Sunday, May 2nd - Broad Street Ten Miler

12 miles, hard
80 degrees, sunny and humid

This race just wasn't meant to be. I already felt somewhat burned out in the days leading up to it, but the weather gods made sure I wouldn't have a performance to be proud of. This year's Broad Street Ten Miler was one of the hottest - if not THE hottest - race in three decades. And I don't run well in the heat (see: Summer 2009).

I told myself to go out conservatively, but the majority of the change in elevation on the course occurs in the first 2 miles. I clocked two sub-5:20 miles before the heat got to me, and I quickly fell behind. By the 5 mile mark I was running a minute slower than at Cherry Blossom, and I felt a lot worse. Fire hydrants on every other block were open for the runners to cool off through, and I poured water over my head at every water stop, the cool water rapidly warming up as it trickled down the back of my neck. I had just clocked a 6:23 mile. Shoot me. I just wanted to get to the finish and end this miserable race; I just wanted to get to the finish and end this underwhelming season.

Then, with about two miles to go, after I had been surpassed by the 3rd place female and several males wearing gym shorts, I had a Philly moment. I heard that cliche Rocky theme song and found a second wind. Really, it wasn't a second wind as much as it was a new determination to not let my season end like this. I worked too hard and ran too many miles for this. I even ran through a blizzard every day for a week (mmmm.... blizzzardddd...)! I closed out the race with a 5:4x and a 5:30 mile, overtaking the female runner and the gym short all-stars. 57:38.

On a positive note, the weekend was a blast. I rode up to Philly with Wiggy, Klim, and Dickson, and stayed at Wiggy's home. His mother cooked us a fantastic Italian dinner the night before the race, and her hospitality was truly appreciated. Plus I got to see my old teammates DOC, Moceri, Cavanaugh, and Fuller (who all ran much better than I did), and even Mr and Mrs Askey. When we got back to DC, we kidnapped Klim and brought him to a surprise picnic with the GRC team and friends, and closed out the weekend on a definite high note. Now, for some much deserved time off.