Bolder Boulder Race Report
Today was the 31st Annual Bolder Boulder 10K. My parents had decided to come visit this weekend, so I bought my Mom her race entry for Mother’s day.
This past week was an off week for me; after feeling really run down last Sunday I didn’t run again until Friday. Then we did sight-seeing on Saturday so I didn’t run, and then I pulled an 18 miler in prep for the Steamboat Springs Marathon in two weeks.
Yes, the decision to run 18 miles yesterday was also partially a cop-out, a way for me to justify running an easy race with my Mom (I had qualified for the BA wave, but had never really decided if I’d run with Mom or not).
After my long run, I took a dip in the pool and changed into recovery socks, and actually felt really great. As the day went on and we visited the race expo and dined on some fantastic pasta at Bagali’s Italian Kitchen, I started to feel more like putting in a strong effort.
The other benefit to running a long run the day before a race is that I was tired, so I think I was in bed before 9:30pm. I woke at 3, but managed to get back to sleep before the 5am alarm. The Bolder Boulder hosts about 54,000 runners, so driving to the start is a bit of a nightmare. Instead, I took the $7 shuttle from close to our hotel to the start.
Since I was in the 5th wave, I was set to start running at 7:04am. I arrived at my corral at about 6:30, so I left and stretched, visited one of the many porta-potties, and did a couple sprints. I had worn a sweatshirt so as not to get cold, and ditched it before heading back into the corral. By 7 it was getting packed with anxious runners. I visited with a few folks who’d also run Boston, and soon enough we were off!
I felt good easing into the race: I didn’t go out at a lung-bursting pace. It was great to be in the corral with people of the same pace, there wasn’t really any jockeying for position or need to pass people going too slow. I was in a good mood; joking with other runners as we passed some of the entertainment that they must not have had to audition to perform.
The race organization was incredible: everything was perfectly orchestrated, and the course was marked off every kilometer AND every mile. As a result, the landmarks just ticked by!
I was running at a decent clip, but I didn’t set out to break any records. So when on mile 3 I heard a call offering FREE BEER, I did a little loop and stood next to the girl offering. It took her a few moments to realize I was there, and then I told her I only wanted a sip. I drank a bit, then jumped back in the race. Yes, I run these things for fun!
The neat thing about a 10K race marked in kilometers is that there is no math to do at every marker: you’re 10..40….60% done! My quads were a bit sore, but nothing too horrible given the run the day before. At about 36 minutes into the race I really felt like I was hitting my stride: things were easy. Ah yes, this is what happens when you put a marathoner in a shorter distance race. I chugged through until there was less than a mile to go. Leading up into Folsom Field, there was a bit of an incline to head into the stadium. I like to finish strong, so I conserved some energy for the stadium run.
And then we entered the stadium, which had the grass covered with white plastic slats (that seemed a bit wet from the rain we’d had the day before?). So I entered the stadium, scanning the crowd for my Dad in the stands, trying to avoid other runners, and running gingerly on a slippery surface. So much for my desire for a strong finish!
I wasn’t even exactly sure where the finish line was (every mile had a timing mat, but I didn’t see one at the end), but the official time came back at 48:19 (7:46 pace). For those who don’t know, I generally run 10K in around 47:5x (my PR is 45:55). So overall, a strong showing!
After finishing the race, I wound my way back up to timing chip drop off, picked up a reusable snack bag filled with goodies, and headed to the stands to meet my Dad and wait for my Mom. She was in the HD wave, so she didn’t even start until 8:01. Her 10K PR is 1:04, so we started looking for her shortly after 9:00… and soon enough, we saw her! She came in at 1:04, so possibly a PR! (We’re not so sure about the seconds yet). It was a nice cool day for a run (53 or so), and just a great time! We wandered around the expo for a bit, and it was so great to finish a race and not be completely pooped! I told my Dad that I do think I need to train for shorter races: it was nice for the miles to just fly by, but I wished I’d felt a bit stronger.
My average heart rate was 174, my max was 183.
EDIT: Here are the updated stats with overall results:
