Run Hit Wonder

I promised myself I'd write about the Nike Run Hit Wonder 5K before the week was out, so here it go:

It was really, really fun. There was tons of energy and hype and excitement and music, and I loved it.

Running has become sort of like therapy for me, a semi-medatative stress release, and I really enjoy running alone. All the same, I sort of wished I belonged to a running club on the day of the race, because there were a lot of running clubs there and they seemed to have such great comradarie. Unfortunately, I can't for the life of me find a running club in The Valley - they're all on the west side. Bummer. All the same, it was kind of Zen running it by myself.

I spent the last few weeks training lightly - running four times per week four or so miles per day. I did not do speed work and did no hill training. Thus, I wasn't sure what to expect for the actual, you know, running part of the race.

My goal was to run the race in 33 minutes or less. I'd run 3.1 miles in 29 minutes many times before, but I didn't have much hope of running it in that time at this race, for a couple of reasons. First of all, there were far too many people there, which made it impossible to run as fast as you wanted. Secondly, the race was in the early evening, and I'm not used to running at that time - I do all of my running in the early morning. So my overall goal was just to take everything in, have fun, not walk at all and cross the finish line strong and under 33 minutes.

The race began at the USC Rose Garden, wound through USC's fraternity row, wrapped around some side streets and ended inside the L.A. Coliseum. The race started about 10 minutes late, and the anticipation was overwhelming. I just wanted to RUN already, after all of the preceding weeks of looking forward to it.

"This is it," I told D before the race started. "I'll never have another first 5K again." I know it's a little silly to get so excited about a friggin' 5K, which is a baby distance, but I couldn't help it. I was excited.

When the race finally started, it took a while to get to the starting line, because there were so many people. The race was chip-timed, so it didn't matter when you started. The first few minutes were frustrating because there were so many people walking and jogging really slow, and I was forced to jog slowly to maneuver around them. Once the crowd thinned out a bit, I was able to run faster.

The adrenaline carried me easily through the first two miles, but the third mile was a little tougher for some reason. I think I was a little dehydrated because I started cramping up a bit, which never has happened before. My mistake was not drinking any water for about an hour before the race, which was a (stupidly) conscious decision on my part. I hadn't wanted to stop to go to the bathroom, because I cannot STAND port-a-potties. I've run three miles before easily without a water break, so I didn't think it would be a problem, but I'd always had water directly before a run, and didn't do that this time. Thus the cramping.

The last 500 yards were really exciting. The race ended inside the Coliseum, which meant we all got to run through the tunnel into the middle of the stadium like football players or Olympic atheletes. Woot! I have to say, that was pretty thrilling. As we crossed the finish line, volunteers were waiting to hand us medals and congratulate us. The woman who handed me my medal seemed genuinely happy and excited. "Congratulations!" she said. "You really did it."

After the race, we watched Joan Jet and the Blackhearts do a set, and then we left. When we got to the car, I saw that D had bought me roses, a card and a little statuette of a girl running. Aww.

Two days later, I found out that my time was 32.57.

So that was that. My first race. I can't wait to do another.