Bloomsday 2016

Previous Bloomsdays: 2013, 2014, 2015. 

Through three years of running Bloomsday, I've tried to talk my parents into doing it too (walking). My dad used to run Bloomsday (20-ish years ago), but doesn't run anymore. My mom has never done running, though she does walk a lot for exercise, but the longest she'd walked was the 5k Turkey Trot I convinced them to do last Thanksgiving. Finally I told them that if I was pregnant at the time for it this year, I'd walk it with them. 

I flew in Saturday (the day before the race), we grabbed a quick lunch then checked into our hotel (just a 10-minute walk across the river from the expo center and race start). Next we headed to the expo to get our race bibs. There was a mix up with my mom's bib, which we discovered later, so we ended up having to go back the next morning (they do packet pickup only for out-of-towners the day of the race - which, even though we were already in town before that, we did qualify for). 

That meant we were up a bit early, even though we were starting in the second to last wave. We went back to the expo, got my mom's correct bib, used the real plumbing bathrooms while we were there, then headed to the start line. Though it didn't get too hot by the time we were done with the race, it was getting warmed up pretty quickly, and we were starting to ditch layers while waiting. We got right in the porta potty line by our corral, then starting moving towards the start line, officially beginning around 10:15.

I'd been doing some training walks in the 17:00 - 18:00 mile range, and my parents said they'd been doing some in the 18:00 - 19:00, so I figured we'd end up around there, maybe slowing some on Doomsday hill. Whenever I looked at my watch, it seemed like the instant pace was much slower than that (22:00 - 23:00 or so), and the average got skewed (for actual walking pace) due to a long wait in a porta potty line in mile 2, so in the end I was surprised that our actual mile splits were closer to our goal than I realized. 

Approaching Doomsday Hill

I kept trying to be encouraging and get my parents moving  faster - my competitive side definitely made me a little frustrated, although I tried to just enjoy the time. There was lots of "come on, you can keep up with the pregnant lady", and "let's try to catch up with the grandma pushing the double stroller". I'm not sure my mom entirely appreciated my motivational methods...

Despite my mom feeling some pain in her knee (though her feet, which had been giving some trouble during training, held up fine), we kept up a pretty good time overall, ending with an official time of 2:45:10 and 22:08 pace. That included a long-ish wait for a porta potty at one point (not for the pregnant lady, I might add!), so my garmin shows moving time of 2:33:51 and moving pace of 20:01. I really wanted to come in at under a 20:00 pace, so we got close to that!

Still at least able to smile long enough for a photo, in the last mile.

Mile splits:
1 - 20:09 (a bit congested at the start, so hard to move as fast as we wanted to)
2 - 28:25 (includes about 10 minutes stopped, so awesome pace while moving)
3 - 18:57
4 - 19:42
5 - 19:45 
6 - 21:33 (Doomsday Hill starts at the end of mile 5 and into mile 6 - didn't slow down much!)
7 - 20:56
7.46 - 23:04 (15:31 time for .69 per my garmin)

We were all glad to be finished, and by the next day my mom was sort of able to say she was glad she'd done it (and her knee was feeling much better, no permanent damage as she'd feared during the event, and as I'd told her during the event would be the case). For next year, though, I've given her the out of asking her if she'll watch the baby while I run the race. 

Bloomsday 2015

After two years of doing Bloomsday (2013 and 2014), it's become one of my favorite traditions, so I told Abe he had to do it at least once since he married into the family.

We flew up midday on Saturday; my parents picked us up and we went into downtown for an easy lunch at Olive Garden and then walked over to the convention center to pick up our bibs. (And ran into my cousin going to pick up his bib as we were leaving.) Abe, of course, wanted to check out new disc golf courses, so we dropped him off at and then did some shopping.

We met up with my cousin, aunt, and uncle for dinner at Laguna Cafe. It's a really cute eclectic place; I would definitely recommend making a reservation for a weekend - it's a fairly small venue, and though they had availability calling for a reservation just a few hours ahead, had we just shown up I suspect there would have been a wait. Not a ton of veg options, but what they did have was great! I had the black bean veggie burger and key lime pie. Everything was plated beautifully, and the owner was friendly (bordering on too-friendly, in my opinion - even the employees at a place I go for lunch once a week, where I don't even have to give my name when I call in my regular order to pick-up, aren't as chatty - but I suppose that's better than the opposite).

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, as we have the last two years. It's just across the river from Riverfront Park, about 3/4 of a mile from the race start and finish. There's a free breakfast, with a few hot items (scrambled eggs, and I think sausages or something), breads, yogurt, fruit, etc. (the bananas were going quickly that morning). 

We walked over to the start with plenty of time to spare, hopped in a porty potty line, then got in our corral. We were both in the same wave, even though Abe expected to (and did) finish significantly faster - but to move up from the green corral you have to have a previous Bloomsday time or submit proof of a time from another race showing a faster pace. It was really nice day, and we actually ditched our warm-up layers with my parents shortly after stepping foot out of the hotel. 

My goals for the race this year:
A: 11:19 pace (equivalent per McMillan based on half PR)
B: 11:48 pace (same pace as half PR)
C: <12:41 pace (Bloomsday/12k PR)

I was really only on track for the A goal for mile 1 (11:15). Miles 2 and 3 had some uphill, so slowed down (12:10, 11:50). Miles 4 and 5 kind of maintained there, even including Doomsday Hill (0.40 measured stretch of hill, per my Garmin from 4.77 to 5.14) (11:50, 11:47). From there it mostly evens out for 6 and 7, but it was starting to get pretty warm, so didn't pick it up a ton (11:43, 11:25). Then there's a final downhill to the finish line (10:33 pace or 0.59), where you go through a huge purple balloon arch onto a bridge. 

Just barely hit the B goal - matched exactly my half PR pace of 11:48! I'm really not unhappy with it! More importantly than the actual pace, minus walking literally just a few seconds at a time at water stops, I ran the entire thing - up Doomsday Hill and the two smaller preceding hills! For me, and especially for this race right after tax season, that's huge. 

Here's the elevation profile for the Hop Hop Half I did in April: total elevation gain of 253 feet; net elevation change of 61 feet.

And here's what it was for Bloomsday: total elevation gain of 361 feet; net elevation change of 156 feet. Doomsday hill is about 100 feet of elevation gain in 0.40 mile.

I picked the Hop Hop half specifically thinking I could PR with the help of a really flat course - there are tiny ups and downs throughout, but nothing big. Bloomsday is definitely not flat! There's the big hill (which doesn't look as relatively big on the above chart, but trust me it is!) that starts in mile 4, plus smaller hills before it.

I also always forget that Spokane is at a much higher altitude - I know 2,000 feet isn't ridiculously high, but I truly think it's enough to make a difference for me, though maybe for more experienced runners it wouldn't be noticeable, when I'm used to running at 200 - 500 feet above sea level. 

Instead of a finisher's medal, there's a finisher's shirt, and though the previous two I have are ok, I love this year's! I don't wear them much, guess they're just plain t-shirts, and I don't love the other designs, but this year's I think I will make sure to actually wear.

Bloomsday 2014

Traditional finisher's shirt pose.

A couple weeks ago I ran Bloomsday, a 12k race in Spokane, WA. My dad grew up there, so it's kind of a family thing to participate, but I did it for the first time last year.

It's not the best timing for me, coming so soon after tax season. I knew going into this that I had way less fitness than at this time last year, so I had no expectation of beating my previous time. And I didn't. At least I cut 11 seconds off my time up Doomsday Hill? 

It was still a fun weekend though! The weather was a bit cooler than last year, and threatening rain, but it fortunately held off until after the race.

I started that Saturday morning with a yoga class at The Bhaktishop, since Jasmine was in town guest teaching. I had a couple hours to come home and pack, and then flew to Spokane, and my mom drove up to meet me there.

I'm not usually into staying at race expos any longer than necessary to pick up my bib - they're just really crowded, and there's nothing for sale that I can't find in a store back home. But this time, I was actually looking for something that I hadn't seen in the running stores I frequent - Altra running shoes. 

Altra running shoes are zero-drop (that is, the heel isn't raised), just like the Vivo shoes I typically run in, but unlike the thin soles (so you can feel the terrain you're running on) of most minimalist shoes, Altras have cushioning. They also have a wide toe-box - this is a feature, to some degree or another, of all minimalist shoes (so you toes can spread out like they're naturally supposed to), but I think the Altra's is the widest I've come across.

I wore them for a short run after I got them, just to make sure nothing significant rubbed the wrong way, and then tried them out for my long(ish) run last weekend of 6 miles. After being used to my more minimalist shoes, they feel like running on marshmallows! I'm still going to use thinner soled shoes for most runs, but stick with these for longer runs, especially anything in the double digits.

The race was ok, but I'm hoping to increase my mileage more this summer, maintain a better fitness base through tax season, and do better next year. For such a huge race, it's so well run, very organized (though somehow, inputting the same overly-optimistic finish time that I did last year, I was was moved up a wave this year), and I look forward to continuing it each year. I think my mom is finally convinced to train to walk it next year, too. :) 

My First Bloomsday

I'd already handed off a jacket to my mom,
and it was warm enough that I took off the
armwarmers before going to line up, too.

Bloomsday is a huge event in Spokane, WA - about 50,000 participants! My dad is from Spokane, and I grew up about two hours south of it, so it was one of the first races I'd ever heard of (long before I imagined I'd ever run it myself). My dad ran it several times (before exchanging running for biking, for his knees' sake) and my aunt and uncle even met at Bloomsday about 30 years ago. Since I know I'm currently capable of running the 12k distance, I decided to do it this year to make sure I experienced it at least once. I flew over Saturday morning, and my mom and a family friend drove up to spectate.

In my brief running career, I started with big-ish 5k races in downtown Portland (20,000 - 30,000 people), and quickly learned that my preference is for smaller (500 - 5,000 people) races in the outskirts of the metro area - avoiding the crowds and parking hassles. Thus I was pleasantly surprised by how well-organized Bloomsday was. (It helped that we stayed at a motel about 2/3 of a mile from the start/finish line, so we didn't have to deal with traffic before the race.) You provide an estimate of your finish time when registering, to be placed in one of several color-coded starting waves, which are each given a specific block for lining up, and start times spread over about an hour. Even though the crowd never really thins out, at least if you're slowed down, it's by people that are still within a reasonable range of your desired pace.

Source

I registered with my goal of 1:30 (12:04 pace) and started in the orange group. We were scheduled to start sometime between 9:15 to 9:45 (the very start of the race was 9:00), and actually crossed the start line about 9:35.

Apparently tossing warmup/throwaway clothes into the trees is a tradition.

My overall place of 16,676 is out of 47,165 finishers (top 36% - I'm usually in the bottom 36%! This event attracts a lot of walkers.). 

Doomsday is a hill that starts at about mile 4.5 - I've read in multiple places that it's about 3/4 of a mile long, but the distance being measured in the results (I remember crossing a timing mat near the bottom of the hill, but I don't recall where it was at the top) has to be shorter - I had a few spurts of running but walked up most of it, so given the time of 6:10 it must be less than half a mile being measured.

You have to finish to get the shirt.

Mile splits:
1: 12:20 (I wanted to go a touch faster, but it was too crowded.)
2: 11:36 
3: 12:37 (First, smaller hill.)
4: 12:15
5: 13:00 (Doomsday Hill)
6: 13:12 (Just tired by this point.)
7: 13:09
7.46: 11:51 pace (6:30 time for 0.55 mile per my garmin.)







I think next year I'll make Bloomsday my goal spring race (I need something planned for not too long after April 15, to keep me motivated to run during tax season), and try to break 1:30 total time and under 6 minutes for Doomsday Hill.