2016 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run

 Yesterday, I ran in the 2016 Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run.  Although, I hadn't trained as diligently as I had for the half-marathon last September, I was excited for the race...mainly because it was my first race in D.C. and it was (supposed to be) Cherry Blossom season, which would make for a beautiful course.

The day before the race, I received this email:

I'll be honest, there was a part of me that would have been o.k. with them canceling the race.  The thought of running in such freezing winds was not fun.  I was stressed the night before trying to decide how many layers to wear.  In the end, I opted for fleece-lined leggings, a tank, long sleeve tech shirt, long sleeved t-shirt (which I had planned to just toss if I got too warm) and a half-zip pull-over...plus ear warmers and gloves.  I ended up forgetting the gloves in the car, but luckily my friend Khairul had an extra pair.  (FYI - She's also the one that took most the pics I'm posting.  My phone was strapped to my arm so I wasn't able to take many.)

At 6 a.m., waiting for the metro with other MRTT (Moms Run This Town) runners.

Once we arrived at the race site, I quickly decided I would not be tossing any clothes and considered picking up clothes that other runners were tossing :)  It was FREEZING!

Luckily, the sun was shining and the winds didn't appear to be as bad as I was expecting.

Waiting for the race to start.

Standing around waiting for the race to start was the toughest part.  By the time we got started, my fingers and toes were numb.  It felt so good to get moving and once we did, it wasn't so bad.  The winds picked up every now and then and luckily some of it was a nice tailwind to give me an extra push.

The route was still very pretty and I loved passing all the monuments, but I was really disappointed that all of the blossoms were gone...a combination of them peaking a week or so earlier and the winds blowing off what was left the night before.

Between miles 5 and 6.

Some "official" race photos: 

We got our medals!

After the race, happy to be done and looking forward to a hot coffee and hot bath.

And my results:

I was happy to finish in under 2 hours...even if it was just barely under.  My last 10 mile run was a training run for the half marathon and I did that in 1:55:22.  Considering I've been injured, I hadn't trained as well and all the winds, I'm happy to only have been 4 minutes slower.

Ten miles was enjoyable and I'm happy to say I'd do another race of that distance.  For now, I'm going to focus more on my IT injury and try to get that under control before signing up for another long-distance race.