Bloomsday: an unexpected PR

Most people thought I was insane for running a 12K only 7 days post Eugene. I can agree with all of you, it was insane. I was shocked when my coach said that Bloomsday was his only exception to his rule of zero running for 2 weeks. I figured, why not? What is the worst thing that I could happen? I could potentially die on Doomsday Hill and crawl across the finish, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't do worse then my already established Bloomsday "personal worst".

I woke up on Sunday still apprehensive about running, but there really is something about Bloomsday. I still can't pin point it, but there is definitely something in the air on race day. Something that drags thousands of "Bloomies" downtown to run the largest 12K. Most have them haven't run all year, but yet they all come out of the woodwork to make the 7.46 mile trek.

This is the 1st year we had names on our bibs!

I got downtown about an hour before the race started and went and found Mr. Healthy Diva who was doing his good deed by volunteering. That is his only way out of actually running. Smart man! About 30 minutes before 9 am I started to run around and try and loosen up. Each leg felt like they weighed 1000 pounds- I guess that is what a marathon will do to them. I tried to stretch out the best I could, but just wasn't feeling it. As soon as I got into the corporate cup/second seed corral I started to feel a little bit better about running. I saw some good friends of mine and my coach and his wife. It made the last 10 minutes go by faster talking to people. My friends were surprised to see me since they knew I had just run Eugene. They said they figured I would show up though (what does that say about me?!). I guess everyone thinks I am crazy-ha! One of them mentioned that I should have put something on the back of my shirt telling people to be nice to me since I had just run Eugene 7 days ago. Darn, that was a good idea! I wished that she would have told me that BEFORE race day!

Once the gun went off it was a cluster of people which is typical for Bloomsday. I weaved in and out of slow people for over a mile before I got into my rhythm. I was hurting before I hit the 1 mile mark and knew that I would soon be in survival mode. I cursed myself multiple times for deciding to run, but I figured that I had no goals except for finishing. If I walked so be it.

There are two hills to run before you even get to the infamous "Doomsday Hill". I think that they are both just as bad because they are shorter and more steep. About mile 4 I started to get warm and wished that I wouldn't have worn my arm sleeves. I thought about taking them off, but decided to keep them on. This year they had something new where they timed you running up Doomsday. Greeeeaaaaattttt! Do I really wanna know how slow I am trucking up that thing? I was hot and thirsty so I think I ran up it quicker than I had anticipated because at the top is mile 5 AND water. The whole time I am running my legs still feel like they weigh 1000 pounds and my poor feet were hurting. At mile 6 I actually looked at my garmin and I thought that if I kept up my current pace I might, just might be able to eek out a shiny new PR.

Doomsday Hill = NO JOKE

The last stretch is pretty flat and seems like it takes forever to run. On previous years, this is where I have lost all of my steam. I may have lost some steam, but not all of it this year! I crossed the line and my garmin said 54:17 (officially Bloomsday results say 54:18). Either way my previous PR was 54:31. I will take that 13 seconds thank you very much!

 I usually don't like the finisher's shirts, however, I like this one!

Bloomsday Fun Facts:

Time it take me to run up Doomsday--3:18
Time it took the female winner (Janet Cherobon-Bawcom) to run up Doomsday--2:27

Questions for you:

Have you ever run back to back race weekends?

How much time do you take off from running after you have just completed a marathon?

--Tasha