10K - I DID IT!

I did it!  I completed the Hollywood 10K!  I didn't run in the four weeks before the race.  I still hate running.  But I did it!

I left home at 6:00am, anticipating street closures and parking issues.  I meant to park at Hollywood & Highland, entering from Orange...but once I took my 101 exit, I couldn't find Orange with all the closures.  Then, somehow with my detours, I ended up in Burbank.  There I was, driving past Warner Bros studios...clearly not where I wanted to be.  After a forty-minute excursion, I gave up parking in Hollywood, went to the Universal Metro parking lot, and took the Red Line one stop to Hollywood/Highland. (Why didn't I just do that in the fist place?!)

I finally got where I needed to be and waited.  Once I arrived, I was glad to be there...but throughout the night, I definitely considered skipping it.  A bottle of wine and four hours of sleep the night before definitely made sleeping in pretty appealing.  I knew I'd regret not going.  I felt fine, though, and I got more excited as we approached the start.

Then it happened!  I started running a 10K!  I thought I was doing well...then looked at my watch.  Only six minutes into it.  Not even a mile into my 6.2 miles.  Oops.  I did a bit of a run/walk for the first half, which was fine.  I reached the halfway-point turn-around at thirty minutes...and then I kept running.  I ran 20-25 minutes straight after that!  It was a slow little mini-jog, but I didn't stop that pace!  I only walked for a minute or two once I saw the finish line in the distance, so I could prepare for my glorious finish.

AND I FINISHED PRETTY WELL!  I almost sprinted the final thirty seconds or so.  I felt like a gazelle.  Or a Kenyan.  I ran and ran and I finished a 10K!

Running update

I still hate running, so this is not going well.  My 10K is two and a half weeks away...and I haven't gone running in about that same amount of time. Alexa and I started a plan to hold each other accountable for running/gym time.  We have a shared Google Doc to track our runs, and decided we'd compete for total distance—run/walk three days a week, for minimum twenty minutes each time, and log our miles.  It was working for awhile...then she temporarily stopped due to injury, and without racing her for distance (I like winning things!), I stopped going too.  Bad.

I have to run over six miles soon!  And then I have to run over thirteen miles in a few months!  RARH.

Registered for my half-marathon...and a 10K

So...I'm registered for the Disneyland Half-Marathon now.  Guess I'm really doing this.

Also registered for the Hollywood 10K in April.  If I have to run to train for the big race...I might as well get a cool star medal from them, too.

I still hate running.

I Hate Running

I seriously hate running.  I've done two 5Ks with my friends within the last year and a half (Warrior Dash and Spartan Race)...but I was in it for the obstacles.  And the beer at the end.  That is the way to motivate us: hijinks and beer.  But even on those "fun" courses, I remember asking (several times), "Why am I running? No one is chasing me..."

Here's the thing: I will be turning 25 next year. Twenty five.  That's a grown-up age.  I need to do something big to mark the occasion.

So I'm going to run a half-marathon.

The Disneyland Half-Marathon is held in September.  I don't want to run a random course just for the sake of running, because I hate running.  But I love Disneyland.  The timing and location are perfect.

I kinda-sorta started going to the gym to take spin classes with my roommate (maybe I've only done that twice), and sometimes I get on the elliptical machine.  Last Friday, I got on the treadmill and ran 2.1 miles in 22 minutes, and on Sunday I did 1.6 miles in 16 minutes. So I'm like one-seventh of the way there already.

I know I should be running outside for real terrain, but it's so easy for me to stop then. I can't as easily stop on the treadmill because it's moving. And people will judge me for walking on it.  So until this becomes a habit, I'm sticking with the moving treadmill in a judgmental environment.

I'm heading over to the gym again now.  And I really, really hate running.