The Army 10-miler is HUGE with some 26,000 people listed in the results, and the announcer at the start line was talking about 35,000 registrants. Its course shares some features with the Marine Corps Marathon, including a start/finish area by the Pentagon and the Bridge of Horror near the end of the course. This was my first time running it because for the past three years, since I got serious about running, I have done the MCM the following weekend instead. The only other 10-miler I've done recently (twice) is Cherry Blossom in the Spring. The Cherry Blossom course is flat and fast, though wind can be a factor by the Potomac river. By comparison, the Army course is slower because it is nearly as exposed to wind but hillier, and its size makes the course more congested near the start. Even though I was one of only 500 runners wearing a yellow bib, which was supposed to get me a place just behind invited runners at the start line, in fact I was surrounded by runners whose bibs were every other color (including colors that meant they were supposed to start in the second wave). Several minutes after the start I was still passing women wearing trash bags and groups of people running four across at well over 7 minute pace, and for at least the first mile I had little control over my pace. I ran about as fast as I could without expending way too much energy weaving between people. But just as I was about to conclude that this race is a poorly organized joke, like the RnR USA half, the runners on the course started thinning out so that I could pass more easily; and by the time I had finished climbing the most significant hill of the course on Virginia Avenue, I was ahead of pretty much everyone who had either started too far up or way too fast for their ability level. I had no real plan going into this race, not knowing what to expect after my DNF at the metric marathon two weeks ago and very uneven training since then. So in a way it was a good thing to be forced into starting slowly to see how I felt. I felt strong - not particularly fast, but not slow either. So after a few miles I decided not to push the pace hard but to run a moderate pace that I could hold steadily the entire way in order to make the race into a test of strength. As my splits below show, I passed that test. I did not quite run all out. When some turns and wind slowed my pace slightly in miles 7 and 8, I was especially pleased to find plenty of strength remaining to get back down to my original pace over the Bridge of Horror and through to the finish. Here are my splits this past April at Cherry Blossom side-by-side with my Army splits today:
Cherry
Mile Blossom Army
1 - 6:11 6:21
2 - 6:11 6:14
3 - 6:05 6:13
4 - 6:04 6:15
5 - 6:17 5:58 (not right)
6 - 6:22 6:14
(10k split 38:52 39:02)
7 - 6:26 6:23
8 - 6:23 6:18
9 - 6:18 6:15
10 - 6:21 6:14
Finish 1:03:01 1:02:49
(Note that these may not add up exactly because the mile paces are from my Garmin, while the 10k split and finishing times are the official ones. Both courses measured 10.07 miles on my Garmin, which gives me average paces of 6:16 for Cherry Blossom and 6:15 for Army). Basically, I ran a little faster today, on a slightly harder course, with I think a more measured effort, by starting a bit slower and holding my pace almost steady the entire way. Unlike at Cherry Blossom, I negative split the Army course today: at the 5 mile marker my watch read 31:27, which means that I ran the second half in 31:22. The next time I run the MCM, I'll have to remember zipping over the Bridge of Horror today, where I passed dozens of people who were slowing down. After my DNF two weeks ago, I'm relieved that this race turned out to be a good sign for my prospects in the marathon four weeks from now. Though I'd like to run 10 miles faster than this, I don't need to be able to do it right now in order to run a 2:59 marathon in four weeks. What I need is strength, a lot of miles in my legs, and the right balance of rest and sharpening. I'm working on that last thing.
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