This was a special week, which is why I'm logging it on Wednesday in lieu of when the action actually went down.

On Friday, I flew to Colorado to visit a friend of mine and to participate in my first ever race - the Bolder Boulder 10K. After a pretty rockin' weekend, we got up at the crack of dawn on Monday to mosy on over to the start line. Pete had registered for the race way before I'd even considered signing up for it, so his wave started an hour before mine. It was just as well since he's 6'5" and is a "real" athlete. His finish time was something like 45 minutes (8 minute miles...nice one, Pete).

After a good stretch and a bit of a wander around to check out the sights, I settled into my wave and started to get excited. It was really really cool to be surrounded by people who were pumped up to do the same thing I was about to.

The incredible heat and the elevation (5430 feet higher than I'm used to) did get to me and I didn't run as hard or as strong as I would have liked. I haven't gotten my official race time yet, but I think it was about 1:10-1:15. Considering it was my first race and I was far away from home, I decided in advance that I was going to take it easy - I wish I could say the same about my buddy Beth who gave it so hard during her 5 mile race in Boston on Sunday that she ended up in the ER later that day. Still, I'm jealous of her 49 minute finish time (and she's fine now).

Of course, the race itself was pretty emotional since it was a year to the day that I had my shattered ankle (from a skydiving accident) fixed with titanium screws and a little love from my orthopaedic surgeon. I was running with something to prove.

My favourite moment of the race was when the course wound into the downtown area and suddenly there were tons of spectators. I picked up my pace and heard a nearby man shout "yeah, go hard, Red! Looking great!" I gave him quite a sassy flick of my ponytail that he whistled like he meant it. I haven't seen my splits but I bet you anything that was my fastest mile :)