I got a lottery entry into the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race with about 16,500 runners! I was in DC the week before the race for a conference, so very good timing! The race was great. Nice course, well organized. And the cherry blossoms were in bloom this year! It was sunny and in the 40s. The course is almost totally flat, so my race plan was to run even splits of 7:00. This was a bit of a stretch at my current fitness level, and I didn't take into account the wind! It wasn't horribly windy, but the last 2 miles are straight with basically no turns, and right into the wind. I was not prepared for this mentally! I slowed down quite a bit in the last two miles and ran a positive split. I was getting passed like crazy in the last few miles. Overall average pace was 7:07.
1. 6:53 - No trouble at the start. Good waves.
2. 7:07 - Slowed down a little to compensate for a fast mile 1.
3. 6:59
4. 7:01
5. 7:06
Official 5 mle split 35:11 (7:02)
6. 7:16
Official 10K split 43:58 (7:04)
7. 7:11
8. 7:09
9. 7:23 - slowing down...
Official 9 mile split (1:04:10 (7:07)
10. 7:19 - dead
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