Being from the DC area, the Cherry Blossom 10-miler has been bucket-list race for me for a while now. It's over 40-years old and is known as one of the premier races in Washington, DC. Kicker is that it's so popular that it holds a lottery for registration slots. So way back in December, I signed up for the lottery, hoping that I might be one of the lucky ones who got into the race. But considering that I don't have the best history with lottery registrations (Nike Women's Half, anyone?), I pretty much figured I wouldn't get in. In fact, I was kind of planning on it. I mainly registered with the thought that my chances for getting in the race NEXT year would be better if I tried this year and didn't get in. Which is a long set up for stating the obvious - I got in. Which meant that I had to plan a weekend trip to DC. WOO HOO!
I flew into Baltimore (BWI) on Friday afternoon and picked up a rental car (Dudley didn't go since it was such a quick trip). BWI is only about 40 miles from my parent's house, but the trip can take hours is traffic is bad. Fortunately, I timed it OK and made it home in less than an hour. Good thing I called my mom on the way in because she totally forgot that I was coming in on Friday (she thought it was Saturday). She was on here way out and was like "What do you mean you're 15 miles away?" Would have been a big bummer to be locked out of my childhood home if she had left!
Fortunately, Dad knew I was coming in on Friday and was home soon after I got in, and we immediately left to head up to Bonzai Tri shop, which is my Dad's favorite bike shop. What? Most people don't immediately go visit a bike shop first thing after arriving at their parent's house? Welcome to the Mylls household. We like bikes here.
Apparently, my Dad had spoken to Mark, the owner of Bonzai, and mentioned that I'm training for an Ironman. As soon as we got there, Mark pulled us in his office and started asking me questions about my training and giving me some advice on getting through race day. As a five-time Ironman finisher and the owner of a very successful bike/tri shop, I figured he knew a few things, so I listened pretty closely. I was really appreciative that he took the time to talk to me. I was also very appreciative of the bag of nutrition samples he gave me. Gotta tell you - my Dad's got connections.
Free Stuff! Love it! Thanks, Mark!
After leaving Bonzai, we headed over to another bike shop. This one is called the Bike Club. I'm really bummed I forgot my phone because I would have loved to have taken photos. The last time I was at the Bike Club was about three years ago and it was the craziest shop I'd ever been in. I think it's more of a used bike shop / swap meet, than a retail bike store. It's located in a long, narrow room and there is crap EVERYWHERE! When I was there before, there were two levels of racks and shelving and one little pathway through everything. There were even bikes hanging from the ceiling. They also had two parrots flying around!
Bike Club Before... (Photo courtesy of BMXmuseum.com)
Turns out - the Fire Marshall didn't like the hundreds of bikes and the two parrots, so they closed the Bike Club down for about a month while they got rid of most of the stuff. It was kind of sad walking in there recently. Don't get me wrong - the old place was definitely a death trap - but now it looks more like a regular bike shop - just with old bikes and parts. The parrots were even re-homed to some parrot sanctuary. You know I wanted to see the parrots.
Saturday morning, Mom and I headed downtown to the Cherry Blossom 10-mile Run expo and packet pickup. Races in DC are awesome because of the Metro. Yes, we had an issue at the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon a few years ago, but overall, it's a great way to get to and from a race. So we just hopped on at the Vienna Metro stop, and it took us directly to the expo, which was located at the National Museum Building. Possibly one of the prettiest locations for an expo that I've ever seen. In fact, both my Mom and I were commenting that we think we both have gone to cocktail parties at this building in the past.
Nice digs for an expo, huh?
I didn't do too much damage at this expo - normally I spend way too much money on stuff that I don't need. I was planning on getting a few gels, but since I totally got hooked up by Mark the day before, I didn't even need those. The only thing I ended up getting was a fleece race jacket that my mom bought me. I don't care how old you are, to have parents who support you in your hobbies is just awesome.
We didn't linger too long at the expo because I knew Dad was waiting for me to go on a bike ride. My Dad has quite the collection of bikes in his stable, one of which is the same model and size as my road bike. After a few adjustments to the saddle, it fit enough for me to ride, so we headed out to the W&OD Trail for a ride. The W&OD Trail is an asphalt trail that is laid over most of the old Washington & Old Dominion railroad tracks. It's a great place to ride, but unfortunately it was CRAZY windy out on Saturday - wind speeds of 20+ mph and wind gusts of 30+ mph. Honestly, I probably would have just gotten on the trainer if I had been at home - that's how bad it was. But Dad was all "What are you going to do if it's windy for your Ironman? Just not race?" Gotta love a dad who gives you crap about your training. So I put on my big-girl panties and did 30 miles in the worst headwind I've probably ever experienced. I was SO happy to turn around at the 15 mile mark so I could finally hit a tailwind - and I did...for about five miles. And then the wind changed direction and I hit that headwind again. Ugh. It was brutal.
One thing that was cool about my ride was that I saw this sign:
Hey! I know those people!
It was funny because I wasn't paying that much attention to those Adopt A Trail signs, but I nearly wrecked my bike when I saw this one. I've know all three of these families! We all went to school together. It was pretty cool to see this. Thanks for adopting the trail, guys!
I also tried to get a photo from the overlook of a quarry, but there was a total creeper hanging out near the site. And considering I was alone at this point (Dad had already turned around) and about five miles from any civilization, I didn't want to risk my life by getting too close to this guy (seriously - he was CREEPY), so I just kept on riding.
Of course, after that crazy hard ride, the question remained as to how my legs would hold up for the 10 mile run the next day. Which you'll hear about in my next post!
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