Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap (and top running blog!)

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap (and top running blog!)

The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler was a “comeback” race in a way & also a really fun bucket list running experience.

Last weekend, I attended and spoke at the RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) convention. This was my 3rd time attending the convention, second time speaking (on behalf of my business Runner Rising, where I help run coaches learn how to market their coaching). Every year, the convention is centered around a RRCA running race, and this time it was the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

I heard about the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler many years ago, in my early blogging days. I used to follow quite a few DC and New York runners who would regularly run this race. I remember putting it on my “race bucket list” many years ago. Now the race is a lottery system and because I’m a mom of 3 and the race is literally across the country, the odds of actually getting to race it were pretty low.

So when the RRCA announced that the next convention was in DC and we’d be running the Cherry Blossom, I was on my way.

FitnessFatale is a FeedSpot Top Running Blog

First – speaking of blogs – I have some exciting news! This blog, fitnessfatale.com was listed on the Feedspot 2026 Top Running Blogs list – its kind of a big deal considering Runners World is #1. Fitnessfatale ranked number 49. I started this blog wayyy back in 2011 as a way to document my progress training for my first marathon and doing the workout program P90X, and it’s evolved quite a bit over time as I became an Ironman, a coach, a mom of 3, and created my Run Fuel weight loss for runners program.

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

After running CIM back in December, I took a big step back from running for the spring, and started doing heavy lifting 3x/week to build muscle, especially in my glutes (I did a program called Booty by Bret with my neighbor – wow, I thought I “lifted heavy” before but the barbell is a whole different ballgame!). Over the winter, I was running about 50% of my usual mileage. I traveled to Hawaii, got sick twice (after not being sick for an entire year), and really dove into growing my businesses. For the first time in a few years, running took a backseat, but it was still there.

This break really helped – once I returned to hard workouts, I noticed more power in my legs and more excitement too. Leading up to Cherry Blossom, I got sick for a full 2 weeks so I missed some of my biggest long runs and workouts. But, my coach had me focusing on tempo and threshold runs and I started to see some improvements in pace. (Another thing that may have helped was my new pelvic floor PT program, more on that later).

After training and racing based on effort for CIM, I told my coach I was ready for a pace specific race plan. we had a pre race call and she gave me pacing plans for both an “A” goal of sub 1:19 and a B goal of Sub 1:21. My personal A goal was to have a pace in the 7s, and my B goal was to have a negative split.

Meeting Keira D’Amato at the Cherry Blossom Expo

On Friday at the RRCA Convention, I presented to a group of run coaches for a full hour – and while I was certainly more confident and less nervous than last year when I spoke for the first time , it was a a more stressful day.

It ended up being a wonderful evening – we went into the city for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler expo & then had dinner afterward. I had made a reservation at a trendy greek restaurant in the city and 4 other coaches joined me for a wonderful meal. After dinner, we walked along the mall and went to the Korean War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. I hadn’t been to DC since I was a 9 year old girl, so it was interesting to see it again. I definitely want to return later with Mike so we can really geek out!

Luckily, I had Saturday morning to relax – there were no planned events til the afternoon. I went for a shake out run by myself (stuck to my coach’s plan & skipped the yoga that my new friends invited me to) , grabbed a breakfast burrito and coffee, got more carb snacks at Whole Foods, and then went into the city. I walked around for a bit and then went to the Expo again to see Keira D’Amato speak. I adore her – she retired from professional racing to have kids and go back to “normal’ life, then re-entered professional racing as a mom of 3 and set the American record in the half and full marathon.

Her book, ‘Don’t Call it a Comeback” is excellent – and very relatable. Her talk was funny and reassuring and I bought another copy of her book to have signed. My biggest takeaway from the talk was that playing small and setting “safe” goals can feel comfortable, but it doesn’t really allow us to learn from the failures. Although I don’t regret anything from pulling back in last year’s marathon training- I was going through life stress and putting more pressure than needed on my running – it reignited the competitor in me. Taking that step back last fall allowed me to relieve some pressure and dig deeper into my “why” for running. And, in the end, although my “why” is multi-faceted – while being part of the running community and having fun is a big part of it, I still want to grow.

And after Keira’s talk, I was excited to see what I was capable of running at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

I met up with some of my new running friends at 5:45 in the hotel lobby & we took the metro to the start. After bathrooms & chatting a bit, I checked my bag (glad I brought layers, it was colder than everyone expected since the high was 70+ that day), and did a warm up with Laura.

I got into my corral with about 5 minutes to spare and when the gun went off, it was very crowded but I was glad I seeded myself correctly because it seemed like the entire group was running around the same pace, so there wasn’t a ton of weaving (but some weaving). The first mile passes by the Lincoln Memorial and on the map, it looked like it was a significant downhill but in reality, I didn’t notice it was downhill at all. In fact, the entire 10 miles felt almost entirely flat to me (being from San Diego helps – it’s incredibly hilly here).

My legs felt pretty good right away and I was naturally running in the high 7s. I consciously pulled it back a bit and was also pulled back slightly by the fact that it was hard to go around people so I was just running with the crowd.

The next mile included an out and back over the Arlington Memorial Bridge – this wasn’t a big incline, just a slight up and down. I actually love out and back segments because I enjoy seeing the faster runners on the way out and then also being the faster runner on the way back. When I crested the back end of the bridge, a giant roundabout came into view that was jam packed with runners – it was a really cool sight to see everyone moving together in a circle.

I looked for some of my RRCA friends, but honestly, it was so jam packed it was nearly impossible. But you know who I did see?! Stumpy, the Cherry Blossom Mascot – a short, fat cherry blossom tree that looks like a piece of poop with branches and flowers. Honestly, he was running and impressive pace in that costume!

Once we got off the bridge, I found my pace slightly getting faster, but I tried to hold back. My race plan was to break the race into 3 5Ks and get progressively faster for each one. The first 3 miles were 8:05, 8:05 (perfect) and 7:58 (slightly fast). The pace felt comfortable and natural, which was encouraging! This is when I decided to take my head phones out & try racing without music at all. I noticed I wasn’t listening to it at all and because the race was so crowded and there was a lot going on, it was more of a distraction than anything.

Miles 3-4 weren’t too scenic – just and a long out and back with a hairpin turn at the end. Mile 5 was the hardest mile mentally – the first time it felt like the pace was a little harder to sustain. I also had to use the aid station to get way at this point, which slowed me down. I generally have a hard time with the mid way point of a race, but in this case I told myself “its only 5 more miles” .

In the presentation the day before, Keira had described a moment in one of her world record attempts, when she was struggling and wanted to tell the pacer to slow down. But she knew if she slowed then, she was giving up the race. That was what I reminded myself – if I slowed now, I was throwing the goal out. I asked myself if I could pick it up for one more mile and see? And I did.

Miles 4-6 were 8:03, 8:07 and back to 8:01. The final portion of the course is a loop around a peninsula. Before we turned onto this section, there was a GIANT cheer section with hundreds of spectators – including someone giving out tequila shots (did not partake). This gave me a big boost and I was smiling ear to ear.

The last section was also a narrow road with a bike path. I chose to run in the bike path. I decided to break the final miles down mile by mile. Still no music or headphones, I relied on self talk and focused in on getting to work. I was so happy when mile 7 came in right at 8. Mile 8 was 8:00. I challenged myself to make mile 9 in the 7s, and I did ! 7:58. I had hoped for a bigger kick in the final mile, but ultimately ran a 7:59 pace. The only significant hill on the course is at the very end, right before you turn a corner and see the finish line. I kicked it in to the finish and threw my hands up. I was really proud of the effort – despite not hitting the A goal of a 7:XX pace or sub 1:19, I did hit the B goal, stayed super positive and ran a negative split.

I HIGHLY recommend this race – although the Cherry Blossoms were not out in full bloom, it was a beautiful, fun course, super flat and good amount of spectators. I absolutely loved it and it made me excited to run Chicago Marathon (maybe without any headphones!?) this fall!