2014 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race

On Sunday, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race with my girlfriends for the third year in a row! It is seriously one of my favorite races. Very flat course, very organized expo and race, greg crowd support, beautiful sites along the way (you right right through DC and all the monuments). There’s not a single thing I don’t like about this race!

We woke up bright and early on Sunday to fuel (gluten-free corn flakes for me with a cup of coffee) and then headed towards the Washington Monument for the 7:30 start. The race starts in waves (you’re assigned a corral based on your estimated finish time you provide when you register, or it pulls the previous year’s time); I was in the second wave this year. We had perfect timing; we arrived and I waited in my corral for about 5 minutes before the race started and then 3 more minutes before my wave took off. I could tell I’d overdressed about 0.5 mile in but I was just so cold last year during the race since I had to wait a little longer before running so I was cautious this year.

The first couple miles I was fighting the crowd and couldn’t get my pace up to where I wanted. I was hoping to run a 7:10 pace from the start and then increase my speed in the second half of the race if I was feeling well, but I had to stick around 7:45 for the first mile and 7:30 into the second mile just because there were so many people. I should have pushed my way up to the front of the corral but I didn’t even think about it. Next year!

I still ended up having a great race! I beat my PR by 2 minutes and ran it in 1 hour, 11 minutes with an average 7:06 pace.  I was definitely happy with it, but I think I could have pushed even harder and really wish I could have broken 1:10. But, there is always next year! 🙂

This year, Leslie couldn’t run with us because of some health stuff going on, but we all wore Liverpool t-shirts to let her know love her soooo much! <3 Even the moms sported the Liverpool gear with us. Leslie’s mom, Allison’s mom and Gabi’s mom all ran. I need to get my mom to come next year too!

My trusty Winston-Salem long-run buddy, Anna, was also in D.C. to run the race so we met up afterwards for a quick pic! It was her first year running it, and she loved it too. Hopefully she liked it enough to come back and run it again even when she moves to the other side of the country this year. 🙁

I was absolutely shivering after I finished running so it was a good thing I had the long sleeves on after all, I suppose. I get mild hypothermia – lips turning blue, shaking, everything – if I stay in wet workout clothes too long. It happens even in the heat of summer!

After all of us finished running, we took the long way home for a little sight-seeing. (Haha, yeah, even after running the 10 mile, we thought we’d tack on a long walk!) We stopped in front of the White House.

But I was more amazed by the building next to it. Allison told me what it is, but I already forgot. 🙂 It was just such a beautiful building!!

When we made it back to the apartment, we got a picture with all of us. Next year you’ll be back running with us Leslie!

(left to right: Jill, Crystal, Gabi, Leslie, Allison, shorty me. You can read Jill’s race recap on her blog too!)

And then it was time to stuff ourselves! We cleaned up and then headed to Agora for brunch. It’s bottomless everything. We literally ordered every single item from the first page and then some more items on the back page. hahaha. They had awesome dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and hummus!

I ordered a Turkish coffee which was like really thick espresso and a bloody mary. The bloody mary was just ok; I drank about half of it and then got a mimosa (and only drank about half of that!). I was too focused on all the food!

We rolled ourselves out of Agora after a couple hours and said our goodbyes as Crystal, Jill and I headed back to NC. I’m so lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends. I love all these girls so much! I had so much fun seeing everyone last weekend, and thanks to Allison and Gabi for being our gracious hostesses!

What’s your favorite brunch drink? I love bloody mary’s when they’re really spicy and flavorful but I’m kinda hard to please with them. So usually I just stick to black coffee.