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Washington DC
There were masses of people in every corner of the city.

Pre-Race
Relaxed. It was nice and cool and even though I rode the day before - a tough 65 miles at Mt. Weather - I still felt like I had some left.

The Race
Without really knowing what I was doing I seeded myself right up front. I was looking to stay out of traffic and so what if I got passed here and there.

Run - 10m
Well, the gun goes off and it was like running with the bulls along the edge of the street. I kept running up onto the curb and then back down onto the street. That kept going on for the first mile and then it spread out enough to grab a permanent spot. My heart rate was either through the roof or reading someone else's monitor. It's hard to say but there was no slowing down- this was all out for 10 miles.

The Memorial bridge out and back was longer than it looked and on the return trip I could see the congestion I was slowly leaving behind for a clearer path of pavement. And as the miles rolled off it really was a matter of sticking to my heart rate at about 160. If it dropped I would push harder and that led to pace of about 7 minute miles. I knew I was close to that mark and that was exhilarating. By the seventh mile I was starting to feel the effects of not wanting to push as hard. But then the head games start- 3 miles left, 7 minute miles, you've done this before. There are a ton of ways to justify all those (ir)rational thoughts. And soon enough I had run another mile. That's when I knew I could push a bit harder and put it all out there. Gain momentum for the last mile and then run the last one all out. The reward of a sub 7 minute mile 10 miler was enough motivation to keep me at it. And as I came to the last quarter mile I was like a mad man with only the finish line in sight.

Run: 1.09:36, 6:58mm, avg HR 162

Final Rankings
95/852 AG (11%)
521/5,205 male (10%)
625/10,707 overall (6%)

Post-Race
Felt great. How exciting it was to race at sub 7 minute miles. This wasn't even a goal or something I thought I was able to reach at this distance. So it was an awesome feeling to accomplish more than I thought I was able. That taper would have been nice but I guess the bike ride kept me loose.

After the race I needed to get out of there in order to warm up as the day got really cold. But was totally pumped about running.

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