2016 Lawyers Have Heart 10K

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

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Prologue

For years, this has been a must do summer race for me.  I think this was my 13th Lawyers Have Heart 10K.  But, I missed it last year and ran the Crofton 10K instead for fear the race might be canceled or changed due to heat like it was a few years before.

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Training

I ran the Boston Marathon back in April and Ragnar Cape Cod almost a month ago.  Since then, I’ve been running about 50 miles/week.  A couple of week ago, I retained a running coach through Hudson Elite to help me train for the New York City Marathon.  The week before the race, I did some speed work in the form of fartlek runs but most of my running was easy.

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Goals

My 10K PR is 42:41 (6:51 pace) at the 2012 Clarendon Day 10K, which is a super fast course.  My PR for Lawyers Have Heart is 43:07 (6:55 pace) from the 2014 race, which was the old course.  My last 10K was the 2015 Crofton 10K where I ran 46:25 (7:27 pace).

• Achievable Goal: Sub-48:00 (7:42 pace).  During an interval workout earlier in the week, I thought 7:30 pace felt like 5K pace.  I thought 10K pace might be about 15 seconds/mile slower.
• Stretch Goal: Sub-47:00 (7:30 pace).  Based on my 3:41:37 at the Boston Marathon, the McMillan Running Calculator generates a time of 47:14 (7:35 pace) for a 10K.  But, I thought I could run a little faster than that since Boston was a longer race and it was warm that day.

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Course

The course changed last year.  It starts in the same location as before – near the Georgetown Waterfront on K Street.  It goes out Canal Road just before it starts the uphill climb near Georgetown University and then back towards downtown.  It turns right onto the Potomac River Expressway southbound and then up north to E. Street, NW.  It goes a few blocks around the 18th St. area before heading up Virginia Avenue back to the Georgetown Waterfront.

 

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Playlist

My playlist was 48 minutes – the time it should take me to finish the race – of my favorite uptempo songs.

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Weather

As I lined up, I thought this might be the best weather for this race in years.

However, during the race, I felt warmer than I anticipated.  But, I was still fairly comfortable in the singlet and shorts I wore.  I think I was pretty acclimated to the heat and humidity already.

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Pre-Race

I hadn’t slept well all week and race day was no exception.  I woke up at 3am and forced myself to at least stay in bed until 4am.

Parking in Georgetown can be a bit of a pain any day and it can be even worse for the race.  In year’s past, I’ve parked in nearby Rosslyn, Virginia, using my in-vehicle electronic parking meter to avoid getting a ticket, and running across the Key Bridge as my warmup.  I decided to do the same this year.  It’s about a 15 minute drive, so I left the house at 6:45am for the 7:30am start.  I picked up my bib after work on Friday so I didn’t need to get to the race early for packet pick-up.

I ran a mile warmup to Georgetown.  I did some strides under the Whitehurst Freeway, too.  I got to the starting line with about 15-20 minutes before the race and no one was in the chute.  I walked up the course a bit and then walked back.  I lined up by the 7:00-7:59 pace sign.  The race also had a 5K and several people asked me whether we were starting at the same time.

A woman approached me at the start line and struck up a conversation.  She mentioned she was with my club but I didn’t immediately recognize her in part because she was wearing a singlet from another group.  After the race, I realize we’d run together a few months ago and she was struck by how easy she was to talk to.

The woman who sung the National Anthem was amazing!

The announcer informed us the race would be 2 minutes late, which was a little annoying.  But, I did a little light stretching during the delay.  Then, the next thing I knew, we were off!

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Miles 1 to 3 (Georgetown Waterfront and Canal Road)

The course starts off under the Whitehurst Freeway with a gradual incline.  I thought the runners were calmer than usual – not a lot of people weaving around.  After a quarter mile or so, the course take a hairpin turn onto the Freeway.  I felt the full effect of the sun for the first time that morning.  I did a check on how my pace felt and I could tell I was running a little too hard.  I saw my first split and thought, Whoa!  But, I didn’t want to slow down just yet.  In fact, after the turnaround on Canal Road, I found myself running even harder.

I ran through the first water stop.  They also had sponges but I passed on both options.

The second mile was back onto the Whitehurst Freeway.  I saw my second split and it was even faster than the first!  I panicked a little.  Was I running as though this was a 5K instead of a 10K?  At the end of the Whitehurst, I realized I hadn’t read the course map correctly.  That morning, I thought Virginia Avenue portion came first.  Now, I was going down the Potomac River Expressway.  I felt a sharp pain in my high hip/quadracep area.  It was surprising but a few steps later, it was gone.

Splits: 7:15, 7:13, 7:04.

Miles 3 to 6.24 (Potomac River Expressway, Virginia Avenue, and the Georgetown Waterfront)

Mile 3 on the Potomac River Expressway started downhill.  I wanted to take advantage of it by running hard but my legs wouldn’t turnover any faster.  I thought I was done for and conceded to myself that, given how hard I ran the first half, it wouldn’t be so bad to run the second half slower.  The course went under an overpass and it was nice to be out of the sun for a while.

The second water stop was about 3.5 miles into the race.  I poured some water on my head, but I was wearing a hat so it just rolled off.  I took a swig of water and coughed a little of it up.  The course turned north at the end of the Parkway and I saw the huge on-ramp to E Street.

At this point, I saw the woman from the starting line.  She thought she might run next to me in the beginning of the race since we were about the same pace but she took off faster than I did.  I put my head down and slowed my pace so I could get up the hill.  But then I remembered, That’s wrong. Head up!

Even though the fourth mile was flat, I still found myself struggling.  I just felt tapped out of energy.  I could tell I was closing in on the woman from the start line.  I decided maybe we could help each other and pushed myself to catch up to her.  I also saw a female runner who might be one of my masters competitors and that also gave me additional motivation to run harder.

The fifth mile was a gradual uphill on Virginia Avenue.  I thought it was a little cruel to put this stretch at the end of the race.  As I ran past the third and final water stop, I see the woman from the start walking through the stop.  I pulled alongside her as she started to run again.  I told her I would run with her on the hill.  I thought maybe it would help if I paced her a little and I don’t run hills hard anyway.  Her breathing was really labored and I wondered if she would start walking again but she held on.  In fact, at a couple of points, she passed me slightly which made me think she was okay.  I pulled away at about the 5.5 mile mark and ran the rest of the race pretty hard.

I hit the last split just after reaching K Street and going under the Whitehurst Freeway.  My legs flew on the downhill!  I managed to maintain a strong pace all the way through the end listening to, “All I Do Is Win”.  I was pretty happy that I didn’t get through my playlist this time.

Splits: 7:40, 7:32, 7:25, 1:18.

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Post Race

I grab a water for the woman who was struggling.  She finished a few seconds after me and said she was fine.  I got some water for myself, too.  I walked for a good while and then did a half mile jog on the way back to my car.  I ran into two teammates from my running club who were going to another race and that was was a nice surprise.

Once home, I made a sandwich and then took a 6 hour nap!

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Result [Log Details]

I ran 45:22 (7:17 pace)!  Although, I wonder if the course is short since my Garmin measured exactly 6.24 miles.  But, we did run under a few highways.  I was the 183rd finisher for the 10K (top 11%), 31st woman (top 6%), and 2nd in my age group (top 2%).

For years, there were special categories and awards for the legal community – fastest lawyer, fastest paralegal etc.  I’m a law librarian and placed in the category consistently.  But, it seems as though they aren’t continuing that tradition.

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Epilogue

I’m very happy with the result.  However, I wonder if I could have run a little smarter.  Should I have pushed myself a little harder in the middle?  What should I make of how strong I ran at the end?

I’m feeling confident going into training for the New York City Marathon.  I ran this race a minute faster the year I set my PR at NYCM and I think I could easily have run 10 seconds/mile faster.

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Abridged Version

I ran 45:22 (7:17 pace) on little sleep.  I went out a little hard but managed to recover by taking the uphills easy.  I ran with a woman who was struggling a little during the last hill and then ran hard the last half mile or so.  I’m feeling confident going into my training for the New York City Marathon.