Day 45: Beneath That Old Hollywood Sign

Last day in California, and I can't wait to get out of the hotel room for one last journey around town in my running shoes. Today is a Run 8, Walk 5, Run 8, Walk 5. After the steady increases of the last week, I almost said screw it and made it a Run 16, Walk 5, to make keeping track of everything easier. Instead, I loaded up my pen (and other gear), set my alarms, and set out into the warm California sun!

Since I decided on the 8/5/8/5, I knew today would be a breeze. I can do 8 minutes in my sleep now. So I took off quite arrogantly, running a bit for speed today.

I followed a similar route as before, taking Highland toward Hollywood - missed the light at Franklin, so I turned east and went down Las Palmas. There was construction of some sort going on, so I had to cross Las Palmas, which kind of disrupted my run, but not too much. I made it to Hollywood Blvd....it was about an hour later than my previous run, and what a difference that hour makes.

Quite a few people to dodge this morning, including the guy power washing the Walk of Fame (now known as the Run of Fame, fyi). The sidewalk around the Run of Fame isn't concrete - it's something slick, so I thoroughly enjoyed trying not to crack my skull on Carl Reiner's star.

I knew I was getting close to the end of my first 8 minutes, so I was charging ahead, trying to meet my alarm at Cahuenga. It hadn't gone off, so I looked at the time, disbelievingly, and sure enough, I had run the 8 minutes. I looked at the alarms, and ugh...I had used my phone for the alarm clock to get up this morning and apparently "Alarm 1" was still turned OFF from when I turned it off originally, even though I had reset the time. So I ran a wee more than 8 minutes, but I got the alarm reset, and the street written on my hand, didn't slip on the wet pavement, and took off again just past Whitley.

I started to feel particularly old when I was noticing how young and pretty the bums are here. Only in Hollywood, people, only in Hollywood.

I wasn't sure where I was headed, and I definitely regret having not run down to Sunset, instead of criss-crossing Hollywood, but that's how it went. I ran all the way down to the actual entrance of the Kodak Theatre, then turned back and ran up the west side of Highland. I was completely tapped out. It felt significantly hotter today than it had been, and I was pushing entirely too hard. When I got to the stoplight by the Methodist Church, it was red on my side, and I didn't think I had enough time to get across Highland. I was about to die. I flat out stopped and waited for the light to change. I couldn't have done the Super Douche if I had to. If I hadn't had to wait for the light, I don't know if I would've made it. (Which makes me think city runners are kinda cheats.)

Anyway, I didn't have to wait long, and I started walking across, but took off pretty quickly. I almost got plowed over by a guy running the other direction in a Hard Rock Cafe polo (like a uniform), pulling a suitcase on wheels. Odd. My alarm went off pretty quickly, as I was running past the church parking lot. I walked up to Franklin, my last stoplight before the hotel, and had to run across Highland to get the light. I walked the rest of the way, and ended at about 4 minutes of walk time.

My left ankle hurt pretty badly, so I wrapped it up before heading to the car for a long, uber-hot drive through the desert to the Grand Canyon.

Weather: 73 (felt way warmer; weird), Light Breezes, Not a Cloud Anywhere, 58% Humidity
Time: 7:30am; Run 8, Walk 5, Run 8, Walk 4
Distance: 3.03K (1.88m)
Elevation: +29.5/-41.4/net -12 ft
5K/10K: 42:57/1:30:47 (Second only to kansas times)

Run Time: 16 minutes
Distance: 2.31K (1.44m)
5K/10K: 36:51/1:17:53 (Best, not counting Original Day 40, which was a mess)