My first race of 2018 is in the books! Today I ran the Reston Ten Miler, and I’m so glad I made myself carve out the time to drive to Reston and brave the hilly course. I stuck with my promise of not racing this race, but am pleased that my legs–and my PF–let me finish strong.
I’m not usually drawn by bling, but when I was debating whether to sign up for this race at all, I have to admit that the medal design might have nudged me to click that “register now” button.
Reston Ten Miler Race Recap
I had intended to get to the race venue by 7:15 for the 8:00 am start, but I woke up early and was ready to leave the house by 6:15, so I ended up getting there a bit before 7. I grabbed my bib and shirt and headed back to my car to stay warm.
(Usually the high school is open for us, but due to the severe wind storm that hit Friday and lingered into yesterday, all public school facilities were closed through the weekend.)
We started promptly at 8:00 with no fanfare. My initial pace felt easy, but I knew I was being fooled by the energy of the first mile and the downhill start. I reminded myself that there were lots of hills to come, and tried to settle into a comfortably hard pace. The miles ticked by and I enjoyed the sunshine and blue skies, while dodging the downed limbs and other debris in the road.
The long climb around mile 7 was accompanied by a headwind so strong I felt like I was barely moving. There was a woman right beside me and I tried hard to keep up with her. I knew the course would be hard until mile 8, and then would have some rolling hills until the last mile, which is mostly downhill.
I was glad to see that they had rearranged the finish so we did not have to do an out-and-back along the school driveway, which I always hated. It was much nicer to finish with 3/4 of a lap on the track.
My pace was all over the place, but my heart rate was steady, so I guess my effort was consistent.
[Tweet “Reston 10 Miler Race Recap #runchat”]
Weekly Wrap
The rest of my week was all over the place too–in every sense of the phrase.
Monday: PT exercises in my hotel in Longmont, Colorado
Since the hotel gym didn’t have any free weights, I just did my exercises in my room, which was more spacious anyway.
Tuesday: “Rest” day
I got up at 3:25 am to catch a 7 am flight to DC, and then had to unpack and repack for a 5:30 pm flight to Greeneville, SC.
Wednesday: 4 mile run in Clemson, SC
When I got in Tuesday night, my son drove me around his neighborhood to show me a good running route–he knows how to keep his Mom happy. 🙂
Thursday: Two ~ 1 mile hikes in Clemson, SC
We took advantage of a break in the rain and went on two short hikes.
Friday: 45 min strength training + PT
Work was closed due to the dangerous windstorm, and we lost power around noon. I was glad that my PT office was open because I needed to recharge my devices, but I wish I hadn’t parked by the sign that blew off a building and smashed my rear windshield ….
I thought it felt breezy when I got back in my car ….
Saturday: Rest day
With a big work deadline looming and no power at home, I decided the best use of my time was to go into the office–after a stop at Starbucks. Luckily our power came back on around 12:30–although after 12 hours of now power I decided to throw away most of our food.
Sunday: Reston Ten Miler
I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap
I’m also participating in the Cherry Blossom Training Link Up that Heather is hosting.
Have you ever experienced bad storm damage?
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Congrats on your great race! Nice finish time, considering your time off the road for PF.
What a shame about your back window! The wind and storms have been crazy!
Thanks. Since it was my longest run since mid-Dcember, I’m pleased with my conditioning.
I am SO sorry about your car :(, but glad that you are okay! The storm was really way more powerful than I expected. We also lost power for about 15 hours but we luckily didn’t have to throw away any food since the house was so cold.
Congrats on a great race today!
Hmm. I’m not sure a cold house is so lucky! Our weather here was sunny and in the 50s on Saturday, and we have a gas fireplace that kept us warm Friday night.
Congrats on a strong race! I’m so glad it went well in spite of your PF. Ugh that storm looks wicked. I’m so sorry about your car window. Once we had high winds that lifted our closed deck umbrella up and through our kitchen window. Thankfully nobody was hurt but that could have ended really badly.
Great race. My first isn’t until the end of May. Hope your weather has improved. We are bracing for another round of a mix snow/ice/rain mess here in Wisconsin. Looking forward to runs where ice isn’t an issue.
Oh, gosh, we are getting some snow/rain right now, but it won’t stick.
So sorry about that windshield! I think the red heart rate graphs tell the story more than any other data. That is a fabulous steady effort! If only I had your speed! Very nicely done. The best news if that your PF allowed you to have a strong race. Thanks for linking!
The steady HR really is crazy compared to the elevation profile. So far so good with my PF. Now to keep up all the exercises that made it better!
Congrats on running a strong race! I’m so glad your PF was not an issue.
So sorry about your car! The winds around here were unbelievable and I’m still amazed we didn’t have any damage other than losing power for about 12 hours.
I am really thrilled that my PF seems to be gone – knock on wood!
That is am amazing time for Reston! I am always amazed how you can pull out those strong race times! boo on the car. We had crazy weather huh? Have a fantastic week
I’m really pleased with my performance, especially since this was my longest run since December. I hope to see you this weekend.
Strong 10 miler, as always! I ran 10 yesterday as training, mileage twinsies! 🙂
Yay! You are outdoing me with your training though. I’m still in slacker mode. 😉
Great job on your race! That bling is a beauty! Sorry to hear about your car. It was super windy here as well this weekend. My neighbor’s basketball hoop fell over right on the road, luckily their car was parked in the driveway that day.
Oh, they were lucky. For some reason I just love the big X.
Great job with that race! The wind was pretty crazy, even yesterday. I thought it would have died down by then.
It wasn’t constant, but when it gusted, it was strong!
Great job on your race. I know wind can add a lot of resistance, and I feel like I put in more effort in those runs. So sorry about your car. We’ve had crazy wind since yesterday afternoon, and I’m wary of everything near the roads.
Thanks. A strong headwind can be crazy!
Oh NO! I am so sorry to hear about your car – What a bummer.
On the bright side congrats on a great race. I would be happy with that finish time on a good day let alone coming off the PF injury. 🙂
Thanks. I am grateful that the car is really more of an inconvenience for me than anything. I am really happy that PT helped my PF!
What a solid effort and result on that race! Well done! As for that windshield, goodness! I just love your sense of humour though – “I thought it was a bit breezy…”
That really was my thought process! Hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow.
Congrats on your race, but boo to the damaged window on your vehicle! Several years ago, we had a huge pine tree come down during a storm. This tree was nearly 60 feet tall. It took down a major power line and just missed our storage shed in the back yard.
Sounds like you got lucky! There was a lot of storm damage around here.
Congrats on your race! It was very annoying to lose power and have to throw out food. Sorry about your windshield!
Thanks! I’m seeing it as an opportunity to restock with good foods!
Congratulations on your race, you did a great job!! I’m starting to get the bug and wish I had a race, but my next one isn’t until early April!
Ugh, this winter storm and awful wind has really done so much damage. Sorry about your car and loss of power :(.
Congratulations on your completion of your game, although there are some small episodes. Everyone needs to challenge herself or himself although it will be obstructed by the wind and rain.