Bloomsday 2014

Getting up for Bloomsday was hard this year.  The day before the race, I drove down to the Riggins Rodeo to spend the day with my dad and Susan, and I drove back the night before Bloomsday.  My alarm went off at 5:30; no one should be up at that time, in my humble opinion.

We got on the road by 6:15 so that we could get to Spokane, pick up our packets, and get Scott and the other second seeders to their corral by 8:15 or so.  Everything went as planned, and even the weather was looking up (it had rained early that morning, and I was hoping that my tank top and capri pants weren't too optimistic an outfit for the race). 

My race started sometime around 9:20, though I really don't know when; I wasn't carrying my watch or my phone, so I just followed the masses of orange bib-wearing runners in workout clothes and costumes (superheros, Raggedy Anne, and a banana, to name a few).

I ran the first 1.5 miles or so until the first minor hill.  I decided to walk it even though I wasn't tired; I figured that I hadn't done any running for a while, and there was no way that I would realistically run the whole thing.  I decided to be strategic: run the flats and downhills and walk the uphills and water stations. 

The race was mostly uneventful, other than being hit in the head with a beach ball after the first mile and running nearly side-by-side with a fireman in full uniform.  I have to admit, though, I kind of impressed myself by how fast I seemed to go, given my lack of running training.  I knew I wasn't close to my 11:18 pace (2011 PR for this course), but I knew that I was going significantly faster than I had last year (14:14/mile).  My near-daily elliptical machine training paid off in terms of cardio, and I completed the race without ever feeling truly out of breath or pained from side aches. 

Somewhere between Mile 6 and 7, I felt a little annoyed at how long that particular mile was.  I could have sworn that someone had moved the Mile 7 marker because I knew I had run much farther.  Unlucky for me, however, no one had stolen the sign; I came upon the marker and still had a half mile to go.

The last half mile wasn't fast, but I did have a little kick at the tiny downhill to the finish.  I crossed the finish line in 1:38:40, with a pace of 13:13/mile.  I finished in the top half of all 32 year-old females and over a minute faster per mile than last year.  I did ok. :)

After the race, a bunch of us from Beer Chasers met at No-Li Brewery to enjoy a meal and a beverage or two.  Unfortunately, it wasn't warm enough for us to sit outside, so I enjoyed my Cream Ale at an indoor table, with my jacket on, surrounded by fellow Bloomies.

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