Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Half Marathon Part 2

Race day began with a 4am alarm going off and a lingering bout of indigestion . Without any desire to snooze, I woke up to my cousin's very quiet house, got dressed, hydrated myself with electrolytes, and fueled up on a Luna Bar breakfast. (Regular pre-race routine) ... The day before my cousin had generously fed me at his restaurant Bambo Bistro and I think I ate a little bit more than my stomach could handle - pure gluttony, haha! Fighting an upset stomach, my biggest fear of this morning were GI issues during the race! Thank you Jesus for keeping me healthy during the race!

It was a short drive to Mandalay Bay (starting point) from my cousin's house, and before I knew it I was absorbing in the pre-race energy while waiting in my assigned race corral at the starting line. The temperature was about 40 degrees outside and the sun was barely rising in the desert. Runners were jogging in place and in circles to keep warm. Psyching my body out to run before the race starts makes me nervous; instead I relied on the body heat from other runners in the corral to keep me warm.

One of my favorite things to do before a race is to meet new people. On this morning, I met a handful of runners with their own stories to share. One gentleman from Riverside was running his first official marathon and was very proud to share he had lost 40 lbs and lowered his bad cholesterol level. He said his wife didn't like how skinny he got but he's not ready to give up running. I congratulated him and encouraged him to keep on running! Then there were the good looking cousins :) - they were Vegas locals and originally from Los Angeles. One cousin was running the full marathon and the other one said he was going to decide whether to run the full at the 12 mile split. They were very laid back and somehow we ended up talking about running shoes. Lastly, the experienced marathoner - he was a lot older than all of us and offered to take pictures for everyone in our corral. He kinda reminded me of Mr. Rogers ... As I was gathered my thoughts and got into my zone, there was a huge BANG!! Yup, it was an actual gunshot start! One of the cousins I had met said it sounded like a drive by shooting - haha! He would know, he's from east LA! haha!

Standing in Corral 10, it took about 10 minutes after the gunshot start until we actually got to the starting line. Once at the starting line I was ready to run and ready to have fun! The course took us from the new end of the Strip down to Fremont Street (aka Old Las Vegas) and back. The first 6 miles went by quickly with the slight elevation loss. It was a VERY entertaining course w/ bands staged along the way. More so, it was like a run down memory lane for me :) Running by all the different hotels, I remembered all the Vegas trips dating back to my childhood and vaguely recalled some of the late nights/early mornings partying in Vegas. Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay ... Pure at Caesar's Palace ... Tao at the Venetian ... the crazy babysitter when we stayed at Circus Circus, and the list goes on! Around mile 4 there was a run through wedding stage at the Venetian Hotel. Yes, couples actually got married and some renewed their wedding vows. Women wore white running gear and pinned white veils to their running hats, while the grooms wore tuxedo printed t-shirts. Only in Vegas could we do such a thing ...

I was surprised by the lack of supporters along the race route. Not as many as I expected for a race w/ 28,000 runners. Since it was Vegas, I did run by some ladies taking their walk of shame along the street in Saturday night's short black clubbing dress. There was also an inebriated guy aimlessly crossing the race route w/ a beer and cigarette in hand. He seemed clueless at the fact that a stampede of runners were charging towards him. Only in Vegas, right? ... Around mile 6, the route took runners into the old downtown Vegas area. The local bar staged a beer station and handed out cups of beer. Surprisingly many runners embraced the spirit and picked up a beer ... or two!

About an hour into the race, I fueled up on Sports Beans and all the electrolytes offered along the course. After my experience w/ the full marathon, I know these water stations are there for a reason and I'm gonna drink up! The last 6 miles proved a little more challenging b/c of the slight elevation gain coming back up the Strip. Even though it was slight, my body noticed the change. I was on pace to run a sub 2 hour race and was feeling good. At one point I got a little greedy thinking I could set a PR, but I had to remind myself to keep it healthy and enjoy myself! At the 12.5 mile mark the race course split - half marathon runners to the left and full marathoners to the right. Without any hesitation, I charged straight ahead and to the left w/ a huge smile on my face - haha! Maybe next year I'll rear right?! ... The finishline was in sight!! I sprinted the last 1/4 mile and crossed the finishline at 1:58:42 ... Mission accomplished!

Soon after crossing the finishline, I felt an awkward pain in my right ankle. Not sure what I did to it during the run, I headed over to the medical area and had it iced immediately. My biggest fear was I pulled something in my last 1/4 mile sprint and I didn't want to take any risk and wait the pain out. After the icing and stretching the pain subsided and I was on my away having accomplished my 4th race of the year ... Overall a great race experience, good weekend getaway, and maybe one year I'll do it again to run through the wedding stage!