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At the LA Chinatown Firecracker 5K/10K, it was a clear 57F degrees just before the gun. The opening ceremonies consisted of dancing dragons, a performance by the Clippers girls, and the lighting of 100,000 firecrackers. It was a party, no doubt.
With 2,500 runners in the 5K event, it was a crowded street. With so much noise, loud speakers, and no one really paying attention, I had no idea the race actually started until we started inching forward.
I had mapped and studied the course, planning a strategy on those three inclines. But when it came to actually running the race, I did not expect how steep or long they really were. Having never trained on hills, I couldn't maintain a run and had to walk most of it.
At mile 1, my watched reported 15:58 much slower than my planned 45 minute goal. I still had a half mile of a long incline to tackle. By the turnaround at mile 1.5, I was at 24:24. Still behind. I needed to really kick it up if I wanted to beat my goal.
But just like I never trained for inclines, I never trained to run downhill. To avoid injury, I kept my knees bent and stride short. But my pace was at 11-12 min/mi. I am definitely making up what I had lost earlier in the race.
At mile 2, my time was at 30:21. So I've returned to my goal average pace, but I have another slight incline at the end before I hit the final homestretch. I took that hill slowly, but once that was over, I picked it up.
I kept looking at my watch to see where I was at and what my time was. It's now or never. At the final quarter mile, and with the finish line in sight, I kicked into 5th gear. I could almost feel my stomach come up at times, but I would not be denied my goal time.
My Garmin showed the course was a tad short of a full 5K, coming in at 3.06 miles and a 43:44 unofficial time.
Official race results:
Time: 43:36
Pace: 14:01/M
Overall Place: 1551/2739
Age Group Place: 70/111
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