Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

The 5 of us stuck together for the first 3-4 miles by implementing a single-file line weaving through running traffic, mostly along the right of the road since there were slow runners and walkers everywhere no matter where we were. We also ran on the median in a few areas, and quickly I noticed runners were shedding layers (jackets, sweaters, etc) and leaving them in the middle of the road so we had to think on our feet in order to not step on them or trip over them. At one point I didn't hop off the median quickly enough and was smacked in the ear by a palm frond, resulting in some brief blood loss but that added to the fun of the night.

3 of my buddies decided to kick it up a notch in order to meet their time goals so they took off at a faster pace, while the 4th realized he wasn't feeling so well and needed to slow down his pace, but first he offered to help pace me for another mile or so, in his own personal attempt to net me a sub-2 hour time, lol. He did the "hard work" of running just in front of me and breaking a path in the humanity for me to follow more easily, before we parted ways. I settled in at a 9:20-9:25 pace the best I could while still weaving around runners/walkers and avoiding water stations (I carry my own hydration & nutrition) and discarded clothing.

I ran straight through until mile 8, at which point I walked for about a minute to take in some nutrition and drink some water before running again. The crowd never thinned out and during the downtown portion of the run I often found myself running on sidewalks and curbs to get around packs of people, as well as the usual weaving.

Somewhere around 8.5 miles I was passed by the friend I'd driven out with, who had stopped to use the restroom. We ran together for a minute or 2 before she picked up the pace and lost me again. This happened 2 or 3 more times due to restroom breaks but it was nice to see each other repeatedly, haha. I took 2 more walk breaks to hydrate, about 15-20 seconds each at around miles 10 and 11.5. At the last walk break my friend who was sticking with me at that point urged me to stop walking already so we could finish this thing lol. We jogged and weaved the last part of the race but were unable to pick up the pace significantly due to still-crowded course. Crossed the finish line together, with arms raised high.



Nothing...

Walked the length of the secured area, obtaining our medals, mylar blankets, water, bananas, marathon bars, bagels, etc. Made it into Mandalay Bay and found the ballroom where we'd stashed our gear bags. Hydrated with water, Muscle Milk and the margarita I'd poured into an empty water bottle (Skinnygirl, 24 proof). Friend had her water bottle full of sweet tea vodka. Stretched for a bit, then found 2 of our other friends. Walked through MB to Luxor then Excalibur then across to MGM so I could ride the mechanical bull in the lobby near Studio 54 (aka Saloon 54...there was a cowboy event in town that weekend). 3 of us rode the bull, then we parted ways to shower and change. Ate dinner of chicken strips & onion rings at Dick's Last Resort. Drank more margaritas. Danced. Had a BLAST. Doing this again next year for sure.


Too many people.

But despite this, and despite not having done any true long runs in weeks, and really not having "properly" trained for a half, still managed to PR over my first/only other half marathon time (Surf City - Feb '11) by over 11 minutes! Looking to PR again at the next Surf City half...maybe even break 2 hours this time? My thinking is, that if I could run the Surf City Derby 10-miler Nov 6 like I did at a 9 minute pace, could I keep that pace for another 3.1 miles and finish in under 2 hours... We shall see in a couple months!


Did I mention I PR'd? :)

And I got a sweet medal that glows in the dark.

AND I got to hear music by my 2 favorite bands while out on the course. At the downtown LV Blvd split there was a band doing Social Distortion cover songs (I heard "Reach For the Sky" the first time I ran by, and going by the second time after the turnaround they were playing "Prison Bound"). Somewhere between miles 10-12 there was a band who at the time I ran by, were playing "Ruby Soho" by Rancid. Of course I was singing along every time, and they helped add a little pep to my running step to boot. :)