It was a lot of fun, and of course, out of all 4 of us, I came in last! Hahaha! But...Jackson came in 2nd in his age group with a time of 26:05, and he actually got a cute little trophy!
Despite Jackson having JC's build and ability to run fast, this was Jackson's first 5k. We were very proud of him!!!
The first weekend in December, JC and I flew to Las Vegas to participate in the Rock & Roll 1/2 & Full Strip at Night Marathon.
I am not a runner...JC is the natural runner, but we both started running (me for the first time and JC after a long break) about a year ago. Although JC ran track at Carolina and has run a few half marathons, he had never run a full marathon before. In June we decided to sign up for this particular race. I was scared from the beginning because it is at night, and I only really run in the morning. Sometimes I run after work around 3 in the afternoon, but it's only a few miles at most.
We flew out on Friday, and the race was on Sunday. Friday afternoon, we went to the expo to pick up our race bags and just see what all they had out.
This is one of my favorite shirts that I saw...
I snapped this photo with my iPhone as I was walking to the Starters Village.
I am not a runner...JC is the natural runner, but we both started running (me for the first time and JC after a long break) about a year ago. Although JC ran track at Carolina and has run a few half marathons, he had never run a full marathon before. In June we decided to sign up for this particular race. I was scared from the beginning because it is at night, and I only really run in the morning. Sometimes I run after work around 3 in the afternoon, but it's only a few miles at most.
We flew out on Friday, and the race was on Sunday. Friday afternoon, we went to the expo to pick up our race bags and just see what all they had out.
This is one of my favorite shirts that I saw...
It pretty much sums up how I was feeling at that point! Haha
One of the sponsors of the race is P.F. Changs, and the restaurant actually has a team who runs carrying this incredibly long dragon. Anyone who beats the dragon's time in the half gets a coupon for a free order of lettuce wraps. We found the P.F. Changs booth, and I made JC take his picture with the dragon.
On Saturday, we got up and did a very light run to check out the Starters Village and later that day we went to see the Conservatory at The Bellagio. That night we had dinner and then went to see Ka at MGM. I had a very hard time sleeping Saturday night. I was so incredibly nervous!
Sunday morning we decided to get up and just go down to the buffet at MGM. The plan was to eat slowly and to eat a lot of carbs...this was carb loading at its best - only first thing in the morning instead of the night before a race.
Again, though, I just felt so sick on my stomach. I was so nervous and worried about actually being able to run 13.1 miles. The most I had done in my training was 11.
We came back to our room and really just stayed in there the rest of the day. JC's full marathon started first. We got our gear together and did a lot of sitting around waiting.
JC had to leave the room at 2 to make his way to the starting line, and he actually started at 3:02pm.
Since I was running the half (which officially didn't start until 4:30 pm), and since there were so many people running, I didn't get to the start line until 5:16pm that night...it got dark at 4:50 pm while were out there.
It was such a crazy experience. This is one of only 2 days out of the year that they close the strip in LV. It was a little surreal to run through the streets with those giant casinos and all their lights on either side of you.
I snapped this photo with my iPhone as I was walking to the Starters Village.
Another unexpected snafu is that there were crazy winds that day. The wind was blowing at 25 mph with wind gusts up to 45 mph. It was not exactly fun; people's hats were blowing off left and right.
JC finished his full marathon in 3 hours and 55 minutes. It was a little slower than he had hoped for, but again with the conditions of the wind, sitting around all day waiting and running at night (on West Coast time which we were not used to yet), I think he did fantastic. I was the same for the half. My only goal was to not stop and walk...and I didn't, but there was a personal struggle internally the last two miles for me. I finished in 2 hours and 28 minutes. Although my goal was not necessarily to finish in a certain amount of time, I was hoping for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Really though, I am just glad to have survived it.
JC and I had planned to meet at a certain location post race because with all things being likely, we knew he would finish before me. I had tears in my eyes when I found him. I was emotionally and physically exhausted at that point, and it felt like it was 10:45 pm and not really 7:45.
JC finished his full marathon in 3 hours and 55 minutes. It was a little slower than he had hoped for, but again with the conditions of the wind, sitting around all day waiting and running at night (on West Coast time which we were not used to yet), I think he did fantastic. I was the same for the half. My only goal was to not stop and walk...and I didn't, but there was a personal struggle internally the last two miles for me. I finished in 2 hours and 28 minutes. Although my goal was not necessarily to finish in a certain amount of time, I was hoping for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Really though, I am just glad to have survived it.
JC and I had planned to meet at a certain location post race because with all things being likely, we knew he would finish before me. I had tears in my eyes when I found him. I was emotionally and physically exhausted at that point, and it felt like it was 10:45 pm and not really 7:45.
Since the strip was closed, we really had no choice but to make the trek back to our hotel...which was over a mile away up and down cross walks! It hurt!
This was definitely an experience I will never forget. I am not sure I am cut out for running long distances though! I did, however, beat the dragon! Ha!
We are signed up for another half in February. If I can get my left hip better in time to pick my training back up, I'll be there.
We are signed up for another half in February. If I can get my left hip better in time to pick my training back up, I'll be there.
1 comment:
Wow Girl! Good for you!! I am impressed!
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