I couldn't make the drive out to Hollywood on Thursday, so on Friday I had to leave as early as I could to get to the Hollywood Palladium after work. The drive was a pain in the butt. It was even raining a bit to make the drive even more interesting and gnarly. I exited off of the 101 at Santa Monica Blvd thinking that the traffic might be a tad better than Sunset Blvd. It was not. I was planning to park somewhere on Vine St, but there was a pretty serious accident at De Longpre Ave. Once I got past the accident, I turned right on Leland Way and was fortunate enough to find free street parking. It was only a block away from the Palladium. The expo was roughly the same as it has been in prior years.
I picked up my bib and went upstairs to get my legacy item. This year was a special legacy medal which I thought was pretty useless for someone that has run so many races. The last thing I needed was yet another medal. From the website the legacy item for next year, if I decide to run it, will be a duffle bag. That should be a useful item.
Legacy medal
They gave us our race shirts near the exit. I wasn't a big fan of this year's shirt. I guess my expectations were a bit high thinking that it would be a bit spectacular for their 5th year anniversary. They might have set the bar a bit high as well since the shirts for previous years were nicer.
Race shirt
The drive home was a slow drive. Once I got home, I ate a quick dinner, got my race stuff ready, and started getting ready for bed. The weather forecast showed that the rain just might hold off until after the race. So I decided to go with the usual cotton Superman t-shirt that I've been wearing for the last 4 years. I might have to look into upgrading the shirt. The shirt does get quite heavy when wet.
Flat runner
Saturday 4/9
I left the house a little later than I normally do, so I didn't get to the Sunset Blvd exit until almost 5 am. Traffic was a bit backed up. The lane to make a right turn on Ivar Ave was backed up quite far, so I couldn't make it over to my usual parking lot. I ended up turning left (south) on Ivar and parked at the ArcLight Cinemas parking structure. I got my stuff ready and started walking towards the start line at Hollywood and Highland. I was about a block away when the scheduled legacy group photo took place at 5:15 am. For a distance I saw them scatter as I was approaching the start line.
Start line
I then headed over to the restrooms by the escalators at the Hollywood and Highland Center. Most of the lines were to use the stalls. For men, there's practically no line if all you needed to do was pee. After I was done, I headed into the corrals where eventually a few of my speedier friends found me.
Per the usual, I opened with a fast mile, 7:17. It was a little bit too fast, so I took my foot off of the gas. I then proceeded to run a more comfortable pace at about 8:30 minutes per mile until about mile 7. From then on, there was just too much discomfort in both the right hip and left foot for me to maintain a good pace. So I held a slow but steady 10:30 min per mile pace to the finish line. It was a grind for the majority of the second half, but I got it done before some of the light rain started falling.
Free race photos!
Photo from Louis Kwan
Click here for my Garmin data.
I thought I did pretty good for how I felt. Most of my running fitness has left me since I've stopped all running in between races. I had been putting on muscle weight in my upper body since I had switched to some light weightlifting to stay active. It was pretty cool to see some minor changes to the race course. All but one of the out and backs heading south side of Hollywood Blvd was removed from the 10k. In prior years, the 10k walkers would be preventing the half marathoners from running a straight path. Even with the one out and back that remained, they had roped off two different lanes for the 10k and the half marathon.
Finish line
After getting my medal, there were post race snacks and drinks. The 5th year anniversary design was much better looking as a medal than it was with the race shirt. I took a bottle of water and started heading back to my car. Along the way, I talked to "Wonder Woman", the girl that I had run with briefly two years ago at this race. It was good to see her again. She did great and told me that she had set a new PR for the half marathon. I will have to try harder to catch her next year! Since it would be a long drive home, I made a quick stop at the portapotties first.
Finisher medal
Wonder Woman, photo from Dave Klukken
I went back to my car and changed out of my wet clothes. I found out that the cost of parking was a flat $12 for the day. With that in mind, I thought about going back to the finish area to watch and cheer on my fellow runners and walkers. However since my body was feeling quite wrecked, I decided to head back home to rest up.
2016: 2:01:29
2015: 1:41:56
2014: 1:43:24
2013: 1:59:50
2012: 2:04:06
After running a bit faster for the past two years, I'm slow again. :)
Here's to 5 more years!
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