I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: the Army 10 Miler is my favorite race of the year. There’s just something about ATM that makes me buzz with excitement and nerves. It’s also the one weekend/year that I get my mom all to myself, and I cherish the uninterrupted time with her. {We can spend 4 hours at the expo and no one judges!}

When I moved to DC 5 years ago, I wasn’t really a long distance runner. I had just graduated from college and was trying to figure out how to survive as a former collegiate athlete (I ran the 400m hurdles and 400m). In 2006, running 3 miles was my worst nightmare – but when my mom suggested we run the ATM, I couldn’t say no.

The 2011 race was our 5th Army 10 Miler – this race has become our mother/daughter tradition (I’ve also grown to love long distance running). I love that my mom is still running and improves her time each year. I love that we get to hang out and laugh at whatever we want. I love that we spend hours at the expo and buy things we don’t need (my mom loves expos as much as I do). And, I love that she is my mom, the one God chose for me!

This year my mom and I decided to run in Team Sparkle skirts. Without really planning it, we looked like twins and it was SO much fun! We got compliments from runners, crowd support and soldiers.

The Race:
I think God loves the ATM – we’ve had great weather every year, and #5 was no exception. If you ask me, it was perfect – cool breeze, sun, not too hot and not too cold (others would argue with this statement, so we won’t ask them). There was a new start/finish this year, and it was a bit confusing. We literally had to trek across the Pentagon and make our way down 110. I ran about 1 mile before the race, just to get to my wave start. I made it with 2 minutes to spare – success!

Miles 1-2 are always super crowded and it takes about 2 miles for me to get into my groove. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way – but WHY? Why, if your bib says #24,942 and you are walking within 0.5 seconds of the race start, are you starting in Wave 1 with me?! I’m not an elite athlete, but I’m probably faster than you and honestly, it’s downright rude. If others can follow the rules, so can you! {I promise I am done venting}

At Mile 2, I found a runner running the same pace as me. We literally ran the rest of the race together and never said a word (I was working too hard to talk). It was great – we waited at water stops and pushed each other every mile. It was perfect – and I’m not sure I could’ve have run a PR without my P.I.C. (partner in crime).

I felt really good and strong for most of the race. Mile 8 was a little tough because I started to feel tired and formed a huge blister on my foot –but I knew that I was less than 7 minutes from Mile 9. And Mile 9 meant: only 4 more laps around the track (as a former track & field athlete, I love to break miles down in terms of laps around the track).

I didn’t love the new finish line – it was confusing and I had no idea where it was and when it would end. I tried to gauge where it would be (turns out it was around a corner/tunnel) and picked up the pace for a finish of 1:08:39 – NEW PR! {bring back to old start/finish}

I’m really excited about my race and PR. Without really trying, I ran very consistent miles and feel confident that this technique helped me run a PR. Had I known where the finish line was, I think I could have picked it up earlier (in Mile 9), but again, am very happy about my race.

Stats:
Time: 1:08:39 (6:51 pace) 
Overall: 852/21,914
Gender: 88/9,645
Division: 25/1,760 {Top 25 – woo hoo}

My mom had a great race, too. She improved her 2010 time by 5 minutes, running ATM in 1:30:23 (go mom!!).  And even though BJ was suffering from an injury, he pushed through to finish the race. Huge congrats to ALL of the 2011 finishers!

Don’t forget to enter my Endurasoak giveaway {HERE}