10K Debut Snoqualmie Railroad Days 2009

FULL stats to come soon...my usb cord for Mr. Garmin is at work...

The night before the race we ate our usual Spaghetti...but on Thursday after a nice run with Shelby we picked blackberries on the trail near my work enough to make this..
YUMMY! So pre-race blackberry crumble and ice cream.. I think it was good luck.

The night before my Marathon I didn't sleep a wink...I slept GREAT last night...well except for Blaine's bad dream at 2:30AM and Easton being hungry at 4:45AM. We woke at 5:45, I had Peanut butter toast and some Lemon Lime nuun. We gathered the boys and headed to Snoqualmie, about 45 minutes from our house. The race director said to arrive early to get the packet, so anal me wanted to be there promptly at 7:15ish for a 9:10 race start. We got great parking and I headed to the "LINE." Ummmm there was no line I grabbed my race number and timing anklet and was back to the car. We had nearly 2 hours to kill.

In the stroller ready to watch Mommy RACE..

Happy and eating a hot dog for breakfast....only on race day :)

Railroad days so we had to get a train picture.

We wandered around and I hit 2 different Honey Buckets...and tried to rest my legs while they played. There was a yard sale we got a CARS bike helmet for Blaine for $1, SCORE!!

Had to take a photo with the BIG Wheel

LOVE race people, they always offer to take our photo. Runners are NICE!!

Bandmill Wheel, I did not take the time to read about it...but it makes me look small, so I thought it was cool....

Time ticked away SLOWLY and we still had 30 minutes. I refilled my blue bottle at the nuun booth, AMAZING to have nuun at a small race. I needed ANOTHER pit stop, I have a nervous bladder. You would be proud, Tall mom with ZERO patience, waited in a LONG Honey Bucket line!! I am learning. I stripped off my outerwear and ran to warm up a little then took place toward the front of the pack. ROOKIE me had my chip on the wrong leg, thankfully a nice runner told me before I screwed up my time. I asked a couple people about the course and they said the words I have been wanting to hear "Flat and Fast." The Angels came down from the sky and played harps...OK that is a bit dramatic.. This was quickly followed by a lady showing me how she peed in a yard before the race, she pulled on her spandex...you know the rest. Oh the candor, can't beat it!!

The TRAIN Whistle blew and we were OFF. I knew Muscle Man Paparazzi would be down the road a bit and moved to get a cheesy race picture..

I will crop this for my Stats post...it is pretty cute. As you can see my Pearl Izumi shoes made their race debut and so did my GREEN shirt. The start line pee lady told me I looked like a hurdler...is that a compliment??

• OFF I go... The main advice I received was not to go out too fast. WELL I Always go out too fast, that's how I roll. Mile 1 was GREAT I had amazing energy and was passing people, a lot of people. The BUMMER about this race is the 5K racers start at the same time. It was weird to me running with 6th graders, especially when one with an untied shoe was passing me. First mile was flat, lush and green 6:45 pace.. Uh oh too fast!!
• Mile 2 I had a side ache, the result of my over ambitious first mile. I seriously need to work on my core strength. When I get a side ache my trick is to focus on me cadence...focus on my stride and not think about the pain. I slowed a bit but kept a great pace 7:04 for mile 2, I think.
• We crossed a bridge and everyone slowed a little. Just after the river crossing I noticed a girl, who appeared to be in my age group from behind. I told myself that I would keep pace and try to move in front of her little red-shirted self. At the 5K mark I was at 22:36 and still had a full tank, red shirt little runner girl was about 50 yards ahead of me and I settle into a 7:14ish pace. Then came Mr. Calf Compression Sleeves. He was between me and little red. As we rounded a baseball field I thought it would be a good time to pass unnoticed...not easy to do at 6'0 tall and wearing bright GREEN. I passed him and took my place back in line.
• Apparently Mr. CCS did not appreciate being passed by the Jolly Green FEMALE Giant, so he quickly took his place back in front. This would go on for the next 2 MILES....and practically ruin every ounce of fun of this race!!! We swapped places as the leaders were running toward us. Switched positions as we hit the 4 mile turn around. Traded spots as we sped past those we were miles ahead of. If I could only shake this GUY!! I wanted to leave him in the dust...BUT mentally I did not have it. And my left arch HURT, I didn't swap my Berry insoles and was paying the price... Eventually I let him keep a 10 yard lead and totally lost sight of little red shirt...FAIL!!
• I am disappointed in how easily I caved...letting his squatty stride and flashy glasses get in my head. Funny thing is MEN in his age group were passing him and he did not even speed up... At mile 5, I wanted to turn on the after burners...instead I prayed my Green tennies would keep moving. I was not tired physically but I was UPSET with letting CCS get the best of me. He took away my fun... I did not realize we were at the end until I spotted the BIG WHEEL.. Home stretch, less than 1 lap around the track....YOU CAN DO THIS!!
• Mr. Grumpy Gus CCS turned and looked at me, JERK!! Of course there were the usual guys who save the last .1 to pass the CHICK...Man I hate that....at least they passed CCS too :) Here is the progression of how the last few strides to the FINISH LINE went...it is not pretty but it is me...

CCS is just to the right of the hoodie lady... I am just behind the tall sweaty guy...TRYING to PUSH!!

Sweaty guy came from nowhere the last .15 and overtook me... See the 5K guy to the left walking...I beat him...LOL

Looks like I am singing...I am not, I am breathing and ready to be DONE... I wanted to leave it all on the road today...

I bet these people were ready to call the medics to help me. Why do I always look so horrible toward the end?? I did not see Muscle Man so I had no idea he was taking my picture.

Oh so close, finish STRONG...

OK I look CRAZY... Look at the kid to my right, I think he was wondering if I was going to make it... Need a closer look?

BAD RACE PICTURE!! Oh well, it is me, T-rex arms and wide open mouth and all.

The FINISH LINE...FINALLY.. I knew that I would make my A Goal. Muscle man and the little studs kept busy and were very excited when I crossed, Easton fell asleep because of all the excitement...

# 97 Race RESULTS

Time: 45:54.6

(A Goal 46:33)

Pace: 7:24

Place: 104/333

Age Group: 6/42

Female place: ? They did not judge this?

I was very proud of my time and HAPPY that my boys could all be there. Blaine was a great helper for Daddy...he loves to have his picture taken so we cheesed for the camera.

I bent down and he thought I was picking him up... SO fun being a racing MOM.

OK... I am TIRED and ready to hit the BED.. Will have some post race lessons learned and mile paces SOON. For now THANK YOU to everyone for your GOOD LUCK wishes and congratulations. I am so NEW to racing (<>