Los Angeles Marathon Weekend Day 2- 5K - My Anniversary Run

Today was an extremely special day for me. 3 years ago (2011). My spouse entered the LA Marathon, after watching him train I decided maybe I could do this too? I signed up for the LA 5K,bought my Nike+ watch, and jumped on the treadmill, for probably the first time in my life (actual running story to come in a later post). Basically 3 years ago, I couldn't jog at a 4.0 through an entire song. That's where I started. There was no couch to 5K programs, I didn't own a smart phone (the original Iphone) and so I kind of just aimed to get up to a slow jog for 2 songs, 3 songs, 4 songs, 1 mile...etc etc....

Fast Forward 3 years later, we knew we would be in LA for the LA marathon and with the combo purchase it made the 5K $15, I thought it would be fun to celebrate my first race I've ever ran with the huge leaps and bounds I've made. ...one thing is...i forgot HOW HARD this 5K was!!!!! PHEW lol..With 8-10 5Ks under my belt I still claim this as one of THE HARDEST 5K's. With 4 hills, you are proud of yourself finishing this one!

Knowing I had a marathon the next day, I decided I wanted to break my 2011 31:00 finish time but not crush it. I wanted to save some of that energy for tomorrow.

We arrived at the Stadium around 7:15, plenty time to park, walk, and have a last minute bathroom stop. The crowd isn't near as big as the marathon so, getting to the stadium isn't crazy site as the marathon day is.

Welcome to dodger Stadium!

It was really cool, this year they had Dodger Stadium open so, I sneaked in and took a few pictures. I've never been inside before :)

                                           A picture of the finish line before the race began

It was amazing HOW hot, it had gotten before the start of the race. I could feel the sun on my shoulders and arms. I was really worried that if it was like this tomorrow, I'd be in trouble.

ANYWAY, I started farther in the back than I wanted. I ended up having to run around a TON of walkers, some even carrying banners. It was around the time I got out of the stadium I had finally found a group of runners that were around my pace. It was oddly familiar. Even though it was 3 years ago, I remembered the hills....every, one , of them! lol

I didn't want to push it too hard because I had remembered them. I don't how well this picture is going to come out, but here is the elevation map from my nike+

The Green line is my pace, the faded blue is the elevation. (i'll work on getting a better picture asap)

Anyway, I really enjoy the course. It's not extremely scenic, but the greenery and forestry is really relaxing. You don't feel like you're in downtown LA until you wind back down to the stadium.  The last hill is always a tough one and suffered some real bad side stitches .I think I pushed it a little too much going up the 3rd hill and by the 4th my diaphragm was trying to catch up .

I was really excited to see the finish line and raced towards it.  

The finisher bag was pretty awesome for a 5K. It had a towel , a hat, a bracelet, and few food/water items . 

I ended up having a decent finishing time considering I was at a 65% effort  and the temperature was quickly rising.

Anyway, it was great race, well organized, and a challenging course. I was really happy I was able to participate and celebrate my first race again. :)