Cherry Blossom Foolishness At The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run Expo

Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run Expo

My friends and I entered the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler as a team, so we would be able to run the race (or not) together. Since the event is on April 1 and many of us were planning to squeeze it in between the Rock’n’Roll USA Half Marathon and the GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler, I picked “April Fools” as a fitting team name. By the time the lottery entry closed, we had about eight people on our team. Now that it is race weekend, I am the only fool left!

The friend I’ve done so many training runs with decided that she couldn’t pass up the chance to take her son for a ski weekend out west. The friend I’ve signed up for other races with just hasn’t been keeping up with her running. Several friends at work have been having knee issues that seem to kick in after 5 miles.  So, I will have to set my own goals and run my own race.

I’ve had a good week of workouts this week–solid weight training on Monday and Wednesday, a tempo treadmill workout Tuesday, a nice outdoor run on Thursday, and yoga on Friday (now that I’ve figure out how to use the XBox to play DVDs). I feel pretty good, and I am definitely getting psyched to chase that 1:25 goal.

I made it to the expo this afternoon (I shared a cab with someone at work who is doing the 5K, so instead of paying $20 to have our stuff mailed to us, we each paid $15 for cab fare. ) The expo was great. We quickly got our bibs and t-shirts and then browsed the exhibitor booths. I loved race merchandise (t-shirts, running skirts, and jackets with the Cherry Blossom logo) but really could not justify another purple top or another purple skirt–but they are soooo cuuuute! My co-worker got a neon yellow jacket, and we laughed at the One More Mile t-shirts. But the race t-shirt is so pretty, I didn’t feel like I need to buy anything else:

Last weekend I finally found the water bottle/fuel belt I’ve been looking for:

It’s by Ultimate Direction and it holds one full-size water bottle and has two very roomy pockets that easily fit my iPhone, car key, lip balm, etc.  The belt adjusts easily, and stays in place with no annoying bouncing. (Does anyone want my Nathan? It would be fine if I didn’t ever want to carry my iPhone–or anything more than my car key!)

So, I think I am about ready for the race. I need to delete a few songs from the playlist I made for the Rock’N’Roll USA Half Marathon, and finalize my transportation logistics. I’ve got the drop-off figured out, but need to decide when/how to rendez-vous with my husband afterwards.

Do you have a favorite slogan t-shirt?