Bolder Boulder ...

I ran the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day. A 10K

Dear girl in the yellow shorts and (pretty cool) pink Nike shoes,

At mile 3 I finally caught you. I know you didn't think I could do it ... but I did. We were going up the relentless hill.. you could probably feel me sneaking up behind you. And when I did pass you .. could you feel me smiling? It was a smug kind of smile. Could you see my nose go up in the air as I blew by? Yeah, I felt pretty good about that. Pretty proud of myself. See .. you were hard to catch. I had my sights set on you but you were always just out of my reach. I felt my second wind after I passed you. You would think, yellow shorts, that I had already won the race at that point.

Then ... then ... then .... I didn't even SEE it coming. Just after crossing the mile 6 marker, I saw a flash of yellow. Uh-oh. Visions of a tu-tu from last year's 10K crossed my mind. I couldn't believe it .. it was happening AGAIN. A nightmare of sorts. This is what my mind was thinking "OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!". I couldn't physically get that out of my mouth because all that was coming out of my mouth was heavy-deep-I'm about to die-breathes.

We had .2 miles to go. I wasn't going to let this happen AGAIN. With all of the reserve energy I had ... I worked my legs until I couldn't feel them. AND guess what? I indeed passed you. Again. You probably didn't even see it happening .. because it happened so quickly ... like lightspeed. I crossed the finish line BEFORE you. Yes, indeed ... I did. I looked back so I could stick my tongue out at you. But thought twice because turning my head was making me feel as if I was going to puke.

But whatever .. you and I both know I beat you. I was not going to repeat the tutu nightmare again. Oh no.. no .. no .. no...

Good luck next time ... I wonder what you will be wearing the next race I see you ...

Love,

The girl in the pink shorts

It was a good race. Tons of entertainment on the course. I saw grown men dressed like babies .. singing in a band ... free doritos at mile 5 (yes, let me stop and have a small salty snack on my way)... donuts ... belly dancers ... fat women with no clothes on ... and plenty of onlookers cheering us on. We were in Boulder. I expected good entertainment and I wasn't disappointed.

My time was just over 49 minutes. My goal was 48 minutes. Not that I was that far off but REALLY .. could I not have run ONE minute faster?? Came in 25 of 550 in my division (and don't ask me what that means because I'm clueless). There were over 50,000 runners. I was totally impressed with how organized it was. We took off in different waves and I never once felt crowded as I ran. The end reminded me a bit of herding cattle... after you crossed the finish.. there were men 'moving' us along with a megaphone. "keep moving" isn't something I particularly wanted to hear after running 6.2 miles.

Overall ... a great race and I'll do it again next year.