

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Prologue

The Army Ten Miler is the second largest 10 miler in the United States.  This was my 8th time running the race (including 2005).  It’s one of my favorite races.  I always leave feeling motivated to push through obstacles – both real and perceived.

Going in, I was 15 weeks into training for the New York City Marathon.  After struggling though one of the hottest summers for in region and a disappointing Parks Half Marathon, I switched from a coach to Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning-type training.  The hot temperatures finally broke in late September.

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Goals

Achievable: Sub-1:20:00 (8:00 pace).  I managed 7:56 pace during the marathon paced miles of the DCRRC National Capital 20 Miler.  I should be able to repeat that effort.

Stretch: Sub-1:17:00 (7:43 pace).  I averaged 7:19 pace for 800m during last week’s interval workout.  If that was 5K pace, I should be able to run 10 miles at 7:45 pace.

Strategy:  Start out at 8:00 pace, drop the pace in the middle miles, give up some time on the 14th Street Bridge, but then find a kick for a fast finish.

Personal Records:

• 10 Mile PR: 1:08:26 (6:51 pace) at the 2014 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.
• Course PR: 1:08:40 (6:52 pace) at the 2012 Army 10 Miler.
• Most Recent 10 Mile: 1:13:25 (7:21 pace) at the 2016 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

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Course

The course starts at the Pentagon.  It goes up to the Memorial Bridge and into the District of Columbia.  After a loop through northwest D.C., the course goes along Independence Avenue before heading back into Virginia on the 14th Street Bridge.  The race finishes back at the Pentagon.

There are aid stations with water and Gatorade every 2 miles.  The crowd support is mostly at the Pentagon and along the Mall.

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Playlist

Listening devices are prohibited on the course, so I ran without music.

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Pre-Race

Friday

I went to the expo at the D.C. Armory on Friday afternoon.

I bought some shoe charms but that was it.  I liked the, “I will never quit,” logo, but I quit on rare occasions, so “never” seemed like a big commitment.  A friend was working at the expo and we chatted for a bit.  That evening, I looked at the goodies – No government contractor lip balm?!  That’s been a race packet staple in years past.

Race Day

I woke up at 4am, which was early when I thought the race started at 7am.  Getting ready, I realized the race started at 8am.  Sigh.  I heard it was raining.  I didn’t think it would impact my race, but I didn’t really want to stand around in it.  I could hear wind chimes, which told me it was also windy.  Heading out the door, I put on a throw away long sleeve – the shirt from my last race.

I left the house at 7am and jogged to the start.  I stood around for a while.

At 7:50am, the wounded warriors start and the corral collapsed.  I tossed my throw away shirt.  It was a little too soon and I got a little cold. I talked to a gentleman who said he’s seen me around the neighborhood.  He told me he missed last year’s race because he was hit by a car.  There is just so much inspiration to push through perceived obstacles in this race.

A few minutes later, after the announcer teased Paul Chelimo on whether he was going to win, a cannon fired and we’re off!

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Weather

I feared this would be a warm race but the temperature dropped overnight.  On race morning, the temperature was in the upper 50s but the winds were 21 to 25 mph with 30 to 36 mph gusts!

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The Race

Early Miles – Miles 0 to 4

I felt “off” from the start.  My pace felt too fast, it was hard to breath, my legs wouldn’t turn over…  I thought, This is not good.  In the meanwhile, streams of runners were passing me.  On the slight up-ramp leading to Arlington Cemetery and the Memorial Bridge, mile marker 1 appeared.  My first split was 7:38.  (I wasn’t running the tangents, so the splits were “long”.)  That’s a little fast, but I didn’t panic.  It was crowded and a lot of runners were weaving in and out of my line.  I sped up to avoid many of them.

Mile marker 2 was by the Lincoln Memorial.  It was 7:18 pace.  Whoa!  The first water stop was on Constitution Avenue before the course went up 21st Street and Virginia Avenue.  I decided to skip water.  (I didn’t drink anything during the race.)  I slowed down for the incline.  Mile marker 3 was at the end of this stretch and was 7:38 pace.

I swung out wide on Rock Creek Parkway but that meant the wind blew me around a little.  I thought I was working too hard and told myself to slow down until the half-way point.  A little bit down the road, I heard someone call out and say she liked my blog!  I thanked her and appreciated how cool that was.

Even though I thought I was slowing down, the next split was 7:18 pace!  I smiled and thought, I guess I’m either running 7:18s or 7:38s.

Splits (by mile markers): 7:35, 7:07, 7:35, 7:19.

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Middle Miles, Miles 4 to 7

After mile marker 4, the course went along Ohio Drive and Independence Avenue.  This section is mostly flat except a slight uphill next to the Washington Monument.  I struggled a little during this stretch.  I could have used some crowd support.  Normally there are more people lining the route but I contented myself by admiring the monuments.

I hit mile marker 5 – Okay, time to speed things up!  But, my legs felt like they wanted another slower mile.  And, I felt a hard side wind.  Finally, there was crowd support, though!  A crowd in General Dynamics shirts cheered heartily at the Smithsonian Metro stop on both sides of Independence Avenue.

The course did a loop around the Federal Aviation Building before heading back towards The Mall.  Mile marker 6 was on the back end of this stretch.  I willed myself to run a little harder but felt defeated by the wind.  I got a little discouraged but concentrated on how I was doing better than I thought I would even though I was fading.  The course turned onto the 14th Street Bridge.  I lengthened my stride a little to take advantage of the downhill.

Splits (by mile markers): 7:34, 7:31, 7:26.

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Later Miles 7 to 10

I was relieved to hit mile marker 7 and thought maybe I could pick up the pace.  But, I knew this was a tough part of the course since the course profile for the bridge is rolling mini-“hills”, there wouldn’t be many spectators, and the runners around me would be struggling.  Oh, and the wind!  As if fighting it wasn’t enough, the bibs were fighting against their safety pins and rattling with each gust.  It felt like I was on that bridge forever!  I was over-joyed to hit mile 8.

During this stretch, the military members really cheered one another on.  Sometimes, it was though gentle ribbing like when the “busted up” paratrooper passed a new recruit and told him he shouldn’t be beating him but other times, it was heartfelt like when a solder on the sidelines encouraged a wounded warrior using a hand-cycle by yelling in his face that there were only two miles to go.  Nope, no one was quitting today.

The course used to go into the Pentagon parking lot off the bridge, but now it made a short loop south through Crystal City.  By then, I was fully content with running better than I expected and just wanted to keep a strong pace.

Going north through Long Bridge Park, I hit mile marker 9.  The wind picked up on the turn to the Pentagon.

Usually, I’m the one passing runners at the finish but my kick was gone.  I crossed the finish line proud that I held a good pace until the end.

Splits (by mile markers): 7:31, 7:31, 7:41.

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Post-Race

I crossed the finish line and after a few steps heard someone call my name.  My friend from the expo was handing out water.  I talked with her for a few minutes but thought I should keep moving.  I got my finishers medal but skipped the post-race food since I was going to run home.  As I was jogging, I noticed the throw-aways from the start hadn’t been collected.  I jogged over and found my long-sleeve!  I put it on a slogged away from the Pentagon.

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Result

My time was 1:15:40 (7:34 pace) [Log Details].  I was the 1,978 finisher, so despite feeling like so many people were passing me, I beat my bib number!  I was 296th woman and 18th in my age group.

In the elite race, the male winner was Augustus Maiyo and the female title went to Stephanie Reich.  Congratulations to them both!

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Epilogue

I ran faster than I thought I would and my time wasn’t too far off from what I ran on an easier course this spring at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  I took the result as a sign that I’m gradually getting my speed back.

Based on this performance, the McMillan Calculator generates a 3:32 (8:07 pace) marathon.  The New York City Marathon is a tough course, but given the day’s conditions, it might be a good estimate.

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Abridged Version

I was excited about running this race again.  It’s one of my favorite local races but I skipped the past two years for training reasons.  The weather on race day was definitely a factor.  The temperature was in the upper 50s but the winds were 21 to 25 mph with 30 to 36 mph gusts!  I finished in 1:15:40 (7:34 pace).  I thought sub-1:17:00 (7:43 pace) would be a stretch, so I was very pleased with this result especially considering the conditions.  Hooah!