Bloomsday Weekend

Well, as promised, the weather turned around this weekend for the annual rite of spring in the Inland Northwest, Bloomsday. My spirits were buoyed when, for the first time this year, I noticed a flowering cherry tree in full bloom while I was on the bus home Friday afternoon. It was definitely a welcome sight.

Saturday, I decided against driving all the way out to CDA to ride the course, because we had to meet up with Jessi, Emma and Steve in the afternoon to pick up Bloomsday numbers. So, I headed out on the road for a solo 75 mile bike. I knew it would be a tough effort, because I always find it hard to motivate myself and stay positive when I'm riding by myself. But, I knew that it had to be done! I rode the reverse of the Troika course out to Medical Lake, then took a quick spin around Clear Lake before heading home. The first half was tough, because it was mostly uphill, so I decided not to look at my speed and just focus on keeping a good, high cadence. As always, the Coulee Hite section was the hardest on me mentally, but I felt like I handled the hills pretty good. Out in Medical Lake, I saw Amanda Berquist who was just finishing up her ride, and we chatted for a bit...always nice to see some friendly faces out on the road when you feel like you are a million miles from home. After a quick stop at the lake to refuel, I looked at my average, just to see how much I could bump it up on the inward half. I was only at 17.3mph at this point. The next time I looked, 3 miles from home, my average was up to 18.1mph. Excellent. I tried pushing the second half a bit harder, and it was nice to see the payoff. After just over 4 hours in the saddle and 75 miles, I felt amazingly fresh. Usually, efforts like this would have sent me straight to the couch for the rest of the day. So I was pretty happy that I felt energized and ready to go after a quick shower and my trusty can of FRS. It was a good day on the bike...almost too good? :) We'll see.....

Andy and I headed out to pick up Jessi, Emma and Steve, then we headed down to the Bloomsday trade show to pick up our numbers (yellow for all!!!) We had a really fun afternoon trying on sunglasses, having breath holding competitions (warning: do not enter one of these competitions with Emma...she knows a secret and will beat you soundly :), and a well-deserved pre-race meal at Pita Pit. The trade show was kind of weird, with alot of non-running-related booths, but oh well, Bloomsday isn't about the trade show for me. Saturday night ended early, after setting out my gear for the morning. It was kind of nice and weird at the same time to just get running stuff together.

Sunday morning dawned sunny, but cool: perfect racing weather. We picked up Steve at 7:15am and headed downtown. I felt very relaxed, since I really didn't have a goal time I was going for, and I knew I had a second loop to look forward to. After finding a parking spot, we grabbed our pre-race FRS's for an energy boost, then set off for Starbucks to meet up with Zach.

After finding Zach and waiting for the first of Steve's many bathroom breaks, we found our spot in the corral. About an hour later, we started our slow walk to the line and the bedlam began. Steve was shooting for a sub-52, and our plan was for me to pace him. Having seen him run, I knew that plan wouldn't last long, and it didn't, as he was off like a bullet once we hit the starting line. My first mile felt a bit sluggish, and I knew early on that the race was going to be more of a struggle than the last 2 years. I hit Mile 1 at 6:33, with Steve still in sight, but just barely. I actually thought that if I could keep up that pace, I'd have a chance to beat my time from last year...funny what a race will do to rational thought! After tearing down the hill to Latah Creek with Zach and Cameron in tow, I attempted to settle into a comfortable pace, and felt relatively good going up the first hill. I got a nice boost of energy from Jessi who still had the energy to scream some words of encouragement to me...I could only glance back and smile weakly. Probably not a good sign. Just before the first water stop, Steve suddenly appeared at my shoulder, and I guessed correctly that he had relented and made the pit stop he had been begging for back in the corral. We ran together up Cemetary Hill, and then Steve put on a surge down the slight incline that I didn't have the legs to cover. Game over, at Mile 3. Up past the college, Steve was still within striking distance, but my mind wandered backward and forward: backward to my 75 miles on the bike yesterday, and forward to the second loop that I had stupidly agreed to. So I decided not to push the pace. Well, actually, it was my quads that made that decision :) As I watched Steve set off in search of Eric as he glided down the hill to TJ Meenach Bridge, I tried to let gravity do its thing. Fortunately the hill was short, so my weakness wasn't exposed too much. Unfortunately, Doomsday loomed ahead. I struggled up Doomsday much more this year than the past 2 years, but I was still able to pass quite a few people. However, when I got to the top, I didn't have the energy in my legs to drop my pace to the finish, so I just tried to keep my pace even and wait until the last few blocks to start my kick. When I looked at my watch at 10k, I knew that sub-52 was out the window, but I wasn't really concerned. Somehow, though, when I made the last turn to the finish, I was still under 52, and if I had really kicked all out those last 2 blocks, I might have made it. But, since I wasn't really concerned about it, I cruised in to finish in 52:12.

After meeting up with Steve and Jessi, we waited to say hi to some of our other Tri-Fusion friends, and recount our awesome days. Like Jessi's 6 min PR. And like Tiffany's 11 min PR!!! Andy came in shortly after, having another great day, and we then set off to gather our coveted finishers shirts (red this year...not too bad). We met up with Joe, and after a quick stop at the car to refuel, Joe and I set off for our second loop.

We didn't catch the end of the field until about Mile 2, and then the re-energizing comments began from behind us as we passed people. Like "Oh my goodness, I think they are doing it again!" The crowd this year was much more spread out, and we were able to pretty much run full-stride the whole way. From Doomsday on, though we were forced to run on the sidewalks, and had to do a bit of weaving, but we still finished in a respectable time (1:06:00). Joe practically dragged me in the last 2 miles, but I was very pleased with my effort and how my body managed the second loop. Perhaps it was the Guinness that was waiting for me at the bar....it has now become tradition to meet up at O'Doherty's after a second loop for a beer. Nice recovery drink!! It took me a while to get thru the beer though, because I was spent. A hard weekend had finally caught up with me. Joe and Meredith kindly gave me a ride home, and then I discovered a wonderful treat Andy had for me in the freezer...it seems that she and Steve didn't forget about me while they were at Maggie Moo's and I was out still running. A HUGE shake awaited me, and it was damn good.

Later that afternoon, we picked up Steve and headed up to the Gallagher's for a nice, relaxing BBQ and a recovery soak in their hot tub. It felt really good to just sit around and do nothing. It was the perfect end to a really productive and super fun weekend! Congrats to everyone on their awesome races, and thanks to Andy, Steve, Jessi, Emma, Greg, and Natalie for lots of laughs, fun and friendship!