Tag Archives: finish line

Firefly Run 5K (or 5K #4!)

Posted on June 3, 2013 | 1 comment

On Friday, I completed 5K #4 for the year (I’m almost past my 2013 5K goal!). I did the Firefly Run. This was my very first nighttime race, but I loved it!

I first heard about this race from my friend Kate. She saw a deal for the race on Living Social, so she and I both bought deals for our entries in the race

There was no pre-race pickup for bibs and timing chips, so Kate and I headed out there pretty early so we’d have time to deal with traffic and pick up our stuff.

Turns out, we got to the race 4 hours before it started! I picked up my number (my lowest race number ever!).

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After picking up our numbers, Kate and I decided to wait out the time in her car. Because we got there so early, we managed to park about 30 feet away from the start/finish line (the banner in the picture).

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When it was about 90 minutes until the start time, we decided to get ready. I had gotten a tutu and bow tie at Party City earlier in the week (I also got glow necklaces/bracelets), and I was planning on wearing a plain t-shirt. The race t-shirts were technical shirts, and I’ve never found one that fit me properly.

Until I got the race shirt for this race! It was so comfortable so I decided that it was the perfect touch to my outfit.

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Those weird yellow things at my ankles are reflective LED bands. Everyone in the race got them to wear. Right after taking this picture, I decided to use the bow tie as a hair bow. It kept getting caught in my glow necklace and iPhone headphones and I wanted to make sure nothing was in my way from having a great race.

We wandered around the start line where they had some food for sale.

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None of those things sounded like good pre-race foods. Besides, Kate and I had made a stop before arriving at 7-11 where we picked up some snacks and water.

We took some fun pre-race photos by the start line and the giant LED wall.

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And before we knew it, it was time to line up. Kate was running, so she went to the front of the pack and I hung back with the walkers. But that gave me a great chance to check out everyone else’s glowing outfits.

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I seriously loved these guys with full LED suits. They ended up passing me in the race.

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They let us go out in heats. I ended up being the very last person to go in the first heat. So I had a pretty odd experience racing. At the beginning, I was almost completely alone. Everyone else ahead of me was running, and I was walking. A few minutes later, a big crowd of runners passed me as the next heat was started. This happened each time a new heat started, so my race was both crowded and empty.

The course was pretty crazy. We went all around the Home Depot Center. We went around the soccer stadium, the track, and all over the campus. There were a lot of places that we went back and forth, and I’m wondering if that was done so we could all admire the glowing people (I personally thought that was cool).

There were only a few negatives for me. First of all, there was no mile 1 marker. That stressed me out. I was curious how on pace I was doing, and until the mile 2 marker, I had no clue. Also, there was about 1/2 mile of the course that was on a dirt track, so I tried to pull my shirt over my mouth so I didn’t breathe in all the dirt. And finally, there was a lot of times we were going up or down a slight incline. For most people, this wouldn’t matter, but with my hips it makes a different.

As I got close to the finish line, I heard someone cheering for me. Kate, who had finished earlier with a personal best time, was waiting about 10 feet from the finish line for me. I’m so grateful that I have a race buddy who is willing to wait for me to finish. I ended up crossing 16 seconds faster than my best 2013 time. I was about 90 second slower than I hoped I would be, but that’s not too bad.

We didn’t stay for any of the festivities after the race because I had to be at work pretty early the next morning. But I did take the time to take a victory photo.

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Overall, I’d say this was a pretty successful race! I had a great time, the atmosphere was wonderful and positive, and the weather was ideal! I’m already thinking about looking for more nighttime races (and doing this one again next year!).

4 5Ks down, 1 more to go to meet my goal. And 5K #5 is in 2 weeks!

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Unexpected Injuries (or I’m Still Doing My 5K Tonight)

Posted on May 31, 2013 | 1 comment

With all the issues with my hips, I’m used to waking up in pain. It happens more days than it doesn’t. And sadly, this is probably what it will be like for me for most of my life.

What I’m not used to it waking up in the morning with pain on another part of my body. All day Wednesday, I felt fine. I didn’t do anything weird that would cause me to get injured. But when I woke up on Thursday morning, I could feel that something was wrong with my hamstring on my right side. I could bend my leg, but straightening it was very painful. Honestly, I don’t know what I did. Maybe I just slept funny.

I did some research online, and after going through all the scary websites that pretty much say you are dying no matter what the symptom is, I found some things that helped. I’m taking the same pain medications that I take for my hip and I’m also trying to do some compression on my thigh. I used an ace bandage yesterday and that really seemed to take the edge off of the pain.

I’m feeling a bit better today, but I’m still in more pain than normal. So what does this mean for the 5K that I’m doing tonight?

Nothing.

I’m still doing it no matter what. If I was on crutches, I’d possibly still do it. I got a really great outfit picked out, and I want to do 5K #4 tonight. I’m so incredibly close to the goal that I set for the end of the year, and the year is almost at the half way point.

While I was hoping that tonight I would get a better time than my 5Ks in the past, I’m not going to let myself stress out about it. It really is more important to me that I cross the finish line no matter what.

And while tomorrow is the first day of ticket sales at my work (which means a lot of craziness is going to happen), I will be able to rest for the whole day while I work (multitasking at its best!).

I promise I’ll have a 5K recap post on here in the beginning of next week! Wish me luck tonight!

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Revlon Run/Walk (or I Survived 5K #3!)

Posted on May 13, 2013 | Comments Off on Revlon Run/Walk (or I Survived 5K #3!)

This past Saturday was the Revlon Run/Walk event. I’m calling it a 5K, but technically it was 3.5 miles (in case you didn’t know, a 5K is 3.1 miles).

This race holds a special place in my heart. The Revlon Run/Walk in 2008 was my very first 5K. My dad and I did it together.

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Even though it was a very crowded event, my dad and I also decided to do the race in 2009.

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I hadn’t done this race since then, but since I have a goal this year to do 5 5Ks, I figured why not add this one to the list?

My best friend, Kate, also decided to do this 5K with me. She did the Hollywood Half 5K too, but she ran that and waited for me at the finish line. This time, she was willing to walk with me (and I’m grateful that she did).

The morning of the 5K, we took the lightrail to where the start line was (much easier than driving and parking there!). The race started at 9am, and as soon as we got off the train we both noticed how warm it was. We found a water station by the start line, drank some water, and waited in the shade by the start for the race to begin.

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Finally, we were off. Not moving very quickly, but we were moving. And pretty much right away, we both were feeling the heat (turns out, it was about 83 degrees when we started).

We made it to mile 1 with no problem. A little slower than I’d like, but that’s ok.

From mile 1 to mile 2, we were both starting to feel a bit cranky. It was a combination of the heat, the crowd, and I’m thinking dehydration.

After we saw the mile 2 marker, we knew we were past the halfway mark. Somehow, that last mile almost got me. We walked right past the lightrail station as we were walking. If I wasn’t so gung-ho on getting my medal at the end of the race, I might have just ended it there. I was hot, sweaty, and starting to be in pain.

Finally, we entered the coliseum, where the finish line was. We entered the tunnel to go onto the field, and was so beyond happy to literally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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We crossed the finish line, got our medals, and grabbed some water and snacks. I took a quick victory photo so I could email it to my parents.

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And then we went straight to the lightrail to go home. We were both so miserable and tired. I got sunburnt (despite wearing SPF 50 that morning) and I just wanted to get home and shower.

After I was home, I reflected a bit on this race. Honestly, it was pretty awful. Kate agreed with me that this was the most unbearable race she’s ever done (and she’s done a bunch of big ones). But I did finish, and that’s important.

There’s a picture I’ve seen on Pinterest a couple of times. It’s a photo of someone walking at a race, and the caption says “You are still lapping everyone on the couch”. That’s how I have to feel about this race. My time sucked, I had a pretty bad time, but I did it and crossed the finish line. That’s more than a lot of people could say.

Hopefully, my 5K that I have in 3 more weeks goes a lot better. Oh well. Here’s to finishing #3!

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Boston (or Again, I Have No Words)

Posted on April 16, 2013 | Comments Off on Boston (or Again, I Have No Words)

Very few events make me speechless. Yesterday, I was at my first day back at work. I wasn’t watching the news or checking twitter. A couple of hours into my shift, I decide to do a quick twitter check (sometimes my app doesn’t let me know if my @ replies come in).

All of the sudden, I’m seeing all these posts about the Boston Marathon. At first, I was confused because I didn’t think a marathon would be on a Monday. So I decided to google it.

And after seeing what I saw, I couldn’t speak for a minute. Finally, I was able to say something to my co-workers and then after a bit I went back to work (I had to). But I kept checking twitter every so often.

I don’t understand why someone would do something so horrible. Finishing a marathon should be a moment of pure joy. Or at least I imagine it would be. I remember how happy I was when I crossed the finish line of the first 5K I did. I was with my dad, and the finish line was at the 50 yard line of the LA Coliseum.

And now that joy has been taken away from so many people.

One of the photos that has stuck with me the most was the one of the runner who fell down very close to the finish line after the first bomb went off. He was almost to the end, and then he was on the ground. I found out that this man was doing his 3rd Boston marathon and after the picture was taken, he crossed the finish line and walked back to his hotel.

That sort of resilience is amazing.

Another thing that was amazing was the incredible outpouring of support from the world. Of course there were the usual posts on twitter and Facebook, but people rushed to donate blood. There were even runners that as soon as the crossed the finish line they went straight to donate. There is a googledoc online where people posted if they had a place that someone could stay. I checked it out, and there are probably at least 1,000 posts of people who put their information out for the world to see just so they could help someone.

Why can’t there be this outpouring of love and support outside of a tragedy?

I read online that people are going to be wearing various race shirts today in support of those in Boston. While I do work in a casual office, a race shirt might be pushing it on a non-Saturday shift. So I went through my dresser and grabbed all the race shirts I had (some I don’t have any more).

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I hope that if any of you reading this are in Boston, that you are ok. And also I hope that any of you who have friends in Boston know that they are ok now too (everyone I know is fine).

I don’t have another 5K until next month, but now I’m thinking I want to do something special when I cross the finish line this time to support those who weren’t able to finish the Boston marathon because of this. If any of you have ideas I’d appreciate hearing them.

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