This was the second time I’ve ran the Rock n Roll Denver. It was very much a different experience running this city, now that we’re going on our third year here, and now that we’ve been heavily training for races for at least two years here. Although still not familiar, they certainly didn’t seem as foreign as they did this time last year. Maybe I’m starting to take a liking to this place after all. It took me awhile to warm up to Seattle. In fact, it takes me awhile really to feel like I’m not hoteling in any new city.
The 5K starts a bit later – I think it was 8am, which feels a bit late to me. The sun is overhead and its quite bright out. It’s early enough that people could ditch us for brunch and I wouldn’t be mad.
The start line looks really small, and the corrals are tiny. The 5Ks usually are pretty small for the Rock n Roll races. I hope they keep them though, because it’s really nice being able to do the Remix Challenges!
I didn’t take as many pics once the race starts, since it’s a 5K and the race was over pretty quickly! š The medal was pretty nice though. Fancy fancy!
We headed over to the expo. I kept going back and forth between going to the expo or not, but since the t-shirts were pretty boring, I really wanted to personalize them this year. I also bought a city-specific Brooks tank, which is not something I’m prone to doing. Since Denver is now my home city (for awhile I guess), I suppose I’ll rep it. Why not?
Denver is my 12th tour stop in the Rock n Roll series. It’s one of my lazy stops because the start line is just a few blocks away from my apartment.
The next morning, the sky was golden and we were all ready to go. It had gotten pretty chilly in the morning, so I wore my cold weather gear. Things were set to warm up later, but I opted for warmth anyways. I tend to get cold easily.
I debated a lot about whether or not to stop for pictures. After all, I see a lot of these places on my way to work. It’s odd playing a tourist in my own town. However, what’s interesting is that I rarely do take pictures here, even though I’m still new around here…and when do I ever get the opportunity to take pictures at these angles, anyways? I might as well do it while I still have the chance.
This particular bookstore and coffee shop holds significance to me – Erik and I signed our apartment lease there when we first decided to move to Denver. ā¤
I work right by Union Station!
After downtown, the run got reeeeeeaaalllllly long so I put away my phone. I recognized a lot of the sights from last year, and from my jaunts around town. I think a downside of running cities that I’m familiar with is that distances feel a lot farther when you can anticipate every landmark in view. When you’re somewhere new, everything is a surprise to you and there’s not much to expect so it’s novel.
Once in the park, you could see the leaves turning for autumn, and they had some cute photo sets up.
Such a clear gorgeous day. You can see the mountains if you squint really hard.
This is probably true.
The finish line came and went. Victory meals were consumed (Hapa Sushi). We enjoyed Blade Runner and I may have fallen asleep for part of it.
Overall, it was a great race! Since it is a local hometown race, I look forward to doing it again next year. Hopefully I can improve my time – it took a real nosedive compared to my previous year. I suspect it was because I was sick, and because of all the races I’ve done this year. With less races and more focused training on my calendar for 2018 maybe I can focus on performance.
See you in Los Angeles for race #13. The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame is near!
Amara in Training 