10ks and Dinosaur Bones

1. Craziest weekend ever
2. Following last week's craziest weekend ever
3. The list is also the best thing ever-- I'm checking things off left and right.
4. Everyone must make a list immediately.

Here are the rules:
1. write down all the things you'd like to do, but never remember to actually do
2. you don't have to complete all of them, but only write them if you genuinely intend to make the effort
3. items can be challenging (i.e. overcome fear of dogs) but not negative / stressful (i.e. pay hospital bills)

Today, I checked off number 22 from my list (do something that scares me at least once every two weeks), and from the list as I've been updating it, #34 (go for a run that's at least twice as long as what I think I can do)

Check!
And Check!!

Laura invited me to do the BolderBoulder with her today...on a whim... around Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. Which didn't leave any time for "training" ... my preparation involved wandering over to Coot lake in the mid-day heat on Saturday and jogging 2.2 miles. At the end of my jog, I was out of steam, and I had a cramp the shape of a pretzel under my right rib. This did not bode well for doing a 10K with Ms. Glorga, who is: 1. ripped and 2. in super-duper shape. As much as I wanted to give it a go, just to say "yeah, I lived in Boulder and yes, I participated in the race just like everyone else has"... I also felt a little uncertain that I'd look like an idiot, or slow Laura down. (Before I forget... although we didn't train in the "running" sense, we did train in the "making Statler and Waldorf t-shirts for the race" sense. And they are AMAZING-- see photo above, which was taken by Laura after we made them in my apartment on Sunday morning)

Ok, I thought... just take it easy Sunday, enjoy the event (and don't get overwhelmed with 50,000 people) on Monday. Except... I ended up accidentally walking about 3 miles in flip flops on Sunday, resulting in blisters and barking dogs (metaphorically speaking, referring to my tootsies) and then having a party with Mer, Thad & Tom Sunday night. Ridiculous. Ridiculous.
At 1:45 (Monday), I returned home with exhausted feet, a tummy full of blueberries, tired beyond belief... and... INSOMNIA hit. I lay in bed thinking of many, many angsty issues, and didn't fall asleep until 4:45 IN THE MORNING.
My alarm went off at 7:15.
Ok... go time... I splashed some water on my face, turned on some music and remembered the theme of the season: GET THERE!

Best thing about The List (tm): checking off an accomplishment can only be a positive experience.
Best thing about a weekend full of blisters, very late night parties, insomnia and race jitters: they all add to the experience without throwing a kink in the fun. A+

The race was awesome! It couldn't have been a better experience, and it couldn't have been with a better friend to get out and enjoy the rain with.
Laura and I kept a great pace... we started out at a comfortable 12 minute mile, and barely strayed from our pace until we hit the finish line. There were bands, old men ringing cowbells, 50,000 people in running gear, people in costume... best way to exercise. Whenever Laura or I needed to slow down a little, we decided we'd need a code word, so we decided on an obscure lyric from the cd I have in my car: Dinosaur Bones!:

obscure lyrics:

Dinosaur Bones won't sleep again
Cover your mouth!
Don't make a sound

Dinosaur Bones won't sleep again
Cover your mouth!
Don't make a sound

Yeah, I don't know what it means, but the cd is part of #37 or something like that on The List... I'll get back to that later. My rockstar days aren't here yet and I'm deliriously tired.

The race was just so great. I have always, always wanted to overcome my shyness / insecurity when it comes to sports and endurance, and this year has been really good for me in that sense. I felt like I missed out not being in a sport in high school, but today I got to cross my very first finish line. And I had no idea I could actually jog 6 miles. Before the race I decided that my goal would be to finish on or before 110 minutes, and we crossed the finish line at 88 minutes. It felt great to say "I will finish strong" before heading up the hill and into the stadium.
The endorphins were great.
The popsicles at the end were even better.
I'm wondering if everyone else in the city of Boulder has unbearably sore knees from 88 continuous minutes of knee-to-asphalt pounding. :)

I can't believe that I got 2.5 hours of sleep...ran 6 miles... and ended the day past 11pm with a dramatic limp and a big goofy smile on my face.

This is getting delirious...I'm still running on adrenaline, and it's truly crazy that I haven't been asleep since 8pm.

happy BolderBoulder, everyone...