i'd managed to sweet-talk amber into picking me up at the hotel. at first, i'd considered asking the hotel if they had a driver who could take me to the start line, but it was much nicer to ride with my friend and head over there together. when we pulled into the parking lot that was designated for that day's race participants, i glanced to my left and realized that i could totally have walked over. ha! oh, well. it was still way more fun to sit and chat with amber anyway. and not long after we got there, kirkette arrived with her husband to complete our happy little holiday running trio.
yes, we totally coordinated our outfits with headgear courtesy of amber. kirkette looked adorable with her little painted-on nose. and amber and i were amused to find that we'd actually dressed exactly alike save for our headbands. my elf "hat" slipped off constantly, but i loved it.
there were tons of people there, and i'd seen on our race shirt that this was the 35th year of this run.
obviously, this is a tradition for a lot of folks. we stood in a sea of red and white, with lots of silly costumes to gawk at.
as the race began, i found myself trotting along behind this chick. i spent a few minutes trying to figure out how on earth dorothy from "wizard of oz" could possibly be a christmas-related costume, and then i got over it and passed her ass up.
between the three of us, kirkette is most definitely the most seasoned runner. she's done countless half and full marathons, and she'd also done the spartan race the same day i did. anyway, i was pretty proud of myself for managing to keep up with her all the way to the first u-turn. i don't remember how far that was, but i gratefully slowed down and took a walk break and that's where i lost her. amber found me after awhile and we kept pace with each other for a bit until she, too, left me in the dust. heh.
the last stretch of the run took us all along famed venice beach. i didn't really take a lot of pictures as i was focused on getting through the 6.2-mile course. it was the longest run i'd done in weeks, although it was timed just when i needed it as i train for my second go at the tinkerbell half at disneyland. it was funny to be cheered on by all sorts of random people along the way.
i really had to push myself to keep going - there was even a man who tried to motivate me to keep from walking with a "come on, girly, you can do this. i'm 75, you can't let me pass you up" - and so i was pretty excited when the finish line was finally in sight. even better? santa was high-fiving everyone who crossed it.
we were all pretty satisfied with our performances, and i was especially pleased to find that i'd managed to set another PR. i managed to beat my time from the awesome 80s 10K by a full two minutes, with a finish time of 1:03. sweet.
this is how happy i was:
when i got back to the casa del mar, i found my family relaxing on the pool deck, enjoying quite a lovely view after a leisurely breakfast.
after i got cleaned up and packed all of my stuff, we checked out and headed out to find something for me to eat. i was starving, and the hub surprised me by pulling into a place i've always wanted to try. plus, khloe and lamar had their rehearsal dinner here! whee!
because it was so early, we basically had our pick of tables. the hostess seated us at the corner table with a fabulous view of santa monica pier, which made the bean happy.
but don't worry about me. i was pretty stoked myself. this was the best crab cake i've ever had:
and i decided that i couldn't have a meal at a place called the lobster without having some...well, lobster.
holiday-themed run, check! this one was really fun, and i'm hoping the girls will want to do a repeat next year. and now i get a little break from organized races until january 5th, when the teen and i tackle our first run of 2013 with the new year's race. it goes through downtown l.a. at night. sounds fun, right?
just nod your head and smile. thanks.
You and Amber and Kirkette all look great!
ReplyDelete