Race! Snoqualmie Railroad Days 10K

Yesterday I ran in my second ever race. I finished! And I wasn't last! Well, I was last in my age group, but that's to be expected.

The race was the Snoqualmie Railroad Days 10K. A 10K fit nicely into my training schedule this weekend as I had a 6 mile run scheduled. Plus I wanted to have more race experience, having only been to one pretty local affair previously. And this fit the bill. As a bonus, the course was described as flat, fast, and beautiful. And only an hour and a half from home.

We rolled into town around 8 am and found a parking spot a few blocks away. Picked up my bib, shirt, and bag and wandered around town a little bit. Bib #14 - apparently numbers were assigned alphabetically to the 10K folk. Wandered back to the car to drop off bag and shirt and pull on my headband. Love my BondiBands, since I hate sweat rolling down my face.


Then we waited around a little more and then it was time to line up! I never know where to line up. Except NOT at the front. So I stood pretty far back. Apparently too far back. These folk, who look very serious, were at the front.


I was not so serious, but I was intent on starting my watch, followed by being intent on not running into the walkers I had lined myself up behind. D'oh.


I had a great time the first mile - I was running strong, feeling good, and passing people, which was a lot of fun. I finished the mile in under 11 minutes, which is something for me. But it was all downhill from there. I must have pushed out too fast. By the third mile I was bribing myself with walk breaks every 5-10 minutes, and by the fourth mile I was walking whenever I felt my heart rate was getting too high, which seemed to be pretty frequently. Probably because when I would start running again it was at a closer to 11 minute/mile pace which was too much for me at that point.

But I finished in 1:12, which averages to about 11:30 per mile, which I'm pretty happy with. I'm not thrilled with the non-sustainable way I ran the race, but it was a good experience to have. And the course was very very pretty. Here's my race data for those interested. And here I am, crossing the finish line, intent on stopping my watch and finding where they keep the free smoothie I was promised.


We spent the rest of the day in Seattle - eating, watching Captain America (which I really enjoyed), shopping at used book stores, and getting stuck in traffic. At least the I-5 through Seattle can be gorgeous, even in traffic.

Mount Rainier


The Olympics.


Space Needle.


And how about just a dash of knitting content? Here's a pair of socks I knit out of Zauberball recently. Pink and purple and wooly, oh my. Just a basic toe-up stockinette sock. My default movie theater project.


They should be lovely when it's cold and I'm wearing socks again.