A Virtual Tour of the Bolder Boulder Course

Let's take a look at the course for this Memorial Day's Bolder Boulder 10k...

First, the course map. The race starts on 30th St., winds through neighborhoods and downtown, and finishes on the University of Colorado campus in the football stadium. There are 23 turns on the course! Since USATF certified courses are measured on the tangents (meaning the shortest path possible), it will be important to run on these tangents as well. Valuable seconds could be lost otherwise.

Next, the elevation profile. This is a point-to-point race, with the lowest point at 5,284 feet and the highest point at 5,391, a gain of 107 feet. However, with the ups and downs, total elevation gain is probably over 200 feet. The finish is roughly 50 feet higher than the start. The steepest and hardest climb is Casey Hill at the 4-mile marker. Though short, this one seems to pack a punch. Luckily, it's followed by a mile-long descent before the final uphill push to the stadium.

On to the start!

Looking south on 30th Street at the start. The course is permanently marked with signs at every turn and mile marker. The streets are painted with every kilometer and mile marker as well. Note that workers have already put up the corral fencing for the wave start.

Turning right on Pearl Street, we catch our first glimpse of the Flatirons. These 1000-ft cliffs are a Boulder landmark and popular with rock climbers. We've just passed the 1k marker, and we'll be climbing for most of the next 7 kilometers. This first part isn't too bad, though.

Things get steeper as we start Folsom Hill, nearing the 3k mark. Aid station #1 is just over the crest of the hill at the 2-mile point.

Taking a left onto Hawthorn.

West on Glenwood. Mount Sanitas is directly ahead. We're just about at the 4-kilometer mark.

We do the first little north-south jog at this point. Here we take a left on Vista.

Now we're on the long straightaway of 19th Street, heading south. We've topped out the biggest, longest hill, we're cruising downhill for now, and we're a few yards away from the 3-mile mark and halfway. Things are looking up! Note the stereotypical Boulder car -- a Toyota Prius hybrid.

On the next north-south jog, we're taking a left on Cedar.

Running south on 13th Street past Vic's Coffee and Ideal Market.

The dreaded Casey Hill!

But it's all downhill from here (oops, except for the last mile)!

Now we're getting into downtown Boulder. Approaching the left turn on Spruce, we see the Boulderado Hotel and Corner Bar on the right.

We just passed the 7-kilometer mark. On our right we catch a glimpse of Boulder's most popular tourist attraction, the Pearl Street Mall. It's closed to cars, and usually packed with folks who come for the shopping, people-watching, and street performers.

But we're taking a left on Pearl instead. Headed for the finish now!

No time for Fish & Chips and a cold pale ale at my favorite brewpub, the Mountain Sun.

This guy is in no hurry as he takes a leisurely ride down Walnut Street with his sack of bagels. He probably couldn't care less that he's about to pass the 5-mile mark on the Bolder Boulder course. :-)

How much would this 3-bedroom, 2-bath house cost in your neighborhood? In Boulder it's $619,000.

Finally, we're back on Folsom, but this time we're headed home. There is one last hill to climb, and the flagstone towers of the CU Stadium can be seen in the distance. Only one km to go!

At the top of the last hill, we take a right towards the stadium. Due to the unavoidable pain at this point in the race, nobody who is trying for a personal best will notice this statue honoring legendary runner Frank Shorter. Not only did he win a gold medal in the Olympic marathon, he was a co-founder of the Bolder Boulder and won the race in 1981.

Just after the Frank Shorter statue, we pass the 6-mile mark. A quick left turn into the stadium and we'll hit (what will be) the track and the final 200 meters. Workers are constructing a ramp that will allow spectators to access the east side stands without obstructing the course.

That's it! We've arrived at the finish line of the Bolder Boulder 10k. This also happens to be the finish of this blog entry!

How to taper for a 10k

With just over a week to go before racing the Bolder Boulder, it's time to taper. But how, specifically, should I do it? It seems like every running guru and coach has a different idea. I poked around the net to see what I could find.

I found an article by Pete Pfitzinger on copacabanarunners.net about tapering. It answered some key questions.

The first question about tapering should be, does it work? The answer, according to Pfitzinger and numerous studies, is a definite yes. Tapering can result in a 2-8% performance improvement, with 3% being about typical. For someone who runs a 10k in 40 minutes, that would mean over a minute improvement. Sounds pretty good to me!

Regarding the length of the ideal taper, Pfitzinger goes on to recommend a 7-10 day taper for 5k and 10k races. That's right at the point I'm at now.

The big question about tapering (and the only one I've seen significant disagreement about...see below) is whether you should taper volume or intensity, or both. Pfitzinger says, "The scientific evidence clearly indicates that the key to effective tapering is to substantially cut back your mileage, but to maintain the intensity of your training." He recommends cutting back to 50% of normal mileage for the week leading up to a goal 10k race.

Bob Cooper from Runner's World agrees, and goes a step further by offering specific workouts for a taper in the following:

Tapering isn't just for marathoners. In fact, one recent study showed a huge performance benefit when subjects tapered for a 5K. Here's how to taper for four road-racing distances:

5K:

Cut your normal mileage in half the week before your race, but maintain some intensity. Early in the week, run 4 x 400 meters at your 5K goal pace with a 200-meter jog between repeats. Later in the week, jog 2 miles, then run 6 or 8 x 100-meter strides at 90 percent of maximum speed. Run easy the other days. 10K:

Same as 5K taper, except run your 400-meter repeats at your 10K goal pace.

On the other hand, Coach Tinman from therunzone.com recommends just the opposite.

"distance runners should avoid tapering weekly mileage and, instead, reduce the amount of fast running they do so that their legs feel fresher."

In this thread, Tinman claims that the vast majority of runners do not need to taper much at all. To prove his point, Tinman discusses a hypothetical runner who cuts his mileage to a third of his normal volume for two weeks before a goal 5k race. Tinman says that this taper would not be effective because the runner would lose aerobic endurance.

I'm not convinced that Tinman is correct. First of all, Tinman's example runner is not tapering as anyone (as far as I know) would recommend. Pfitzinger and Cooper would say to cut mileage by only 20% two weeks before the race, and 50% in the final week. Tinman's runner cut mileage by a whopping 67% for both weeks, dropping from 65 miles per week to 25. Second, Tinman says the runner would lose aerobic endurance, but doesn't offer any scientific explanation or cite any relevant studies that show this to be correct.

After my brief and decidedly non-comprehensive review of tapering strategies on the net, I'm going with Pfitzinger's and Cooper's approach. I will run 4x400 in 96 seconds per lap on Tuesday, then run 8x100 quick on Thursday, with a few easy days of running thrown in. Instead of cutting my mileage in half, however, I'll probably just drop to around 20 miles (1/3 less than usual). That's because I'm a relatively low mileage runner, so it seems to make sense that I shouldn't cut volume quite so drastically.

Today's run

I had a nice, easy 9-miler today on the creek path. Instead of sky-high temperatures as I expected, there was a nice cloud cover that kept things reasonable. I ran around 8.5 minute miles and felt decent, but not super. Tomorrow I'll go for a swim instead of running.

For Judy

This post dedicated to Judy Karpeichik, 1966-2007.

Last quality workout

Today I finished my last real quality workout before next week's taper. But first I'll give a breakdown of yesterday's run...

Thursday's Workout

This was meant to be a threshold interval workout. As a recap, I've been doing two different types of threshold, or tempo, runs. The first is a standard 20-minute run at T-pace. I did one of these last Thursday, when I ran a 5k at the track. These tempo runs can be a bit demanding, so Daniels recommends alternating with something he calls "Cruise Intervals," also known as threshold intervals.

The idea is that you run repeats of 1000 meters, 1200 meters, or miles at T-pace, with 1-2 minutes rest between each workbout. That way you get the same amount of running (or even more) at the proper pace, but without as much stress as a steady 20-minute run would cause. This makes threshold intervals a good choice when approaching the final taper week before a goal race, as I'm doing at the moment.

Now to decide on the proper T-pace. This week's 5k result actually bumps me up to the next level on the VDOT scale, which puts me at 51. However, I want to be just a little bit conservative, so instead of using the training paces associated with a 51 VDOT, I'm picking paces somewhere between 50 and 51.

What exactly does this mean? Well, after looking it up in the VDOT Training Paces table, T-pace for those VDOT values would be 4:11 to 4:15 for a 1000 meter Cruise Interval. I find myself consulting the VDOT tables constantly these days! But they do seem to work...

To get to the actual run, I settled on 4 x 1000 on 4:11-4:15 with 2-minutes recovery.

Here were my results:

Distance	Time	Mile pace
1000	4:12.2	6:46
1000	4:13.4	6:48
1000	4:12.2	6:46
1000	4:10.5	6:43

I felt ok, but not great. My legs may have been recovering from Tuesday's race, and felt a little stiff. Also, it was a bit hot at the track. All in all, a successful workout nonetheless.

Today's workout

Today I essentially repeated last Friday's workout that I did with Clint and John. Unfortunately, we didn't get organized ahead of time, so I found myself alone at the track during my lunch hour.

This was another mix workout. I wanted to decrease the volume slightly from last week, since I'm about to start my taper. Last week I had done the following:

• 3x1200 in 5:04 (T-pace)
• 2x1200 in 4:41 (I-pace)
• 4x200 in 0:42 (R-pace)

Today I was shooting for this:

• 2x1000 in 4:11 - 4:15 (T-pace)
• 2x1000 in 3:51 - 3:55 (I-pace)
• 4x200 in 0:42 (R-pace)

I would take 2 minutes rest between the easier 1000s, 3 minutes between the harder 1000s, and around 2 minutes between each 200-meter rep. You may notice that my I-pace has gotten slightly faster as well. Last week I was running 1200s in 4:41, which is equivalent to 3:55 per 1000. This week I dropped it to somewhere between 3:51 and 3:55, to go along with my new VDOT. Rep pace stayed the same.

Here were my results:

Distance	Type	Time	Mile pace
1000	Tempo	4:10.9	6:44
1000	Tempo	4:09.8	6:42
1000	VO2 Max	3:52.1	6:14
1000	VO2 Max	3:48.5	6:08
200	Rep	39.7	5:20
200	Rep	41.5	5:34
200	Rep	41.1	5:31
200	Rep	41.2	5:32

I ran each rep a little on the fast side, but for the most part I felt pretty good. Even though it was even hotter than yesterday, I felt better. My last 1000 in 3:48.5 felt pretty fast (i.e., hard), though!

Two PRs in one Race

Last night I ran the last Dash & Dine 5k race of the series, and my last tuneup race before the Bolder Boulder. This was my fourth 5k since the beginning of April, and I have been steadily improving in each one.

It's certainly helped that the race conditions have improved each week. This time they were even better than last week -- cool (around 60 degrees), overcast, and calm.

I wasn't too stressed before the race, since I was still happy about last week's performance, the first time I'd broken 20 minutes. Tonight my goal was to break 19:40, which would be a 7-second PR. I planned to run a 6:20 first mile and a 6:20 second mile, then do my best to power into the finish from there. I wanted to negative split -- something I haven't done this year at all.

Tony was there again, fresh off of a 19:36 he'd run on Saturday at the Flat Out 5k in Broomfield. This guy cracks me up...tonight would be the 7th time he'd gone running this year, and 5 of them were races! I don't know how he runs so fast off of virtually no mileage. My friend Dave was there as well, and I knew he'd be gunning for the leaders.

I did my typical warmup, 2.5 miles of easy running with five 20-second strides, and joined the larger than usual crowd gathering at the start. Dave introduced me to a friend of his, Susan, who looked pretty fast. It turned out she would be a great target to chase.

"I'm going to give two commands, ready and go. READY GO!" said the race director.

Everybody was chatting, and the abrupt start caught us by surprise. I beeped my watch and we were off.

I'm not sure when I will ever learn how to pace that first mile. I don't want to go out too fast, but I don't want to leave time on the table, either. I chugged along, not working too hard, and trying to monitor my position in the pack. As usual, a bunch of guys passed me in the first quarter mile. When we reached the first dam (the course traverses the two dams of Boulder Reservoir), I started gradually reeling a few of them back in. I noticed Tony a good 30 meters ahead.

I caught a high-school kid wearing a T-shirt that said, "There are no shortcuts." He stayed with me. I noticed Tony was getting closer. We passed the first mile marker and I expected to see 6:20, or maybe 6:15. I really didn't feel like I was working too hard.

6:04.5!

Oh geez, how did that happen? (Incidentally, that's a PR in the mile for me. I've never raced that distance since I became a runner. My previous best was 6:06 back in 2003, also the first mile in a 5k.) I was a little concerned that I would blow up.

There Are No Shortcuts Guy and I were running stride for stride. We caught Tony and I yelled some encouragement. I was still feeling good and felt like I had reserves. The pair of us ran the length of the second dam shoulder to shoulder, separating only to swallow up the occasional slower runner and spit him off the back. We hit the turn-around, and then increased the pace slightly. That's when he started to pull away, ever so gradually.

Mile two went by in 6:15. My heart rate was at 180, and it was starting to hurt. Susan was still within sight, about ten seconds ahead. There Are No Shortcuts Guy had already passed her. I decided to chase her down as well.

That was easier said than done! I felt the beginnings of a side stitch coming on, and I let that be an excuse not to work harder. I was still working hard, don't get me wrong. I just wasn't at the level of pain I've been at for the last couple races. I wanted to have some sort of kick at the finish.

Susan seemed to increase her lead slightly, but at least we were getting closer to the finish line. I turned off the dam for a short downhill and focused on opening up my stride. Let gravity do the work, I thought. I heard footsteps behind me, and then someone yelled my name. It was Tony!

I hit mile 3 in 6:28 and headed up the last small hill. I knew Tony was trying to run me down. Then I found a new gear I didn't know I had! I turned the last corner and saw 19:18 on the clock. One last burst to the finish and I had just run another 5k PR, 19:30. Three seconds later Tony grabbed my shoulder in the finishing chute and said, "Nice job."

It seems like everyone had a good race. Dave finished 2nd with (I believe) a new PR of 16:55. He was only five seconds behind the winner, too. Susan ran a very impressive 19:16 for first overall female. Tony ran a PR for the year in 19:36, although I believe his real time was three seconds faster. And at the BBQ after the race, we met an eleven-year-old kid named Nathan who ran an incredible 21:49.

This race felt great. I took 17 seconds off of last week's PR, and I feel like I can run even faster. This is a huge confidence builder going into the Bolder Boulder 10k in two weeks. Four minutes per kilometer doesn't seem quite so fast anymore, and that's a great feeling.

Final results: 23rd place out of 195.

Here's my updated 5k progress report for 2007:

Date	Race	Time	Pace
4/10/2007	Dash & Dine #1 (results)	21:08	6:48
5/1/2007	Dash & Dine #4 (results)	20:11	6:30
5/8/2007	Dash & Dine #5 (results)	19:47	6:22
5/15/2007	Dash & Dine #6 (results)	19:30	6:17

Running the South Switzerland Trail

Sunday's long run was something a little different -- the South Switzerland Trail, off Sugarloaf Road. It's a dirt road that climbs gradually from 8400 feet to 9000 feet over 5.5 miles. That was perfect for a nice 11-mile out-and-back run.

Since the trail winds along a high ridge, you have alternating views in all four directions. You can see Long's Peak (a 14'er) to the north, the snow-covered Continental Divide to the west and south, and occasional views of Boulder and Denver to the east. In short, the scenery is fantastic.

Luckily, I had a bike-riding photographer to keep me company.

In spite of the altitude, I felt great. I'd been running for thirty minutes before I even noticed. There were storm cells moving all over the place, but it wasn't windy and I never felt any rain. In fact, the sun broke through a few times on my return trip.

This is an excellent run, and I highly recommend it!

Today's summary: 11 miles in 1:37 (average pace 8:47).

Weekly Run Summary

Here is a summary of my running this week:

Sunday - 10.5 miles at easy pace, 9000' altitude
Monday - off
Tuesday - 6.7 miles, including a 5k race in 19:47, plus warmup/cooldown
Wednesday - off
Thursday - 7.2 miles, with 5000 in 21:03 (T-pace), plus 4x200 at R-pace
Friday - 7.3 miles, with 3x1200 at T-pace, 2x1200 at I-pace, 4x200 at R-pace
Saturday - off
TOTAL - 31.7 miles

Another quality week, with a new PR in the 5k as a bonus!