It's all downhill from here!

Yep, that’s right. I’m already halfway through my races! Since my end-date for my races is December 13^th (the Honolulu Marathon), that means not only am I on track to meet my goal, I’m ever so slightly ahead of schedule. While I'm on the downhill for the number of races I have left, I have much bigger events looming on the horizon so I feel like I'm really just getting started. 

Up until now, I’ve been a little willy nilly with choosing races. But I wanted to do something a little special for my mid-point milestone. What better way to celebrate than with a 5k bouncy castle obstacle course? So... 

Race #20: Insane Inflatables 5k

Medals. That's how you
know it was a race.

Date: May 23

Type: Run/Obstacle Course

Distance: 5k

Shwag: T-shirt and medal

The Saturday before Memorial Day, I drove up to Loveland with Szabo and Jenski for the Insane Inflatables 5k. As if a 5k bouncy castle obstacle course wasn’t enough, the course was fairly muddy due to all the rain we had been having so it was like an obstacle course and a mud run in one. A two for one deal!

I feel obligated to say that I there was no timing for this event. On some level, that makes me feel like it wasn’t really a race. However, we had race numbers, and we got t-shirts and medals at the end so it totally counts.

There’s not a whole lot to say about this race except that it was way fun and I have the pictures to prove it.

Jumping for joy!

Occasionally in life, you have moments when you’re fully present  and engaged in what you're doing, and there’s a sense of lightness and joy that goes along with it. These moments are rare, and seem to get more rare as you get older. Think about it – how often are you really present in the moment? Fully focused on what you’re doing and not also also checking Facebook, or thinking about what you’re going to have for dinner, or playing out some imaginary scenario in your head, or doing all of these things at once? My guess is it’s not too often. And that sucks.  

Why are our lives like this? Why is it so hard for us to get lost in the moment like we did when we were kids? Partially because we take ourselves way too seriously and don’t let ourselves have fun. But you can’t take yourself too seriously in a bouncy castle race, believe me. I was lucky enough to have a few moments of physical and existential lightness out on the course and I know my friends did too. At various points, I caught glimpses of each of them with huge smiles on their faces and that warmed my tiny, little heart. 

One note before the pics: the Insane Inflatables race will be in Denver in a few weeks. I suggest you do it if you can! 

Jenski tackles...
whatever that was.

Could I be more excited about what
awaits me on the other side? Nope.

Szabo's Flying Dismount

High knees! High Knees!

Me and Szabo

Jenski on the slide

Race #21: Bolder Boulder

Date: May 25

Type: Run

Distance: 10k

Shwag: The usual, but with new, improved beer this year!

Snack Bag!

Ah, Bolder Boulder, you are one of the best races in the world and you know it. Lots of people love to hate you, but I am not one of them. I love to love to love you.

Ten years ago, I rolled into Boulder the weekend before Memorial Day. (TEN YEARS AGO.) I was here for an internship the summer after my first year of grad school. I had been to Boulder once before, on a spring break trip in college so I knew a little bit about the town, but not much. And I certainly had no idea what this thing called the Bolder Boulder was and why there were signs for it all over town. 

I googled it and saw that it was a 10K on Memorial Day. Despite being out of shape and not adjusted to the altitude, I decided to do it because people at work were telling me that I HAD to do it and, honestly, I really had nothing else to do. I signed up the day before the race and showed up to the start line with no expectations for what the race would bring. To my delight, it brought awesomeness. I remember being amazed at how much energy and support was out on the course and how the whole community, which is now my community, came together for the event.

Aside from one year when I was really sick, I’ve done the Bolder Boulder every year that I’ve lived here. And every year, the race takes me back to my beginner’s mind and helps me see, once again, how completely amazing this crazy town is.

With that feeling in my heart, I set a simple goal for the race: I wanted to run it as a celebration of this town and the last ten years of my life. I vowed to give it my all, whatever that meant for the day, and not worry about my time, my splits, my pacing, and whether or not I was going to PR by 5 seconds. I was going to go by feel and make sure that all of the positive energy I soaked up on the course (and there’s a lot of it out there), I was going to reflect right back. 

Yay, Memorial Day!
(And yay better beer!)

On race day, I wore a watch, but only so I could keep track of when my wave was going off. I didn’t bother to start the timer and never looked at it once. I went into the race a little tired (I’m telling you, those inflatable obstacles take more out of you than you realize!) but instead of thinking about my fatigue or how I was maybe not running as fast as in years past, I focused on the great stuff going on around me.

Those of you who have run the Bolder Boulder know that there are too many amazing things to name. That said, I need to give a special shout out to the guy early on in the race who was holding a tiny, homemade sign that said, “Yay, Feminism.” It was definitely a crowd pleaser and put a big smile on my face.  

And, of course, there’s the Dorito house. When I first started running the BB, I would see these people handing out Doritos and think, “what’s wrong with you people?” But, Boulder is a small town and over the course of ten years, I’ve become friends with the Dorito people, which means I know what’s wrong with them.

Now when I see the Dorito house, instead of getting grossed out, I get excited because I know that I’m going to get some personalize cheering and a much needed boost that generally comes in the form of a very powerful and stingy ass slap from one Jen Szabo. It’s amazing how motivating that is. I also got some personalized cheering from Scott F., which is always appreciated.

Slightly up the street from the ass slap, I became aware of some dude in jeans running next to me, ringing multiple cowbells. To my delight, I looked over and saw Scott G. We had a brief chat before he sent me off some encouraging words.  

From there, the rest of the race flew by. As I usually do, I grabbed a cup of water at the Ideal Market aid station and walked my way up the hill to mile four. From there, I cruised my way through town and up to the stadium. I felt pretty good for most of the race but I felt really amazing for the final two miles. That probably means that I could have gone faster but who cares? I was blissfully happy, which I guess is what runner’s high is all about. In fact, I was so happy that I didn’t even care (that much) when two dudes dressed like Mario and Luigi blew past me in the final stretch.

And what I was feeling on the inside was apparently obvious on the outside too because later that day, a friend emailed me to say he saw me on the jumbotron as  I crossed the finish line and I had a huge smile on my face. Yep, I did. I

After I crossed the finish line, one of the volunteers looked at me and said, very seriously, “Hey, come over here.” I was a little worried but when I got over to him, he said, “Nice job!” and held up his hand for a high-five. And that’s exactly why I love this race. (The new, better beer didn’t hurt either.)  

Me and Therese, enjoying the better beer!
(Have I mentioned the better beer?)