I had a rough few days leading up to this race. I was mostly coughing up a lot of yellow phlegm which disrupted my sleep. Most of the flu had worked itself out of my body and the coughing had died down. Since I was feeling much better today, I decided to give it a go. I got ready and left the house at about 4:30 am. Sticking with my normal pre-race routine, I exited the 5 freeway at Los Feliz Blvd to get my coffee at a Starbucks that was open early enough. I ordered the usual grande blonde vanilla latte.
Grande blonde vanilla latte
With my coffee in hand, I drove over to Griffith Park and parked at the Merry Go Round Lot One. Per the emailed race instructions, I followed the direction of the volunteers. At about 5:20 am, it would appear that I got one of the last spots in this parking lot. Late comers were routed over to the other lots. The email also stated that packet pick-up started no earlier than 5:15 am. It was still quite dark when I walked over to the start area to pick up my race packet. It was just a race number and a race shirt. I hung out in my car until it was closer to the start of the race. The marathon was scheduled to start at 6:30 am. I timed it to use one of the portapotties about 30 minutes before the start of the race.
Race bib
Race shirt
The marathon and 50k started at the same time. While waiting for the start, I took some selfies with my friends. The race director gave some last minute instructions as well as informed us that the finisher medals did not arrive in time and will be mailed to finishers. After that we were off. Today's goal was just for me to finish the race before the cutoff. I took it easy from the get go, but the lungs definitely were not 100%. My heart rate was way higher than usual, so I took walk breaks often. As with all trail races, this course had a lot of climbing. There were out and backs with one in particular that we ran more than once. It was nice that I got to see my friends that were ahead of me. The course actually got quite crowded as the day wore on with non-race participants showing up for their exercise. Late in the race, my legs cramped up pretty badly. I kept eating and taking in electrolyte fluids, but they were no help. Even though I was moving pretty slowly, I made sure to just keep breathing as deeply as I could while I moved forward in my march towards the finish line.
Start line
Cherry
ABC
Lea
Still early
Bench with a view of the Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory
View of the Wilson & Harding Golf Courses
Richard "Mongo" Gilmore bench
Turnaround point
Cramping up badly near the end
Barely able to jog the downhills
Marathon finish: 6:56:45
Click here for my Garmin data.
I ended up having to walk across the finish line. They did have some generic medals at the finish line in case people wanted to take a finisher photo with one. I chatted with my friends about their races as I tried to get my legs to loosen up. They all did much better than me out there. That course was significantly harder than the one that I had run back in 2013 and 2014! Eventually, I found a spot to sit down. I drank some water and had half a Subway sandwich. I put some mustard on it to try and help alleviate the leg cramps. I also took 3 Cuties on my way out.
Finisher medal arrived in the mail on 4/12
Hector
3 Cuties
While I had no trouble walking around, it took a while just for me to get inside the car! The leg cramps were really bad whenever I tried to get into the driver seat! In general, it's usually a lack of electrolytes or dehydration that'll lead to the muscle cramps. However, this time it would appear to be a lack of oxygen. The cramps would go away if I took deeper breaths. All of the residual gunk from the flu was still hindering the amount of oxygen that I was taking in for my muscles.
Originally, I had thought about swinging by Chinatown to pick up my race packet for tomorrow's 10k. However, the traffic heading home was atrocious. Is it always this bad on a Saturday afternoon? Both of my legs were cramping off and on, so I was just trying to stay focused and not crash into the car in front of me!
Sunday 3/9
I questioned my life choices as I got ready and left the house at about 5:30 am to go run a 10k race. Somehow I convinced myself that this wasn't just an ordinary 10k. This was the Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 10k! Originally, I couldn't run it as it was on 2/2 which conflicted with the Disneyland Half Marathon. Due to the unprecedented fires, the air quality was terrible among other factors, so the race was postponed to this weekend. One of the main reasons why I like this race is because they always have race shirts and medals with the best designs! I arrived at about 6:15 am. Just like last year, I found street parking in front of the Alpine Recreation Center along Yale St. I then walked over to the Chinatown Central Plaza to pick up my race packet.
Drawstring bag
Goodie bag contents
Race shirt
Next from there, I walked over to the Starbucks to get my pre-race coffee. Just like yesterday, I placed my order on the mobile app for my tried and true, grande blonde vanilla latte. I enjoyed my coffee with my usual CLIF bar. While having my pre-race breakfast, I saw a homeless guy concoct a drink out of the coffee creamer.
Grande blonde vanilla latte
Chinatown Gateway
After I was done with my breakfast, I headed back to the Chinatown Central Plaza. I used a portapotty and got my annual selfie with the Bruce Lee Statue before heading over to the start line to catch the opening ceremonies before the start of the 5k race.
Packet pick-up area
Bruce Lee
Pace vehicle 1
Pace vehicle 2
Start line
Not sure if it was planned that way, but the amount of firecrackers were less this year. In my opinion less would be better as setting off all of those firecrackers just cannot be good for the air quality when people were about to run a tough hilly course! As I got back to my car to shed layers ahead of my race, I saw spent firecracker debris on my car. Along the way back to the start corral, I got some cool pictures of a wall mural and a couple of the lions.
Wall art
Lions
The 10k race started at 8:40 am. Understandably, the legs felt a bit heavy during that first mile. Since the first half was mostly uphill, I just focused on feeling as comfortable as I could. I was able to cover those early climbs, but I had to take a walk break on the last major climb. The lungs just weren't giving me enough oxygen. I was able to take advantage of the downhills until I reached the turn up to the Downtown Gate entrance. Eventually, I had to take another walk break just as an ambulance was trying to get onto the 110 freeway. After getting past the final aid station, I was able to hit the gas and run down to the finish line.
10k finish: 53:41
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I received my finisher medal. For a non-runDisney race, this race always has the best medals for a 10k. It's definitely not the largest medal, but that's to be expected for a non-profit race. After picking up a couple of fruit and a bottle of water, I started heading back to my car. I definitely was not in the mood to stick around as I was coughing and was just plain pooped.
Medal and post race goodies
Finisher medal
Close-up of finisher medal
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