2019 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

This year's race was somewhat of a milestone for me, because it was my fifth year running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  I first ran it in 2014 (no recap for that one since I hadn't started blogging yet), 2016, 2017 (part 1, part 2), and of course 2018.  Except for the first year I ran the race, I have volunteered to get in every year.  In 2015 and 2018 I chauffeured elite runners to the airport.  In 2016, 2017 and this year I helped with packet pick up right as it opened.  I definitely prefer helping with packet pick up because you get volunteering done before race weekend even really gets going.  I volunteer for this race because you get guaranteed entry to the following year's race, and it's also really fun.  I've enjoyed both my volunteer jobs though for sure!  (My first year I took Aliphine from NAZ Elite to the airport before she ran her first marathon and she was running for New Balance at the time.)

After volunteering you get a code to be able to sign up the following December and there are all kinds of add ons.  Generally I get the cotton race t-shirt, and a medal.  This year I got the enhanced medal, meaning after the race I would receive a little plate engraved with my time and placement.  I was feeling pretty confident that I could do well enough to PR this race again after being able to for the previous two years.

Since my volunteer shift was early enough in the day I decided to buy parking ahead of time using Spot Hero and drive into DC.  (It was SO easy and I was so glad I did it.)  After finishing my volunteer shift, my Dad and I had fun exploring the expo.  It was a lot of the same vendors.  Got a few free snacks--cheese (from Cabot), quinoa thin stacker cakes and baked grain bites (from Lundberg Family Farms) and had some 26.2 brew.  After killing some time listening to some of the speakers, we went to the volunteer dinner to eat and drove home.  (Since it was well after rush hour, I hit barely any traffic on the way home!)

For the first time since I started running this race, it looked like it would be legitimately warm.  Like, would need to wear shorts and potentially a hydration vest warm.  Going into the race, I really had no idea what to expect.  After running the Shamrock Half my IT band had a flare up and was really angry.  I was really just planning on finishing.  If I PR'd, that'd be great but I decided wouldn't beat myself up if I didn't.  (But let's face it, it would be hard not to do that.)  I talked with a Volee teammate and she was having a similar issue and it flared up at the exact same time and she ran Shamrock as well.  (My theory is that it was from the elevation being too flat, and then going back to hills pretty much right afterwards.)  She and I decided to try and meet up at the race, we would both wear our hydration vests and run the race together as much as we could.  The night before the race I looked up my picture from when I had my IT band taped up for the Marine Corps Marathon and tried to copy what my sports massage therapist had done.  (Sure there's no scientific evidence that taping an injury helps, but it also doesn't show that it can hurt either!)  I also planned on slipping on a compression sleeve for added stability.

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Ready as I’ll ever be for this one. About to do one last round of rolling my IT band and taping it up for the heck of it. (Couldn’t hurt, right?) And keeping my fingers crossed that today’s minor twinge during the treadmill portion at OrangeTheory wasn’t a fluke 🤞 . . #runnersofinstagram #balegaimpi2019 #balegabestsocksever #impilove #impipride #balega #balegasocks #balegalove #lovemybalegas #hshive #rungoodr #goodrflamboyance #goodr #nuunlife #teamzensah #sweatpink #sweatpinkambassador #oisellevolée #oiselleteamdmv #flystyle #pickybars #aftershokz #garmin #garminfitness #koalaclip #headupwingsout #cucb

A post shared by Holly (@thethriftyrunner) on Apr 6, 2019 at 7:16pm PDT

On race morning, my Dad and I drove into DC (since Metro doesn't open early for this race anymore I bought parking ahead of time again) and walked over to the start.  We checked out the post race food since it was a table in the middle of the field.  We just walked up to a table and a volunteer reprimanded us saying the food was for AFTER the race.  Once her back was turned I grabbed a Honey Stinger waffle out of spite and because I knew if I didn't, I probably wouldn't see them again.  Since by that point it was getting close to gun time we lined up in our respective corrals and I told my Dad to text me when he was through the chute.  My friend and I were in the same corral and since I was there first I texted her where I was so she could find me.  We were both nervous and our IT bands were feeling a little angry still, and discussed our last minute strategies as we waited to start.  Generally for this race, I run for at least the first mile or two (or even the first half) until the crowds begin to break up and then start doing run/walk breaks as needed.  But again with my IT band, all bets were off.   I was just wanting to finish.

I managed to keep up with my friend for the majority of the race and it was a lot of fun to be able to point out some of the landmarks since it was her first time running.  After running past the watergate, I started seeing random friends also running.  So I thought "You know what?  This is like a giant party where I know I have friends around somewhere but just need to find them!  I want to make this a giant party for the rest of this race."  So I did just that.  I ran into friends I hadn't seen in ages and some others who I knew were running for the first time and really struggling so I ran with them for a little while and gave them a pep talk and distracted them with random DC landmarks.  And I had the best time.

By the time I crossed the finish line, I was had so much fun I didn't even care if I had PR'd.  But when I looked down at my watch, I knew it would be very close.

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Time for another Medal Monday! Definitely one of my favorites. The cherry blossoms looked beautiful yesterday. And there’s a big difference between staging a selfie to make it look great at the start of the race, vs trying to take one as fast as possible, not block anyone’s way (I hopped up on the curb) and still attempt a PR (I was walking backwards while I took it)🤣 . . #runnersofinstagram #balegaimpi2019 #balegabestsocksever #impilove #impipride #balega #balegasocks #balegalove #lovemybalegas #hshive #rungoodr #goodrflamboyance #goodr #nuunlife #teamzensah #sweatpink #sweatpinkambassador #oisellevolée #oiselleteamdmv #medalmonday #cucb #cucb2019

A post shared by Holly (@thethriftyrunner) on Apr 8, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

My Volee teammate and I finished very close together and we walked through the runner's chute super proud of ourselves (it was a PR for her!) and got our waters and actually turned down the mylar blanket.  (It was THAT warm and the sun had started to come out.)  We walked over and got our post race snacks.  At that point, there were still bananas and granola bars but they were running dangerously low on Honey Stinger waffles and it didn't help that the volunteers were hoarding them.  I grabbed another one for my Dad and ate the one I had grabbed earlier.  My friend and I saw runners taking entire boxes of canned Peet's Coffee that was offered, and we asked a couple random people with full boxes if we could have one and were ignored.  So then I took things into my own hands and walked up behind a volunteer that had the last of the cans and grabbed two coffees from behind her and handed one to my friend.  Afterwards my friend and I went our separate ways so she could find her husband and I could get my medal and meet up with my Dad again.

This has been one of my consistent pieces of feedback for this race.  The organizers have ample time to set up food within the runner's chute and I know this as someone who has worked in the running event industry.  And they already put stacks of cases of water in there, why not the tables with food?  There is absolutely no reason to have it out in the open so runners (and random people) can come up and grab whatever whenever they want.  The food should be in the chute so you only have access immediately following the race and once you leave the chute you can't come back and get more.  It was downright disgusting to see how greedy the other participants were.  I just wanted enough of each thing for myself, my friend and my Dad who had no chance at even seeing one of the waffles.  (I didn't bother getting him coffee because I knew he wouldn't like it.)  Sure, keep medals in a tent off to the side.  They have that system down because generally people aren't going to try and get multiple medals and bibs are marked showing that they've been paid for and picked up.  Food needs to be more secured so everyone gets a fair chance at getting a little bit of everything that's offered.  Once my Dad texted me he had finished, I met up with him and all that was left were bananas and granola bars so I handed him my extra waffle.

As my Dad and I walked back to the car we talked about our races.  Despite the ugliness at the post race food, I really had a good time during the volunteer shift and then during the race itself.  I would recommend the race for people who haven't done it before and for out of towners because of all the DC landmarks you get to see up close.  I'll probably do the race and volunteer to get into the 2021 race, but I'm also getting to the point where I kind of want to see what other races are out there that same weekend.

Once my Dad and I got back to my parents house, I opened my laptop and checked my spreadsheet of all my finishing times.  (I highly recommend doing this--it has all my split times and shows all the statistics that is offered by race organizers.)  I had in fact PR'd by 7 whole seconds!  I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but considering the conditions (my IT band and it was the warmest year I've run this race) I'm pretty darn happy with it.

2018 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

I've run the Cherry Blossom a few times.  In fact this was the fourth time I ran it but only my third since I started blogging.  Here are my recaps for 2016 (the infamous windy year) and 2017 expo (where I volunteered), race.

Fortunately, this year was mostly uneventful except if you were watching the weather.  The majority of the week meteorologists were calling 5-8 inches of snow the day before the race, which was truly bizarre for April.  They kept talking about how if it does snow, it won't amount to much, blah blah blah...Still wasn't enough to NOT make me nervous.  (DC is basically crippled if there's more than an inch.)  Thankfully, by the time the expo rolled around the snow threat went away and it was just going to be cold and windy.

This year the expo was a little more leisurely.  Most years I've volunteered at packet pickup handing out bibs.  Oddly this year the slots were already filled by the time I tried to sign up just after the lottery period ended.  So I signed up to take some of the elite athletes back to the airport after the race.  It was convenient since the airport was basically on the way home.  My first year volunteering after the 2015 race I got to take Aliphine Tuliamuk to BWI, and it was right before her first marathon.

I went to the expo a couple of hours after it opened on the first day.  It was a beautiful day--sunny and warmer than it had been for awhile.  The expo was the same as its always been with similar vendors and nothing overly exciting was being sold by the vendors so I was fine to just get my bib, shirt and various snacks.  Bark thins was offering samples and they were really tasty!  Even my Dad (who hates coconut) really liked the bark with coconut in it.  Ragnar was there offering lip balm, blinking lights (Ragnar approved!), and the chance to win a really nice blanket.  (Spoiler alert:  I didn't win.)

The next day I started to pack my bag to stay overnight with my parents.  I knew I would have to dress warmly so I packed several options.  I ended up settling on this.

Oiselle Flyte long sleeve in violet and gaiter in big blue, flyout tights in curfew, and their runwear pullover.  Balega hat and quarter length blister resist socks in pink/wineberry.  As always, my garmin, aftershokz headphones, Blue Q coin purse (for an id and cash), picky bar, spibelt, honey stinger chews and a random lip balm I grabbed at an expo.

The next morning my Dad and I were out the door at 6am and headed to a parking garage close to the race, but far enough away the road closures wouldn't effect it.  (I had also reserved parking in advance using Spot Hero and full disclosure, if you use the link you get $7 and I get $7 for your first reservation over $8.)  We arrived at the staging area around the Washington Monument at 6:45ish for the 7:30 gun time, which worked out well.  We had just enough time to visit the portajohns and head over to the start.  Because the National Park Service was working on turf restoration, everything was a little further away than usual.  Other than having a little further to walk, it really wasn't bad.  The lines for the portajohns were unusually short because the race organizers were encouraging runners to start lining up 45 minutes before gun time.  We got in line with plenty of time to spare and we got to see the sunrise.

One side of the Washington Monument, over by the World War II Memorial and the Reflecting Pool

The Washington Monument on the other side after the sunrise, from the green corral.

And of course a pre-race selfie.

The race was about as it has been in previous years--pretty crowded the whole way but not totally unbearable.  But with every beep of my garmin signifying every mile I looked down in disbelief.  The first five miles were all under 11 minutes.  Then I allowed myself to start taking walk breaks, especially as we got closer to Hains Point.  The cherry blossoms were at peak bloom so I wanted to savor every moment around the famous trees.  (This was the second time that I've run the race with the trees in peak bloom.)  And they were stunning!

Once we passed the cherry blossoms I was about ready to be done.  Around miles 8 and 9 I get a little extra antsy to be done because you can see the Washington Monument but you still have a ways to go.  Then there's the only real uphill on the course that feels like torture because you can SEE the finisher's area.  You can hear the music.  But that dang hill stands between you and the finish.

Then once I crossed the finish line, I got my post race snacks (including cottage cheese which I ended up leaving by some volunteers because that's not really the kind of thing I want to eat right after running 10 miles) and my heatsheet because I was starting to actually get cold.  Then got my medal at the tent and waited for my Dad to finish.  Soon after we headed back to the car and I took a shower and had a real lunch while I waited to head back out to pick up some of the elite athletes from the host hotel.

When I showed up to pickup my athlete at the host hotel, it quickly turned into 4 because they could all fit in my car.  The volunteer coordinator scanned my QR code to check me in (since I get guaranteed entry into next year's race for volunteering), handed me my volunteer shirt and we were on our way!  All four of the athletes were from Kenya, but only one of them could speak English fluently.  We had an interesting conversation as I drove up 295 (usually scenic, but since winter lasted too long the trees were still bare) and I learned a lot about Kenya like how it's an 18 hour flight to DC from there (and a lot of the runners were coming just for the weekend!) The weather is the same year round AND it's at a high elevation so there are pretty awesome running conditions year round.  (Which is also part of the reason why Kenyans are such notoriously amazing runners--they get to practice year round while those of us in more temperate climates have to adapt to the other conditions!)

Before I knew it, I was dropping them off at the airport.  I was nearly home but their journey had just begun and it blew my mind that they would do so much to get here for the race.  After saying our goodbyes I drove the 20 minutes home, unloaded the car and took a nap with my cats.

Overall, the race is a great one to do at least once especially if you're from out of town.  It's always a gamble as far as the weather goes but the course is generally the same every year.  (There were slight modifications this year because of construction on the bridge we normally run out and back on.)  It's really hit or miss in terms of seeing the trees in peak bloom.  This year the trees were really stunning and that made it worth it in my mind.  The expo is pretty easy as long as you don't come right when it opens because the line is always long.  It's also really easy to get to since it's right across the street from a metro stop.  The only truly difficult part (besides training) is figuring out how to get there on race morning and even that wasn't terrible since we got there fairly early.  

2017 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap (Part 2: The Race)

This year Metro messed up transportation for the race because they refused to open early for runners and spectators so they would open at their regular time at 7am.  With a 7:30am gun time that would be cutting it too close for my taste!  Luckily enough a friend in one of my running groups offered to drive a few of us in for the race since her office building has a private parking garage.

We arrived to the race itself at 7:15am and started to head to the bathrooms on the far side of the field next to the Washington Monument.  After going only partway through the huge crowd I realized that we probably wouldn't make it to the start on time.  So I turned around with one of my friends and we headed to the start.  I knew that there were a few bathrooms along the course so if I became desperate enough I would brave the lines.  We seeded ourselves directly between the 10:30 and 11:00 pacers, knowing that we could catch up or fall back as needed during the race.

Obligatory pre-race selfie!

Due to the wave start I didn't cross the starting line until almost 7:50am.  For the first few miles I kept up with my friend from the carpool (which was really impressive for me because she's pretty!)  But once we hit the traffic circle on the opposite side of the Memorial bridge I hopped up onto the grass and hugged the curb to pass a bunch of people.  I should've taken this as a sign of things to come.  (Spoiler alert:  The crowding was TERRIBLE!!)

At about mile 3 I ended up catching up with the 10:30 pacers and I was super excited to be able to keep up with them (and get a little ahead of them at times.)  However they managed to stay right in the crowd to the point where it was impossible to stay with them for very long.  I think I was with them for about 2 miles before I broke away because another person in the pace group tripped me and I stumbled to the point where I had to grab onto the person so I didn't fall.  (Take note:  This has NEVER happened to me in a race, let alone a training run.)  This kind of crowding is super easy to fix.  I know the race is in a time crunch, but if they stagger the waves just a little bit more it could be avoided.

Up until this point I had been eyeing bathrooms.  All of them had absolutely ridiculous lines of at last a dozen people.  Once I approached the Tidal Basin and hit the bridge on Independence Avenue I remembered that there were bathrooms coming up.  (So yes, I am revealing my secret bathroom spot for this race.)  I remembered from the previous year that there were bathrooms without a line on the other side of the bridge.  Sure enough, there wasn't a line for them this year either.  I ran into a portajohn and soon ran back out feeling quite refreshed.  (Especially since they were in good shape AND had plenty of hand sanitizer.)  Before heading back to the course I took the opportunity to take a selfie with the legendary Cherry Blossoms.

I love that I got a picture with President Jefferson's statue in the memorial!

Then I sprinted back and merged into the crowd.  The rest of the race was fairly uneventful.  I spotted the medical runners a few times throughout the race and I saw somebody at about mile 9 who had fallen. A couple runners helped him up and I yelled out "Medical runners should be by shortly!" while a couple others ran off to alert a police officer on the course that somebody was injured.

I managed to finish about 30 seconds faster than in 2016, but minus my bathroom/selfie break I was a full 2 minutes faster.  

After the race, once again we had a long walk to get to water, then out of the runner's chute to get post-race snacks and the medals.  This part could DEFINITELY be organized better.  In all honesty the organizers have the space and the ability to have all the water and snacks in the runners chute. The organizers already have the water set alongside the chute before the race starts.  It really would not be hard to put out tables and then the snacks once all the runners have passed.  (They have approximately 15-20 minutes between the last runners crossing the starting line and the elites finishing the race.)  As somebody who works in the racing industry, this is enough time to get tables setup and food on it especially considering the amount of volunteers they have.  

Once I exited the chute, I again had to fight the crowds to get to the food and medals.  One of the big things I noticed was that a lot of spectators were getting in the way of the runners.  (This could be avoided completely if all the food was in the chute!!)  Granted, the mall was muddy so everyone was resigned to walking on mats that were 6-8 feet across, but there were some areas where spectators tried to enter that they should not have been.  For example as I was making my way through the crowd to get to the medal tent, there were several spectators also trying to get through to the medals.  Many of them realized their error and turned around, but that only contributed to the huge mess.  

Overall, in all honesty I'm not sure if I would do this race again.  The race is legendary because it goes past a lot of famous DC landmarks like the Martin Luther King Jr., Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, the Tidal Basin, the Cherry Blossoms (extra special when in bloom), and starting and finishing at the Washington Monument.  (Which trust me makes for some great photo opts!)  But I'm not sure if it's worth the crowding before, during and after the race.  (The crowding was a pretty consistent complaint with a lot of the runners that I spoke to after the race.)  It's definitely fixable, but the bigger question is will they listen to runner input and make the changes?

2017 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap (Part 1: The Expo)

This was my third year (non-consecutive) running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  My first year (2014) I got in through the lottery, then I got into last year and this year's races by volunteering.  In 2015 I chauffeured an elite runner to the airport and then last year and this year I helped at packet pickup by handing out bibs.

So let's start with Friday afternoon at the Expo!

After the quick orientation but before packet pickup opened to the public I got my bib along with one for a friend along with our shirts and commemorative keychains.  (This year was the 45th anniversary for the race!)

I'm glad I did it too because packet pickup was bananas.  I was there from the opening at 3pm to about 5:15 and barely had any time in between runners to take more than a couple breaths, a sip of water or help the other volunteer next to me with her line.  Last year it felt like there was a little bit of time to pin together safety pins or get bags ready so runners get their pins automatically and are ready to go get their shirts.  (This may have been because last year everyone knew well in advance that the weather would be terrible so a lot of people may have decided to not run or pickup their packets.)

Once the second round of volunteers arrived at 5:15, I ran off to get in line to meet Katherine Switzer.  While standing in line I noticed a lot of people were having her sign bibs and loved the idea.  She was signing the majority of them "Be Fearless - K Switzer 261" but I wanted something a little more meaningful.

When Katherine Switzer encountered Jock Semple on the Boston Marathon course 50 years ago, he yelled shouted at her "GIVE ME THOSE NUMBERS!" before her boyfriend and coach pushed him out of the way so she could keep running.  One of my favorite podcasts (Stuff Mom Never Told You) talked about her and Bobbi Gibb running the Boston Marathon.  It's definitely worth a listen!

Afterwards I explored the rest of the expo and got a really cute shirt from Charm City Run along with some new Bondi Bands!

Once I finished shopping it was about time for the volunteer reception, so I grabbed my complimentary beer and killed some time checking emails and instagram before getting in line for the reception.  During the reception it was fun getting to chat with other volunteers and watching others play a giant lawn version of Jenga while listening to live music and enjoying pizza from Mama Lucia and beer from Old Ox Brewery (I tried Golden Ox and it was pretty good.)

Some of the volunteers I spoke with had been on the medical team as volunteers for several years and it was really interesting to get to speak with them.  One of the medical volunteers told me about a fascinating set of volunteers that they have--medical runners!  They essentially give these runners free entry to the race along with a waist pack of basic medical supplies and a reflective vest.  I had never noticed them before (so consider my mind blown) and made a mental note to keep an eye out for them on race day.

After the reception wrapped up I hopped back onto the metro and headed home for the night, ready to work a 5k the next morning and excited to run Sunday morning.

Next:  The Race!!

Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 miler 2016 Race Recap!

This year's Cherry Blossom 10 Miler was absolutely crazy for a lot of reasons (some good, others not so much.)  It started with meeting Meb on Thursday, and the next day I volunteered for packet pickup and explored the expo.  Then on Saturday I packed up multiple outfits and headed to my parents for a very windy (and somewhat stressful) evening before the race Sunday morning.

Volunteering for packet pickup was expectedly chaotic, but a lot of fun!  Essentially I handed people their race bibs with the timing chip and directed them to where to get their t-shirts.  There were a lot of the same questions--can I just give you my name? (No, because there are probably about 20 Sarah's in just my boxes of bibs.)  And surprisingly there were a LOT of people who tried picking up their bib with the previous year's email.  (Check the dates on there, people!  I understand sometimes technology is wonky and can bring up an older email before a newer one, but still--check the dates!)  Generally everybody that came to my table were super nice and happy to be there.

After my shift ended, my Dad (who was helping sell Cherry Blossom merchandise) and I explored the expo.  I found a couple of really cute sweaty bands and got to see some of the medals I'll be earning later this year for running the King Crab race series!  (Apparently the blanket was also on display, but I totally missed it!)  They also had the recently announced Baltimoron medal as a reward if you run both the Baltimore 5k and half marathon in the same day.

All week I had been closely watching the weather, and it kept showing that Sunday would be cold and windy.  Then on Friday it was announced that there would be a high wind advisory and a freeze watch in the suburbs.  On Saturday afternoon race organizers started announcing what they would do to make sure everybody could safely participate in the race.  First they announced that there wouldn't be any signage on the course marking the mileage or showing split times (there are actually 5 different timing mats that you pass over--the start line, 5 miles, 10k, 9 miles and the finish line.)  They also cancelled the kid's race and later announced that they would be cutting the number of water stops in half so there would only be three on the whole course.  The organizers also decided that this year they would hand you water, food, heatsheets and medals as you cross the finish line and walk back through the chutes where you started.

After they started making the announcements I started getting nervous that they would cut the race short or cancel it altogether.  Then once the wind started to pick up around 10pm, it made it even harder to sleep.  At one point I woke up for a little while and checked my email and saw an email from race organizers saying that the race is definitely on, but there wouldn't be a sound system and there would only be 2 tents (the med tent and bag check tent) and the portajohns were going to be uneffected.  (Yay!  Priorities, people!)

The night before the race I decided on wearing a long sleeved shirt, a wool hoodie, a windbreaker vest, fleece lined leggings and a running cap.  I also grabbed a couple of heatsheets that my Dad and I could use while we waited for the race to begin.


The morning of the race I was totally dragging the second my first alarm went off and said "Up and atom!  It's race day!"

And I'm pretty sure I groaned when my second alarm went off and said "You signed up for this torture!"  Proof:

Before we left I grabbed my water bottle with cherry limeade nuun from the fridge and started sipping it in the car and hoped that the caffeine would kick in sooner rather than later.  I also had a packet of caffeinated limeade honey stinger chews as an added boost of caffeine.
Soon my Dad and I had arrived at the Smithsonian metro station and we began to brave the cold wrapped up in our heatsheets.

Such a pretty sight...but soooooo cold!

We started out at the portajohns and while we waited I ate my peanut butter and dark chocolate luna bar (yum!) about half an hour before gun time.  Then we went to our respective corrals (I was in the green corral, he was in purple) and waited for the race announcements.

Bundled up and ready to go!  

I had heard that some women in my running group were in the same corral and I wildly looked around for them and was so shocked that I found them in the huge group of people that I pushed my way through the crowd and met up with them.  We then walked together to the starting line and I took off my heatsheet and rather than dropping it, I folded it up and shoved it securely under the strap on my running belt.  I ended up running with the women from my running group until we started down the Memorial bridge when I decided it was time to take off and see what could happen on my own.

Around mile 5 an oasis of portajohns with NO LINE popped up and I took advantage of it--I sprinted off the course into a stall and magically, there was even still hand sanitizer!!  (My first year running this race I lost a couple minutes due to the line.)  I then opened up my packet of chews and popped one in my mouth.  Admittedly, I had never tried the flavor before but it was the perfect boost I needed at each mile afterwards.

Then something else magical happened at mile 6 as I started down Hains Point--I saw somebody running with turquoise and purple hair back in a ponytail and a Virginia Tech sweatshirt tied around her waist.  I recognized the hair and ran to catch up and looked over and realized I DO know her!  It was a friend from high school who still lives in the area and runs a lot of the same races as me and somehow we had never caught up until this race.  It made Hains Point go SO much faster to have a friend to run with at a similar pace!  But, again I had to take off if I were going to beat my time of 2:01:13 in 2014.  That last mile just flew by.  I remembered that last hill at the very end before the road levels off and how I walked the whole thing the last time I ran the race.  And I was walking it again.  So about halfway up the hill I started running again and used what little energy I had left and kept going until I crossed the finish line and stopped my Garmin.

As I walked towards the food and water being passed out (I missed out on the heatsheets, which made me VERY glad I held onto mine) I looked down and saw that I had totally beat my time by a longshot!  After getting my medal and taking some obligatory pictures with it in front of the Washington Monument...

Finishing the #cherryblossom10miler in the wind (and the day started with SNOW) makes me feel like a total badass!! So glad I had caffeinated Nuun before the race and some limeade chews for during the race!! #nuunbassador #girlsrunfast #sweatpink #honeystinger

A photo posted by The Thrifty Runner (@thethriftyrunner) on Apr 3, 2016 at 7:52am PDT

I looked up my official finishing time using the CUCB app and I could hardly believe it:  I finished the race in 1:54:39!!!  (Nearly 7 minutes faster than my original time in 2014!!!)  I then happily ate my banana and cheese while I waited for my Dad's text that he had finished the race.  Once we met up we headed back to my parents house for showers and some lunch (since the runger was real!)  Then I headed home for a nap with my cats while watching the Barkley Marathon documentary on Netflix since it started the night before the Cherry Blossom.  (I highly recommend it--even though I fell asleep during it, it was very interesting!)

Overall, I would totally do this race again in a heartbeat.  (And will--the perk of volunteering is getting to bypass the lottery!)  It is very well organized, and there's a reason why elite and novice runners alike have added it to their race bucket list!  Despite the adverse weather conditions, the organizers worked around it extremely well and still managed to put on a fantastic race.

Thrifty Thursday & MEB!

Sorry this week's post is a day late!  Yesterday was kinda crazy but for a good reason!!

So, this happened! Meb said the other races on his bucket list are the boilermaker and the marine corps marathon! #sweatpink #girlsrunfast #nuunbassador #cherryblossom10miler

A photo posted by The Thrifty Runner (@thethriftyrunner) on Mar 31, 2016 at 9:27am PDT

My Dad works on Capitol Hill, and on Thursday they had their own mini packet pickup for the Congressional teams.  There were a couple tables with some SWEET swag--a towel, a light band for your arm, a strobe light, lip balm, a workout towel and a water bottle.

And Meb was there doing meet n greets a day early!  My dad asked him what his expected pace was, and he said 6:00 miles!!  (That's about half what ours is going to be...)  And I asked him what other races are on his bucket list since he mentioned the Cherry Blossom was on it in an interview.  He said he wants to do the Marine Corps Marathon and the Boilermaker 15k.

Naturally being in DC and having a little bit of free time, afterwards I walked around before coming home and then after dinner I met up with my friend, Gracious Warrior Princess for a MRTT Glow Run!

With @thethriftyrunner at the MRTT Glow Run! #mrtt #impiproud ❤️

A photo posted by Gracious warrior princess (@anna_louise_kallas) on Mar 31, 2016 at 6:02pm PDT

Now, onto my thrifting finds for the week!!

Lululemon Power Dance Tank

So pretty and comfortable!  Originally $58, paid $8!

Asics Running Vest

I got this in mind for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler on Sunday.  (It's supposed to be cool but windy, so it'll help block some of the wind.)  Originally approximately $68, paid $8!

Brooks 2009 Marine Corps Marathon Tank Top

I've run the MCM 10k 3 years in a row now, and one of my slight pet peeves is there is NEVER any merch for the 10k.  It even has a small zippered pocket in the lower left of the tank top which can be great for keys, lip balm or tissues.  Originally approximately $45, paid $8!

1970s Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom "Gift Tray"

Originally $2.25 (in 1970, approximately $10-14 in 2016), paid $7

2 Quart Teardrop Pyrex Batter Bowl

Super convenient for somebody accident prone like myself because there's a handle to grip while pouring out batter!  Similar bowls are about $30-40, paid $5!