Background/training - Not much, I've basically been taking it easy since the Seattle Marathon. I have almost 5 months before the Eugene Marathon, so I thought it'd be ok to give my legs a bit of a refresher after two marathons two months apart. I planned on running this easy just to stretch my legs and get a nice fun run in.
The race - Took the light rail up from Tukwila to downtown Seattle with my cousin, Mom, and Mom's friend (who all walked the race). We had just enough time to pick up our packets and shirts and head out to the start line. It was overcast but warmer than last year (37ish). There were about 12,000 people there, which makes it the biggest Jingle Bell run in the US.
Mile 1 - This mile is uphill for the first half and downhill for the second half. I ran it at an easy pace, around 10:40ish, just passing people. A woman walking with a stroller (in the "timed runners" wave) clipped my heels and then was like "well that's what you get for running in front of a stroller". *sigh* Some people are just oblivious!
Mile 2 - This mile was mostly flat through the tunnel to the I-5 express lanes. I love this part of the race because everyone always sings Jingle Bells while we run through the tunnel. I just focused on passing and swerving in and out of people and ran it in about 10:25ish.
Mile 3 - I decided around here that I wanted to at least beat my post-Portland Dawg Dash time (33:36) and picked up the pace a little. We came back out of the express lanes and up a short steep hill, which I made it halfway up before my legs said "NO" and I took a short walk break. Then it was around the corner and downhill to the finish, where I managed a nice long finishing kick. Mile 3 was my fastest mile of the race.
Final time - 32:06 - definitely not a PR but a good minute and a half faster than Dawg Dash and about similar effort, so I am ok with it.
Post-race/reflections - After the race I went to Starbucks and got a peppermint mocha to go with my bagel and banana (yum) while I waited for the others to finish. When they did, DBF picked us up and we all went to brunch at Mecca, a cute restaurant/bar place on Queen Anne that has excellent food. Then we took the light rail back to our cars at Tukwila and on the drive home, the first snowflakes of the winter started falling! That means it's snowed on the day of the Jingle Bell Run each of the last three years, which is pretty impressive given how little it snows here.
I intended to do the Jingle Bell as a fun run, and that's what it was. It sort of feels like a nice easy victory lap after marathon season!
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