Pre-Race Jitters

Tomorrow is my 4th Bolder Boulder. Each year I have done this race I have had a huge ego-feeding PR. Tomorrow I'm not so sure. Maybe my ego doesn't need any more food?

My first BB was 1:27 (I was severely anemic and walked a lot of it). My next BB was 1:07 and I ran every step of it! Last year was 54:51.

One of my stated goals for my running is that I want to do a sub-50 10K while I still am sub-50 years old. A 50 minute 10K is about an 8:17 pace. This year this goal is most likely out of my reach. I just hope I can chip away some time this year and pull out a PR.

I've been obsessively watching the weather report for tomorrow. Every time I look it is getting just a bit worse. Last year was hot, so cooler will be nice. Rain and wind may come into the picture here--those won't be fun.

I'm worried that I don't have the drive I need to keep running hard when running hard just stinks. I try to think of the pros when I start to feel this. I'm not sure if it's true, but I tell myself that it's hard for them too--that they have to run at the same effort--that this brings us together as runners, even though we aren't running anything close to the same pace.

Deena Kastor is one of the elite runners who will be running the professional race. I'll have to say that I am definitely a fan! I think she is inspiring and I am really looking forward to seeing her run. The elites will run the same course as we will for the first time since 1979. As an added bonus, I will get to see my mile splits in comparison with hers. This both interests and terrifies me.

I find it interesting since I will get to see if Deena's pace will slow when she goes up the hill on mile 4 or if it will just stay the same because she is an awesome and strong runner.

Of course it's terrifying because I will see that Deena probably runs twice as fast as I do. I see how she runs and how others I admire (my coaches) run and wonder if I am running to my full potential.

No matter how well I do, I always like to think that maybe I could do better next time.