Army 10 Miler | heart & sole

On Sunday, I did a bit of a role reversal. I went out and cheered runners on in the Army Ten Miler rather than racing myself. I had a blast, but boy do I have a whole new level of respect for fans trying to pick out their runners among the crowd in large races.

I knew a handful of runners including friends that live in the area, an Oiselle teammate (who unfortunately I didn’t spot), bloggers that I follow (Congrats Ashley on a great race!), and my future sister-in-law Adrienne (her 1st race longer than a 5k!) and her sister Courtney. I printed out a course map and a list of starting times for the different waves to carry with me and help me plot out a plan for watching the race.

I woke up bright and early Sunday – something usually only reserved for my own race days – and got ready for the day. I took a bikeshare bike from Court House to Rosslyn where I walked down to Rt. 110 to see the runners between the 1 and 2 mile mark as they looped by Arlington Cemetery up toward Memorial Bridge. I made it in time to see the Wounded Warriors come through first – so inspiring – followed by the race leaders.

I’ve run some pretty large races over the years, but seeing the waves and waves of people running was unbelievable. Granted I was at an early spot in the race, but seriously it was elbow to elbow and never let up for the 40 or so minutes I was there.

After spotting Adrienne and Courtney and cheering them on I made my way back to the Rosslyn metro – with a quick hot chocolate stop at Starbucks first. It’s not nearly as warm watching a race as it is running one!

I got off at the Smithsonian Metro and met up with another Oiselle teammate to cheer on runners near the turnaround on Independence Ave. Unfortunately I missed everyone I knew at this point. I’m not sure if my hot chocolate stop made me get there a few minutes too late or if I just missed them in the crowd, but I still tried to offer encouragement to as many runners going by as I could! I’m really glad I made it out and had a lot of fun being on the other side of things for a change.

I also spotted this during the day making me super pumped for MCM…

OK, so I’m very late with my usual Monday morning recap again thanks to a busy, fun-filled weekend that I’ll fill you in on more in a later post. Getting right to it though, last week was mostly filled with PT appointments and non-impact training so I’ll be good to go Sunday for the Marine Corps Marathon. You can read more about my proactive PT plan here if you missed it.

Here’s the day-by-day breakdown…

Monday: Physical therapy session which included some treadmill running, dynamic stretches and soft-tissue work.

Tuesday: 6-mile easy run along the Custis and W&OD Trails to my PT appointment so they could get a look when my calves were more flared up, which usually starts right around mile 5 or so. PT included a run analysis, drills, stretching and soft-tissue work.

Wednesday: Today was a rest day, but included lots of stretches and exercises I got at PT.

Thursday: I was back up to PT after work Thursday night for some more run drills, dynamic stretches and even more soft-tissue work. I WILL get those knots out before MCM!

Friday: I spent 35 minutes on the elliptical at the same intensity I would have done my run today so I can try to keep the same level of fitness without the impact. This way I won’t undo all the soft-tissue work I’m getting done at PT. I finished up with core work, PT exercises and stretching.

Saturday: Today was a repeat of Friday except with 45 minutes on the elliptical before getting into core, PT exercises and stretching.

Sunday: In a reversal of my usual role, I spent this morning biking and walking all over town to cheer on friends in the Army 10 Miler. I started in-between the 1 and 2 mile markers near Arlington Cemetery and could not get over how many people run this race!