The “crowded” Metro this morning

Remember the crowded public transportation in DC? Not here. During the expo yesterday, the Hollywood Half Marathon’s Facebook page blew up with complaints about traffic and parking. I figured everyone would wise up for race day and say, “Forget it. Let me just hop on the subway and I won’t have to worry about any of that.” Nope. ‘Cause I live in LA.

This morning, in the words of Paolo Nutini, “I put my new shows on, and suddenly everything is right.” I cannot believe I neglected to mention in my post about Ohio that my mom bought me a new pair of kicks!

As you know, I’ve kind of been a little obsessed with Brooks ever since I saw the amazing Brooks running carnival display at a Rock ‘n’ Roll expo.

In Ohio, while a lot of shoe shopping was going on, I tried  these Pure Connects, and was hooked. They’re so light! I can fly in them, and I don’t mean fly as in go super fast; I mean fly as in Peter Pan, get lifted off the ground and fly around. (Of course, I’m exaggerating, but, they are super light and awesome.)

I’ve been sort of breaking them in-ish, over the last couple of weeks. I’ve done some walks in them. I took them out for a short jog while I was still in Ohio. In my heart, I knew that I should’ve definitely done more actual running in them before today (and going longer distances would’ve helped as well).

I knew they weren’t totally broken in, but I figured they were broken in enough. My other pair (my Asics Kayanos) were getting tired of being raced in every week. I knew I really needed to start alternating. I threw caution to the wind and put on my new sneaks.

My new kicks! – Brooks Pure Connect shoes

My shoes felt so amazing in the morning. As the day wore on they started to feel tighter and hurt a little, which is totally my own fault. I should’ve broken them in more. Brooks is an awesome company with awesome shoes that shouldn’t take any blame for mistake. But definitely, the longer that half marathon went on, the more my feet hurt. I ended the day with 4 blisters (all on the same foot). (You’re welcome for omitting the picture of that.) But, blisters can be fun, so I didn’t mind.

As I got ready for the race, I pulled out my Hollywood Half bib, and there weren’t any safety pins to be found. Luckily, I had a number of them left over from other races, so crisis averted. Also, there weren’t any zip ties or any kind of tying apparatus that usually comes with timing chips. I just used my shoe laces to hold it in place. Problem solving in the morning. Woot woot.

I head out the door and onto the nearly empty subway, where you would never have any idea that a race is taking place that morning. When I got up to Universal Studios, I was unbelievably pumped to finally find my very own picture of something to submit to The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks.

I saw Marty and Wendy. (For those who you who are new to the blog, I met them here and later had an amazing vacation with them (and Becky).)

This morning, I also met Joe, Ragnar runner #7 on the team for which I’ll be volunteering in 2 weeks. (I’m so stoked about that!) He was incredibly nice! (You’ll hear more about him tomorrow or the next day.)

My picture for the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks! The horse’s rump says – I LOVE taking pictures but “PLEASE” don’t sit on ME! Thank you – Which I guess means, “I am NOT saying please. This is not a question, but an order.”

As the race gets closer, we all line up in our corrals. I do an absolutely awful job of trying to find Joey McIntyre. (Read: I don’t try to find him at all. (I was caught off guard when he ran in Pasadena, but had ample warning about his appearance in this one.))

I should’ve at least done one of those nonchalant strolls around. “Oh, I’m just checking out the scene… Joey McIntyre? What are you doing here?”

By the time my corral crossed the start line about 30 minutes-ish after the race started, my feet were sort of already over it. I had already been standing around in my new shoes for close to 2 hours. Tsk tsk, Aurora for not breaking them in better.

Now that I’ve finally gotten around to talking about the race itself and not all the pre-race stuff, I’ll pick up here tomorrow!

Tagged: 13.1, California, Half Marathon, Hollywood, Hollywood half marathon, Running