Passing the 10-Mile Mark

Gorgeous day outside, mid-60s and sunny. The W&OD trail was so crowded it looked like a highway. Put in a 10-mile training run from Vienna to Reston, and back. Felt good throughout the route, was an up and down day, with miles 3-5 and 7-9 being uphill. I'm trying to keep the pace slow as I build mileage for the National Half Marathon, don't need an early season injury. Today was a relaxed (but probably still too fast) sub-9 minute pace.

Glad the Fuel Belt came in the mail yesterday, it was critical to today's temps and mileage. Only took two bottles on the belt, planned on 4 ounces per every two miles. May want to carry all four bottles next week, possibly one with an electrolyte replenishment.

Week in Summary
Sun-Tues	Recovery from Saturday's 10k
Wed	45 min tempo (pace up 5', 30'; down 35', 40') (est. 5 mi)
Sat	5 mi (half marathon pace)
Sun	10 mi
Total Week's Mileage: 20 miles

Ooorah! Team USO for 2011!

Oohrah! Running the Marine Corps Marathon this October for Team USO, running 26 miles for the troops and .2 for me.

H2O to Go

Gone are the days of running 6-8 miles a day without water. Picked up a four-bottle Fuel Belt and a hand-held bottle, we'll see which one is more comfortable. I'm guessing I will use the hand-held for shorter runs and use the Fuel Belt for double-digit miles.

Thankfully market-leading Fuel Belt bottles were BPA free, made it an easy purchase. It was surprisingly hard to find a BPA-free hand-held bottle, but after some research, glad to find the Nathan model.

The Running Boom

Popularity of running in the DC area has now surpassed ridiculous. Marine Corps Marathon just sold out 30,000 slots in 28 hours (12,000 in the first hour alone), 2010 Army Ten Miler sold 30,000 slots in 35 hours, and the Cherry Blossom 10 had to go to lottery a couple years ago. Sign-up day is getting more stressful and competitive than race day.

Back in Black

Hard conditions for this morning's 10k. Miserable wind, blowing mile markers, and airborne cups of water.

Official Race Results:  44:54  (7:13/mi)

I'm pretty happy with my overall pace, but I just didn't enjoy it today, never got in a nice groove. Definitely have a better 10k time in me. But regardless, good to be back on the pavement. Back in black for 2011...Johnny Cash would be proud....

GW Birthday Classic 10k

Ugh..."beautiful" day for the first race of 2011. It was 70 degrees yesterday; 45 today with huge wind gusts making it feel more like 35. Hoping for a tail wind for a few miles. The 10k is on a large road, but next to a construction zone, with 45mph gusts....if I get through the head wind, I still have to escape the three-story dirt tornado blowing by. And an empty portojohn just slid eight feet out of line in the last gust. I am NOT going in that death trap.

But the volunteers and staff from Pacers have been awesome, and the course looks like a fun one...especially when the wind is to my back!

Follow the Tire Tracks

Thankfully a power company or public works truck drove a few miles down the W&OD trail, creating a couple tire tracks to follow on my run. Put on all the winter gear and headed out into the 25-degree morning. Turned into an interesting run, attempting to keep one foot in front of the other to run in the small tire track, occasionally getting out of the groove and into some slush and ice...cold, wet shoes about halfway through. Only one slip, no fall...success!