The Summer of Run

Yep, that's right. I said Summer of Run. I officially named it that after I finished the half marathon and was ready for more!

Two weeks post-half-marathon I feel great and have completely forgotten about the hours after 13.1 miles when I could barely walk and had to take a nap. In my defense, I did get up at 3:00 am for that race!

And this Monday, Memorial Day, I am crossing yet another ridiculous thing off my "list." Since we moved to Colorado (the first time) in 2006, I have been talking about running the BolderBoulder. It's what people here do. But I have never had a friend to run with and until now, have never been conditioned enough to run it. The BolderBoulder is the country's largest 10k race which means it's only 6.2 miles...I can run that on a Tuesday before work if I want. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice. But here's the rub: There are, on average, 50,000 people who run the BolderBoulder. So not only will I run in only my second ever road race, I will do it with 50k of my closest friends. That's laughable!

I am excited for this race in ways that are difficult to express. It's not because it's my second race and I am super confident about it. And it's not because it's something that's been on my list for 5 years. It's because it's going to be fun. I am so not taking this seriously. AT ALL!!

At every 1/2 mile there will be a different band playing their music...more than 30 groups in all. Everything from polka bands and marching bands to grunge & punk rock to reggae and hip hop. It should be a blast. And I can't forget about finishing inside Folsom Field (home to the University of Colorado Buffaloes football team) and hopefully seeing Ralphie, their real-live-fully-grown buffalo mascot...or as I would prefer to call him, Dinner.

I can list a million reasons that this will be a fun race. But it boils down to five really important reasons that this race will be amazing:

1. Because for the first time in my life I can actually run 6.2 miles without stopping
   
2. Because it's another day I get to spend with one of my best friends-just us girls.
3. Because it's the 2nd largest 10k race in the United States and it's in my back yard (ish).
4. Because 12 weeks from Sunday I am running another half marathon, only this time in Vail and at 8,500 feet with 350' elevation gain. But it's a women-only race and I will get a pink feather boa and a tiara at mile 12. How could I NOT run that one!
   
5. I need all the training runs I can get!