At the crackadown I was up, chugged two cups of coffee, put on my running gear and went outside. On the porch I met up with KT-JT, hubby Will and Will’s sister Cheryl. KT-JT’s father had already left 1/2 hour before us. We’d all signed up for the 24th Annual Army Ten-Miler and it was showtime.

I was a little nervous, as I hadn’t trained quite as much as I should have (again). It became apparent that I had only trained on the treadmill and not outside on the pavement as the race began. The first two miles were pretty hard on my ankles, but that subsided. What really got me was the very last mile across the 14th Street Bridge, as we made our way back to the Pentagon where we started, when my hip joint started aching. Ooof, that was a rough one. But I did finish the race at least, without getting rounded up by the pick-up ambulance that scoops up the too-slow runner. Imagine the shame!

From the press release:

The Army Ten-Miler, also known as the Army’s race, is a part of the Army community and donates all of the proceeds from the race to the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR).

The MWR is a comprehensive ntwork of support and leisure services designed to enhance the lives of Soldiers (active, Reserve and Guard), their families, civilian employees, military retirees and other eligible participants. The MWR offers services that reduce stress, build skills and self-confidence and foster strong espirit de corps. These services range from child development, day care and after school programs to deployment assistance, official travel lodging, relocation aid, career services, financial management, family counseling and social/support networks for single soldiers, families, retirees and civilians.

A course map is after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

The Army 10-Miler is in ten weeks. Seeing as how I haven’t run (except to catch a bus) since the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in the spring, it’s time to get the running ramp-up regime going.

Using the novice level of the Cherry Blossom training program, and counting back from October 5 (race day) today is the first lesson and it’s pretty basic. I usually skip these early ones, because I’m doing cardio anyways, but this time I’ll go ahead and go day by day. Good thing I did, too, because now after today’s session I can feel my knees a little weak so in addition to ramping up my cardio it will also strengthen my legs.

Today’s session:
Walk one minute, run two minutes, repeat 10 times. I used an incline of 1.0 on the treadmill, speed 3.5 for walking, 5.5 for running. I’m also going to try and get my speed up a little bit over the next 10 weeks. Normally I’ll run a 10:00 mile, it would be nice to get that down to 9:30. Calories burned: 437. Distance: 2.61 miles. 

Then, to reward myself, I accepted Melba’s invitation to have dinner at Good Stuff, Chef Spike’s (from Top Chef) new burger joint located at 303 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, where Pulp used to be located. Opening just a few weeks ago, Good Stuff has been the mob scene at all times of the day but we thought maybe on a Monday evening we’d give it a go.

Of course, it’s still packed, with lines reminiscent of trying to buy an iPhone 3G: you wait outside until you’re cleared for inside, then you wait inside again. And after you order you wait again. Chef Spike was there himself, barking out orders to the plentiful staff working the grills. Wanting to sample the basics, we both ordered the Farmhouse Bacon Cheese (applewood bacon, american cheese, ruby red tomatoes, thinly sliced onion, lettuce and pickles) and split an order of Spike’s Village Fries (topped with fresh thyme, rosemary & cracked pepper). I opted for the Soursop Hop Strawberry handspun shake, while M had the Toasted Marshallow. Note: the shakes are almost as much as the burgers.

While the burgers were good, I don’t think they were as good, and certainly weren’t as big as, Five Guys. Granted, we didn’t order the double burgers so maybe the comparison isn’t the same. But where GS excelled was with their sauces: Chipotle Mayo, Old Bay Mayo and Sriracha Mayo. These were great deviations from the simple ketchup for dipping the fries in. The fries were great, too, btw. And the shakes were thick and creamy but I don’t want to know how many calories that thing had in it. I’m sure I could run today’s training session again and still not work just the shake off.