As I said in my DC Running Examiner race review, the George Washington Parkway Classic Ten Miler wasn’t the all-downhill joyride I was hoping for.
It’s a point-to-point course along the Potomac River that includes lots of gentle, rolling hills. While it included more downhills than uphills, it didn’t strike me as a particularly fast course — though maybe that’s just me …
After running roughly 8:20-minute miles at the National Half Marathon in March, I set out today to run tough but(I thought) do-able 8-minute miles on the 10-mile course. Instead, I ran 1:26:10 –8:37-minute miles. My 5-mile split was 42:18, and my 7-mile split (strange place for the race to take a split time, but whatever) was 59:02.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad disappointed. But it’s certainly not a disastrous performance for me, especially considering what a wimp my body is about running in the heat. It was pretty toasty this morning, with highs expected to climb up to 90 degrees by the afternoon, and I get annoyingly light-headed and slow at the slightest rise in temperature. And some running days are just better than other, you know?
One small word of advice based on today: You know how you’ve read that it’s a bad idea to mix up even the smallest parts of your routine on race day? You should take heed. I was so excited about the scallions I bought at the Silver Spring Farmers Market yesterday, I put a ton on my pasta before realizing they really upset my stomach. Also, I tried the super-cute Feetures! socks I got at the Silver Spring Earth Day 5K, which are really comfy for short runs, but are apparently blister-inducing for longer ones.
I still really enjoyed the overall race experience, though I’m not sure I loved it enough to run the race again. I did get a sweet technical T-shirt (it doesn’t take much to make me happy). Plus, my IT band and ankle got some post-race attention from Dr. Paul Glodzik of the Maryland Sports Injury Center, a chiropractor who specializes in sports injuries.
3 Comments
April 27, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Hi Amy, I just found your training blog. Fun to follow someone local. I ran the GW 10 miler too, but from farther back in the pack. I’m 57, but I just started running last year in conjunction with losing weight. I was hoping to finish between 1:50 and 2:00, but the heat got to me and I came in just over 2:06. I’ll try to pick my next 10 miler in a cool weather time and hope the 2:06 is easy pickings! The route was beautiful and it was very well run, except for when we back-of-the-pack runners had to deal with 2-3 minute waits at the 5 mile water stop due to low water pressure. My husband, who runs much faster than I do, says there was no problem when he ran through.
Keep on writing!
April 28, 2009 at 1:29 am
Good to know I wasn’t the only one zapped by the heat, although I’m sorry to hear your race goals suffered as well. Thanks for the empathy, and congrats on your finish!
May 5, 2009 at 11:56 am
[...] thanks to a little bit of trial and error (otherwise known as the GW Parkway Classic Ten Miler on April 26), I ended up with the playlist to end all playlists for the 10-mile Broad Street Run on [...]