La Jeune Fille

How is it possible to be on time and late?

I don't have the exact answer, but I'm sure I did just that yesterday at my 5k marathon.

The plan was to wake up at 4.30 in the morning and leave my house at 5.15 to be in Huntington by 6.45. That all worked out according to plan... Sort of.

Let me set the scene.

6.25 am: Starbucks, Newport Beach Blvd, Newport. We decided to stop there for water and a bathroom break. About 20 minutes away from destination.

6.43 am: Coasting down PCH towards destination (Huntington St & PCH, Huntington, CA).

6.45 am: Thanks to my anxiousness, we pulled into the first parking lot for the event (Brookhurst & PCH, Huntington Beach, CA). What we didn't realize at the time was this parking lot was a little over TWO MILES away from the start line... And we walked it.

7.05 am: My anxiety increases as I realize that not only the start line but the event center tent is no where in site and my run starts in 10 minutes. I speed up as I realize the other runners around me are here for the half marathon which starts at 7.45 am.

7.15 am: Still haven't arrived at event center, realizing I need to go to the bathroom and wont be able to run 3 miles until I do so... I took off at a faster pace, leaving my mom with plans to meet her at the finish line.

7.28 am: Finally, I arrived at the event center and to my dismay the line for the restrooms is a million miles long (ok, maybe that's an exaggeration but it felt that long)

7.47 am: After waiting in line for what felt like forever, I headed out to find the start line for the 5k race. Because it was so late, I started to feel discouraged. Would they even let me start so late? How am I going to get across the street with hundreds of runners running?

7.51 am: I decided to cross the street and start somewhere in between the start line for the half marathoners and the 5k start line...

I can't believe it. Thinking back on it. I dont know how I did it. It felt so much shorter than what I expected. It was great.

I'm totally doing it again next year.