Blogging for BolderBOULDER Begins Now

Mayor Gierlach carrying his six year old daughter on his
shoulders after completing the BolderBOULDER on her own

It is a privilege to be selected as one of the 'official BolderBOULDER Bloggers' for this year's 10K race.

The 38th annual BolderBOULDER will be held on Memorial Day, May 30th, 2016. It was named America’s All-Time Best 10K by Runner’s World and is the 3rd largest running race in the U.S. (7th largest in the world) The race attracts over 50,000 runners, joggers, walkers, wheelchair racers, and draws professional athletes from around the world to compete for one of the largest non-marathon prize purses in road racing. 

I have run the BolderBOULDER about 8-10 times in the past 15 years, either in a banana suit, or costume, or with a child in my backpack. Later, in 2011, I was so proud to be running alongside my 6 year old daughter all the way through the course. But I’ve always had some sort of excuse for not training, or seriously ever running a 10K.

Therefore, this year I decided that I will actually train for the BolderBOULDER for the first time. I have an awesome trainer, which I've never had before, so I can learn what trainers do. My expectation, is that the training process, will probably have more of a lasting impact on my health habits than the race itself.

My goal is to develop a training schedule for the BolderBOULDER and see how it could be incorporated into a sustainable routine in my life, long after the 10K race is over. I may not train for anything else specific (other than next year’s BolderBOULDER or maybe the Neder-Nederland in the fall) but my goal is to adopt a running lifestyle for the next phase of my life.

BolderBOULDER Training Schedule

Mayor Gierlach on the Kinnikinnick Trail

Using websites like Runner's World and MapMyRun, I reviewed several beginner and intermediate training schedules for running a 10K, modified them a bit, and I'm now tweaking it with a professional trainer.

Past days show what I have already completed. The links contained in the description are clickable which will take you to MapMyRun with more details about each run.

If you already use MapMyRun, you can see me here on the BolderBOULDER Virtual Training Group. This group doesn't appear to be really active, but perhaps someone would like to reinvigorate it for the 2016 training season.

Here is my Training Schedule:

Institute for Challenging Disorganization

Professional Organizer, Nancy Castelli and Mayor Gierlach
at The Institute for Challenging Disorganization

My friend, Nancy came to Denver to attend the Institute for Challenging Disorganization conference.

This intrigued me, not realizing that an organization like the Institute for Challenging Disorganization even existed. They address issues like Compulsive Hoarding Behavior.

Just the prospect that this organization exists, validates my fear that I am a hoarder preparing for the next power outage or national disaster. In some ways, the 1,000 year Boulder Flood now indicates that it can happen again much sooner than 1,000 years from now. This only justifies more hoarding. Even my compost pile is Feng Shui.

Nearly three decades ago, I met Nancy after an eventful trip where my friend Steve and I changed a flat tire in less than three minutes in order to see the Police Synchronicity Tour. The concert was at a venue in Cincinnati where eleven fans had been trampled to death at a Who concert, many years prior.

Now Nancy Castelli is the CEO of BALANCE: Turning Matter Into Energy, and a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). She explains in this blog post why I am not a compulsive hoarder, but I find the process of organizing, disorganizing, and reorganizing, to be fascinating. Not so much focused on my personal organization habits, but how does a town reorganize after a national disaster? How can the organization prepare for a more resilient future?