On Sunday (10/9/2016) I checked a race off my Bucket List of Races… The Army Ten Miler, in Washington, DC!
I first ran it in 2008 while I was deployed to Iraq. They did a “Shadow Run” (not the real thing, but a shadow of the real thing) at our base in Al Asad, Iraq.
I ran with my soldier CP (shown in these pics), and though it was hot that day—probably over 100* but I don’t remember—we ran 9 min/mile pace, finishing somewhere around 1:30. Again, I don’t remember the specifics, only that I enjoyed it. That year, 2008, in Iraq was when I first started enjoying long distance running. It helped me feel in control in an environment where anything could happen, and it helped me feel strong and confident when (unfortunately) a lot of fellow soldiers/officers did not want a female lieutenant (me) to feel confident. Running became my outlet and quite frankly, saved me from depression in 2008-2009.
My not-yet hubby snapped these pics of us (he wasn’t quite ready for my speed at the finish, so no finish line photo! Haha). I accidentally wore my Large PT shorts that day… ugh, I don’t miss those days!
Finally having the opportunity to run this race again (thankfully not in God-forsaken Iraq) allowed me to reflect on how much has changed for me in 8 years. Not quite a decade but SO many huge life changes in my 20’s. That would be a redeployment to Germany, boyfriend moving in, boyfriend getting out of Army, engagement, marriage, finding out we were pregnant with Gabe, me getting out of Army, moving to a new apartment, giving birth to Gabe, moving back to the US, finishing my MBA, moving to NC, having Asher, changing jobs (twice!)…. Yes, 5 moves and 2 kids later… I finally got to run the Army Ten Miler again, this time “for real” in Washington, DC. It was a glorious race, decent weather (minus the wind!), saw lots of old friends, and {spoiler!} even ran a PR!
Sign-up for this race was back in May! I was waiting at the computer that morning at 7 AM to make sure we got in. After a few website glitches and panic moments, we were in! Yessss… now to wait over 4 months to race! I was a tad irritated that our veteran statuses meant nothing… only active duty could sign up early, pick up packets early, etc. Oh well! I also made sure to get the hotel reservation at that point too. We chose the Marriott Crystal Gateway, just ½ mile from the start line and one of the race sponsor hotels. Unfortunately I didn’t realize I only booked Saturday night—until last Thursday when I checked the reservation! Fortunately they had availability on Friday night so all was well. Going to a “destination race” like this requires more logistics and attention, so I share these tidbits with you to help you not make my same mistakes.
J & I both took half a day off work Friday so we could leave for DC after lunch. It’s a 5 hour trip, but of course with Friday afternoon traffic and multiple rest stops with the kiddos, it became a 6.5 hour trip. We got in around 7 PM, got our junior suite room, and headed to Crystal City for some burgers and fries at Good Stuff. We stopped for a family pic which an old man offered to take for us:
No pics of the food—we were starving and gobbled it down! Sooooo good. A few pics while we waited for food:
After dinner, I met up with my college roomie KH after 9 years of living far away. It was amazing catching up with her! She’s still in the Army, and just to brag on her for a bit, a total bad@$$ who’s going to Georgetown for grad school (and getting qualified as a yoga instructor, among other life pursuits!). We had a drink at San Antonio Bar & Grill–and a few hours of catching up on nearly a decade–then headed off to bed… both of us the busy, overscheduled (and tired) adults we are.
Saturday morning we managed to get the kids to leave us sleeping til 7:45—possibly a new record! We had a yummy breakfast at the Mez restaurant in the hotel and then met up with KS and PR to go to the Armory for our race packets. It was a 15-20 min drive there, and although the southeast was getting hammered with wind and rain (Hurricane Matthew), DC just had some sprinkles and light rain. The parking lot was quite busy, but we got there before 10 and headed inside.
The Expo was crowded and hot, and with the kids in tow, not a ton of fun. We all got our race #’s and T-shirts (including Gabe for the kids run) then did a little shopping at the Expo. J found some new shorts, and I got a reflective mini-vest light-up thingy that I can wear during early morning walks with Luna, morning runs, and for my bike runs. Safety is very important!! Gabe found a little light up ring at the same shop as my vest. The kids also played in the Humvee open to the public:
We parted with the friends, and started driving to my relatives house, 45 min away. Except that with DC traffic, it was 1.5 hours away. My aunt had lunch ready for us, and we chowed down on some homemade chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, and fruit (of which, my kids ate none).
After a nice visit, we headed back to the hotel so J could do homework and Asher could nap.
Gabe and I went to the pool, and this happened:
I was so proud of him!! He and I sat in the hot tub a little as well, and alternated (because, 5 year olds and attention span…) which felt nice for my legs to have heat, then cool. I also tried to stretch a little in the pool.
KS and PR met up with us after our swim, and we went to the coolest Halloween store, in the Crystal City shopping center. We had to take an underground tunnel from the hotel lobby to the shops, which the kids thought was super cool.
I wasn’t keen on walking too much, but I let Gabe have fun looking at all the costumes and neat junk. We had to burn some time until dinner anyway. I must have said “no” to him at least ten times, but finally let him buy some fun Batman disc launchers 🙂
For dinner, we headed to our friends MS & RS’s house. R is still in the Army, and M was my teammate on the Army Crew team. M made us some amazing baked ziti and lasagna (of which my kids ate none…can you see the theme here? sigh), and my friend TR that I hadn’t seen since 2007 came to eat with us too! She brought a delish spinach salad, so we ate well, shared laughs and stories, and headed off before 8 to prepare for the next day’s race.
Race Day:
After I had a meltdown the night prior (none of my stuff is ready! none of the kids stuff is ready! and I am SO tired!! Does this happen to anyone else?), I slept decently–altho I always seem to wake up throughout the night prior to a race–I woke at 5 to eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and drink water with Nuun electrolytes. I did my best to be quiet in the bathroom and not wake the fam.
I laid down and waited till 6 to wake up the kids. My excitement trumped any tiredness… I was ready! Gabe woke at 6 so we went down to Einstein Bagels in the lobby for a few bagels and drinks for them. I got the kiddos ready, and M came by with her van to take them to her house (bless your heart, my friend!) With the kids in great hands, J & I could focus on having fun and racing. KS and PR walked from their hotel to meet us at ours, and brought us trash bags to stay warm in the wind and light rain.
We walked half a mile to the start, and hung out for a few. It was 7 AM and the race didn’t start till 8.
After a bathroom stop, we parted ways, with PR and I heading to Wave 2 for our start (9 Waves total, plus Wounded Warriors starting at 7:50 by themselves). We did our best to stay warm. I saw a co-worker of mine, BH and his twin bro, and we looked for other friends. PR made a final bathroom stop just prior to the start, and I didn’t go with her–big mistake! I thought, I’ve already gone about 4 times so I’m fine. Lesson learned: always try one more time–it’ll prevent a mid-race pit stop! We finally met up with AB and her hubby BB, also from the Army crew team/West Point:
As usual, the National Anthem gave me chills, and I had tears in my eyes for my friends who are no longer with us: Daniel Hyde, Dimitri del Castillo, John Runkle, Sarah Knutson, David Lodwick, and so many others. I dedicated a portion of my run to them. My stomach began to churn and I realized the bathroom break would have to wait… because at 8:08, we were off! The first mile was slow as there were tons of people, and PR and I were freezing. We ran together for 2 miles, along Arlington and across the gorgeous Arlington Bridge. The sun was just coming up, behind a smattering of clouds, and the flag waved at half-mast:
After the bridge, we ran behind the Lincoln Memorial, and I thanked God that there were bathrooms every 2 miles. I stopped and waited what felt like 5 min for a Porta John to open up, did my best to hurry up and feel better, and continued on. I’d find out later that the stop was only 2 minutes (go me! haha) After that, I felt SO much better! I was ready to race!
You can see the course map below–it was such a nice tour of DC on foot!!
I enjoyed mile 3 along the river, and mile 4 going past all the monuments–especially the Washington Monument up close, which I hadn’t been to since 2007 with my cousin JF and friends–and mile 5 was quite enjoyable too, since others were coming back on the other side of the street for their mile 6. Just before mile 7, I felt really great, and saw the Holocaust Museum (I visited with KS in 2007 and it was a sobering reminder of how ugly humankind can be, but also how others respond to the cruelty with such strength).
KS had warned me of the miles 7-10 being boring, and she was right. We crossed the river, but it wasn’t too scenic because of the way the highway is shaped–hard to see the river from I-395 on foot. Nevertheless, my energy was there, I pushed on thru the high winds, and remained focused. I even picked it up at the end for a strong finish!
Fueling: I took 1/2 GU every 2 miles at the water stops and it worked great!
Clothing: I wore my Oiselle team shirt, my usual Asics shorts (mainly for the pockets but they also match nicely with everything!), my blue Mizuno WaveRiders, my Brooks sleeves (took off halfway thru, then wished I hadn’t because the wind was nippy!), and my SmartWool socks. Electronics: Garmin vivoactive + iPod nano. Everything worked great and I think I have it down to a science (minus the bathroom issue)
The finish line was over a tenth of a mile past mile 10, according to my watch and all the other people I talked to, which was unfortunate (added at least 30-45 sec). The flags surrounding the finish billowed sharply in the wind, and I glanced at the enormously awesome building that is the Pentagon as I ran in.
My watch said 1:25:28–and of course, I added several minutes with my pitstop at Mile 2–but I was pumped for a new 10 miler PR! And I finally negative split a race!
I zipped thru the finish line area, got my coin, and headed to the Kids Zone to meet up with MS & RS, and my boys.
I was sooo glad I had packed my Army Ten Miler sweatshirt in the bag and given it to MS. The wind was chilly and on my sweaty body.. brrr. We watched the kiddos play, met up with Javi (who ran a 2:19:29 without training!), then headed to the West Point tent for a reunion with lots of friends:
Our final stop was the kids race for Gabe. The kiddos got to play on the fire truck first, then Gabe ran his 100 meter race–super cute! I caught up with my classmate BB (her son K raced also and is 5 like Gabe!) which was awesome too!
Finally… we headed back to the hotel, pretty beat but also excited from a fun day of running and reunions. Unfortunately our walk back was over a mile, and wasn’t easy with both kids in tow, and no stroller. I was exhausted by the time we got to the hotel–and I was at nearly 30,000 steps that day on my Garmin. We quickly showered and packed, walked ALL the way to the parking garage (which was far!) and I realized I forgot my purse in the hotel room! *doh!* So I ran back for that, and all was well.
We stopped at the Arlington Diner at the recommendation of KS, and ordered a ton of food, and ate nearly all of it 🙂 Our ride home was mostly uneventful, just a bit of traffic here and there. We got home around 7 and went to work the next day… ugh, brutal! We plan on going next year, and I already have hotel reservations at a closer hotel! We will also take time off after the race to explore DC. In all, an amazing weekend! Thanks for sticking around to read this whole thing 😉 Next up: the Richmond half marathon on 11/12 (for training and fun) and then the “A” race for the fall/winter, the Mistletoe Half Marathon in Winston-Salem on 12/3.
Comment below: Have you run the Army Ten Miler? What’s on your Bucket list of races (or bucket list in general)?
My Garmin data:
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