Location: Hollywood, CA
Start: 6:00am
Finish: 1:48:24
Elevation:
This is the map and elevation chart from the race website page. New course this year. They got rid of the hill at the end but this was by no means a fast and flat course.
This is the elevation chart from my Garmin from mile 3 onward (Garmin did not catch the satellite until mile 3). The peak of the course looks like Batman. Speaking of peaks...holy hills, Batman!
Hollywood! Our room had a nice view!
The expo was held at the same place as last year, the Hollywood Hilton. It appeared to be the same size. Parking at the Hilton was pricey. Apparently, it was free at the lot down the hill but I didn't know this until I was already at the entrance of the Hilton lot and did not feel like going back out and down the hill. Laziness wins again.
I had not planned to run this race two years in a row but a couple of friends from work signed up so I thought 'why not'? Two years in a row makes me a legacy runner since this is the race's second year.
This item came in the swag bag and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to use it for not...you know cause I'm not a man.
After checking into our hotel we went for a walk around Hollywood. Always an interesting experience walking up and down Hollywood Blvd.
I did not sleep very well the night before the race. Fortunately the starting line was right outside our hotel so I got to sleep in a little tiny bit. Believe me, it makes a world of difference when the starting time is 6am!
I have to admit that I lined up at the starting line of this race with PR dreams even though I knew in my heart that I was not ready. I guess I wanted to gain some confidence for Boston. I've been putting in a lot of hard work this past month in an attempt to regain some of my fitness back. It always amazes me how quickly one can lose fitness and how slow and difficult it is to gain it back.
Anyhow, I didn't really have a solid plan for this race. All I knew was that I wanted to give it my best effort. I started out at a medium effort but unestimated those hills in the middle of the course.
The peak of the course near the Silver Lake reservior was pretty steep. Short and steep. I pushed as much as I could to get through all the ups and downs but I was pretty much spent by the time I got to mile 10 where the course started to decline. I'm not exactly happy with my time but I am happy with my effort.
Overall, I thought it was a good race. They've made a lot of changes from last year and it was mostly for the better. Great volunteers and the water and Gatorade tasted really good and there was plenty of it. I know that is a weird thing to say but I've been to many races where the water and Gatorade tasted really bad so this was nice. The course itself wasn't too exciting but I always like running on Hollywood Blvd because the streets are wide open and there is a lot of space to run. I wasn't a fan of the hills, maybe because I wasn't physically and mentally prepared for them but they did add some interests to the course. Plus, I love the bling!
1 comment:
Great job! I also ran this weekend and I agree, the course was not an easy one. I did not expect it to be so hily. I agree that many changes were made for the better since there were a lot of unhappy runners last year.
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