Day 21: 4th of July

I couldn't resist as Wally and Sam rose early and geared up for a road race. It's kinda tradition to do road races on holidays, so I laced up my running shoes and ran bandit (unregistered) in the 4 on the 4th (a 4k road race). I hadn't run in about 3 weeks and we were at altitude, so I was preeeeetty conservative for the 1st mile, and surprisingly felt pretty good and picked it up quite a bit for the last 2/3. I have to say, as much as I've been enjoying biking, it was awesome to be back around runners...once a runner, always a runner. We hung around the post-race festivities for awhile since Wally and Sam both placed in their age group and were rewarded gift cards and 6 packs, courtesy of the Avery Brewing Company, who sponsored the race. Unfortunately, none of us won the entire race, which would have gotten us our weight in beer.

Then we took my bike in to get all checked out after the first 1/3 of the ride and strolled around the famous Pearl Street. Totally up my alley. Lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, and street performers. Everything was so trendy and unique, so fun to wander around. Ended the day with a purchase from the candy store and a sore muscle massage bar from LUSH.

Unfortunately, it decided to storm around 4 for the rest of the day and into the night...so no full firework show went off. I think this was the first time, at least that I can remember, that I haven't gone and watched a firework show on the 4th...kinda a bummer. But once it settled down we started walking around and fireworks picked up. I'm not as used to having such elaborate fireworks going off all the time outside of the town show since they're illegal in IL. It was a different way to enjoy the 4th, and even though we didn't get to see a full show, it was neat to be walking with fireworks going off in the background. I felt like I was in The Sandlot.

It was a good first day in Boulder with only a few more days to pack in a long list of "To Do's."