Christmas in Colorado... and the Cooper River Bridge Run

So, I am o-fficially screwed trying to get home. They can't get me out of Colorado Springs or Denver until Christmas Day so I am hedging on flying out of Albuquerque on Friday or Saturday if the roads are passable to make the 5 hour journey.

On a good note- I had lots of time today to catch up on juicy gossip back home, read people's pointless blogs (not yall's, of course) and peruse our Charleston race web sites for the next couple months... including my personal homecoming race, the Cooper River Bridge Run!!! Of course, thinking happy warm weather thoughts detours from the swirling snow cyclone outside.

Enough whining :)

Now, people in Charleston start to get really fired up about the Cooper River Bridge Run right after the New Year. It is our big 10K (over 46,000 participants last year) making it the second largest in the country behind Peachtree in ATL and it has a special place in my heart. This year, it is being run on March 31st- slightly unfortunate timing due to the inaugural ING Georgia Marathon/Half the week before in ATL. However, I think I might sit out the GA race (after doing 3M Half in Jan and Myrtle Beach Half a couple weeks later in Feb) and just get ready for the bridge.

I will admit- compared to some people that read my blog that climb mountains every day, it may not seem like a big deal. Our "incline" from the Mt. Pleasant side is a 4% grade and about a mile long.

Here is the race course-


The 2006 Bridge Run marked my (later in life) return to running- I was initially driven to complete it because it was the first year on the new Ravenel bridge and I wanted to say I did the inaugural run. I did not really train for it, ran/walked it, and did it in 1:18.

As a benchmark, I did a 10K a couple weeks ago in 1:03, taking 15 minutes off. Not bad.

This year, I have set my goal (sub 60 min) and am hell bent on reaching it. That Mount Pleasant side no longer kicks my ass... I actually run over it and back during my training runs and can still maintain at least a 9:00-10:00 min pace on the uphill portion, both ways! I only have to run the Mt. P side during the race... wooohoooo....

Oooooooh I love that Bridge Run!!! I am so pumped up today, I even made a lame countdown.

And another thing I forgot to mention- it is one of the biggest PART-TAY weekends in Charleston. Not that I would know anything about that :)