Bolder Boulder 2K8

I love long weekends. They are awesome. Every weekend should be 3 days long. Saturday morning, I went out for a good little hammer fest on the bike. I rode to the 5430 Sprint Triathlon bike course, about 11 miles from home, then rode the course, and rode home. I freaking hammered the course. I had a little tailwind on the back straight-away, and was holding about 34 mph - faster than I've ever gone back there. The winds started swirling pretty good on my ride back - but I made it safe and sound. It was roughly 37 miles, took me about 1h 45 min. Good, hard ride.

Sunday, I did a recovery swim and ate like a fiend.

Monday, Bolder Boulder. I had a blast running this race. It was the first time I've run it, after living in and out of Boulder for about 6 years or so. There were a TON of people out there, I think the last count I saw was 54,040....yeah...a TON! I started in the 3rd wave (AB) at 7:01:50. The first mile was good, slightly downhill, and pretty fast - 6:28 split. Regardless of how downhill it was, I needed to reign it in a bit. My next 3 splits, 6:54, 7:09, and 6:59 were actually a little slower than I had shot for, but after looking at the course profile after the race, those were the miles where I gained elevation, so I'm okay with it. Miles 5 and 6 splits were 6:42 and 6:55 weren't great, but the last mile had another big incline, however, a buddy put it in my head that this was a big big hill, and it certainly looked like it on the profile, so I saved some energy for that climb. I got to the top, looked back, and went "Is that it? DAMN!". Next time, I hammer.

My final time was 42:36, averaging 6:52 a mile. Again, I wasn't really geared up for this race, but after looking at my times, I always question things a bit, "If only I had pushed a bit harder here, or Run that 4th mile faster," but it was a really fun race. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but next year I think I'd like to get a group together and just run it for fun. We shall see.

I'm gunna get a massage today, and then a good swim tonight. Prepping for the Elephant Rock Century this weekend. Woohoo!

E