Capitol Hill Classic 10K

Today was the Capitol Hill Classic 10K, woot! I hung out with my friend Meg last night and stayed over at her place so that we could leave for the race together this morning. Since the Metro opened at 7 AM today and the race start was 7:30 AM, we didn't want to chance it so we took a cab instead. The cab driver was super nice. He was an older gentleman who talked about the exercise regiment from when he was in the Marine Corps and quitting smoking.

The start of the race was at an elementary school, and the restrooms were hilarious with curtains instead of doors (probably to prevent children from locking themselves in the bathroom) and the tiny potties. While Meg and I were waiting at the start line, I saw a former colleague of mine. She had left my organization last August. We gave each other big hugs and caught up on what we had been up to lately. And then not too long after that, the race began. There were no pacers, so all the runners were in a big clump. The fast people were definitely fast! As I was approaching RFK stadium, the fast people had already made their way around it. We cheered as they ran by. Around Mile 2, I was thinking "Why on earth did I think this was a good idea?! Ugh, another 4 miles? Am I going to make it??" Well, Meg did. She's in the teal/green shirt in the middle of the picture. Oh, me? Yeah, I made it too. Can you tell how happy I was to see the finish line? I have my arms up in the picture below, in black/black. Julie is so clever, "What are you, a ninja?" I saw Meg and Julie standing on the sidelines and I was like "Whoo hoooo!" Like, literally. Of COURSE, the race was a good idea! You work hard to make sure you get across the finish line. And it was an awesome feeling, especially when my knee wasn't hurting (like it did when I did the race in 2008) and I made it up the ginormous hill at around Mile 5 without walking (I had to walk it in 2008 because my knee was killing me).2011 time: 66:14 minutes (10:40 pace). For reference...2008 time- 75:55 minutes (12:13 pace). Hooray, improvement! This was great news because my pace for the March 8K was 10:37, so I wasn't that much off.

I am eyeing the Kensington 8K as my next race this year. The HR Director at work was super nice and offered to draw up a training plan for me this summer. She is an avid runner, does marathons, and coaches so I'm sure she's very knowledgeable about how to get my pace down. It would be wonderful if I could get closer to a 10-minute/mile pace. Onward! :)