2012 Bolder Boulder 10k

*** more photos ***  http://www2.brightroom.com/email/97705/CC263/135052694

Well, I ran the Bolder Boulder 10k today.  It is the second largest 10k in the nation with 50,000-60,000 people running in it every year.  When I registered for it, I used a previous 5k I ran to enter a qualified wave.  The start of the race is organized in waves so that people with similar speeds run together.  I set a goal for finishing in 50 minutes.  While I was training, I started running around the block, which is 6.4 miles.  I was immediately beating my goal, so I changed it to 48 minutes.  The next week, I was beating that goal.  So, I finally decided on a goal of 46:30 which is a 7:30 minute/mile pace.  In training, I was running 7:40 fairly consistently, but I still had doubts about whether I could sustain 7:30 for 6.2 miles.  Well, I did it!  I beat my goal.  I ran it in 46:07.75 (official time) which is a 7:26 pace!

Until today, I had never run the Bolder Boulder, so I didn't know how hilly it was.  There is a video of the course that I watched multiple times, and the elevation map of the course make it look pretty hilly.  I was worried I didn't have enough hill workouts to prepare.  It turns out, I did.  The loop around the block has harder hills and more of them.  I felt good the whole race.  The last quarter of a mile goes up a steep hill into the stadium, and that was a tough hill.  I pushed hard because I knew the end was near.

Here I am after the race - yes I was as tired as I looked.

I went down with a friend.  He ran in a later wave, so I was able to cheer for him as he came running into the stadium.  He also met his goal by a few seconds.  We then stayed to watch the International Competition.  Several different countries for teams of 3 runners and then they see who does the best.  They are fast!  The top men finished in about 30 minutes, and the top women finished in about 33 minutes.  It was fun to see how fast they are and how graceful most of them look.  They don't look like they're working that hard, but they're running 5 minute miles or faster!  We then had the ceremony to celebrate our veterans and current military personnel and a couple of fighter jets flew over the stadium (very loud!).  It was a fun day, but now I'm pooped!

Here are my final results http://bolderboulder2012.onlineraceresults.com/individual.php?bib=CC263.  You can also watch me down the final stretch in this video http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/31122954/index.html at 0:05 (smack dab in the center - blue shirt) 4:43 (top right corner), and 4:59 middle right.  And Waldo makes an appearance at the 7 minute mark.

Trailriding at Red Mountain

Rebecca riding Missy

 What to do with a day off?  Trailriding!  I took Cecil, Missy, and my friend Rebecca and we hit the trails North of our place.  Adding in a slight detour because I missed a trail marker when Cecil leaped over a stream (thank goodness the saddle bags were tied securely because they all went sailing into the air with us - this is the risk you run when you take your jumping horse trail riding), all total we went 11.2 miles.  I'm preparing for an endurance ride in August that is 25 miles.  Owen was busy today running the Bolder Boulder race with his friend Carl.

Me riding Cecil

The trailride from my perspective

Shortly after this Cecil did some amazing contortions to ask for carrots from the saddlebags

This is why it's called Red Mountain

The Bit of Honey Circus

The arena before horses enter. 

"Are you sure this is the right place for a tablecloth?"

 Our obstacle course looks like a busy circus.  It has hula hoops, black tarps, white tarps, tinsel curtains, a bridge, jumps, a yoga ball, tires, flowers, pinwheels, barrels making a chute, poles, "the sandbox" full of stuff to walk through and play with, tablecloths and rain slickers, and of course The Ring of Fire (pool noodles tied to jump standards to make an arch to walk under).  Further items on the wish list include a plastic kiddie pool, a mattress, a soundtrack for noises and music, sparklers, a sprinkler, a horse-sized teeter-totter, and a pedestal.  The goal of all this nonsense is to teach the horses how to be brave in the face of new scary things.  It doesn't matter if they actually do the obstacles as they are designed to be accomplished, it's more important that the horse stay calm and leave the course more confident than when he entered. 

Cecil is the master of the course.  He can do any obstacle in any order, while being ridden, while haltered and in-hand, or while free at liberty being directed by my voice commands and hand signals.  Because I'm the photographer and also the one working with him I don't have any pictures of us.  Same with Garmin, he can do all the obstacles in hand, even wearing hula hoops dangling from his ears and worn around his middle like a belt.  If we have a nervous horse or one who has trouble with an obstacle, Cecil or Garmin is called in to demonstrate and assist, which is good for both the nervous horse and the demo horse as it builds everyone's self confidence!

Plastic bags are a nemesis of many horses

"Horse soccer, anyone?"

"Is this pinwheel edible?"

A little big for a bandana

Hula hoop practice

I Can't See Me Loving Nobody But You

 This is Pumpernickel.  He has been featured in past entries as being the cutest guinea pig ever.  He loves his vegetables and has different squeaks, purrs, and whistles for veg, a clean cage, attention, calling Nase the dog, and general conversation.  Owen has a certain gift for mimicry, carrying on long talks with Pumpernickel in the evenings while Owen is preparing dinner, as Pumpernickel can hear and see the whole process from his spot in my office when the door is open.  I call their secret language "Guinea Pig-ese" or if you say it quickly:  "guinea piggies"! 

 Pumpernickel is Nase's best friend.  Before Pumpernickel arrived Nase was timid and fearful, and absolutely silent.  When worried, he would run the length of the house trying to jump out of closed windows.  After graduating from dog school he was somewhat braver and would merely steal one of our socks or my bandana and chew it up while hiding under the bed.  But since Pumpernickel has arrived Nase has really found his life coach.  Pumpernickel has his humans (mostly me) trained to deliver fresh veggies whenever he calls with a certain squeak.  Nase has adopted this technique, speaking to us in grunts and mumbles when he wants his evening milkbone.  Sometimes we ignore him, and then Nase runs into my office, conferences with Pumpernickel, and re-emerges talking slightly differently.  If we continue to ignore him, Pumpernickel will hoot from his cage and confirm that Nase wants the milkbone.  This usually is successful.  Guinea pigs, when excited, will "popcorn" around in the cage, bucking and hopping happily.  Nase has also adopted this technique, and it's not uncommon to find both of them hopping around in my office, Pumpernickel squeaking in his cage and Nase barking and jumping on the floor.

 Nase does love his pig, they share vegetables in my lap.  Sometimes if Pumpernickel only eats part of his lettuce or carrot Nase will gently shove Pumpernickel out of the way with his big dog nose, lifting the pig into the air so as to nab the leftover veg beneath him.  When friends come over they will ask Nase, "Where is your pig?  How is your pig doing?"  which prompts Nase to lead them to the office to visit Pumpernickel in his cage.  The dog and guinea pig hang out in the bathroom together (where there are no wires for Pumpernickel to chew) and Pumpernickel will chase Nase around the floor.  Now when there are thunderstorms and Nase gets worried, he runs to the office and Pumpernickel's cage, then stays under the desk while Pumpernickel talks to him to calm him down.  I'm not sure what Pumpernickel gets out of this symbiotic relationship other than company and friendship, but I suspect that when we're not home Nase opens the cage and Pumpernickel climbs onto his back so they can have adventures in the living room. 

5K Fundraiser

This morning Owen ran while Miles and I walked a 5K in Wellington at the school.  It was a fundraiser for an elementary school student who was diagnosed with Leukemia.  Owen of course was lightning fast and finished 7th overall, 3rd in his age group, and did it running faster than 7 min/mile.  Miles and I walked the course with a friend who was pushing his boys in a stroller, so we moseyed past the finish line quite a bit later.  It was nice to be out of the house for sure and Miles does love a good field trip.

Cecil's Nod to the Princess Bride

Cecil may have beaten my Baby Cow with strength, he may have bested my Brown Cow with speed, and the next cow to enter our place will have to avoid falling victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go against a "Cecilian" when mash is on the line!

 

You guessed it:  Cecil chased Brown Cow out of the paddock (I'm still not sure how he got out).  I went out to feed this evening and Brown Cow was grazing along the road by his house at my neighbor's.  The border collies helped me get him back to my place, but rather than reentering the pen with Cecil, Brown Cow elected to march through the marsh, then hop the barbed wire fence which put him back in his home pasture.  Cecil was looking quite content when I gave him his supper, so I'm hoping we have tackled this!  Next test will be to ride him over to the neighbor's or to haul him to the farrier's to look at groups of cattle.

How Now Brown Cow

Cecil was coming along well with his cattle treatment, he still would not get closer than 20 feet to Baby Cow, but Cecil began jumping up and down and making faces which scared Baby Cow enough to move him.  When Cecil would charge (again, never getting too close), Baby Cow decided enough was enough and hopped through the space between boards to go graze by the pond where there were no horses.  I couldn't keep him in the pen, so I exchanged him for Brown Cow, an upgraded version.  He is an adult, light brown colored steer with a white face, legs, and belly whose back comes up to about my waist, and his size prevents him from leaving between fence boards.

Brown Cow didn't want to come to Kamp Kim, and even the border collie couldn't convince him to head to my house.  So I had to hook up the horse trailer, drive to the next door neighbor's, and back into the gate of a small pen where we then shoved Brown Cow into my trailer to bring him home.  Cecil and the other horses were excited to see who had come home with me, was it a new horse for training?  When I backed the trailer up to my gate and opened the ramp Cecil was just APPALLED that a cow was in his trailer staring out at him.  He ran to the other end of his pen and stood eyeballing the new threat while a friend, her 3 year old daughter, and I escorted Brown Cow into the pen.  Brown Cow is about the same size as Garmin, who is not worried about the new bovine roommate at all.  If Garmin wants something, he just shoves Brown Cow out of the way.

Last week wily little Garmin had persuaded Cecil to give him half of his mash, morning and evening, in exchange for protecting him from Baby Cow.  This agreement is similar to one found in the old testament of the Bible when one man trades his birthright for a bowl of porridge.  Garmin kept this up for several days, with Cecil sharing his mash twice daily to ensure his continuing safety.  Once Cecil realized Baby Cow could be intimidated with large displays of action Garmin was no longer allowed to partake of the mash, but it worked out pretty well for Garmin for a while.  We'll see if Garmin is able to reinstate the bovine bodyguard clause of his roommate contract with Cecil now that larger Brown Cow has arrived.