DC Road Trip!

This morning I'm heading to DC for a brief visit. The main reason I'm going (as you may have guessed if you've looked at the right hand column on my blog) is for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I'm not planning on racing this one since Boston is just two weeks away, but my office was able to hook me up with a bib for this otherwise lottery-only race.

Those that read the blog regularly know I went to undergrad in DC. In fact, DC is where I really got into running. First as a way to keep in shape, and later as a way of life. During my senior spring, back in 2008, I actually ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I had done the Marine Corps Marathon in 2007 so the Cherry Blossom was only my second "big" race. I shocked myself by finishing in 1:08:41, a 6:53 pace. At the time I was lucky on my daily runs to do much under 8:00.

Like I said, I'm not looking to race tomorrow (in fact, I will be disappointed with myself if I do!), just run to enjoy myself, but it will be interesting revisiting this course 4 years later. I've been back to DC dozens of times in between to visit friends (and even run a few races) but his will feel like a running homecoming. With any luck, I'll also get to enjoy the cherry blossoms along the course!