I went to the Wearable Tech Conference last week in Los Angeles and stayed at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City. Before I went, I knew I wanted to run. I figured the weather would be beautiful and it would enable me to run outside. I planned on running two days.
Since my plane was delayed the night before and I had very little sleep, I skipped the run on day 1. On day 2, I woke up at 6 a.m., put on my running clothes and my favorite New Balance running shoes and went out the door. I wasn’t prepared for the cold. There was actually ice on the ground!
Getting ready for the run
I wore my pair of Zensah compression knee high socks with my Nike Capri pants, a tee-shirt and a Nike long sleeve running top. Once I got going, I wasn’t cold but I wish I had brought my running gloves. My hands felt frostbitten the entire run. I just couldn’t warm them up.
I started the run outside my hotel and ran down a long hill. The hill was a little over a quarter mile in length. I followed the instructions that the hotel provided me. I decided not to use the running route I found online. I thought I was better off using the route provided by the hotel but in retrospect, I’m not really sure.
Running past Universal Studio
Once I was down the hill, I turned right on Lankershim and ran past two Universal Studio entrances. That was kind of exciting. I wondered if I would bump into a celebrity, but I don’t think I would recognize anyone anyway! I did see some fancy cars driving through the gates though.
Right before the road turned to Cahuenga, I ran over a bridge and I saw the mountains in the background. It was gorgeous. I stopped and took a photo.
I followed the directions into a residential community. At first, I saw apartment buildings, then small houses and as I continued through the residential neighborhood, I saw nice big homes. There were no sidewalks, so I ran in the street. There weren’t many cars so I felt safe.
I kept stopping. I didn’t know where I was going and since I am known for being directionally challenged, I wanted to make sure I didn’t get lost. I asked people on the street if I was going in the right direction. They confirmed.
Feeling free
Although I didn’t know where I was or where I would end up, I loved the run. There was a wonderful sense of freedom that I felt and almost as if I were playing a game of, run with your eyes closed and then find your way back.
Throughout the entire run, I wished the hotel had offered a better route. I had to run on the sidewalk for the most part. The streets were crowded with cars. I felt it was safest for me to stay on the sidewalk although I worried about getting shin splints. At one point, I was running on someone’s lawn because there wasn’t a sidewalk.
Where is the hill?
I made my way back to Cahuenga/Lankershim, the main street, ran past the brook and the mountains, ran past two Universal Studio entrances and just when I thought, where is this hill, I asked a man standing by the bus stop.
“Sorry madam,” he said, “I don’t know of a hill.”
I thanked him, ran past the bus stop less than 100 feet and there was the hill. (Did he really not know that there was a hill there?) I started to run up the hill and then I said out loud, “FORGET IT!”
It was practically a 90-degree angle and kept going. I could barely walk up the hill let alone run. I saw a shuttle bus go past. I was mad at myself for not taking it. Although it wasn’t that far up the hill, I felt like I would never make it back to my hotel. I secretly wished that I stayed at the Sheraton, which was a bit further down the hill and the first hotel I came across. Even during the hill run, I stayed on the sidewalks. There was a narrow road that was extremely busy at 7 am!
A new frontier
When I finally made it back to my hotel, I completed a four-mile run and I smiled. I made it. I didn’t get lost, I ran even though my hands were frozen and I felt amazing. There’s nothing like running in a new frontier!