Thought of the Day 05/28/2012: The Bolder Boulder

I did it; 10 kilometers, 6.2 miles, in the times listed below. The last half mile was a steady climb up to Folsom Field at CU Boulder and there were so many banners I thought I had finished the race multiple times, only to be confused by the continual running of others.  On a sheer adrenaline high, I basically sprinted that last 0.2 tenths of a mile.

Mile 1: 10:24
Mile 2: 10:10
Mile 3: 11:22 [Stopped to take a piss]
Mile 4: 10:06
Mile 5: 10:04
Mile 6: 10:11
Total Time: 1:04:18

Running this event, I felt a bit like Alice traversing Wonderland.  Along the way there was ample stimulation and amusement, including but not limited to: bands and music every half-mile, people throwing food like marshmallows, cotton candy and bacon, slip-n-slides, sprinklers and water guns, pole and belly dancers and, my personal favorite, a keg stand.  I'm seriously considering running the race twice next year; an early qualified wave to achieve a better time than this year, and a later walk/jog wave to participate in all the fun curbside activities.

Admittedly, I was a bit taken aback when I saw my times. True, many people older and less fit than myself finished faster than I did; but in considering where I have been and came from, I  simply couldn't be more proud of myself. It would have been easy to compare my time against that of others and choose to be disappointed in myself.  Specifically, a friend of mine got pretty well lit at a lake party yesterday, didn't train so much as one day, and ran the entire race in 47 minutes.  Notice the selection of word 'choose.'  Today's race was for me and about me, and I will not apologize for the selfish tone of that statement.  I set out to run this race and I did it.  I trained hard, preparing both a Body that has undergone a monumental transformation and a Mind that continually struggles to find the balance between caloric in-take and expenditure due to an intense fear of gaining weight.  In short, I chose to be proud because I refuse to allow the accomplishments of others to negate my own, thus casting a shadow over my self-esteem . Today was for me, and I won.