Marathon Recap: Vegas Baby!

When I left Vegas last time, I certainly didn’t think that the next time I would be there would be to run a marathon, who would run a marathon in Vegas? But on Sunday December 5th, 2010 at 11:45:14am somewhere on the property of the Mandalay Bay I became a marathoner! Oh yeah, done and have the medal to prove it, and it is quite the medal.

I have to say that Maple Ridge was well represented at this race; our plane was full of familiar faces. Also well represented were cowboy boots and large belt buckles as the National Finals Rodeo were also in town.

Famished after we landed, we dropped our bags in our rooms and went in search of food, and our fascination for pork belly began much to Soraiya’s disgust (hey,don’t knock it til you try it).

Finding race package pick-up was a bit of a wild goose chase, but it did give us a chance to ride the monorail, see Toby Keith’s bar (mmmmm, I love that bar) and walk the catwalk at the Wynn. After picking up our race packages we headed into the health and fitness expo and had a celebrity encounter (Soraiya also had one earlier in the day when she saw Haiden from BB) with Mark McGrath aka Sugar Ray.

We finished Friday evening off by mostly getting lost in our hotel lobby and with some fantastic people watching at Studio 54.

We swore that we weren’t going to do any walking on Saturday, and save our legs for the race…whatever, we visited Freemont Street (FYI – Freemont Street is best viewed in the evening) and then travelled at warp speed back to the strip where we enjoyed the sights, sounds and food at the Bellagio and some successful gaming at Planet Hollywood.

After getting lost again in our hotel lobby, a mediocre pre-race meal, and witnessing two ladies in the same zebra print dress pass and look at each other in astonishment, we shut the lights out 9:30pm, yes 9:30pm.

Surprisingly I did manage to sleep and got up at 4:55am without much difficulty. After successfully executing my pre-race routine, we headed down to the lobby to meet the gang, and then over to New York, New York (again getting lost) to meet Tanya, Selena and Tanya’s fabulous husband Doug who had flown in the night before to surprise her, and thank goodness he did as he ended up saving our bacon (nothing to do with pork belly) on more than one occasion. It was kind of funny as we were getting into the elevator at 6:00am, people were getting off to come back to their rooms after a long night/morning out.

Thanks to Doug dealing with all of our gear check items, we made our way to our starting corrals as the race was starting. The energy was amazing, the music was pumping, the Blues Brothers were dancing on top of the start line arch…this was it. The first wave (including Colin) went out at exactly 7:00am; our wave crossed the start line at 7:18am.

My plan :
• Run 10/1 for the entire race.
• Walk and drink at each of the water stations because I was unable to carry enough fluid in my pack.
• Eat ½ Cliff Shot every second set.
• Run a 10 minute mile, with the goal of finishing in 4 hours 22 minutes
• Finish the race in 24 sets – 4 hours 24 minutes.
• To make the noon last call at the MGD tent for my free beer and to see Bret Michaels play at the Finish Line Festival.

Running down Las Vegas Boulevard was totally surreal. I knew that I would probably have an anxiety attack if I got too caught up in it, so I put my headphones and game face on. I had tried to come up with a profound mantra before the race to help keep me focused without success, but once out on the course it came to me “Don’t think, just run!”

The ½ marathon and the first ½ of the marathon route was an out and back that went from one end of the strip to the other (that’s a $20 cab ride each way), it was really cool to see the wheelchair athletes as well as the first ½ marathoners (including Colin) on their return. Although I felt that I could run faster, it was pretty crowded so I stuck to my comfortable target pace for the first half of the race.

As we approached the Luxor I could see the marathon turn right sign and ½ marathon straight ahead sign. It was hard making that right turn knowing that the ½ marathoners would cross the finish line in less than a mile and I still had another ½ marathon to run…”don’t think, just run!”

The only redeeming quality of the next 13.1 miles was that they weren’t totally flat, and of course the glory! Because there were a lot of out and backs along the streets it gave me an opportunity to see everyone. I saw Conny and Tanya a couple of times, we even stopped for a hug, Chris saw me but I never did see Soraiya.

Hitting the 17-mile marker was a big deal because it was a turn back point and once we turned back you could see the Luxor again. Kilometer markers were also used on this part of the course, which kind of messed with your mind a bit…”don’t think, just run!” Passing the 30km mark was interesting because this was the point where my Dad thought that I would seize up and hit my wall…”don’t think, just run!” By this point my pace was slowing and my body was starting to hurt. In my mind I thought that it would be my left foot and right IT band that would give me the most trouble, instead it was my quads and hamstrings on both legs. From set 19 on it got progressively harder to go from my walk break back into my run.

At mile 23 I hit my wall. I wasn’t out of breath or anything, my legs hurt, there was no end to this out and back, I could see mile 25 on the other side of the road and I was just ready to be done. I thought about something that had stuck with me that Peter Shankman said last month “did you know that when your brain says “I can’t do this anymore,” your body can still give another 50-70%”. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t stop until my next walk break, I think that may have been the hardest 4 minutes of my entire race.

As I approached the 25-mile marker, Tanya was on the other side of the road and yelled to me that I was just about done; we stopped for a quick hug…”don’t think, just run!” I passed the 25 mile marker and up onto West Hacienda Avenue one last time. As I went over the final overpass there were so many people cramping up and hobbling, and although I felt that my run wasn’t much faster I felt awful for passing them.

As I made the final right turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard the street was lined with smiling faces and people cheering. It absolutely killed me to do so because I was so close to finishing but I had to take my last walk break. I re-focused and started my final approach to the finish line. As I came into the chute and could see Colin cheering me in, I had no kick left so instead I threw up the horns and crossed the finish line.

So how did I do?

Pace	5 Km	10K	10 Mi	13.9 Mi	16.8 Mi	20 Mi	ChipTime
10:11	30:18	1:00:34	1:38:28	2:19:27	2:50:14	3:21:32	04:26:48

Overall: 2584 out of 5154 · Division: 145 out of 391 · Gender: 806 out of 2141

Proudly wearing my Rock and Roll Las Vegas Marathon medal I quickly found Chris and Soraiya (who qualified for Boston) and the celebrations began. The finish line was broadcast online so although my family couldn’t be there, they were able to see me finish the race and before I had a chance to call them they had already sent me a couple of congratulatory texts. We also received texts from some of our Maple Ridge running family who had also watched us cross. What a feeling!

I never did get my free beer (there was some confusion about needing photo ID), but I did get to hear Bret Michaels, I even saw him in the distance. Thanks for coming Bret!

After a quick shower, another pork belly sandwich, some well deserved wine and a power nap I slowly made my way down the strip with Conny and Colin to Vince Neil Ink to immortalize the day.

The rest of the evening will remain in Vegas.

I would like to thank all of the race organizers, volunteers, amazing cheer squads and bands on the race route. Although I did not indulge I would like to thank the Naked Sandwich Shop for handing out beer, as well as the ladies giving out M&M’s and the lady serving rice crispy squares, your hearts were all in the right place. Thank you also to my family, my running family, friends and clients for all of your love, support and encouragement. Special thanks to D for getting this all started, Conny, Colin (Quarter-turn), Soraiya, my running husband Chris and his beautiful wife Lysa – love you guys!