the heat is on

the EIF revlon 5K fell on the teen's birthday this year.  i made sure to get her blessing before i registered to run it again, and since she was going to spend the morning and afternoon at her dad's anyway, it was all good.  i was doing it solo this year, though, since my friend kelley is down in san diego now.

i somehow managed to wake up a solid hour before my alarm was set to go off, and after 30 minutes of trying unsuccessfully to fall back asleep, i gave up and got ready.  good thing too, because although there was zero traffic on the way to the coliseum, i ended up spending 45 minutes sitting on vermont avenue trying to get into the parking lot.  bah!

last year, i froze my ass off until the race started.  this time, the sun was out in full force with temps in the high 80s forecasted.  ick.  but it was a beautiful morning.

i'd somehow managed to put off doing laundry and completely missed my chance to sport my team superhero singlet at this run.  i settled for my hollywood half shirt and hat instead, but i don't think that counts.  oh, well.

the race wasn't set to begin until 8:45 - super late compared to most other runs i do, so i had time to kill. i strolled through the expo and checked out the various booths, but i couldn't pick anything up because i sure didn't want to tote anything for 3.1ish miles.  and as i spied this awesome headgear, i thought of my friend ashley - she hates shark week.

i followed the crowd to the start line and maneuvered my way to the front, where the runners were cordoned off to begin the race a few minutes ahead of the walkers.  the national anthem had just been sung and the race directors were up on the podium thanking everyone for coming and introducing the various celebs who were "hosting" the event.  this year, it was brooke anderson from "entertainment tonight," "modern family"'s julie bowen and andy garcia.  oh, and halle berry was supposedly there too, but she didn't make an appearance before we were released.

look at the giant crowds behind us!

confetti guns went off at the start line.

you can't see them, but the hosts (minus halle) are standing up there.

so...although the roped-off area i was in was supposed to be designated for the runners, i was still stuck having to weave around a bazillion walkers who strolled along five abreast.  ugh.

check out this crazy dude running in a full-on red bodysuit.  and it was HOT, yo.  i was extra sweaty just looking at him.  hell, i damn near passed out from heat exhaustion just watching him trot along in that thing.

despite all that, i somehow managed to run the first mile in under ten minutes.  i was about 15 seconds behind the gun time, so mile 1 was about 9:45.

amazingly, i managed to maintain that pace through the second mile too.  but then the heat got to me and i had to slow down for the final stretch.  bah.  i still jogged past the abc-7 camera, though.  too bad i didn't actually see me on the screen.

the course wound back around the way it had started, and there was a shitload of walkers just beginning their journey as i was making my way back towards the coliseum.

natural history museum!

the heat was really getting to me at this point, and i was on a walk break when i heard someone coming up behind me encouraging everyone to keep it up.  she inspired more than a few of us to pick up the pace, especially as she proudly wore a sign that proclaimed her cancer-free for four years running.  awesome.

the pulsating beat from these drums were helpful for that final stretch, too.

finally!  i remembered how much i loved running through this tunnel into the coliseum last year, and it was no less thrilling this time around.

just around the bend was this kick ass sight, along with the finish line.

well-deserved blingage.

i grabbed a bottle of water and made my way up the stairs towards the exit, but stopped for just a second to turn around and take a look.

on my way to grab my t-shirt and goodie bag, i came across julie bowen and her friends.  she was drenched in sweat and i overheard her joke loudly about "never coming back!  just like gwyneth at the met gala.  i'm never coming back!"  heh.

the volunteers handing out the goods were standing out in direct sunlight, and i was miserable on their behalf.

interesting sample freebie.  uh...yeah.

on my way back to the car, a different view of the drumline.

and hey, there's that newsvan again.

i'm not sure if i'll do this one again next year.  it's a great cause, a fun course, and 5Ks with finisher's medals are always good.  but it was just so damn hot.  push back the start time by an hour and i'm there.  we'll see.