Race Report: George Washington Parkway Classic

4 races in 5 weeks. I think it's finally caught up with me. I tried to take in easy during the week. I was the only one who showed up for the group run on Monday, so --except for the jog to the meeting place-- I just skipped that, then ran an easy 8 on Tuesday and 6 on Thursday. I did a half day hike on Saturday.

The race itself has got be hard to support, it's a point to point with the finish in Old Town Alexandria. We were bused to the start at Mt. Vernon. The busing was probably the weak link and there weren't near enough porta johns. I by passed the long lines for the johns and ducked into some bushes behind a building. All the men were doing it, and I refuse to be held back because I have to expose my rear when peeing.

I was greatful for the clocks at every mile marker. Of the four races I've run recently, it was the only to have that. I keep having watch issues (stopped working, forgot it at home, couldn't find it last night).

It was a gorgeous day in DC. The weather started off cool, but quickly warmed. I started off running about an 8:30 pace. I felt like I was pushing it a bit, but thought with determination, I could match my PR, maybe beat it by a few seconds.

Around mile 3, I spotted some Capital Striders. We ran together for about a minute and I assumed that because we were at the same place on the course that we were running about the same pace. But Juan sped off and Paul pulled a ahead. For awhile, I thought I might try to pace myself to Paul, just keeping him in sight, but I gave up on that before reaching mile 4. It was encouraging to see familiar faces though. Having someone specific to keep up to motivated me, even when he was long gone.

By mile 5, I was off the 8:30 pace and continued to decelerate for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing with a net time of 1:29:06, slightly faster than the Cherry Blossom 4 weeks ago, about 4 minutes off my PR.

Afterwards, after showering, I went to look an a rental place in DC and then joined a friend for brunch at the SW Waterfront. By the time we got there, the thermometer in my car was reading 90, which seems hard to believe. We stayed there a while and I ended up having a couple spiked lemonades - balanced with about a gallon of water. Between the alcohol, the hot, and perhaps pushing myself too hard in everything, I was nearly falling asleep at the table after a couple hours. I went home and passed out for a couple of hours. I think it's time to chill out and take a bit of recovery time.