I have always joked around with my friends that like Natalie Nunn from The Bad Girls Club (minus the horse face) that 'I RUN LA!' Well, I can finally say that I did! This was my Rock 'N' Roll Triple Crown race which is an exciting feat all its own. So here's the rundown about the race. The race jumped off on the corner of Figueroa and LA Live Drive. Start corrals were parallel with the iconic Staples Center arena. The corrals were filled with lots of fun and energetic people. Many of which were dressed in Halloween costumes and attire. Considering this race was Halloween themed, I found that fitting. Although the man dressed nothing but a diaper was a little odd. We started out at 7:30AM (which I thought was a little late personally) and headed south on Figueroa towards USC, or as I like to call it 'The University of South Central'. We ran around the perimeter of the campus and headed towards Exposition Park. Home of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, the California Science Center now the home of the NASA Space Shuttle Endeavor, and the Coliseum that was used in the 1984 Olympic Games. We ran around the Coliseum, and headed back toward LA Live and back into Downtown LA. For those that may not be aware, Downtown Los Angeles is actually built on a HILL! So from miles 6-10 we were basically smashing the pavement on an incline.
We ran through lovely parts of metropolitan Downtown and headed through the Hill Street tunnel. I continued on my 13.1 mile journey and reached the Los Angeles River bridge at mile 9. You may know this bridge from seeing it in just about every car commercial that is filmed in Los Angeles. So I walked up the incline because my knees were bothering me and galloped across the bridge to the turn around point and headed back. But I had to stop and take in a breath taking view of Downtown Los Angeles from the bridge. Sunday was a clear day, no smog, just amazing splendor of my city. So of course I snapped a photo.
After I took in the view and took a breath, I headed back to LA Live on the route. Back through Downtown, through the tunnel and down hill to the finish line. My motivation to finish was to one get out of the sun because it got really hot! And two, give my knees a good rest because they were over worked...and I am pretty sure if knees could talk I would have been cussed out. I did finish strong with a smile with a time of 2:28:55. Still under 2.5 hours so I call that a success. Every race is a learning experience. A new boundary to push through. Los Angeles was no exception. Mind over matter was the lesson this week. Oh, and remember to keep more KT with you when possible. Hahaha. Next up, I fly to Walt Disney World for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend. Can you say Coast-To-Coast? I sure can!!!
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