LA Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon

​OMG I did it. I ran my second half marathon this year! AHHHH!!!

A year ago I was walking downtown in DTLA seeing all these crazy people running 13 miles in costumes. It was so cool! At the time 5ks were my distance so I didn't feel that urge to jump in. Fast forward to today and add 10 miles to those 5ks. Now I'm HALF crazy.

I really did not train for this at all. I was running 3-5 miles twice a week at the most. I've ran long distances in the past, but I was still super nervous (so nervous I couldn't even hold my bib upright)! This is also the first race that my dad didn’t run with me. He hasn't been able to run since this Spring from a knee injury. Luckily my good friend Narek was a super awesome race buddy that got me through the whole thing.

This race was so incredible and filled with good vibes because the whole LA running family came together. There were so many peeps I run with on a weekly basis from groups like Rundalay, UnitedLA, BlacklistLA, MIP, and so many more! There would be a few times where you would see a familiar face run past you at the turn around or come up behind you. It was such a great push when you’d get the chance to cheer each other on.

It was cool running in my stomping grounds of LA. We started in downtown, ran to USC around the Coliseum, back up downtown, up a few hills, over the bridge, in some weird alley, back over hills, and straight back to where we started in front of Staples Center.

My dad was sweet enough to come out to support me and watch me cross the finish line. It was such good motivation knowing he was there at the end! My friend Kimberly who is one of my amazing POP students came out to run her first 5k. So proud of her!

Narek and I had such a blast chatting, singing, and dancing (did the cupid shuffle at one point)! I couldn't be more grateful to have such a positive fun person to run with. All that fun cutesy stuff didn't last so long....hills shut me up around mile 7. (My facial expression below says it all - this was the last sprint but you bet I made this face a lot).

Once we got over the first hill miles 8-10 were pretty comfortable. The last mile and a half was TOUGH. They threw in another hill of course. My knees were a little achy, my lower back ached, and I started getting hungry. I knew it would be over soon enough so I kept pushing. The finish line and crowd of people is the best adrenaline boost at the end of races. I saw my dad as I crossed through with made me super happy. Narek and I were 5 minutes over 2 hours. I can say I'm pretty happy with that. My first half was 30 seconds under 2 hours. I'm happy I got close to two especially with no training.

Literally grabbed every gatorade, water, chocolate milk, banana, bars...basically everything in sight at the end. My foot, back, knees hurt, my head was dizzy, but my heart was happy. I'm so proud of myself for doing this! I still can't believe I can run long distances. Thank you all to wished me good luck and kept me in your prayers. I always keep in mind everyone I love when I run, because when it gets tough I make sure to push through for those that I love. Cannot wait for Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll #stripatnight in one week!!!

In LOVE & Sweat,

Lexi