Race Report: Spokane Bloomsday 12k

This year was my third year running Spokane Bloomsday. Bloomsday is a 12k run which takes place the first week of May every year. Approximately 40 to 60 thousand people participate. It is not an easy course by any means. It features a tiring hill late in mile two into mile three. Then there is the famous Doomsday Hill at mile five.

This year I felt pretty good the morning of the race. I wasn't nervous. It just felt like any other race to me. The weather was gorgeous. I was able to walk to the start in a tank and three quarter length tights. What I hadn't anticipated for was the sun. H and I didn't pack any sunscreen (my husband did the race this year too). My shoulders and chest got very burnt.

I had to start in the Orange group this year (the starts are staggered by color code, based on expected finish time). My husband had signed me up and I don't know what time her put but I was pissed I was in the Orange group all along. H and his friend were two colors ahead of me. Another friend was in the one group ahead of me. Here are a list of comments I heard from people in the orange group:

"Let's just run the first mile then we can walk"
"I wonder if people will be handing out popsicles"
"It's hot, can we go home now"

There were many more. I had to pass a ton of walkers and even a lady on crutches. My goal was to catch up to my friend in the Green waive (the waive ahead of me). I was able to at mile six, despite a bathroom break at mile four. The course was as I remembered, except the first hill always seems more wicked than previous years. It is probably because Doomsday takes the lime light. Here are my splits:

Mile 1  10:15
Mile 2  10:25
Mile 3  11:45
Mile 4  11:17
Mile 5  12:15
Mile 6  11:57
Mile 7  11:30
Mile 8  5:33 (10:43 pace)

My average pace per mile was 11:18. I'd post my time up Doomsday but I walked it. I tried to run it the first year and it completely wiped me out for the last 2.5 miles. With the heat this year by mile 5 I was starting to feel very dehydrated, so I wanted to take my time and walk through the water stations drinking every last drop. My final time was 1:26:18.

2013 Seahawks 12k

This is now my third time running this race. In 2010 I ran the 12k and in 2011 when I was pregnant I ran the 5k. Each year the race has grown in popularity. This year there were about four thousand runners.

The course runs a long Lake Washington. The half way point/turn around is at the Seahawks training facility (for the 12k). Seahawks players hand out water to the runners as they go buy. The course is pretty flat with a couple rolling hills.

I hadn't trained well going into this race. My longest run had been miserable Easter Day 7.5 miler in which I probably walked about two miles of it. Around mile four I began to get really tired, but then I saw my friend Phil running back (his mile six) in first place! That gave me the energy to run the next two miles. Miles six was tough, but I knew I could get through since at that point we were almost done. Here's my mile splits:

Mile 1   10:34
Mile 2   10:37
Mile 3   10:28
Mile 4   10:18 (thanks Phil!)
Mile 5   11:05
Mile 6   11:04
Mile 7   10:45
Mile 8   9:44

You can see by my splits, the distance I have been running on most of my weekend runs (four to five miles). I definitely petered out at mile five. My final time 1:21:33, a 10:40 pace. Not even close to a PR, but I will take it.

We had a lot of fun. I hope to do it again next year, maybe with the Super Bowl winning Seahawks.