This weekend I wrapped up my spring (?) racing season with the 2017 Lawyers Have Heart 10K. I was feeling run down after my week of tough workouts last week, and really cut back in the days leading up to the race. I think that paid off since I ran my second-fastest Lawyers Have Heart ever!
Although I was able to ease up on my workouts, the rest of my week was not easy. Monday I had an oral argument. Tuesday I got my son and his girlfriend off to Germany for two months of “studying” abroad. Wednesday I spoke on a legal panel hosted by The Atlantic and filmed at The Newseum. Thursday I had an all-day meeting with an expert witness from England. Friday I had to say farewell to a colleague who is moving to North Carolina. And then Friday night I realized that the race started at 7:00 instead of 7:30!
2017 Lawyers Have Heart Race Recap
The Lawyers Have Heart race starts and ends right by my office, and while there are gorgeous views along the river, the race course doesn’t take advantage of any of them.
Enjoying the scenery before the race.
Instead of following a path along the river, the course is run on the freeways that cut through the city. Instead of hills, there are on-ramps and off-ramps. There’s no crowd support anywhere–I always wonder if that’s because nobody wants to cheer on a bunch of lawyers!
My goal for the race was to run an 8-ish min/mile pace. I thought I was pacing myself well based on my infrequent glances at my Garmin, but I see from my Garmin data that I started out too fast, running the first three miles at 7:52; 7:56: and 8:06. I know I slowed down after that, but I decided not to push myself again until mile 5, which is reflected in my last three miles splits: 8:23; 8:44: 8:17. I was pleased with how I felt during that last mile, and pushed it to the finish with a 7:37 pace for the last 1/4 mile measured by my Garmin.
I know those slower middle miles would keep me from a PR, but I was satisfied with my second-fastest finish. I collected my medal and headed to my office for our post-race brunch.
[Tweet “Coco’s 2017 #RunLHH 10K #RaceRecap #runchat”]
Weekly Wrap
As I mentioned, I cut back on my workouts a bit this week. Here’s my report for the Weekly Wrap Link Up (guest hosted this week by Kim at KookyRunner).
Monday: Strength workout at home
Tuesday: Easy neighborhood run
Wednesday: OTF
Thursday: Strength workout at home
Friday: Two Jasyoga programs (~45 min total)
I broke the “nothing new on race day” rule and
wore my new ProCompression socks,
trusting that this tried-and-true brand
wouldn’t do me wrong.
I couldn’t resist how well the blue pattern
coordinated with my law firm’s LHH team shirt
–another new thing I wore on race day!
Do you have any races coming up this summer?
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Congrats on your great race! Was it small, since it was only lawyers?
I have to say it– I had a lot of oral arguments this week…lol…sorry…
Hah! There’s a lot of lawyers in DC! From the results it looks like about 1700 did the 10K and 1700 did the 5K.
Do you remember when I reviewed Boston Bound by Elizabeth Clor? Turns out she ran the 5k and came in 5th overall women. She recaps the race on her blog Racing Stripes, if you want to read it. I just thought that was kind of a coincidence…
Oooh, I will bump that up on my reading list!
Congrats on your race! I ran downtown at around 9ish on Saturday and saw a lot of people walking back with their bibs on.
Yep! Things had wrapped up by then – the advantage of an early start!
Congrats on your strong 10K this weekend – that’s awesome! I know that this race was very important to you so glad that it went well. I actually just got those Pro Compression socks in the mail yesterday and I love them – they are so pretty 🙂
Thanks for linking up for the Weekly Wrap!
Thanks! I really do love the socks – I think they nailed it with this design!
I love the compression socks! Looks like your strategy to break the cardinal rule worked. I just added the Chicago R’n;R half marathon to my summer roster 😉 There will be a few other smaller “local” events added as well after I finish up with Grandma’s. You should consider Chicago!! Congrats on that speedy finish time!
Oh, running in the heat just doesn’t appeal to me! I know you’ll have fun though!
Wow awesome job on your 10k race!! Congratulations to you!! Love the medal!
ooh the medals look really nice this year! One of these years I will make it to this race. It’s just right in the middle of my tri season and all of the end of the year school stuff. Congrats on a great race
Thanks! It is a tough time of year. I missed it the year my son graduated from HS since it was the same morning.
Whew! I’m tired just reading that. Great job on your race! That’s really too bad it doesn’t take advantage of the scenery.
I have a race on the 4th & maybe one in August. I’m not a fan of racing in the summer. November is usually my big racing month! And it’s time to take a little bit of a breather, anyway.
Yeah, I think I’m done with racing until September. I’ll be spending more time on my bike — where I can make my own breeze on hot days. 😉
GO YOU COCO.
From the race to the oral arguments.
We need to get a facebook live of the LawyerCoco OR OR OR a post on HOW TO FUEL UP FOR YOUR BEST ORAL ARGUMENT EVER.
<3
Sorry about your hectic week 🙁 But glad it finished well with such a great run at the Lawyers Race. And just love the colour of those compression shocks and shoes!
Can you tell that blue is my favorite color? 🙂
My Newseum panel is on YouTube. For the other, you’d have to just read the court reporter’s transcript and visualize me standing at the podium. 🙂
Wow, you had a busy week yet still had enough energy left to pull off a speedy race! That’s a nice looking medal!
You’d think it would be easier for them to set up the course on the nicer paths than the freeway, but who knows! I know certain permits are more of a battle than others in event courses. Strong run for you, as always!
Yes, there’s a lot of politics around the D.C. road closures. 🙂
Congrats on your race! I have my 5th half marathon this weekend, can’t wait!
Nice job on the race. LHH is one of the few local races that I’ve never done. I think I need to put it on the calendar for next year…
Maybe you’re wise to stay away from all the lawyers!
That’s interesting that they shut down the freeway instead of taking advantage of the pretty views along the river. At least I assume the freeway was shut down for the race!!
So, did the new socks hold up during the race? Or were they a mistake?
Sounds like you had quite the busy week leading up to race day!! Congrats on your speedy time.
Oh, the socks were fine — as was the shirt. Since I wear ProCompression socks all the time, I trusted that a new pair wouldn’t be too risky.
Congrats! I don’t usually do races in the summer, and instead use those months for keeping my base. I’ve trained through the summer before, and it was awful! OK, it was Texas…
I have a love /hate relationship with LHH. The course is awful, but I love 10ks! I was out of town this past weekend so I missed the fun. Kudos on making it through a packed week!
Thanks! Maybe next year we can run it together. 🙂
Your comment that maybe people didn’t want to come out to cheer on a bunch of lawyers cracked me up. I have a few lawyer friends and the lawyer jokes are never ending!
Great finish time too! You are so speedy!
At least we have a sense of humor about ourselves, right?
Congrats on your race! A second fastest finish time is awesome!
That’s interesting (and disappointing) that the race didn’t take advantage of any of the views. That being said, it sounds like you didn’t need a view to have a great race! Congratulations!
I have a bunch of 5Ks coming up this summer. Things slow down around here because of the hot temperatures, so we will do the best we can.
I think it’s harder to close the roads with the nice views! Summer racing is tough!
Woohoo! Congrats on a great race. And I agree — how strange they don’t take advantage of more scenic areas!
Congrats on running a very strong race. The weather last weekend wasn’t very runner friendly, but you showed those Weather Gods who was in control. Way to go!
You definitely had one busy week! Congrats on running such a strong 10K! What a shame the course isn’t prettier.
Congratulations on your race! DC is such a great city to explore. I haven’t visited the Newseum yet and it’s definitely on my bucket list.