Left Coast Contessa

She Runs LA: The Run

April 30, 2011 at 3:47 am 8 comments

Yesterday afternoon I took a break from the books and hit the pavement for my 10k as part of She Run’s LA.

I was so excited to participate in this event because it a WOMEN’s event. The women’s college alum in me still gets excited about all women events. Will you indulge the academic feminist in me for a second while I talk about women running? Of course you will.

Did you know that there wasn’t a women’s marathon in the Olympics until 1984? Seriously, three years before I was born. That is insane. Women weren’t allowed to register for the Boston Marathon until the late 60′s. In fact Kay Switzer registered under her initials in 1967 so she could have the opportunity to run it. No one knew there was a woman running it until after she got going. At mile 4 the race director caught up with her and tried to physically remove her.

Source

Naturally, he wasn’t successful and she finished. The point of this little history lesson? It wasn’t that long ago that running marathon distance was taboo for women. Women were seen as too weak and fragile and therefore unable to compete. The radical in me loves that I’m going to get to train for something which I might not have been able to two generations ago. Seriously, the 60′s weren’t that long ago and the 80′s DEFINITELY weren’t that long ago. Distance running was (and I would argue, is) radical yo and it’s great that Nike brought together a group of women to run.

With that in mind, I suited up for my 6 mile run around my usual 6 mile loop.

Love the race shirt! I left around 2:30 pm and it was almost 80 degrees and sunny! A little warmer than I typically like, but it was OK. Like a champ I forgot my water bottle so I made sure I took ample water fountain breaks and a couple stop light breaks. It was HOT. I ran a bit slower plus I didn’t have my usual “I’m running a race” adrenaline boost and I finished in about an hour. When I was running I saw another person chugging along in a She Run’s LA shirt. It was really exciting to see another person doing the same thing I was doing. I love the collective idea.

And for the occasion I made a playlist. It was meant to be only “girl power” type songs and then somehow the “How the World Ends” remix got included and it got off track. I think I’m incapable of running without some Nicki Minaj.

Here is the mix:

“Run the World (Girls)”, “Ex-Girlfriend”, “Celebrity Skin”, “Till the World Ends (Remix), and “Judas” were totally clutch. Clearly I got off track on the empowering song idea but HEY, at least it’s all ladies on this mix!

After getting home I stretched out and showered so I could hit the She Run’s LA after party in Downtown LA! Stay tuned!

What is your favorite workout song right now?

Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: 10k, feminism, history, Los Angeles, Nike, running, She Runs LA, Women.