Leesburg 10K Race Report

It's not often that we get beautiful weather in August, but Sunday morning was an exception. And the weather was exceptional for a race.

The Leesburg 10K/20K (formerly the YMCA of Loudoun County 10K/20K) is run at 7:30 AM on a Sunday to escape the sweltering heat & humidity, but we had none of that. What we did have was about 1200 runners (slightly more than half of whom were running the 10K) crammed onto Harrison Street in Leesburg for the start.

And for me, negotiating that logjam seemed like the hardest part of the race. It's a pet peeve of mine - runners and/or walkers who line up close to the front of the pack, and mosey over the starting mat. It took me a while to navigate the walkers, easy joggers, and 3-abreast gabbers, but I got it done in about a half mile. It showed - my first mile was about a 9:20 pace (but that actually was a blessing in disguise).

I picked it up slightly in mile 2, running that in about 9 minutes, and then the course went into a mile-long upslope, with a big hill just before the turnaround. My daily neighborhood hill work helped me here, as I blew by those struggling up the hill. The benefit is that on a mostly out-and-back course, a big uphill at the turnaround means a big downhill just afterward. I took advantage, and went through the 4-mile mark at 35:57, slighly under a 9 minute-per-mile pace. I was looking good for a PR today.

I knew going in that there was going to be a hill midway through the 5th mile, and it was a doozy, but I saved a lot of energy with the downhills in the 3rd & 4th miles, so the hill wasn't that difficult. I was sucking air when I reached the peak, but still kept about a 9:02 pace. Now my job ws to get to the finish. I pretty much guaranteed myself a PR; the question was if I could break the 9 minute mile pace barrier.

I hit 6 miles at a little over 54 minutes, and all I had left was the last 2/10 mile, but all of that was uphill. I took off up the hill, put it into a higher gear, got to the crest just before the finish, and went over the mat in an official time of 55:53, a 9 minute/mile pace and a new personal record for the 10K.

I was extremely satisfied with this race. I went in looking simply for a tune-up for my half-marathon in 6 weeks. I didn't exert myself too much in the 10K (only where necessary), and am very confident that if I can run the first half of the half marathon (on a flatter course) as well as I did this 10K, I can not only set a PR, but could also possibly break 2 hours.

Leesburg 10K

This race, on August 8th, will be my 6th race of the year, and my tune-up for the Rock & Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in 6 weeks.

The course has changed since last year; the majority of the race used to take place on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, but the new race organizer has decided to stage most of it on streets within the town of Leesburg. At first glance, it seems that the course may be a bit flatter this year. There's a pretty big rise in the first mile (over 2% grade), and another 2% grade in mile 3, but then it's pretty much flat to down grade for most of the back 3.1 miles.

It's also one of the bigger races in the County, with close to 800 registrants. But the race is a 10K/20K, so the last half of the race shouldn't be as crowded as the first half, with many runners continuing on with the 20K.

I'm using this race as a tune-up for the Half Marathon; I'm trying to see if I can run it in about a consistent 9:10 pace, since if I have any aspirations of breaking 2hours in Philly, I need to run the first half of the half (6 1/2 miles) in about that same pace. This will be a good test, since this 10K has a similar grade to the first half of the half marathon.

Herndon Festival 10K Race Report

Well, that was disappointing.

Combine hot, humid weather with a course that was tougher than I thought, add in some silly mistakes, and you have a race that I wasn't happy with.

I knew going in that it was going to be humid. I hydrated well beforehand, and warmed up fine. The first mile was a complete downward slope, and I ran it in under 8:30 - so far, so good. There was an extreme hill right after the one-mile mark, and that slowed me down a lot in mile 2, but I was still under a 9:20 pace at mile 2. Mile 3 was flat for the first half, but then the silliness started. A car somehow turned onto the course in front of me and the group of about 8 that I was in. Our yelling to the driver to get off the course didn't help, so I played hero, and sprinted to the driver's window to voice my frustration. The elderly woman finally turned off the road, but that was only the beginning of my problem, as I was winded as the course made a 2-mile gradual up-slope.

The next 2 miles were just short of torturous. The shade of the neighborhood we ran through on miles 2 and 3 gave way to blazing sunshine on miles 4 and 5. This is where I struggled. But at mile 5, I was still sitting at around a 9:30 pace, and there was a downhill slope, which helped. But whoever designed the course was obviously masochistic, as mile 5.5 incorporated the slope that we ran up just after the one-mile mark, albeit on a parallel street. After making the turn at mile 6 for the homestretch, the finish line seemed so far away, but I crossed in 59:35, a 9:37 pace, and about 3:30 slower than I had hoped for.

What went wrong? I have come to the conclusion that the 10 extra pounds or so I put on while I was laid up with my calf imjury last Fall are coming back to bite me in the summer heat. So today begins Day 1 of trying to get my weight back to where it was last summer. I have a 4-mile early-evening race on June 27th and I'll probably run the Loudoun County 10K in early August again before the Rock & Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in September, 15 weeks away. Hopefully by then I'll be down to my old weight.

AV10K Recap

Well, it started out as a pretty good run, then deteriorated from there.

I woke up on Sunday to gloom and chilly rain. Not exactly the way I want my runs to go, but not bad enough that I couldn't handle it. The Broad Street Run last year was colder and "rainy-er", but I persevered. When I headed out the door at 7:15, though, it had cleared up and wasn't so bad.

A ten-minute drive later, I was at the race site, and began my warm-up. I found a track behind the elementary school and did a few laps, stretched it out, and felt good. By the time the race was ready to start, I was good to go. The 10K went off with the 5K, and there were about 400 or so runners cramped on one lane of Ashburn Village Boulevard at the race start. It was very congested, but I made my way through to a less-congested area. Luckily, after about a mile, the 5K runners broke off and it was finally clear.

Because of my trying to find a clear spot, I broke off an 8:53 first mile, and followed it up with an 8:56 second mile. So far, so good. I hit some hills in mile 3, which was surprising since the race website advertised the course as flat, with no inclines more than 1% grade. Incorrect. Mile 3 was timed at 9:08, which still put me at an 8:59 pace, right where I wanted to be.

Then the hard part of the course came.

Mile 4 started a very tough stretch. We were now running through the neighborhood, and the course was very up-and-down for the next 2 miles. I logged a 9:24 for mile 4 and follwed it with a 9:27 for mile 5. My pace was worsening. I picked it up slightly in mile 6, logging a 9:17, and finished on a slight downhill with a 56:56 time, a 9:10 pace.

My personal record for a 10K was 56:47, logged last May, so I wasn't far off. The good thing, though, was that my age-graded performance yesterday was slightly better than last year (51.43% this year compared to 51.16% last year). And checking my times on the McMillan Running Calculator, by using my half-marathon time from last month, I was predicted to run a 10K at a 9:18 pace, so I beat that. I'll take any positives I can.

I can attribute my struggle to possibly a slight weight gain over the past few weeks, and not concentrating on my speed work very much. My fastest training run in the past month was a 9:08 pace on a 3.8 mile tempo run 10 days ago.

So I'm not racing for the next 6 weeks, working on speed instead. I anticipate my next race to be the Herndon Festival 10K on June 6.

Ashburn Village 10K

I'm staying local with my latest race this coming Sunday, the "Ashburn Village 10K, 5K, and 1 Mile Fun Run", in neighboring Ashburn, VA. Proceeds from the races benefit the Ashburn Volunteer Fire Department.

This is a relatively small race; the 10K (as of this past Monday) had just 135 registered runners, and 21 in my age bracket. The course is generally flat, advertised as not having any inclines above 1% grade.

Since it's pretty much flat, My goal is to break a 9:00/mile pace; I'm hoping to run it in about 55 minutes, which translates to roughly an 8:52 pace. I ran an 8:41 pace in the 5-Miler I ran in early March, so maybe I'm sand-bagging a bit, especially with the flat course. But I've been struggling a bit with my tempo runs recently, so we shall see (although my neighborhood is quite hilly).

Should be a fun time, even though the weather may not cooperate. If you're in the neighborhood, look for me - I'll be wearing bib number 179.

I Got My Answer

From an e-mail I received yesterday afternoon from the organizers of the REHAU Rotary Resolution Run:

Because of the unprecedented snowstorm and the nature of the race course (cross-country/mostly unpaved), we have reluctantly cancelled this year’s race. Considering the date in the middle of winter, we’ve probably been overdue for this. It is the first time we have had to cancel the race in 13 years.

Not surprising. I was really beginning to doubt whether I would even run this, if it went off.

Now my training starts a week early in preparation for the National Half Marathon in Washington, DC, on March 20th.

What Am I Going To Do??

The snowstorm that blanketed Northern Virginia with over 20 inches of snow this past weekend is going to wreak havoc with my training regimen for a while.

I was driving to work this morning, scoping out the streets in search of something uncovered in icy slush so that I could go for a run this week. No such luck. The streets of Lansdowne are partially covered in ice, some side roads are down to one passable lane, and the temperatures at dawn are going to be in the low 20's anyway.

So it looks as if I'm off to the treadmill for the time being. Cross-training, I'm fine. I have my stair-stepper (which I used this morning) and my weight set in my basement gym, so I'll have to trudge over to the Potomac Club to use one of the treadmills.

I also got to wondering, how will this snow affect the Rotary Resolution 10K Run in Leesburg on New Year's morning? The course is about 75% cross-country (aka, trails), and I don't believe that 20+ inches of snow are going to miraculously melt in 10 days. And even if it did, the course would be a sloppy mess.

Packet pick-up is this weekend, so I assume the organizer will have some further details. But for now, it's working out like a lab rat for me. Thank goodness for my iPod.