Bolder Boulder 10km

We arrived in Boulder mid-morning on Sunday. My first priority was going to the race expo to collect my number, and to have a look around. It was a breeze collecting my number – there was no line! The expo was ok, but not as amazing as I expected. That’s probably a good thing, because I wasn’t tempted to buy anything…

The night before the race I became concerned that I was going to freeze my butt off at the start line! I didn’t think to bring any throw away clothes, and the forecast was for 7 degrees at 7am! I woke up at 3, nice and cozy in my hotel room, and didn’t really go back to sleep because I was stressed about the cold. Luckily, when I got up just before 6 it was actually 12 degrees already. Arm sleeves and a thick headband were enough to keep me warm before the start.

We were staying about 2.5km from the race start. I left the hotel about an hour before race start and ran a nice easy paced warm up. Having wave starts with specific times meant it was super easy to get up to wave B, and there was heaps of space to stretch!

The atmosphere when it was time to start was great – people were cheering, there was a trumpeter, and it all went smoothly. As per usual, I went out a bit too hard.

They describe the course as hilly, but I didn’t notice the hills much. My brain was too busy trying to make sure I had enough oxygen! I didn’t suffer too badly with the altitude, but I didn’t run anywhere near my normal race pace. It was a fun race – all the bands, and the random ‘aid’ stations were great. The whole town seemed to be out, and People were handing out marshmallows, Doritoes, and beer at random points. I didn’t grab anything, but the signs made me smile.

The only hill that really made me suffer was right at the end, coming up into Folsom Field. Knowing that the end was in sight did not make it easier!

Once I finished, I was pretty excited about the snack bag. The only thing I want after a race is fruit and water (which is what Australian races provide), but I was excited about saving some goodies for later! They even gave us a beer… Not good beer but that’s not the point!

 

They say that there’s 3 and a half hours between the when the first finisher and the last finisher come through. Having the waves spread out means that nothing gets super congested. It was nothing like running the Bridge to Brisbane!

Even with my slowest 10km time in a long while (it was 48:20 I think), I’m really glad I ran this race. Sometimes racing’s not about the time, it’s about the experience!

 

Although, if running’s easier once I get back to sea level I won’t complain…

Plantation Tours

We decided to get out of New Orleans on Saturday. We went on a plantation tour to the Laura Plantation and Oak Alley. Laura was by far the best of the 2 – we had the current owner as a tour guide, and he was really passionate about the stories of the plantation. There’s a very proud Creole culture down this way, and they openly talk about the ‘Yankees’ coming down and ruining it all! I wonder what the Americans on the tour think about it?

It was really interesting to hear some stories about the slaves as well – they actually got paid for their work during the sugar harvest, and if they were smart they would save up their money and eventually buy their freedom.

The highlight of Oak Alley was the outside of the house, and the mint julep! We could have passed on the house tour, it was the end of the day and hot, and just seemed pointless! The oak trees at the front are amazing – apparently they’re 300 years old.

I was sad to leave New Orleans, it’s a fascinating city. I feel like we only scratched the surface of what’s on offer, so I’d love to go back sometime!

 

The Big Easy: New Orleans

We arrived in the US on Wednesday. The day change always trips me out – we left Brisbane at 11am on Wednesday, and arrived in LA at 7am the same day! The flight was quite uneventful, the biggest excitement was watching the extra long sunset/twilight!

 

 

When we finally arrived in New Orleans (more than 24 hours after we left home) we were buggered. We went for a walk to find dinner, and to figure out where things were. We were staying just outside the French Quarter, but it was easy enough to find: we just had to follow the jazz!

Apparently the corner of Canal and Bourbon is an acoustic ‘sweet spot’, and you could hear the music from miles away!

The next day we woke up early (4am early!) and ate an early breakfast at the hotel. Walking around the French Quarter at 7 was actually a good idea – it was very quiet! We even managed to eat some beignets from Cafe Du Monde without a gigantic wait. I’m glad we ate them when we did – they tasted a bit like deep fried fish and chip shop batter that’s been dunked in sugar! Tasty, but not all that exciting. Not worth the massive lines that we saw later on.

The Quarter finally started to wake up after about 10am. I didn’t take many photos, but it’s quite a pretty place.

 

We also went on a cemetery/voodoo tour. The cemeteries in New Orleans are really cool – people aren’t buried, they’re entombed. I didn’t take any photos, but they were fascinating! The tour concluded with a visit to Priestess Miriam – which was quite possibly the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen! Not weird in an interesting sense, but weird in that she didn’t quite seem all there. To start with she asked each person in the group where we were from, and she had some sort of wacky-doo answer each time. Madrid was somehow a mama with dreads, and Australia provides a solid base so the rest of the world can shake its’ hips?!?!

We then went into her temple, but she didn’t actually tell us anything about the objects in there. She just stood there, asking for questions and then going off on weird tangents that were completely unrelated to anything. We got out of there as soon as we could (which was not quick enough for J!)

 

Dinner was at GW Fins. It was nice – just fairly simple seafood. We followed it up with cocktails at The Bombay Club – an old school bar off in a side street. I’m always happy if a night involves cocktails, especially in a nice bar.

 

Friday was a bit of a nothing day, with eating being my main highlights. Lunch: Italian muffuletta at Napoleon House. Dinner: beer and wings at Crescent City Brew House. The Red Stallion, Black Forest and the seasonal brew were tasty!

The final day was spent on a plantation tour but the photos aren’t loading so I’ll save that for another post.

 

Bush trip encounters

It’s a different world out here…

Noosa Winter Festival

This weekend was the Noosa Winter Festival, which includes running, swimming and cycling events.

This year was my first time at the event, and I ran the 10km. A lot of people stay at Noosa for the weekend – it’s a nice spot, and it’s about 2 hours away from Brisbane. I decided to drive up on the morning of the race, which I was regretting when I had to leave home at 5am!

By the time I got there, parking was a bit of an issue. I found a park in a side street, about 15 minutes from the start (by the time I arrived the half had already started)

Race number pick up was a piece of cake. They had multiple tables (alphabetical), and I was looked after as soon as I got there (which was about 90 minutes before race start)

My squad had a tent set up near the start/finish. The half was run on a 2 lap course, which is great for spectating! The only problem with the 2 laps is that the leaders caught up to the back of packers, which made their finish slightly less spectacular.

The course is fast, and flat. The only inclines are 2 tiny bridges that go over the waterway! We also had a great morning with the weather – sunny, cool, and no wind.

My own race:
I ate breakfast at home before the drive. I’ve been REALLY hungry lately, and sure enough I was absolutely starving just before my race! A girl from my squad (who wasn’t racing) gave me an apple, so after my warm up I scoffed down a couple bites before heading the the start. It seemed to work well – I found my mouth didn’t get dry during the race, and I wasn’t distracted by hunger pangs!

I haven’t raced a 10km since July last year, so I really didn’t know what to aim for. I started out at a steady pace, and went through the first km in 4:15. After about 2km a girl that I’ve raced against a couple times recently passed me and said hi. She beat me by about 10 sec at the track 5000m champs, so I know we’re closely paced. My second km was 4:30, then the third was back to 4:15. I really need to be more consistent! I passed her between again 3-4km, and didn’t see her until the end of the race (I think she was very close through the race though!)

There was another lady just ahead of me, so after one ‘kill’ I decided to hunt her down. I almost passed her a couple times, but each time she was speeding up dramatically as soon as she saw me! I persisted, and eventually passed her without too much effort.

I reached the turnaround in 21:50. At the time I thought I was holding a decent pace, but spoiler alert – I slowed down a fair bit in the second half…

I’m not sure what happened, because I didn’t go out too hard? I think I got distracted! How is it that I can do two and a half hour long runs, but I can’t maintain focus for less than 45 minutes?

My pace averaged 4:21 for the first 5km, and 4:34 for the final 5. That’s a pretty big fail in my books.

Quite a few people from my squad raced, and it was great being on an out and back course being able to cheer everyone on. A few people had cracker races (my friend won the half, another was 3rd male, we had a 4th placed male in the 5km, and there were plenty of PBs). Being in a squad means that going to a race isn’t just about your own time, so a bad race doesn’t turn into a bad experience overall!

Next race is the Bolder Boulder. I’m glad to get a longer race in beforehand, for race-specific fitness. Now to figure out how to survive the altitude!

 

Getting hot n sweaty

So, Bikram yoga.

It’s something I’ve wanted to try for ages, but with our hot and humid summers (like, over 90% humidity some days) I’ve been putting it off. It’s FINALLY starting to cool down (days are still shorts and tshirt weather but nights are colder), so I thought this was the perfect time to try.

Not so perfect? Racing a 10km the day after your first class.

The studio that I went to offers your first 7 days for $20, which is the price of a casual class as well. This is a good week for me to start, because I can go a few times and get my money’s worth! After this, I think I’ll aim to go once per week or per fortnight.

There were 3 new people in the class, and the instructor made sure to know our names before the class started. She was very encouraging throughout the class!

From what I had read online, I knew there were 26 poses and that they were repeated twice. I was expecting us to do the sequence once, then repeat from the start. Instead we repeated each move immediately. I really liked this – I used the first time to try and make sure I was doing it right, and the second time I could reach further and challenge myself more.

The instructor told me that the most important aspect of your first class is to adapt to the heat. She asked us to stay in the room for the whole 90 minutes, but that we could either stand still or kneel if we needed to. I got through the whole class without needing to break! I have to admit that at the start of the class I had a couple moments when my vision went blank – but that happens when I stand up to quickly so I wasn’t concerned.

The only other yoga that I’ve done before has been beginners yoga, and one thing I loved about those classes was they were all about technique. We’d spend some classes just working on one or 2 poses for the whole class, and I liked how strict they were about doing things properly.

I didn’t find that as much with Bikram – she’d occasionally mention about alignment, but not as specific. I was also amazed at how many people (even the really flexi ones) fell out of poses. I guess the heat would contribute a lot?

I look forward to learning the sequence, so that I don’t need to spend the whole class looking around the room!

I weighed myself before I left home, and then drank 1L of water (only a few small sips during class, then the rest of it on the walk home). I weighed the same when I got home, so I guess I sweated about a litre? That’s actually not that much more than when I run on a hot summers day, but it felt like a lot more at the time!

If I continue to practice I hope it makes my body more balanced (some things were much easier on one side), plus I want to increase my flexibility. Staying heat adapted through winter will hopefully make running next summer easier, too!