EVENT: Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5K
DATE: Sunday, March 1, 2015
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
RACE BEGAN: 08:00 am
FINISH TIME: 1:03:50
This was nearly a DNS/DNF (did not start/did not finish) for me, which would have been a first!
As I've mentioned in a previous post, I am trying to collect all 12 of the Chinese zodiac medals from this race. So far, I have:
- the horse (2013)
- the snake (2012)
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- the dragon (2011)
And now...
... the ram (the medal doubled in size this year, but darn my photography for not capturing that well)!
So that means "only" 8 more.
I registered for this race a couple of months before Baby Tuesday was born, planning to either wear him in a carrier or use a stroller. Well, we haven't quite gotten the hang out babywearing, so the stroller it was. The decision to actually show up to this race was a last-minute one. It was predicted to be a rainy weekend, and I had been running a low-grade fever for a few days, coinciding with my return to work (or maybe due to my return, lol). These things wouldn't have stopped me in the past, but now that I have to worry about making my baby cold or making myself too sick to take care of my baby or go to work when I have no sick time left... more considerations are needed.
I kept checking the forecast overnight (and overnight involves way too many opportunities to check, unfortunately), and the rain seemed to stay away. Two hours before the gun, I decided we were good to go. So I quickly got ready and put the little one in a plushie monkey suit, and we all headed to Chinatown.
We picked up our bibs and hung out for an hour before the start. I covered the little guy's (real, not fuzzy) ears as they set off 100,000 firecrackers near the start (we were also standing way in the back, but still). The starting time for the 5K coincided with nap time, so that kind of worked out. One of my friends decided to drop down to the 5K from the 10K to walk with me, while my other friend and "The Ukrainian" did the 10K, which started half an hour later. There were several others with strollers and dogs who kept the back, a total contrast to my normal "sneak as close to the front as allowable/possible" tendencies.
The weather turned out to be quite nice. A little breezy, some sun, but mostly cloudy. Tuesday slept for half an hour and then started babbling the rest of the way. The 5K course seems to have changed since I last ran it, from a loop at Dodger Stadium to an out-and-back nearby. It was definitely hilly, and moreso pushing my heavy stroller up the hills. I remember just making the first turn when the leaders were coming in to finish, haha! I continued to walk through the finish area, and due to the lengthy 5K, "The Ukrainian" found us not too long later.
Overall, doing this race was pretty uneventful, but the mini-streak is still alive for now. Everything is definitely harder and more unpredictable with a baby, though!! Hopefully next year or the year after, Tuesday can do the Kiddie Run. While this could be considered the baby's first race out-of-utero (see: Big Sur recap from last year), I can't wait until he is old enough to do his own race!!
This new year's race continues to be one of my favorites because it can be as serious or casual as you need it to be.
DATE: Sunday, March 1, 2015
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
RACE BEGAN: 08:00 am
FINISH TIME: 1:03:50
This was nearly a DNS/DNF (did not start/did not finish) for me, which would have been a first!
As I've mentioned in a previous post, I am trying to collect all 12 of the Chinese zodiac medals from this race. So far, I have:
- the horse (2013)
- the snake (2012)
- the dragon (2011)
And now...
... the ram (the medal doubled in size this year, but darn my photography for not capturing that well)!
So that means "only" 8 more.
I registered for this race a couple of months before Baby Tuesday was born, planning to either wear him in a carrier or use a stroller. Well, we haven't quite gotten the hang out babywearing, so the stroller it was. The decision to actually show up to this race was a last-minute one. It was predicted to be a rainy weekend, and I had been running a low-grade fever for a few days, coinciding with my return to work (or maybe due to my return, lol). These things wouldn't have stopped me in the past, but now that I have to worry about making my baby cold or making myself too sick to take care of my baby or go to work when I have no sick time left... more considerations are needed.
I kept checking the forecast overnight (and overnight involves way too many opportunities to check, unfortunately), and the rain seemed to stay away. Two hours before the gun, I decided we were good to go. So I quickly got ready and put the little one in a plushie monkey suit, and we all headed to Chinatown.
We picked up our bibs and hung out for an hour before the start. I covered the little guy's (real, not fuzzy) ears as they set off 100,000 firecrackers near the start (we were also standing way in the back, but still). The starting time for the 5K coincided with nap time, so that kind of worked out. One of my friends decided to drop down to the 5K from the 10K to walk with me, while my other friend and "The Ukrainian" did the 10K, which started half an hour later. There were several others with strollers and dogs who kept the back, a total contrast to my normal "sneak as close to the front as allowable/possible" tendencies.
The weather turned out to be quite nice. A little breezy, some sun, but mostly cloudy. Tuesday slept for half an hour and then started babbling the rest of the way. The 5K course seems to have changed since I last ran it, from a loop at Dodger Stadium to an out-and-back nearby. It was definitely hilly, and moreso pushing my heavy stroller up the hills. I remember just making the first turn when the leaders were coming in to finish, haha! I continued to walk through the finish area, and due to the lengthy 5K, "The Ukrainian" found us not too long later.
 |
| Close to the finish, I circled myself, lol. |
Overall, doing this race was pretty uneventful, but the mini-streak is still alive for now. Everything is definitely harder and more unpredictable with a baby, though!! Hopefully next year or the year after, Tuesday can do the Kiddie Run. While this could be considered the baby's first race out-of-utero (see: Big Sur recap from last year), I can't wait until he is old enough to do his own race!!
This new year's race continues to be one of my favorites because it can be as serious or casual as you need it to be.
Nice job getting out there! Last weekend we ran as a family and had they not been here, I think I would have succumbed to staying home. Things are a lot more work with a baby!!
ReplyDeleteCute picture of you two!