It's colder in Boulder

Presently hunkered down at home awaiting the forthcoming -17C minimum temperature overnight, which is something I don't think I have experienced before. Possibly came close to it up a Japanese mountain once or twice. We've been very lucky with the weather for most of our trip, but it's certainly winter now!

At the start of December there is the annual “Colder Boulder” race, a counterpart to the “Bolder Boulder” in May that we've run a couple of times before. The December one is only 5k and has many fewer participants, allowing the event centre and finishing area to fit into an indoor arena which is probably a good idea given the season. In the event it was pretty comfortable, a bit chilly but bright and still. Biggest problem was the altitude, but the modest hills and numerous corners on the course also contributed to a slow run. Oh, and it was a good 100m too long too. 

Taking account of these factors, I was reasonably satisfied to duck under 20 mins (by a whole second) and jules was also relatively fast at 26:05. In fact we were both the fastest in our respective age categories, thanks mainly to the organisers' decision to classify by year rather than the more usual decade (meaning there were only about 10 runners in each category). We are hoping to reap the benefits of the altitude training when we return to sea level shortly!