Half Marathon!

This morning I woke up at 4:45, and joined several thousand people in a 13.1 mile run through downtown(ish) Los Angeles. A law school friend of mine who had signed up for the race a while back talked me into joining the LA Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I hadn't ever run a road race before, though I have been amping up my running lately so thus knew I would be able to complete the distance.

The run ended up being great - I finished with a time of 2:09:46 (not bad, for my first time), with an average pace of 9:54 (normally I run an even 10:00). I was nervous because the race was in the street (normally I run on a dirt track), and because the race route included several pretty nasty hills. I am glad I did the race, and so glad that it's over now!

People have been asking me whether the long-distance running has interfered with my crazy law school schedule and responsibilities. I actually have found that the running helps me. It gives me a period of time (30 min, one hour, two hours) to clear my cluttered brain, to focus on physical rather than mental activity, and to take time to be with my own thoughts. So much of what I do is static - sitting in class, sitting in my car, sitting at my computer - so it's nice to have a hobby where I am outside moving my legs, not staring at a screen or casebook. Also, my day-to-day life is so incredibly competitive that it is nice to just go outside and run without any expectations... or people trying to beat me.

The race was slightly more competitive than my normal running environment, but I was mostly running against the clock rather than the people around me. All told, I had a great race today, my leg muscles are crying now, and I hope to run more races in the future. For fun as well as for sanity.

K