Sometimes I intentionally make crazy choices. Sometimes crazy choices find me. This weekend was a case of the latter happening. Back in December, Pacers Running offered an amazing discount if you signed up for 5 races at once. Since they are my local running store and race company, I often run their races. I decided to make the GW Parkway 10 miler my spring goal race and chose 4 other races to run. One of those four was the Clarendon Day Double - a 5k + a 10k with a mile uphill walk in between. Flash forward to September. I realized a couple of weeks ago that Clarendon Day fell on the Sunday after Ragnar DC. Oops? So, I had a lot on my plate for the weekend. I'll do a full Ragnar DC recap in a few days, but short story - I had … [Read more...]
First Vibram Five Fingers 5k Race
I would have to say that my first 5k in the Vibrams was a huge success! I PR'd by 41 seconds, I came in under 25 minutes (barely) AND I took 2nd in my age group. The running skirt? That was a major FAIL from a running standpoint. I've lost a couple of pounds, so the skirt kept sliding down and the compression shorts totally worked themselves up where they should not have gone. It was a recipe for chafe. It annoyed me at first, but I decided I wanted to focus on the run and I'd deal with the chafe later. Surprisingly, while I'm sure it looked unattractive, I managed not to chafe. The Vibrams were great for the most part. The first mile and a half of the Clarendon Day 5k are largely downhill. The last mile and a half are rolling … [Read more...]
10K race/10 mile run – Clarendon Day 10K
Today was the first annual Clarendon Day 10K run. This race used to be known as the Battle of the Boulevard and it started in Clarendon, went down the huge hill into Rosslyn, turned, and then came back up the hill. Now, the race goes down the big hill, goes farther down the highway at the bottom, and ends just a small ways up the hill in Rosslyn. I expected to have a huge PR since I wasn't going to have to go back up the hill. I wanted to get in 10 miles today, so I planned to run a mile warm up, race, and then run back to my house from the end of the race. Pretty much the mother of all tempo runs. I woke up late, but managed to head out of my house about 18 minutes before the start of the race. I did a comfortable 1.3 mile warm up, … [Read more...]
