Cherry Blossom 10 Miler: PR!

Picture yourself in a phone booth with 50 of your best friends, trying to run.

That's kind of how this 12,000-strong race felt.

My speed development coach had warned us that the course would be tight for the first mile but would clear out after that.

Um, no.

I started in the last wave, and was immediately boxed in. There was literally nowhere to go. By mile 4 when there was STILL no sign of any clearing happening, I was getting grumpy (shocker), despite the absolutely perfect gorgeous weather and beautiful cherry trees and scenic...scenery. It FINALLY cleared out a little by 8 miles.

See what I'm sayin'?? Like this, pretty much the whole way! Photo courtesy D.C. Rainmaker, who somehow managed to miss me.

(Sidebar/Rant: Is there some RULE that whenever I have a race my neighbors must throw a party the night before? And not in my honor? After listening to it for 1 1/2 hours I finally banged on their door at 10:30 and asked them nicely to please keep it down. Then I yelled out my window at them, cuz their balcony is RIGHT NEXT to my bedroom window. A basement apartment will totally be a step up.)

Anywho, I was hoping for 10 minute miles.

I was hoping, actually, to positive split this thing, my usual way: Run all out for the first 7 miles or so, and then, you know, die. Well, mission accomplished! Sort of. Except for the all-out running part. Still, happiness reigns!

mile 1: 10:40
mile 2: 10:31
mile 3: 10:24
mile 3.1 1:05 (5K=32:41)
mile 3.9: 9:34
mile 5: 10:22
mile 6: 10:21
mile 6.2 2:50 (10k=1:05:50 PR)
mile 6.8: 8:49
mile 8: 9:58
mile 9: 11:14
mile 10: 11:16

1:47:02 Min/mile: 10:43

The course has changed since 2006. In 2006 it included a nice 2-3 mile downhill at the end. Now it's pretty much all flat except for a slight incline around mile 9.

Other than dodging walk/runners and people who drop their FULL water cups right behind them (yes, I'm looking at you), the race was uneventful.

I managed to avoid walking except for a few (OK many) seconds at water stops 4 & 6, so that was a personal victory.

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, 2009
Jeanne McCann, 52 Bethesda MD
Gun: 2:02:42
Net: 1:47:02
Min/Mile: 10:43 <----THAT'S MY 10 K PACE. WOOT.
209/318

The Army "We Ran Out of Water at Mile 4" 10 Miler, 2007 (Recap)
50, Bethesda MD
Gun: 2:23:53
Net: 2:02:41
Min/mile: 12:16
293/425

The Cherry "My Maiden 10 Miler" Blossom 10 Miler, 2006 (recap)
49, Bethesda
Gun: 2:06:46
Net: 1:57:50
Min/Mile: 11:47
333/362

Three PRs in One

National Half Marathon Race Report

Things started last night with a bloggy meetup dinner to celebrate the arrival in town of the very scientific (and, it turns out, hilarious) Danielle in Iowa.


L-R: Danielle, Adam, Rebecca, Joe, Audrey, Jeanne, Ray, and Peter.

I got a private tutorial strategery session from the 26-year-old enfant terrible DCRainmaker.

The plan was to bring it home in 2:22 (I can dream, y'all). DCR suggested I try to hit 6 miles by 1:06 (my PR, until this morning), and 10 miles by 1:50 (I think that's what he said. We were boozing it up so who remembers?). Sadly, he forgot to prescribe miles 11, 12, 13 and .1. And all the other ones.

I tried hard to convince him that the way to run this thing was all out hell's bells until you can't and then you slow down. He thought that was odd.

After I got home last night, I fired up this clever little pace calculator with FADE tool, and set it for 2:22, with a 60 second fade after mile 5. (See Ray? I'm not the only one who thinks this way!)

And it told me...well, what I thought it told me was:

Pre-fade pace: 10:50 Post-fade pace: 11:13

so that's what I wrote on the back of my hand.

Too bad what it actually said was this:
Overall pace: 10:50 Pre-fade pace: 10:13 Post-fade pace: 11:13

So I thought as long as I ran anything better than 10:50 for the first 5 miles, I was golden. What it actually said of course, was I that I HAD to do 10:13s for the first 5 miles.

Reading the chart: FAIL.

But National Half Mary: PASS!

I woke up at 4:30 and all was right with the world, except for a little stomach upset. I met up with my Speed Dev partner, B., and Nancy Toby and Danielle and we waited FOREVER to cross the start (eight minutes). I love this course because it goes through so much of the city. I hate this course because it has hills. Did the earth shift since last year? Cuz I'm pretty sure D.C. has spouted more hills. The size of the field also doubled this year (I heard 8,000) and there were tons more spectators. Last year's spectators were mostly drunk people who hadn't made it home yet and some homeless guys. Last year I was alone for most of the race, behind two guys running together with their heads stuck through the top of a box. When the sag wagon decided to tail me. That was fun. This year: loads of people around me, and no sagging.

As usual, everyone annoys me when I'm racing. People breathing, CELLPHONES—can we forget the no headphones rule and please deal with cellphones?? Why do you need a cellphone in a race? WHY???—keys jangling, talking. (Unless I'm the one talking. Then of course, it annoys me if you don't talk back. It's hard being me.) This year I yelled at what I think was a D.C. Councilman for leaving his car idling. "Turn that car off! Polluter!" Then some poor soul had the nerve to yell "only 1 mile left" at 11.5 miles. That's just criminal. Arrest her.

On the good side, the cops were fun, the spectators were great. The Howard U (I think?) kids all stood in a line, blasting a boombox, and high fiving as we flew down the hill around mile 8.

As you can see, my pacing is pretty much exactly the same as it is during my training long runs: Everything and then some. I don't want any pace to ever feel left out. I am an equal opportunity pacer!

mile 1: 10:25
mile 2: 10:20
mile 3: 9:48 (30:11 at 3 miles)
mile 4: 11:09 (mile marker misplaced so this was long)
mile 5: 9:20 (which means mile 5 was short :)
mile 6: 10:50
mile 6.2 3:01 (1:04:36 10K PR)
mile .8: 11:00
mile 8: 11:38
mile 9: 12:30
mile 10: 10:22 (1:50: 10 mile PR)
mile 11: 12:01
mile 12: 13:22
mile 13: 10:56
mile .1: 1:06

National Half 3/21/2009:
58/71 2040/2281 10K: 1:04:40 10:25 Finish: 2:27:36 11:16 52 F

National Half 3/29/2008:
48/53 2:31:57 11:36 51 F

(Previous PR: Blue Gray Half Mary, Fredericksburg, VA, Dec 14, 2008:
2:28:43 11:21 min./mile (10/10 grrrrr))

Because there's a National Marathon as well as a National Half Marathon, that meant that the finish FOR ONCE wasn't totally dismantled by the time I got there, which also meant that for the Very First Time, I got a free massage at the end. It was an Active Release massage which involved lots of moaning on my part. Although it's entirely possible that the masseuse also moaned.

There was also loads of food and drink, but long lines. You all know how I feel about long lines. My feet hurt. I only needed Powerade. So I did what any normal person would do and cut in line to grab one. (Yes, I am that woman.) Then it was off to the Hawk and Dove for a DC Tri brunch. French toast, and lots of it.

Here I am at mile 13,000: My legs! I can't feel my legs! Or see them! Photo courtesy DC Rainmaker

The Perfect Day

I planned to write a glorious epic post recalling all my dreams, hopes and wishes for 2008, assessing how they came out, including charming Christmas photos showing all the new loot I got gave, but all I can think, or write about, is my NEW 5k PR that I set on Jan. 1, 2009.

Montgomery County Road Runners New Years 2009 5k:
1/1/09: 53/126 5/10 Jeanne McCann 51 29:48 (9:36 min./mile)

(Feel free to skip the rest of this post, as that's really the best part right there.)

You will recall the sad episode of the 5k Christmas Caper, where I missed running sub-30 by 1 second and had the audacity to try to sweet talk the race director into changing my time (or something like that). He held firm, though, leaving me no choice but to run yet another 5k.

I rang in the New Year with my BFFs at a PJ party where we drank champagne, talked about boys and sex, and laughed our heads off.


As much fun as I was having, and despite many tempting pleas to spend the night, I'm an ATHLETE darnit, and in training. There was nothing for it but to bundle up and and drive home, because I had a date with a 5k the next morning, and one of us was going down and it was NOT going to be me.

I set my brain for 29:30, since last time I had it set for 29:59, which was obviously not enough of a cushion. I fell asleep around 2 a.m., champagne bubbles floating above my head, listening to the 50mph winds tearing up the trees outside my window, a smile on my face.

New Year's Day dawned cold, 25F, but the wind had died down. I went through the motions of getting dressed in my nice new Christmas present Nike cozy warm turtleneck (thanks, E.!) and the blue vest that is known far and wide around the Metro D.C. area, because, well, it's all I ever wear (Brooks Motion Vest--shop around, you can find it much cheaper).

Unsurprisingly, I had the road to myself at 9 a.m. New Years Day. At times like these, I just try to turn my brain off (I hear you sniggering) lest it talk me out of things. Which I knew it was trying to do. So I stopped at a 7-11 to get some of my secret weapon

and since I don't drink caffeine, this stuff really gets me going, if you catch my drift.

I hopped around outside waiting for the start. Hopped because I was hopped up on no sleep and now plenty of caffeine and? I was freezing to death.

Old School Runner was there volunteering, as is his tradition, and documented the occasion. Here I am hopping:



This is a double-loop course, starting with a rather large downhill to a cul-de-sac, back up on the other side, where the course flattens out to another cul-de-sac, then repeats.

My canny plan: Run like hell until you drop.

mile 1: 9:10 (and that includes stopping to tie my shoe!)
mile 2: 9:30
mile 3.1: 11:00 (i've got the dropping part down, cold)

Finally running with both feet off the ground, the way the Big Kids do it.

Not hurling, just stretching. All photos courtesy of Old School Runner, thanks, Kent!

Montgomery County Road Runners New Years 2009 5k:
1/1/09: 53/126 5/10 Jeanne McCann 51 29:48 (9:36 min./mile)

1/1/08: 63/98 5/12 Jeanne McCann 50 30:22 (9:47 min./mile)

1/1/07: 63/83 10/11 Jeanne McCann 49 33:16 (10:42 min./mile)

As usual, I texted and wrote everyone I knew to tell them. And for once, the official results were the same as my unofficial one. Hells yeah!

The rest of the day I did nothing but snuggle on the couch, read and nap.

Like I said, it was The Perfect Day.

How to Shave Your 5K and Win Second Place in Your Age Group

Back on January 22, 2008, I was dumb enough had enough foresight to enter the Shave Your 5k Challenge, sponsored by the twisted encouraging Half-Fast.

Had I known on January 1, 2008, the day I ran the 5k that set the time that I would need to shave, that I would be entering this challenge, it's entirely possible that I would have run much slower. However, I didn't know, because he hadn't invented it yet, so I awoke on Jan. 1 and ran my fastest 5k ever, in a blazing 30:15 (9:46 min./mile).

Except that the Shave Your 5k Challenge has been weighing on me ALL YEAR. For 354 (give or take) days, I've been walking around thinking, "Jeanne, you NEED to find another 5k before the year is out! And then you need to run it faster!"

HF laid out the terms and conditions in excruciating detail, but here's the essence:

The basic idea is to see who can shave the most time off their 5K time during 2008, so everyone will run a 5K at the beginning of the year and another one at the end of the year. The winner is the person that shows the greatest improvement.

At the very last minute, I managed to find a 5k with a $5 entrance fee: the Potomac Valley Track Club 5k Christmas Caper. I showed up Saturday morning at 8:00 for an 8:30 start on the lovely, windy, cold, godforsaken Hain's Point.

It was cold.

Cleverly, I had specifically designed my last post to set up all the reasons why I not only would NOT be shaving my 5k, it would in fact have grown a beard.

But hope springs eternal and the mind is a powerful tool as Number One Daughter's boyfriend is fond of pointing out. So I set my brain for 29:59.

There was a field of about 164 (or exactly 164). The start was a chalk line on the ground, and a piece of cardboard stuck on a stake, as were the mile markers. The start signal was someone yelling "go."

As always I had a carefully thought out strategy: Run like hell until you drop. You know, the same plan the experts recommend.

Mile 1: 9:13

My heart did feel like it was going to break, and I had to give myself a talking-to: "Don't worry about what will happen in mile 3, just keep going. Try to pass people."

So I did.

"That guy who is breathing up your arse? Do. Not. Let. Him. Bother. You."

So I didn't.

"Do NOT look at that watch or I will hurt you. DO. NOT. LOOK."

So I didn't.

I missed mile markers 2 and 3, but somewhere around mile 2.something, while I was busy bargaining with myself ("Just get to that tree and you can walk. O.K. you really don't need to walk we have BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE, no walking but you can slow down. A little. Oh forget it, you can't do this WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE") someone jumped out and took a photo. He yelled "Hi Jeanne!" None other than D.C. Spinster, coaching his crew in the half-marathon program. I have my own paparazzi. Just sayin'.

That jolted me awake. Now the mental calculations began. I allowed myself to glance at my watch and saw 26 minutes elapsed. I thought I had about half a mile to go (NOT) which I figured I could do in 5 minutes IF I KILLED MYSELF. "What's the point," I thought, "you've already lost." (I specialize in this kind of self help. Call me for a consultation.)

But as I neared the point of Hain's Point, I saw some people hanging around, some webbing, something looked different, holy shit the finish is right here, stopslackingturnitonRIGHTNOW!

I flew through the chute EXACTLY as the clock ticked over to 30:00. Or did I make it before? I checked my watch and it said 29:59. (No fancy technology at this race, just good ol' fashioned bib #s.)

How thrilled was I? Ecstatic. I started babbling to a woman standing at a picnic table about the Shave Your 5k, and making 29:59 and blah blah blah. Finally remembering my manners, I asked, "So, how'd you do?" "Ah," she replied, "I won."

(Longtime readers will remember my penchant for inadvertently picking the winners to brag to.)

I had looked at last year's results beforehand, and noticed a lack of speedsters in my age group. There were awards given for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, in 10-year age spans.

Could TODAY BE MY LUCKY DAY??

It was too much to hope for.

The RD read through the winners of all the age groups, finally getting to Men 50-59, then, Women 50-59, "First place goes to.. Betty... and there are no other women in this category..."

"Um, hello?!? I'm here!"

RD: "Oh, are you here? C'mon up and get a prize."

It was a bit anticlimactic.

The prizes ran the gamut from candles to cookies to popcorn to Christmas kitchen towels. I choose a giant candle.

Then I picked up NOD and her BF and dragged them to breakfast so I could brag. After which I posted my (unoffical) time on Facebook. And called everyone I knew. And wrote to Half-Fast, "29:59!!!!!"

Life was sweet!

Then they posted the official times.

94/164 Jeanne McCann F 51 Bethesda MD 30:01 (9:40 min./mile) 32/83 women F50-59 2/6

30....say what???

I could end my long tale here, and you all could get on with your lives, but I feel it's my duty to provide you with the REAL END to this story.

At the top of the results page, it fatefully says, "Send additions or corrections," and provides a helpful e-mail.

Yes. I am pathetic enough to write to an overworked, volunteer race director about a difference of TWO SECONDS. Couldn't he please make a teensy tiny correction? Wasn't it possible that the clock was wrong?

And here was the thoughtful, immediate reply:

Let me think -- what would Rod Blagojevich charge for that adjustment? Hmmm ...

It's even less than 1 second -- they clocked you at 30:00.64 -- so the program rounded your time up to 30:01 -- so near and yet so far!

BTW they clocked Betsy Agnvall at exactly 29:59.96, so the program rounded her time up to 30:00.

If you hadn't had that little headwind on the way out ...
if you hadn't dodged around that 10K runner ...
so many ways to shave off 2 seconds ...
and the Time Machine was started exactly 5:00 late -- what if it was 5:01 late, or 5:02?

On the bright side, now you know you can run sub-29:59 on a good day with just a little more training. And maybe sub-29:00!

Congratulations on your award-winning finish!

Can I just say I heart this race? And this race director??!!

(But poor Betty!!!)

I started this blog in June 2005, and I can honestly say that I have been waiting since then to WIN MY AGE GROUP! And now I have! I have also been waiting since then to magically run a sub-30 5k.

So now, apparently, I have to run another one. Sigh.

Life is good people.

PR! PR! PR! PR!

Montgomery Country Road Runners Jan. 1, 2008 5K:
30:15 (pace: 9:46 min. mile)
(UPDATE: I can't stand it!!! You'll just have to bear with me.)
5/12 Jeanne McCann 50 Bethesda MD MCRRC 30:22 9:47 )

FIVE OUT OF 12!!! Not 11/12!!! Not 12/12!!!

Same race last year:
33:01 (10:38 min. mile)

My all-time 5K PR: GW Parkway Classic, April 23, 2006, a FLAT COURSE:
31:13 (10:03 min. miles)

To recap:

Today, Jan. 1, 2008, I ran a race where my average pace started with the number NINE.

9:46 min. miles

LET'S JUST ALL LET THAT NUMBER SINK IN FOR A WHILE.

This is the first time EVER I have EVER run a race where my pace started with something other than 10!!! I mean usually it's 11! If not 12!! I'm in the single digits people!!!

This race is small and free to club members. It's a double loop course. There's a pretty nice big long downhill in it, which you get to go down twice. Of course what goes down must go up.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and forget about conserving my energy and all that nonsense. I was gonna go out fast, and see what happened.

Mile 1: 9:23 (I KNOW! Don't ask me! I have no idea!!!)

Mile 2: 9:33 (Ditto!!)

Mile 3.11: 11:18 (Now we're back in more familiar territory.)

Notes:

This is the club that is RABID about no headphones, although of COURSE there were people running who were wearing headphones. $#@~!

This is the race where last year I barely kept up with an 8-year-old and his dad who was carrying a cup of coffee throughout the race.

This year, there was a 7-year-old girl dressed as tinkerbell. I had my eye on her, believe me.

This year I ran beforehand for 10 minutes to warm up. I was so hepped up by the time we got going, you would have thought I'd been doped.

Old School Runner was there, volunteering, taking photos, and cheering. It's so nice to hear your name called. I sped up whenever I saw him, funnily. Stick a camera on me and apparently I snap to.

This year, I felt stronger. I think that spinning and swimming have helped.

Of course it's not a race unless there is drama: As I was cruising toward the finish, not believing that the clock said 30:xx, I heard a man behind me yell, "Catch her! Catch her!", obviously not talking to me. I crossed the finish and as I did there was a girl at my elbow. Then she passed me in the chute, saying "You're hard to catch."

There are no chips at this race; instead you are given a card with the number on it as you exit in order of finish. So this girl got 175 and I got 176. Even though the reverse was the TRUE ORDER. Let the record reflect.

Thanks to Old School for coming out, volunteering, cheering and most of all, taking my picture!


I do believe that BOTH FEET are off the pavement! (Squinting will help you see this.)





And the obligatory butt shot.

La-De-Da, PR

Unofficial: 2:34:xx (11:45 min/mile pace)

Whoooo hooooooooooooooo!