Another day perhaps

Memorial Day in Boulder is a wild affair with more than 50,000 runners making their way through the city. Add to that another 50,000 spectators, family, supports and so on. That's a lot of people!

The Bolder Boulder 10k is a truly unique event. It's the only athletic event that actually goes through the city of Boulder. It takes mountains of volunteers - my guess is every water station had 150-200 cheering volunteers offering water or Gatorade and plenty of encouragement. The race takes 5 hours from the start of the very first wave of wheelchair athletes at 6:55, followed every minute or two by another wave of 500-1000 runners. Since it winds it's way through several neighborhoods there are plenty of spectators camped out watching the streams and streams of legs and shoes and costumes make their way past.

Of course there's entertainment as well. The Blues Brothers greet you just a quarter mile after the start, followed my gymnasts just down the block doing their flips. Maybe I was hallucinating, but I'm sure I saw Elvis around mile 2. I believe I saw several more on the course as well. For those inclined someone had a slip-n-slide set up in their front lawn. I passed on that one. Then there were at least a dozen bands along the course blasting out Tom Petty or CCR or Pink Floyd. I was impressed by the four young kids who couldn't be in their teens yet playing in front of the firehouse near the top of the course at mile 4.

Of course the finish is the coolest of any race I've ever been at. After a sharp incline at the finish, everyone enters the tunnel on the field at Folsom Stadium - the stadium of the University of Colorado. For the early runners there are only a few thousand people there, but by the end there are perhaps 20,000 people cheering as you cross the finish line.

I ran last year just a few weeks after starting my running journey. My goal wasn't time, it was just to be out there and enjoy it. This year while browsing the Bolder Boulder website I found a section called Ageless Wonders. These are awards given to the runners whose time is lower than their age. After having a solid 10K last summer, my goal was to join the Ageless Wonders.

Since the beginning of the year my running has been great. Pacing was improving, legs and lungs were getting stronger. I was sure that beating 41 minutes was possible. In fact just 4 weeks ago I did that on the front 10k of a 15k race. The Bolder Boulder course is hillier, still I thought I could do it. That confidence faded over the past week as I noticed how tired I was and recovery wasn't happening as fast. I didn't feel sick, just tired. Nevertheless I rested during the week and thought I had enough reserves for my goal. I wasn't going to decide until the morning of the race what the plan was.

Waking at 5am this morning I checked my pulse, I had a nice, low resting pulse more indicative of being ready. My legs felt alright, like maybe they had enough for today. Once at the start line my warmup felt tight like it was hard to get speed. All I could do was wait for the start and see what the day would hold.

The gun for the third wave went off at 7:02 and me with it. The first mile felt fast and yet contained. Actually I was even a little surprised at how easy the first 6 minutes went by. My breathing felt good. I knew the first test was a small rise on Folsom about 1.5 miles into the race. Normally I have a little kick to get up and over these type of bumps with a reasonably quick recovery on the other side. The kick wasn't there, and neither was the recovery. My legs were alright, but I was really starting to notice my breathing. My chest was even hurting a little. I kept this up for awhile, and then let it go. I couldn't hold this for another almost 4 miles. This just wasn't my day and I had to acknowledge that.

I walked for a bit trying to catch my breath and then started running again, making my way back into the crowd. There was no reason I couldn't finish the race, even if I walked. For now I just ran, enjoyed the cheers, enjoyed the weather (perfect temps - 50 degrees), enjoyed the music, and didn't worry about who was passing me.

After cresting the peak of the course near mile 4 I knew there was a general downhill trend for the next mile. I just followed my legs and this section confirmed what I already knew. On a good day I could just flow fast through this, not today. Somewhere around mile 5 I did feel a second wind, not a very strong one, but with only a mile to go, I went with it and had a good fast finish.

All-in-all a good day to be out running and what a crowd to run with! Not the time I was shooting for, but I know it's in me. Another day perhaps ...