Miles of Smiles: Bloomsday 12k

I've now been running for just over a year. I had wanted to run Bloomsday, a 12k race, last year, but never trained. This year, I trained (and beyond) and ran Corporate Cup with 7 other nurses from my unit at work as well as a housekeeper and an RT. It was a blast!

The day before, I got up and we went downtown to the expo to pick up my packet. It happened to be Cinco de Mayo, so we had dinner at Azteca, where I ate plenty of carbs and drank plenty of water! We also went on the carousel. I really wanted to bring Isla, but she freaked out, so it was just Miles and me.

The morning of the race, I got up around 0730, ate peanut butter on toast with jam, drank a bunch of water, got dressed, and headed to a local high school where there was a bus pick-up for the race. I got there around 0810 thinking I'd be hopping on a bus within 10-15min of arriving...boy was I wrong! I had a 0900 start time with Corporate Cup, so I was a little nervous when I saw the line. I cut into it when I saw someone I knew, but shortly realized that wasn't going to cut it either! I HAD to get to the front to make it on time. My heart was pounding. I felt bad for cutting, but it was just me and I wasn't going to make it if I didn't.

In retrospect, I should have hopped back in my car when I saw the line and drove. I would have had to park a mile away, but at least I would have easily been on time. I was sooo nervous I wasn't going to make it. A guy on the bus assured me I had "plenty of time" and just had to "hop off the bus and run" to the start :). I ended up getting to the start about 0853 after sprinting from the bus stop! I tossed my Corporate Cup bag on the truck (they brought them to the end and handed them back out so you didn't have to carry your keys, etc), used the porta potty, and hopped in line with a coworker I happened to find just moments before the gun went off!

It was a beautiful day! A bit on the warm side with the direct sun, but not too hot. I ran the first mile or so with a coworker, then split off on my own. I finished the first mile in 10:13, a little ahead of goal pace.

I tried to enjoy myself, but also had some mental struggle going on. I had a goal time in mind and had to keep on pushing to reach that goal. Mile two, a super speedy 9:22. Mile 3, 10:31, still ahead of pace. Mile 4 clocked in at 11:20, my longest mile, but included a 60second potty break!

The scenery is amazing!

This picture is while heading up Doomsday Hill. The whole course is pretty hilly (much more than I'm used to), but this hill is a killer. I alternated walking and jogging. I'm pretty sure my jog wasn't much faster than my walk!

At the top is a famous vulture. You can see the back of him in this pic. Mile 5, 11:13, despite Doomsday!

The crowd support at Bloomsday is amazing and makes it worth it. There are so many people cheering. You run by houses with people out on their lawns. Some people turn on their hoses an let them spray out into the street, which is sooo nice! Others hand our Otter Pops :). Mile 6, 10:52. Mile 7, 10:39.

This shot is headed down to the finish. The last quarter mile is down hill, making it speedy. Mile 7.47, 5:12.

Official finish time: 1:19:25. My goal was to run it around 1:20, so I beat that by a few seconds, which thrills me. I kind of went into it with 1:20 as a semi-abstract goal. I kind of thought it might be a bit ambitious since I'm not used to the hills. I gave it my all and met my goal. I was soooo sore the next day. My quads were trashed! In total, there are 467ft of climbing and 494ft of descending. Basically the whole course is either going up or down. Both are hard on the knees, quads, and calves. Most of my training runs include about 150ft-200ft of climbing/descending!

Me sporting my Corporate Cup shirt.

And, the Bloomsday shirt! It is always a huge surprise what the finisher shirt is going to look like! I like this years design...

And so did Isla!

This is a poor picture, but it is me (4th from the right) and my coworkers on the Corporate Cup Team. Starting from the left back, Carrie (housekeeper), Marlene, Dave (RT), Wendy, me, Sarah, Mary, Erika, Christine and Lisa. Mary heads the whole thing up but dropped the vacuum on her foot and broke her toe the day before the race (hence the jeans)!