Hooah! Race Review: Army Ten Miler

Race: Army Ten Miler
Third biggest ten miler in the country, approximately 35k registered runners.
Location: Washington, D.C.

Expo: Held at the D.C. Armory. I didn't attend the expo this yr. But last yr, the expo had Humvee's and helicopters parked outside. Security line to get in. Smooth process to pick up your packet and shirt. There was a selfie area, have to do a pic after you pick up your packet, right?! Running clothing/gear vendors, other popular race stands, a mini helicopter for the kids to take pics in, and I'm pretty sure you could also enlist at the expo.

Race day:

Parking: public transportation is encouraged, there is no parking in the Pentagon parking lots. The Metro station does have a stop at the Pentagon. There is some parking in nearby Crystal City (walking distance), some street parking and a parking garage. We were early and able to park in Crystal City.

Security: Once you arrive to the race, it is obvious that it's hosted by the Army. Soldiers in uniform with guns everywhere. The security line moved very efficiently, as well as the bag check area.

Hydration: water available once you get past security, I packed a sealed bottle just in case, wasn't needed. There is water and Gatorade  available on the course, about every 2 miles.

Restrooms, plenty of banks of portable toilets. 35k registered runners, and definitely enough toilets. lines were very manageable before the race.

Race start: DJ and M.C. getting the crowd pumped up. As race time approached, there was plenty of notice as each corral was about to kick off. Cannons booming as each corral started!

Course/map/elevation: The race starts and ends at the Pentagon. Several noteworthy monuments along the course. Arlington Cemetery, backside of Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial. Great views of the Potomac River as well. Elevation: most of the noteworthy elevation is going up and across the bridges, steady inclines, especially between mi 7-8. Spectator area's, plenty of areas for family, friends, and even soldiers to cheer you on. Great fan support for this race!

(photo cred: @ArmyTenMilerATM)

Finisher's area: after receiving water and your finisher's medal, you are handed a bag and funneled through a food tent. Bananas, muffins, cookie, fruit cup, bagel.

After the food tent, there's plenty of space to pause and reflect on your accomplishment, hydrate, and maybe have a snack.

There's also a huge finisher area with three double sided rows of tents/stands with plenty more free swag and snacks. ROTC, Army Reserve, National Guard, to name just a few of the stands. Each stand had swag and refreshments. Some of my extra swag (just from one stand!): draw string backpack, reusable drink bottle, hat, tech shirt, usb backup battery charger, phone grip, and a mini wireless speaker. All from the Army Reserve stand! Other stands has some snacks and swag as well, but I had more than enough.

Music: there was a stage mostly used for the awards ceremony, but there was also music in each isle of the area. Marching band/drum line: one of my favorite parts of the post race festivities!

The finishers area overall, definitely one of the best for a race of it's size.

Swag:

Shirt: white long sleeve tech shirt. Front of the shirt has a bald eagle, the Army Ten Miler logo, date of the race. Army logo and "Army" written down one of the sleeves. The back of the shirt has their major sponsors listed, as well as, the 34th Annual Army Ten Miler and their hashtag #RunArmyRunStrong

Medal: a double sided medal coin. One side has the U.S. Capitol with the American flag as the background. "Run Army, Run Strong". Other side of the medal indicates that its the 34th yr of the race, the Army Ten Miler logo, date of the race, and "Run Army, Run Strong" at the top, and finisher at the bottom.

My race: I did this race last yr, and definitely left room for improvement. I didn't research the course or respected the weather and regretted it early. Had a 10 mi PR on my mind, but my PR is on a flat course with spring weather (Broad Street, which I basically try to do a 10k sprint as long as possible). Last yr was 97% humidity, and I learned the tough way that the course has some slight elevations throughout. Definitely not comparable courses, I went out hard and paid for it. Heading into race day this year, guess what? High humidity again! Only 90% though, lol... Before hearing the weather, I already had a plan. Plan was just to treat this as a "normal" 10 mi training run, contain myself, enjoy the experience, and if I have any gas left in the tank the last couple maybe Ill kick it up a notch, and the results should be an improvement from last yr. Hearing the weather, decided to stick with the plan, that's what I would do with a training run anyway. Hydrated plenty the day before. Stretched last night and this morning. Light hydration before getting to the race. Another bottle once in the race area, gel before the start. Starting to perspire before the race even starts. Going to be a fun one! Once the race started, sweating by the 1st mile. Started out slightly faster than intended, pulled back after the first mile. Goal was to pace 8:15 ish, fading to about 8:30. Held around 8:15 for a bit, but the humidity and slight elevation did get to me. Faded slightly earlier than planned, the stretch between 7-8 was a bit rough. No final push to bring my time down. lol...  Overall pace was 8:41, a 33 second pace improvement from last yr.  Satisfied with my results as I paced myself more efficiently/effectively than I did last year. Would love to give one another try with some decent weather.

Pace below, I am also curious as to what the complete standings where. 35k registered runners not sure how many completed, would love to know the percentiles. Will be sure to check it out on Athlinks when available!

Sites and socials:
Site: https://www.armytenmiler.com/
Facebook: ArmyTenMiler
Twitter: @ArmyTenMilerATM 
Instagram: armytenmiler

If you have any questions, let me know!

If you do any races, please remember to review them on BibRave.com! Your opinions help other runners decide what races to run! #BibChat Follow me on BibRave: Joe G 

TCS NYC Marathon Training Week 16 - Weekly Running Update: October 7, 2018

Hi Everyone!

How's everyone doing? Hope all is well. Anyone do any races or have one coming up? Which one?

This was a marathon training cutback week, scheduled for 26 miles with a long run of 10. ArmyTenMiler for my long run on Sunday! Will try to front load my miles early in the week and a do a two day taper before race day. We'll see how that went!

My week in training:

Monday: 5 miles before work. Woke up just before my alarm, considered turning it off and sleeping till my work alarm. Up. Dragged myself to my coffee. Coffee, slow workout, stretch, and out the door by 6. Was tired to start, but the slightly cool air helped. 8:15 pace before the hills, 8:25 after. Didn't think I'd get it down, but was feeling better. Plan to hydrate well and go to bed early.

Tuesday: 6 miles before work. Yesterday, I made a point to get some better rest. Hydrated plenty, cutback on afternoon coffee, and was getting ready for bed by 8:30, in bed by 9. Good night's rest. Woke up naturally before my alarm. Coffee, work out, stretch, our the door with a few extra minutes. Feeling pretty decent most of the way, decided to get another mile in. If it wasn't for work, I would have kept on going... lol

Wednesday: 5 miles before work. Up before my alarm, but not as well rested today. Coffee, work out, stretch, and out the door by 6. Last week, my shin/calf were a bit tight at times, fine the past few days, could feel it tightening up again. 8:18ish before the hills, 8:30 after, decided to not over do it after the hills. Will be stretching and using KT tape. 16 miles for the week, have some time to recover before race day.

Thursday: 2 miles before work. Strength training day. A a few more reps than usual. Crunches, planks, leg raises, push ups, butterflies, curls, and tri extensions. Stretch, and out for a short run. Worked on breathing and pacing, feeling good, fun times! 

Friday: 1 mile. Day off from work. Scheduled the day off a long time ago, am glad I did. Hectic week at work, would probably forget to pack something. Up at my normal time, but taking my time. Coffee, work out, and out for 1 mi. Working on pacing and breathing, but backed off a bit from yesterday. Felt good, but can tell i could use some more stretching and KT tape before this weekend's race. A few light chores today and pack for my trip to D.C.!

Saturday: 1 mile. Road trip in a bit, goal to hit the road before 8. Set my alarm to get up at my normal time. Coffee, stretch, and out the door by 6:30. Mile around the neighborhood. Pacing, breathing, but not over doing it. Was out the door by 7:45 for my road trip. Off to Va to visit family before staying at a buddy's for tomorrow's race. 

Sunday: 10 miles. Race day, the Army Ten Miler! The race and ends at the Pentagon, goes around multiple monuments. This is a bit of a redemption race for me. I didn't research/respect the course or weather last yr and went out hard for a PR. Regretted it most of the second half. A few pics from today, a full review should be posted within the week. 

This was week 16 of of marathon training, using the below plan. 

Scheduled to do this week: 

Miles: scheduled miles  26 / completed 30

Strength Training(planks/crunches/leg raises/weights: scheduled 60 min/completed 90

To credit the images, it was pulled Coach Jenny Hadfield's training plans. 

Fall Schedule: 

10/19-10/21 - Runner's World Half Festival. (5k & 10k). My 2017 5k review, here! 

Use code RWHALF18BIBRAVE for 15% off any/all 4 races! 3.8 Altra, 5k, 10k, Half marathon! Check out my preview, here! 

11.04.18 - TCS New York City Marathon! 

Spring Schedule 

03.31.19 - The Love Run! Love the Love Run Philadelphia half marathon! Check out my review from last yr, here. 

04.06.19 - Hot Chocolate 15k Philadelphia. Use code BRHCPhilly to receive a free smart phone arm band. Check out my preview, here. 

Good luck to everyone with training! Kick some butt! 

If you do any races, please remember to review them on BibRave.com! Your opinions help other runners decide what races to run! #BibChat Follow me on BibRave: Joe G 

Race Review: Army Ten Miler

Oct 8, 2017. Pentagon, Washington, DC. 

Hi Fellow Runners!

Hope everyone's training is going well! I recently did the Army Ten Miler, below is my review. 

Background as to why i signed up. My college roommate, "Soup", went on to the army after graduating college, after the army, he landed a government job and lives just outside of DC. This is his favorite race and has been trying to get me to check it out. He visited me earlier in the yr to do the Broad Street Run and was time for me to return the favor. 

Expo: Location, DC Armory. Public transportation to the Armory. As soon as you get there, it's obvious this is hosted by the Army. Humvee's, helicopters, soldiers everywhere. Have to go through security checkpoint to get into the expo. Line to get in to the expo wasn't that bad, but we heard it wrapped around the block earlier. Could use a few more entry ways with security to get in. Once in, its apparent the building doesn't have air conditioning, several industrial fans were going. Packet pickup was table per corral, moved with efficiency. Shirt pickup next, very efficient was well. After bib/shirt pickup, there's about 6 rows of vendors to check out. The usual vendors, shoes, clothing, fuel, etc. Every few stands there would be armed services stand, I'm pretty sure you could enlist during the expo. lol! There was a smaller humvee and helicopter in the expo building for kids to take pictures with, we did not. 

Swag: Long sleeve tech Tee. Instead of a finishers medal, they do a cool coin. Pretty unique, i dig it. Will just have to rig something to hang it with my other medals. 

Course Scenery: The race starts at the Pentagon. Pass by Arlington cemetery, the backside of the Lincoln memorial, Washington monument, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and finishes back at the Pentagon. 

Elevation: My buddy Soup, said on more than one occasion that this course is almost as flat as Broad Street. Well, Soup is a liar! Just after the race starts, it goes down to Arlington. Don't get too excited, that decline doesn't last long! Each street or bridge does have a slight incline, one of the bridges may have a bit more. If the weather wasn't a factor, I could see elevation not being that bad, will have to try again next yr to re-confirm!

Parking: Public transportation is encouraged. There was limited parking at the expo. And no parking at the race. The nearest pay parking lot is probably at least a mile from the Pentagon. 

Aid Stations: There was Gatorade and plenty of water every two miles. I hear they ran out of Gatorade later on. The last water station was at mile 9, could of been a little bit closer to 8. There was plenty of medical staff on the course. Unfortunately, plenty of people needed it due to the unusually warm/humid weather for this time of year. They actually ended up shortening the course at the end and stopped timing it due to so many people needing medical attention.

Race Management: seven thousand people per corral, could have been a bit smaller. Things were tight for a few more miles than most races. Each corral had an assigned start time, and they started on time. Imagine that, the army being a stickler to time, ha! The aid and management may be seeing some post race controversy. Of course, safety is most important. They removed the time and shortened the course after a certain time mark, but didn't stop the race. Runners that had a later start time may feel penalized for being slow. They trained, but weren't given the opportunity to finish, and no announcement was made to them until after the fact. I agree safety is most important, but would hate to not know i was getting cut short until afterwards. 


Post race: plenty of water! Had at least two waters before making it to the first snack tent. They hand you a box of goodies at the first tent, pretzels, granola bars, fruit cup, trail mix, etc. And of course bananas. After the snack tent, there are two rows of tents from sponsors. Danishes, muffins, fruit, lemonade, coffee. Think i saw another tent with a grill going, but didn't stop to check it out.

Exhausted from the race, didn't even bother with a selfie as i shut down my running app. Later on, i did try taking one with the drumline, that didn't go well, but here it is below. Also posting a drumline video i took, first time attaching a video, we'll see how that works out. 

After the race and race festivities, my buddy Soup had arranged a meet up at a brewery with his racing team. Post race beers and food hit the spot!  This was also a great opportunity for me to speak with more experienced runners. Several members of his racing team have completed sub 3 hr full marathons. I didn't focus too much on the running aspect, more along the lines of their fueling and other tricks of the trade. 

I wasn't happy with my time, but no one was. Once it was obvious i wasn't going for a PR, I tried to refocus the marathon training aspect. Was still a rough day, questioning my full marathon signup. Hopefully I use this as a lesson learned. 

I will definitely sign up for this race at least one more time for revenge.  

What recent races have you done or are training for?

If you do any races, please remember to review them on BibRave.com! Your opinions help other runners decide what races to run! #BibChat Follow me on BibRave: Joe G