Reston 10 Miler

Today I ran the Reston 10 Miler in Reston, VA, for the first time this year. I had some friends talk me into running it. I figured it would be a good training run for the Boston Marathon this year. My goal was to test out a marathon race pace, pick up the pace in the middle a little, and finish either at that pace or faster.

Scientist Move: How to Convert Miles to Kilometers
Take miles, divide by 0.62137.
Via this way, 10 miles is 16.0934 kilometers.

Athlete Move: How to Convert Miles to Kilometers
Use the rough idea that 5km=3.125 miles. 10 divided by 3.125 is about 3.2 sets of 5k's, so about 16k.
Use the rough idea that 1 time around a track is 400m, about a quarter mile. Four times around makes one mile. You would have to repeat that 10 times for 10 miles. That's 40 times around a track. 40 times 400m is 16,000m, or 16km.

The race was at 8AM. It was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

Science Move: How to Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius
Take Fahreheit, subtract 32, divide by 1.8.

That means 32 degrees Fahrenheit is about -1.1 degrees Celsius. To prepare for this cold weather, three individuals wore different layers of clothing.

Test Subject 1: Jack. Shorts, t-shirt, gloves, hat, socks, shoes. sunglasses.
Test Subject 2: Steph. Long leggings, multiple top layers, gloves, hat, socks, shoes, sunglasses.
Test Subject 3: Anna. Capris, long sleeve turtleneck, short sleeve t-shirt, gloves, head band, socks, shoes.

All test subjects were at their respective comfort levels.
Running Tip: A good idea for running is to dress for 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than what the weather actually is.

Pre-Race
The pre-race Port-a-John visit was a little rough. The hired company did not bring the amount of portable toilets as stated on the contract. They brought two. The race organizers (=Potomac River Running Store=) were able to open the school for restroom access. This added three more stalls for the women. The line was a little long, but I made it in line early and had 15 minutes to warm-up before the start.

The start was slightly delayed (5 minutes), but that wasn't too terrible. I started at the middle of the first third of the pack. The clock finish would determine placement awards, even though we all wore timing chips.

Race
The course is slightly hilly, but there are no terrible I-want-to-die-because-I-can't-breathe-up-this-hill mountains. I think the undulations were good for me, as I like a change of terrain, even though I'm not a expert at running uphill or downhill. Jack is great at uphills and does not enjoy downhills. Steph sprints downhills and makes it uphill.

The mile markers seemed slightly off to me. I did not wear my Garmin. I wore my trusty Timex watch and manually recorded splits (but I missed the first mile). After discussing with other runners, some who had GPS capabilities during the run, there were a few miles that were sightly off (of course,  it does depend on the individual runner and his or her actual course). I felt consistent, but my splits were not super consistent (there were 3-4 outliers), but that could be due to the course elevation changes.

There was water at three places along the course and Gatorade at one place. On a cold day, I still appreciated the ice cold water (have to practice drinking water for Boston!). The spectators who were out were supportive, and I recognized a few from the local running stores.

It was a decent sized field of runners, and I was able to have company for the first half of the race. I spent the second half trying to catch a group in front of me. I was unable to catch two of the women, but I caught two of the men on the last mile. If the mile markers are correct, then my final mile was a PR (personal record) for me (5:25). Awesome.

Post-Race
We all received a technical t-shirt, a race pin, and a finisher's medal at the race. We returned our chips, but we got to keep our bib numbers. There was a spread of muffins, bagels, bars, and water at the finish. There were free 5 minute massages. I always like these extra goodies at races.

Jack placed third in his age group, and I placed first in mine, so we both were awarded gift certificates to the local running store (Potomac River Running Store). Steph PR'ed by 10 minutes and ran 6 minutes faster than her goal time. Jack also killed his 60 minutes goal.

My goal was to run faster than 1:15:00, and I ran a 1:06:54. Everyone was happy.

1:06:54 divided by 10 miles is...

Athlete Move: How to Find Average Mile Pace
Break time into minutes and seconds. 1:06:54 is 66:54.
66 minutes divided by 10 is 6.6 minutes, 6/10ths of a minute is 36 seconds, so 6:36...
54 seconds divided by 10 is 5.4 seconds...
Average pace is 6:36 + 0:05.4 = 6:41.4/mile.

I will take that. I ran a smart race, felt strong, and my form was decent.

If given the option to run the Reston 10 Miler next year, I would recommend it.