Running With Perseverance

The Lawyers Have Heart 10K is the race I love to hate. Or maybe it’s the race I hate to love. It’s almost always hot and humid, and the course is pretty dreary with no crowd support. But, I am a lawyer, and I do have heart. I like to support the American Heart Association. And, my law firm pays for my race entry. So, I sign up year after year. 🙂 

A few months ago when my son’s girlfriend started getting back into running, I encouraged her to sign up for the Lawyers Have Heart 5K. When she agreed, I decided that was a good reason for me to do the 5K instead of the 10K for a change. After my experience this weekend, that may be a change that sticks.

2018 Lawyers Have Heart 5K Race Recap

To stay within the guidelines of the new Friday Five format,  I’ll keep my Lawyers Have Heart 5K race recap short and sweet. If you want to read more about the course, you can check out my previous recaps here.

The race was supposed to start at 7:00 am, so we left the house at 5:45, and were parked in the Kennedy Center garage–free with the parking pass downloaded from the race website–shortly after 6:00. We joined other runners on the 1/2 mile walk to the race staging area at Washington Harbor, made a quick pit stop at my office bathrooms, and still were ready to run by 6:30. 

Lawyer Humor

I did a short warm-up run, and lined up at about 6:50. Luckily I spotted a co-worrker and his wife because (i) chatting with them helped pass the time until the race started at 7:24 and (ii) once the race started I chased them all the way to my PR finish. 

Patent Lawyer Humor

I haven’t run a 5K since I did the National Press Club Beat The Deadline 5K  (26:13 /8:21 pace) as a comeback race after I fractured my foot in 2015. Based on my spring race times and Orange Theory Fitness treadmill paces, I was ready to push for a sub-8:00.

The 5K route is in purple.

Once I made it up the K Street ramp and onto the Whitehurst Freeway, I checked my Garmin and saw that I was at a 7:50 pace–perfect. My mile splits were 7:51, 7:54, and 7:56,  and then 6:45 for that final push to the finish. It was hard, but it was over quickly! 

I got my medal and some water, and headed back to cheer in my son’s girlfriend–who also nailed her sub-10:00 pace goal! 

Only later did I learn that I won my age group! 

Too bad there’s no prizes for the 5k.

All in all, I’m glad I did the Lawyers Have Heart 5K this year. I liked the challenge of pushing my pace, and pushed harder knowing it would end soon. I liked it so much I may never go back to the 10K–unless they change the course. That said, my son’s girlfriend is ready to train for a 10K, so now I’m on the lookout for a fun one we can do in the fall. 

I’m joining the Friday link up at Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness. 

Do you run different race distances or stick with your favorite?