2026 Lawyers Have Heart 10K

The weather was perfect for the 2026 Lawyers Have Heart 10K—upper 50s/low 60s, blue skies, cool breeze. That didn’t keep me from having my slowest race ever, but I probably did had the race I trained for.

I did finish smiling!

2026 Lawyers Have Heart 10K

I decided to ask my husband to sherpa me this year, and that worked out well. We had no traffic getting to the suggested drop-off point, which was about a mile from the race venue. Along the way I spotted a National Park building with indoor bathrooms and was grateful that it was open at 6:30 am. A true pre-race luxury!

My only pre-race regret is that I got there too early—a full hour before the start—but with D.C. road closures it’s better to be safe than sorry. I hung out in the VIP tent and enjoyed the fresh fruit from the breakfast offerings.

The 10K went off precisely at 7:45 am. The course had us starting with Hains Point, looping around the Tidal Basin, and running most of the way over the Memorial Bridge before heading back to the finish line.

It was a lovely day and I  soaked up the scenery along the way.

First, we had a glimpse of the Jefferson Memorial.

Then we ran along the water around Hains Point. 

Heading back around the Tidal Basin we got another view of Jefferson

I don’t know why this is so blurry—I even stopped for this photo!

At the Memorial Bridge turn-around I had to get a picture of the view that will be forever changed by the arch. As it is now, there’s a clear sight line to the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery..

The arch will be in the traffic circle at the end of the bridge,  just beyond the white police car you can barely see in this picture.

Heading back over Memorial Bridge gives you a full view of the Lincoln Memorial.

This is part of my morning commute!

I really think this is the best race as far as D.C. scenery goes. There’s even a spot on Hains Point where you can see the Washington Monument on your left and the Capitol off to the right. 

The beauty of the day was balanced by my ugly performance. 😉

Not the progression runners strive for!

I think Hains Point just psychs me out. In the 10 mile races I used to do, it comes at the end (miles 6-9) and was often where I fell apart. It’s one thing to lose steam 8 miles into a 10 mile race, but today I didn’t even make it to mile 3 before taking a walk break. After that, I took 1-2 breaks per mile, but ran strong from the Memorial Bridge turn-around to the finish line.

My Garmin heart rate data shows that my struggle was real. I was in Zone 5 nearly from the start, even though I felt good. (It came down into zone 4 when I started taking breaks.) Last year the oppressively humid weather gave me a good excuse for needing walk breaks, but today it felt 90% mental—I just didn’t want to keep running. Seeing my heart rate data makes it more understandable, but it’s still frustrating. Obviously I kept going, and I did find my mojo at the end, but it wasn’t the redemption race I was hoping for.

Since this is a race I do every year to support the American Heart Association, I’m already thinking about what to do differently in 2027. So far I’ve thought of three options:

• don’t try to race at all—at this point, running the whole course without stopping would be a win, and I could probably beat this year’s time.
• race the 5K—this would avoid Hains Point and I’d still get the views of the Jefferson Memorial, Tidal Basin, Memorial Bridge, and Lincoln Memorial.
• do a few training runs around Hains Point to re-train my brain and regain my confidence.

One thing I did do right—the playlist in this Peloton class was perfect—although maybe the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Black Eyed Peas had me going out too fast, the last song was perfect for my push to the finish line.

Thanks again for all your support!

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.

Who wants to run this race with me next year?