And the season begins

My first triathlon is still a little over a month away, but my first race of the season was this morning. We've done the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler for the past four or five years. The last two years I pushed hard, and achieved a PR both times - even if last year was only by a measly 3 seconds. This year I was truly approaching this as a training run.

We biked to packet pickup yesterday, and now I understand why I've never headed to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. The crush of people was absolutely overwhelming. Thousands of people, cars in gridlock. Bikes were really the only option, it would have taken hours to drive down there. We didn't even bother to stop and snap the requisite romantic photo under a tree - we just wanted to get out of there.

No neighbors to run it with us this year so Stuart and I caught the metro together at 6:30. We were both sporting our Girls on the Run hats, and ended up talking with a woman about how to start the program at her school in Falls Church. A few others standing near us were listening and one apparently works with a fellow Board member. Mission accomplished before the race even started -- to raise awareness of the program and generate some interest.

It was a picture perfect morning to run a race. Beautiful sunshine, temp right around 50 at the start, and the cherry blossoms were in total bloom. Stuart and I were in different waves, so as is our tradition, kissed each other goodbye and promised to be safe and healthy. I took a quick picture before he slipped away.

The Girls on the Run theme continued, as the woman I coached with my very first season was just a few places behind me in the porta-potty line! It was great to see her and chat. And then I was in my corral. No heart rate monitor, just a promise to myself that this was not a race. It was a training run for the Kinetic Half.

The gun sounded and I was off. And almost from the start I was in my own world. I'd say more than half the field had iPods, even though they were forbidden, so there wasn't much conversation anyways. I watched for Stuart the few times that the field doubled back on itself, but never did see him.

The first mile I hit at 10:04, good but frankly not slow enough. I dialed it back a tiny bit and kept moving. But one after the other, the miles still hovered around 10:30. I could live with that as a solid mid-distance aerobic pace! Guess all those tough =PR= runs are paying off. My posterior tib started acting up around mile 5, but good karma came to my rescue. A woman about 8ft ahead of me dropped her sunglasses. Almost without breaking stride, I picked them up, passed them to the guy between us who handed them back to her. And miraculously the pain subsided for awhile!

But I realized today that the best way to stave off the discomfort is to run off-road. Whenever possible, I ran on the grassy berms instead of the road. Thank goodness Hains Point was the last three miles of the race instead of the first three. Running on the grass made a huge difference in my ability to keep moving. I walked two water stations for about 20 seconds to grab water (it warmed up quickly this morning) and stopped once to stretch. But before I knew it, I could see the Washington Monument and passed that 9mile point. This was a training run, so I didn't increase my speed but just kept steady as I crossed the finish line and slowed to a walk. 1:46:13. I'm happier with that than I was with last year's PR where I felt like I'd worked so hard for just three seconds. Today showed my aerobic pace has increased. If I can hold that for 13.1 miles in May, I'll be so stoked!

I hopped the metro home - coincidentally the same one Stuart was on just in a separate car (he'd waited at the finish line for me, contrary to our initial plans). A short while later, our "showering optional" post party meant a house full of sweaty estrogen as a number of our awesome running female friends came over for sandwichs and plenty of salty and sweet treats.

A relaxing afternoon, followed by 45minutes of lifting at the gym. Time for a shower, dinner and a good night's sleep before tomorrow's swim. If today is an indicator of 2009, and I hope it is, I'm in for a good year!