
I am sitting at my desk writing to you today, and I think I may be dying. You see, I just ran 3.5 miles around our neighborhood park. Historically, this is not a sentence I would utter. I am not a runner.
Colorado, however, has something of a legacy of running. It is a runner’s paradise, full of possibility and fun, and steeped in tradition. Or so I have always been told. As I said, I am not a runner. I have never really understood the appeal of punishing your legs, mind, and dare I say soul, by hitting the pavement for mile after mile after mile. Dredging every last bit of will out of your body to complete the course you have arbitrarily set before you.
Recently however, in a plot twist none of saw coming, all of that changed. Blame the new year. Blame the fact that I’m now in my 30s, and apparently embarking on this fourth decade of life means I’m more athletically ambitious now. (Does that sound like science? Is there a scientist in the house?) Whatever the reason, last weekend I registered for a 10K. And then I ate a donut.
To many, a 10K is easily conquered. It’s only six miles after all, what’s the big deal anyway? But for me, a person who has never really participated in an organized run of any length, let alone six miles in quick succession, this might as well be my Everest. (Yes, I am piling on the hyperbole today. Did I mention the 3.5-mile run? Send medical help.)
The 10K in question is the Bolder Boulder. This race is about as iconic Colorado running as it gets. It loops in and around the city of Boulder, and ends in the football stadium on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. (My alma mater. Fun fact: I never attended a football game while a student there. I didn’t get the memo about being a normal college kid.) This year will be the event’s 40th anniversary, and what better time to dive into organized running than that? Am I right? Am I wrong? Submit your votes.
The Bolder Boulder takes place in May, giving me five months to train. So let’s talk strategy. And by that I mean, please share your running tips and tricks, and possibly even your advice for relocating to a different country and assuming a new identity. Whatever you think might be helpful.
SIGNED, anya elise