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My First 5K PR!!!!

Published on April 10, 2012, by Samantha Mason in 5k, Health and Fitness.

Hey, so this is awesome.

I finally got my results from Sunday’s race (I have been so busy I forget to check sooner).

Anyway, I not only beat the time from my first 5k, I beat it by kind of a lot. I only measure from my chip time (since I start out towards the center of the mass of people out of politeness to the serious runners).

8510

Samantha

Mason

Los Angeles

25-29 F

33:00.9

34:08.8

409

240

44.8%

I ran the race in 33:00 minutes. My previous chip time was 34:46. I shaved 1 minute and 46 seconds off my 5k! Yay!

I am really anxious to find another one to run, but have not found any races that peek my interest just yet. Any ideas for SoCal races in the next month or two?

Tags: 5k, chip time, health, healthy living, Highland Center, hollywood, Hollywood 5K, Hollywood Half Marathon, jogging, race, race results, runners, running, sports

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I Ran With The Stars

Published on April 7, 2012, by Samantha Mason in 2012, 5k, Health and Fitness, running.

I even ended the race with one of my own.

Score. Awesome medal. Very Hollywood.

I woke up later than I planned this morning. I set the first alarm for 6:15 and slept right through it. This is in part because Mark thought I asked him to set an alarm for 4:15…and so he woke me up at 4:15. Yuck. Anyway, I ignored my alarm until almost 7am.

With an 8am starting time, that made things a bit tight.

Luckily, I had everything ready to go and just grabbed a portable breakfast.

I only live 5 minutes from the Highland center, so I got there with ample time to spare.

I ate a cliff bar I got at my last race, and an apple as I made my way to the starting line.

I’m glad I didn’t get there super early. There was no race day expo or anything so after stretching and a quick trip to the bathroom I only had to stand in the race cue for about 5 minutes.

The starting line was right by the Hollywood Hard Rock Cafe.

It was pretty neat to look down at Hollywood Blvd and realize that I was about to run that iconic strip of golden stars and historic buildings.

The buzzer blew and we were all off. No timed corals this time. I immediately tried to find a space to run away from the hoard and was pleased to see the amount of people I was passing on the way to that goal. My pace was strong and I felt great.

One song in however, my mp3 player decided it didn’t want to play the next song and went spastic on me. I kept my pace up, hoping it would fix itself…but one full minute without music while I run is like an hour for me. I slowed to a walk to reboot the now frozen device, skip the angry song, and move on.

Luckily that was the only glitch. But I struggled to get back into my stride after that.

I was bummed that the first water station wasn’t really…ready. Everything was gone…but no worries. It was just over a mile and I was fine. Wasn’t really thirsty until I saw I couldn’t have any.

Coming up on my half way point, I found a nice little hole in the crowds and tried to get back up to a decent pace.

That didn’t last long though. I was getting passed pretty quickly now. I had a bad cramp in my side already and the not even hot day was already melting me.

I tried to push through and run as much as I could, though.

A little bit after turning at the roundabout (and the halfway point for the 5K) I got a jolt of motivation as we once again starting passing the Hollywood stars, and the famed Pantages Theatre.

Seriously. What a beautiful run.

I was losing it. Gasping for air. I couldn’t breath out of my nose anyway because my allergies have been so bad for the past few weeks and my poor breathing may have contributed to the cramps. But the end was in site.

The half marathoners were splitting off and I could see the finish line.

I also saw that I could beat my last 5k time if I sprinted for it.

I took a deep breath and ran with everything I had left.

I have not seen the official times yet, but I think I finished right at 34:00 minutes, which would beat my previous time. I’ll let you know when that number comes out.

*EDIT* My Final Chip Time was 33:00.9

Someone handed me my medal while I was catching my breath. I shoved it over my head while I found a bottle of water and another one of those Cliff Electrolyte shots from the expo yesterday.

After I was a little more hydrated, I was just thrilled that I did it.

And what an awesome setting for a race.

I had a really good time. I would run this race again.

Tags: 5k, 6:15, 7:00am, 8am, cliff bar, food, hard rock cafe, health, healthy living, Highland Center, hollywood, Hollywood 5K, Hollywood Half Marathon, jogging, race, race eve, running, sports, Star Wars Shirt

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Knott’s Berry Farm – Coaster Run 5K

Published on March 25, 2012, by Samantha Mason in 5k, Health and Fitness.

If I’m being honest, I don’t really like to look at 5:00 am on a Sunday morning.

I don’t like it at all.

Add about 46 degrees to that equation, and I am not starting out with the best conditions for my first ever 5K. But I made it work.

I did ignore the alarm I set at 4:30, and 4:45…and the one Mark set (oops…)

But a bad dream about missing the race sent me straight up in the bed at 5:00am…wide awake. So, that was something.

It was difficult to find the parking lot for the race. Knott’s Berry Farm’s have never impressed me with their signage, and today was no exception. There was like one sign…far away from the address given on the race page. Lame.

But I left way early anticipating long lines to pick up my race bib, so I still made it in plenty of time.

I got to bib pick up by about 6:25.The sun was just starting to peer into the lot, and the Knott’s roosters were crowing their little heads off. I found it sort of hilarious, actually. Happy Race Day, from the roosters.

I wondered around for a while, after bring my race tee and bag of goodies to the car. I grabbed a free coconut water for some pre-race hydration, and snacked on an apple and half of a cliff bar. I also got a free $5 gift card to Home Depot at one of those spin the wheel, get free stuff booths. Score.

But finally I made my way over to the start. They did three starts. The first was a sub 7 minute mile, the second was 8 to 12 minute miles, and the last was over 12 minute mile/ walkers.I squeezed into the back of the middle group. I run about an 11.5 minute mile, but didn’t want to squeeze in with the walkers either.

Apparently there was traffic (I didn’t see any), so we started about 12 minutes late. I got tired of staring at my shoes, and I didn’t know anyone…so I took a picture of my race bib for posterity.

It is my first race, after all. It’s on my leg, because despite cold, I thought my sweatshirt would come off at some point (which it did).

The gun fired for the 7 minute milers, and I got ready. We moved towards the start line, and I turned my music on, and fired up my fit bit’s stop watch. Bam. We were off…

Well….sort of.

My group of runners was the biggest, and it was so crammed I could hardly move, let alone jog. I was just hoping, that if I must get stuck in a crowd, they would at least move along.

About half a mile in, we did run under Ghost Rider…which was pretty cool. I mean, this is the Coaster Run, right?

The crowd really didn’t thin out much during the race, but I was happy to find that most in the back of my group seemed to keep up my pace. I was even able to carve out a little spot for myself in the far right. I had to slow to a walk about five times, but never for more than a minute or so to catch my breath or stop a cramp from spreading.

I was thrilled to find the water station about half way through. I don’t really like running with anything in my hands, so I was ready for a quick cup of water. I was so into running that I tried to drink it while I was still jogging. It went everywhere, but I got enough down.

I meant to check my time once or twice on the fit bit, but I never really got around to it. But I felt I was keeping up the best pace I could, so why did it matter?

Finally, with a little over half a mile to go, I glanced at my time. 29 minutes. My goal of 35 minutes was within my grasp. But I had to run. I quickened my pace, which was good since I started hitting the race photographers, but I stumbled with the finish line in my site. I had to walk…just for a second. But then, I regained my composure and sprinted all out to the finish.

It was worth it.

My official race time was 34:46.

600

Mason,Samantha

1200

36:19.3

34:46.0

11:13

I know it’s nothing special…but for my first time, I was really happy to reach my goal.

After I crossed the finish, I nearly fell over gasping for air. Someone handed me a medal, and I stumbled over looking for water, after shakily getting my sensor off my right shoe. I tried to eat an orange, but settled for sucking the juice out of it. And my complimentary Knott’s pie came home with me for later. Food was not an option.