Another race is in the books!
Matt and I ran the Marine Corps 10k together yesterday and had a soggy but fun time out there.
I was hoping the weather forecast would improve, but sadly when our alarm went off and we peeked outside it was raining. The rain continued on our Lyft ride down to the race start!
Luckily, I had saved one of those waterproof metallic blankets from a previous race, so I brought it with me to keep me dry before we started – worked out quite well as a throwaway layer!
Matt fashioned himself a trash bag that looked like a shirt – I hear this is all the rage in Paris. 😉
We thought we had left enough time to get down there, but our Lyft driver took a few wrong turns and I also forgot to calculate in time to wait in the security line to get into the starting area – whoops!
Plus, I had to go to the bathroom so we had to wait in the porta potty lines once we made it in. I heard the race start from the porta potty – womp, womp. Next time we won’t cut it so close!
We quickly raced over and smushed in with everyone else.
And then we were off!
Since we didn’t have time to get into our proper corral before the race started, we ended up farther back than planned and had to do a lot of weaving and smushing by people for the first mile or two, but no worries – I’m not in PR shape right now anyway, so we didn’t mind keeping it casual. 😉
The rain, which had stopped just as the race was starting, started up on us again when we hit the 14th street bridge.
Darn – I was hoping we were in the clear!
Matt and I both said we don’t mind running in the rain, though – it can be fun, actually! – it’s just the before + after the race in the rain that’s not so fun…
Blurry action shot selfie:
When I ran the full Marine Corps Marathon back in 2016, the wheels really came off for me on that bridge, so it’s always nice to run over it in the 10k and not be in pain. 😉
I always forget just how LONG that bridge is during the race, though – I run it often with friends but we just do part of it before heading down onto the Mt Vernon Trail along the GW Parkway – I think the bridge is legit about 2 miles long the way the race does it!
Made it to Virginia!
Matt and I kept the pace casual so we were both feeling pretty good, but definitely getting tired, by the last mile.
I always get excited when we see this view – it means we are in the home stretch, with the finish just around the corner up ahead (and up a hill – eek)!
Here’s the hill! I couldn’t manage a non-blurry shot, but I was proud of myself for powering up it – I was feeling pretty strong on this hill which was nice because it’s pretty steep, especially right at the end of the race!
I remember doing it at the end of 26.2 miles and OOF. It’s tough.
Another blurry shot of the finish line chute – always my favorite part of a race to pick up the pace just before coming into the finish!
Matt and I both really picked it up so we could finish on a high note. 🙂
And done! The medals this year were cool as always – proud to have earned this!
Definitely not my fastest race, but considering our first mile took almost 11 minutes due to all the weaving, I was impressed we brought that pace/mile average down quite a bit by the end.
I think we were running about a 9:30 min/mile for the rest of the race, which felt about right – wasn’t trying to be exhausted the rest of the day because I had to get right on a train to head to Philadelphia!
Matt and I grabbed some water and then headed right over to the finish area highlight: the free watermelon booth!
The Watermelon Board is one of the race sponsors, and also a longtime sponsor of my blog; they very kindly gifted me and Matt our bibs for this race (plus some blog readers who won the giveaway I did for some full marathon bibs – how did it go, ladies?!).
It’s always so great to see Summer and Stephanie, my Watermelon Board contacts, in person – I love working with their team!
And watermelon is always the best, but after a run it’s even better. Hydration + replenishing nutrients in one delish package! Riese was super excited that we brought some watermelon home, too. 😉
Matt and I had plans to walk around and get brunch in Arlington after the race, but it started absolutely pouring shortly after our watermelon rendezvous, so instead we hopped right on the metro and then headed to a brunch spot close to home in Del Ray instead – Stomping Ground.
Lattes were necessary.
I had their veggie hash with poached eggs and a lemony avocado mash – delicious! Plus a few bites of Matt’s biscuit sandwich.
Despite the weather, it was a really fun morning! A HUGE thank you to the volunteers who were out there supporting us, especially in the rain. And thank you to Paul from Capital Energy Training for stretching me out and doing some hip mobility work with me on Friday as I got ready for the race!
I will leave you with a funny series of photos – Riese thinks foam rolling is super fun and always wants to get in on the action when we are doing it after a run/race. 😉
🙂
Have a great day, friends – I’m in Philadelphia for the Food + Nutrition Conference + Expo (FNCE) now – I basically hopped on the train yesterday right after getting home and cleaning up!
I was a little late to the action (it started Saturday), but it was worth it for the 10k fun. You can see what I’m up to on Instagram, and I’ll be back Wednesday with more updates!
Who else ran yesterday? How did it go?
