Bolder Endurance

For months I've been trying to get back into some semblance of decent shape. The true culmination of these winter and spring efforts always seems to be the BolderBoulder 10K, and this year was no exception.

Having this goal gave me a reason to get out of bed at 5:30 in the morning. Instead of sleepily thinking, "ugh, I don't want to work out," I would have a small sense of fear...I didn't want to let myself down. I'd signed up for the BolderBoulder and I didn't want to disappoint myself by not being ready.

As the day drew nearer, I realized that although I'd been working out about 6 days a week, my workouts were shockingly lacking in the running category. I just didn't feel like running...except when I had commitments to run with a friend.

My goal went from improving my time from last year to just running the whole thing without walking. Last year I was running 4 times a week for about six weeks before the race. This year I was cross training, running once a week at best.

Just a few days before the race, I could feel my immune system getting weaker. My memorial day weekend festivities did nothing to help the cold I could feel developing.

Race Day
I woke up feeling achey and stuffy headed. I hadn't slept well. I didn't enjoy getting up at 5:30. I vaguely thought about sunscreen but was too tired to care, and figured with our 7:45 start time, we'd be out of the heat and intensity of the sun fairly early. By 6:30 4 of us (Kyle, Kerry, Andrea, me) were piled in my car on our way up to Boulder. We hit some traffic on the way up, but nothing I didn't anticipate. We got to the park'n'ride not long after I'd expected. The bus left for the starting line with 45 minutes to go until our start time. The longest this ride had ever taken was 40 minutes. I knew it was cutting it a little close, but I wasn't too worried.

After we'd been on the bus for over an hour driving through busy traffic in a construction zone, it seemed like we were barely moving. We'd definitely missed our start time. I knew we'd be allowed to start in later waves, but I didn't want to sit on the bus and wait while it got hotter and hotter out. The four of us made a decision to get off and walk the 1.5 miles left to the start line. Just the walking was making me fatigued, and I hoped that my cold didn't get worse once I started running.

There were people everywhere. By the time we go to the start we were funneled in to a line of thousands and my adrenaline had kicked in. I didn't feel sick. I felt amazing. The gun went off and my friends took off. I kept it at an easy pace. I needed to keep up a run that I could maintain until the end.

As I wove my way through the first of the 6.2 miles, I remembered why I'd wanted to be in an earlier wave: it was getting hot out and people in this later wave were already stopping an walking. And I'm not judging. I think it's great that people do a 10K, no matter how they do it. But when you're constantly weaving around people just to keep up your pace because you come across solid walls of walkers, it gets a little tedious. I'd like to write a BolderBoulder etiquette manual. Walkers on one side, runners on the other. Even with all the dodging, though, every time I'd crest a hill, I'd feel excitement at how many people were running...50,000+

The first three miles seemed the hardest. Bands were playing, people where cheering along the way, spurring me on. Running through the neighborhoods always brought the added delight of slip-n-slides, baked goods, marshmallows being thrown, beer (as long as you had an ID), and water stations. Oh, and I can't forget the costumes. Despite the fact that the sun was beating down mercilessly, I saw 4 teenage mutant ninja turtles walking together, Thing 2 and Thing 3, people with felt dinosaur spikes sewn to their shirts, and a team all painted in green body paint.

After those first three miles, I began to wonder if I could really do this...keep running without walking. My cold seemed to have disappeared, but I was tired. My feet felt good, though, and I didn't have a cramp in sight. As I passed mile four, I summited the course high point. Running down that hill was a dream. Mile 5 seemed effortless (and I found out later was my second fastest mile) and mile 6...ugh mile 6. You turn the corner to run up Folsom, the street that leads to the stadium. Once you're on this road, you know it's all strait ahead. Just 2 more kilometers to go, you think. But you know what's at the end. The hill that rises up to put the football stadium at a pinnacle looking over the city. Runners bottleneck and you run on your toes to get up the hill. You're practically shoved into the stadium and you realize you're really there.

Slowly my speed increased. As I did the lap around the stadium, I reached out to high-five the outstretched hands of strangers. My speed had come to a full sprint as I rounded the corner and annihilated the finish line. I'd done it. I'd run the whole race without walking. And, as I found out later, I'd come in only 7 seconds behind Kerry, who'd taken off like a shot in the first mile.

My Results
Mile 1: 10:42
Mile 2: 11:27
Mile 3: 12:02
Mile 4: 11:46
Mile 5: 11:19
MIle 6: 11:56
Total Time: 1:11:27

My total time last year was 66 minutes. Yes, of course I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't able to implement the training necessary to do as good as last year. However, I'm also proud of the race I did run. I ran under 12 minute miles (I was training at about 12.5), I ran the whole way, and I did it with fairly consistent splits without any method of monitoring my speed (just my own internal rhythm). If that doesn't sound like a marathon runner...

The Aftereffects
Yes I badly sunburned my shoulders.

About two hours after I'd finished a fatigue set in so great that I knew my cold had not really left. I spend the next two days working only half days at work and spending the rest of the time in bed getting sleep and begging my cold to go away.

The biggest surprise? I'm not really sore at all. My ankles are still a little tired, but I'm putting it down to cross-training. Working out 6 days a week still means something :)