Micah, Maddie and I ran our 6th Bolder Boulder 10K this morning and this might have been the best one ever. We managed the 4:30 am wake up and 5:15 departure without much trouble and parked just steps away from the start line. I ran in the B wave based on my 43:28 finish time from last year. I had no big expectations for this race since I have been doing no 10K specific training and I ran 21 miles and a lot of vertical on the trails yesterday. I felt okay as I warmed up and as I stood on the start line, so I hoped for a fun race and a decent finish- maybe close to 40 minutes. The gun went off for wave B at 7:03 and I took off at a conservative pace thinking this could be a good race to work on running negative splits. I hit mile 1 in 6:24 and all was well. Mile 2 was 6:22 and the dreaded uphill mile 3 was a surprisingly quick 6:20. I started to feel the effort here, but I reminded myself that there was only 3 miles to go and the next mile had some good downhill. Mile 4 was 6:19 and mile 5 was 6:18. Just over a mile to go and if I pushed I could actually run an all negative split 10k. I dug deep and worked for mile 6 which clicked off at 6:15! I ran in to the stadium and across the line for a 40:15 finish, my fastest Bolder Boulder ever.
I grabbed my lunch sack and ran the mile back to Micah and Maddie at the start. Maddie's friend and fellow Blevins Bolder Boulder racer Megan was there with her family getting ready to run her first 10k. We walked over to the start and in to the corral for the MC start where we met up with the rest of the Blevins team, all excited and ready to go.
Running with the kids was an amazing 97 minute whirlwind of yelling, laughing, sling-shoting, marshmallows, sprinklers, Doritos, slip and slides, cotton candy, leap frog, dancing and blue cupcakes. We had a great time out on the course and then found a place in the stands to watch the elite race and the Memorial Day Tribute before heading back to the 29th Street Mall for our traditional post BB lunch at Daphne's and then home to rest. Bolder Boulder has become the mark of the beginning of summer for me in Colorado and I love every second of it- crazy crowds and all. Thanks Micah and Maddie for doing this with me. It was a great day.
 |
| Micah, getting psyched up for the run |
 |
| Maddie and Megan too |
 |
| Marshmallows at mile 2.2 |
 |
| cotton candy at mile 3 |
 |
| Doritos! |
 |
| the notorious slip and slide |
 |
| new this year, blue cupcakes on Pearl Street |
 |
| some inspiring signage at mile 5.5 |
 |
| racing in to the finish |
 |
| taken by a former Blevins Bruin we met at the finish line |
 |
| Micah heading in to the stadium for the finish |
 |
| It's good to have a big brother |
HaHa! I TOLD you running 21 miles and a gazillion miles vertical the day before would give you a Bolder Boulder PR!
ReplyDeleteYou are unstoppable!!
Congratulations to the three of you....sounds like it was a GREAT day!
Hooray Micha and Maddie!!! SOOOOO proud of you two. I'd say the same to you Alex...but...we knew that a great day was a given with the way you have been running!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a successful day, good job all. What's your 10K PR, Alex? I'll have to work on getting Stella down next year, she'd have fun I'm sure. I'm not sure Shawn and Sandis would be up for fighting the crowd.
ReplyDelete:) Cat, yeah you were right. I'm pretty sure that spending several hours out on the trails with good friends helps with just about anything.
ReplyDeleteThanks Victoria. Micah and Maddie were awesome. It was a great day for all of us.
Brian, how did your race go? I was sorry we didn't run in to you. I bet Stella, and probably Sandis too, would have a great time at BB. I enjoy running my race in the earlier wave, but I have way more fun running the later wave with the kids, participating in all the craziness along the way.
I looked up my 10K PR and it was at the Dana Point, CA Turkey Trot in 2004 where I ran 38:27 at sea level. This was back when I trained for road 5 and 10ks. My past Bolder Boulders are 2011: 43:09 2010:42:07 2009: 42:45 2008: 41:58 2007: 43:28 Making yesterday's race a 1:43 BB PR.
Man, I wish I would've known you were there because I was too! I didn't decide to run until last Wednesday. We were in Denver all weekend taking the kids to the zoo, aquarium and children's museum, so I decided to jump into Bolder Boulder too (after Mike reminded me that it was going on...I had totally spaced that out). I was in the BA wave, so right behind you at the start. I didn't feel that good at all the first half, but picked up the pace a bit in the 2nd half, finished in 45:15. Guess I shoulda ran 21 miles the day before :).
ReplyDeleteI had an OK day, not a PR but right in the same ballpark as my last 2 BBs, all within 30 seconds. I planned my warm up to run into you (and my boss who was also in B) but the way they had the side of the street blocked off near the starting line it was too difficult to get up there.
ReplyDeleteThe way you've been running your sea level 20-something PRs should be getting scared. Good job out there.