Cherry Blossoms & The Many Beats Of My Heart

 

This past Sunday I ran my 2^nd DC Cherry Blossom 10-mile race, only the distance wasn’t precisely what I expected. More about that later. For now, I thought it would be important to do a mini life update—a sort of “what have I been up to”. It’s been a while since I have posted.

From a running perspective, my training since January has taken a different turn. I am running more mileage than ever before, but at a much lower pace. Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) training is something that I have learned to love & enjoy; but at other moments, absolutely dread. I am educating myself constantly as to different zones, percentages, paces, etc. While I feel more rested in general, after the runs {since I am not fully depleting my energy on a daily basis}, many of my runs keep me frustrated & confused. Why oh why must my HR sky-rocket on the windy bridges?! My medical-background-self helps me to understand the different phases & cycles the body naturally goes through, which are all reflected via the HRM when running. But my every-day-runner-self doesn’t understand why I can have a fantastic HR run one day & an awful HR run the next {or vice-versa; it doesn’t always occur in that order}. Many other factors play into HRM training, for instance: stress, dehydration, sleep, fatigue, nutrition, weather, as well as so much other everyday stuff. It’s quite a separate arena itself from just running! It’s one topic that in the future I do wish to fully understand, since I am a running coach after all! But as with many learning opportunities in life, it is a slow progression & a hand-on experience understanding.

I feel compelled to elaborate upon my HRM training to likewise get my readers thinking about training this way, as well to educate my personal athletes who may follow my workouts. I am sure it is not encouraging to see someone’s coach log 10+ minute miles, when you may feel that they should be running faster. A sort of “lead by example” thought process. But, don’t fret. Although I may log 9s-10s in training, I am still pushing it on race day to 7s-8s {depending on the race’s distance}. Since this training has begun with my coach, I have PR’d in the 5K, 10K, & half marathon distance. The proof is in the pudding!

From a personal perspective, a few things have been going on. First off, as I have mentioned before, we are in the midst of the Terrible Three’s {yeah, throw out that Terrible Two’s mantra you may have heard of in the past—THREE year old is WAY worse, ha!!}. So that phase of parenting, while fun most days, can be exhausting many others. The hubster & I are just trudging on through, looking forward to the day when a plastic Melissa & Doug spoon color doesn’t result in an all-out-tantrum {hehe}. Secondly, many people who know me in “real life” ask about work. Yep, that is going well too! The babies are awesome & I still LOVE being a Nurse Practitioner. My 24-hour shifts can be exhausting, but I love the sort of schedule which allows me to be home more with my babies, while still having a thriving & mind-stimulating career with the sick babies.

The last thing going on in my personal life is grasping the fact that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer—2 weeks ago yesterday to be exact. I have been processing & questioning, along with her & my other family members, what all this means & what her options are. Because she has already discussed her diagnosis on social media, I feel comfortable mentioning it here. I think that my athletes {& fabulous friends—both running & non-running} should know what is going on personally. Even if no one ever reads my blog, I love having a place for personal reflection years from now. Since this is a running blog & not an all-about-me website though, I plan to refrain from mentioning much more regarding my mother’s cancer. It is personal & a private situation. I just ask for understanding in the coming months if I am ever delayed in replying to emails, weekly recaps, questions, or comments. Please also keep her in your thoughts, & if prayer is your thing, say one for her. Thanks y’all!

So, on that note, happy thoughts & back to the recap from the DC Cherry Blossom race!

Saturday morning, my dear friend & running partner Julie drove us both up to DC. We enjoyed a quick girls’ weekend getaway full of eating warm meals at restaurants & happily retiring early to our beds {remember those 3-year-olds I mentioned, she has one of ‘em too!}. Travel itself to DC was typical par for the course—traffic, traffic, traffic from the time we got anywhere close to the city, until we were safely tucked away in our parking garage spot. All of that travel & traffic brought on a wicked headache for The Running Blonde. Nothing a Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding dessert couldn’t help fix!

On race morning, we woke up at 6:30am & were out the door of our hotel by 7am. We walked/jogged about a mile to the start line, where the gun was set to go off at 7:30am. En route, we passed many of the famous architecture buildings, for which DC is well-known. With only a few minutes to spare, we entered the RED corral, which was second to take off. Prior to the main race start, a gentleman on the intercom explained that the race distance was shortened due to an emergency on the course. Following the race, I learned that the incident involved a pedestrian & a motorcycle {despite the road already being closed for the race}, all prior to 6am. I do hope that the lady who was injured has a speedy & healthy recovery!

Once the race began, off we went. It’s funny to experience a travelled-to race for a 2^nd year in a row, yet the actual experience is SO different. Last year, I paced a friend who was hoping to run 8:00 flats for the duration of the race. You can read the recap here; Sophia & I had a fabulous race in 2014! My goal for this year was similar—7:50-8:00 per mile. It would be a PR, not by much, but I knew that would be what I was capable of on race day! This year I allowed Julie to set the pace some. We had decided pre-race that we would run together & have a blast—although she is capable of much faster! On Sunday, I enjoyed the race, even though it felt harder than my half marathon 3 weeks prior, I just took it all in. I noticed the beautiful buildings, the other fantastic runners, the gorgeous bloomed trees—just generally a more “opened-eyes” experience. I couldn’t even recall, when prompted by Julie prior to the race, if there were elevations or places where we would cross paths with the runners ahead of us. On Sunday, I discovered that both happened! As a runner, I admit that I need to work on enjoying these races, & not always be so focused on the time on the watch. It’s a work in progress!

Although I had a good race, it was definitely a work-out. When reflecting on why it was so tough, compared to Shamrock in March, I blame my crappy diet on the day before, combined with a headache. Sure I earned the time I had hoped, but it was a tough run. I took 4 chews at the 5-mile mark, plus 2 more chews at the 7/8-mile mark. Typically, I can get through a 10-mile race with no chews, or maybe just once at the 8-ish-mile mark. I drank water &/or Gatorade at most of the water stops & high-fived a few cheering ladies on the side of the road. I pushed through. It was one of those days that you are super proud of yourself for not letting your mental game defeat you, due to physical annoyances.

Race day conditions itself was pretty darn fantastic! The weather was gorgeous {maybe slightly warm mid-race, but sunny & quite pretty nonetheless} & there was crowd support along the entire route. My favorite spectators by far though were the all-female band who was jammin’ out during the final 5K! The race went off without a hitch, even with the course re-routing {you seriously would have never known of the issue if your watch didn’t ding the wrong distance at the end}. Kudos to the race directors!! The other runners, as Julie made note of to me, were quite polite with no shoving & pushing around us, despite it being a crowded course from start, clear through to the finish. The miles along the water where the Cherry Blossom trees had blossomed were gorgeous {although a bit repetitive, if I must be honest!}.

The miles ticked along as follows:

Mile 1 – 8:00

Mile 2 – 7:58

Mile 3 – 8:05

Mile 4 – 7:51

Mile 5 – 8:05

Mile 6 – 8:07

Mile 7 – 8:09

Mile 8 – 8:05

Mile 9 – 7:57

Final 0.5 miles to the Finish – 7:38

Garmin Time: 1:16:04 (8:01/mile) for 9.5 miles

Official Time: 1:16:00 for 9.5 miles

5.8-mile Split: 45:28 (7:50/mile)

Estimated 10-mile Finish  {according to the website}: 1:21:12 (8:05/mile) – would not have been a PR for me, but debatable as I do think I could have PR’d {who really cares—there is always next year!}

Age Group: 183 out of 2,300 (top 10%)

Gender: 829 out of 11,087 (top 10%)

Overall: 2,788 out of 17,935 (top 20%)

In summary {if you breezed past the last few paragraphs, I certainly don’t fault you, I know I can be “wordy”}, the race this past weekend was awesome! I think I would have PR’d, which is always a top priority at a race; but more importantly than that, I ENJOYED the experience despite it being a tougher race for myself than I was expecting. I’m thinking I will keep up the Cherry Blossom tradition & enter the 2016 lottery too!

I hope you enjoy the following pics from the weekend!

Up Next For The Running Blonde: Colonial 200 Relay, along with a group of fabulous ladies!