Cherry Blossom report

I love the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I know, that makes me a freak. But it always makes me feel so fast. Between the Kenyan elites at the front and the mass of office workers with fanny packs in the back, I find myself in that happy top quarter of the field. Plus, the course generally lends itself to speediness. Even this year's new course (which really does include a lot more blossoms) is nicely flat.

That said, I had a lousy, terrible, no-good day. I felt a lot of pressure going in--my 10-mile PR is the opposite of my half PR, in that I totally overachieved at CB two years ago. So besting that time was going to take a lot. But my training paces indicated that I should be able to do this. Having had proper fueling in the days prior, I really didn't have any excuses to fall back on.

Flatlandish and I jogged to the start from home (only a mile! downhill!), arrived at 7:30, and promptly got into our respective corrals and waited for the Go! I took off aggressively. (First mile: 8:28...good) Because of the wave start, I got to run at my intended pace from basically the get-go. I identified a few people to try to stick with--26.2 girl (wearing last week's Natl Marathon shirt); red skirt girl; a woman I think I recognized from JFK, or maybe VHTRC, or somewhere traily.

Mile 2 was on Hains Point, and I was feeling a bit labored. Weird. 8:33. I backed off a smidge, knowing there was still a lot of race to go. But I didn't think I backed off enough to warrant the 8:48. I kept pushing--I was definitely racing, and my breathing and burning muscles indicated that I was giving it all. My head was certain we were ticking off 8:20s. Except that after mile 3, I never even saw a sub9 again. I lost sight of 26.2 girl and red skirt girl by mile 4.

I'd see the mile marker up ahead, and look at my watch, and realize I was nowhere near my actual goal pace. But everything felt like goal pace. I'm always good at guessing my pace, and I am a metronome runner. I wondered if maybe a few markers were in the wrong place, and I was running 1.1 miles each time. But as miles 6, 7, and 8 passed by, that couldn't be the case. I was being passed like I was standing still. (Oddly, Trail Woman was near me the entire time?) I was getting tired, and not having any fun. At mile 4.5, as we passed by the start, and I thought about dropping. But I'm too stubborn for that. So I focused on form and just watched everyone else.

Mile 8 was a 9:26. A FAR cry from the 8:15 I thought I was capable of for this thing. My runs all week felt good. I always recover quickly, and I had absolutely no soreness or stiffness from the National half. I spent the last half hour of the race wondering what on earth was going on, and the best I could figure was that something is wrong with me physically.

As I feebly tried to kick to the finish, I focused on one girl, trying to reel her in. She just got farther away. I felt nauseous and dizzy. It's the same feeling I have during every hard race. Except usually that feeling is rewarded with a time representative of my training. My overall time was THE SAME as my time when I passed mile 10 in National the week before. When I had been horrifically ill the whole day prior. It was WORSE than my time from the same race last year, when I had just completed my marathon trifecta, including the National Marathon the week before, and hadn't done a shred of speedwork in six months. I am baffled.

I flung myself across the line; walking through the chute, I saw Flatlandish along the side. I burst into tears and sobbed into his shoulder. First time I've ever done that after a race. But it was also the first time a goal race had gone so terrifically wrong.

I skipped the post-race food melee and we just jogged home. (I can get a banana at home, thanks.) My legs felt pretty much normal, a bit of tightness in my calves. We ran most of the way. Odd?

I quietly asked Flatlandish how his race went. He PR'd by two minutes. I wanted so badly to be happy for him, but it just added to my misery--he had barely even done any long runs since Christmas. Why?! Why can I do everything right, do periodized training, intervals, tempo runs, progressive long runs, consistent mileage for several years, and I'm just getting slower? For about 18 months now, I've been battling fatigue and fluctuating motivation. I haven't PR'd at any distance in over a year, despite shaking up my training and seeing vastly improved paces during fast training runs. I haven't been running long enough to have hit this plateau, and I'm not old enough to see a decline from age.

After my shower, I started googling. And I think I'm iron deficient.

My dad's been suggesting anemia since I was probably 14 years old. I used to be a regular blood donor, but it's been getting harder and harder to pass the iron test. And after reading symptom lists and reviewing my diet, it makes a lot of sense. Some of the key symptoms mentioned:

- elevated heart rate. My RHR was in the low 40s in 2005, and now it's never below 60.
- elevated blood pressure. My BP has been getting higher over the past year or so, and is now regularly above 120/80
- shortness of breath. Most everyone reading this knows that drama.
- dead legs, slowing paces, and lack of motivation.

So I have a doctor's appointment for Thursday. I'm not leaving without a script for a serum ferritin test.

Oddly, I think this came about precisely because I "cleaned up" my diet in an effort to get healthier and run better. My dietary priorities for the past 12 to 18 months have been, in this order, whole grains, calcium, protein, and vegetables. I've been actively cutting out meat, especially beef.

So lunch today is some leftover steak sliced into a spinach salad. Took a while to dig this (potential) hole, so best get started now on filling it back in.