Las Vegas Half Marathon: Race Recap

This is the most fun I have ever had running a race!  There were a few kinks...more for others from what I hear.  But I had an amazing time.

This was a night race so it was a long day.  I slept great the night before.  Probably because I didn't have to worry about getting up early and put no pressure on myself for this race.

Ryan and I ate a fabulous breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris.  We walked the strip and did some shopping for the kids.  Then we ate lunch at the Bellagio.  Yummy pizza.  Then we went back to the hotel to get some rest.  Pretty soon it was time to get dressed for the race.

Ready to Run!

We took the tram to the start.  So far so good.  Walked into Mandalay Bay and stayed warm.  Then we started out for our corral.  That is when I started to panic.  We walked out to corral 20 and we were in corral 3.  There were so many people that we could not get up to our corral.  We were literally fighting the crowds with many runners to try and get closer to the start.  When the National Anthem started playing, I knew we just needed to get in any corral.  We actually got pretty close, between corral 4 and 5.  The gun went off and so did we...

Very Packed at the Start

My garmin did not have time to warm up and didn't start until about 1 minute after I started running.  So my garmin time was a little off.

Garmin time: 1:52:25 (Pace: 8:35min/mile)

Official time: 1:53:32 (Pace 8:40min/mile)

Mile 1:  (8:32) Wow this is fun!  All the stress went away and I just appreciated what an amazing experience I was having. I am very happy that I didn't start off too fast either.  I am learning.

Amazing!

Mile 2:  (8:27) I was feeling so good.  Running under the lights and on the strip was amazing.

I am on the right.  

Mile 3:  (8:18) Picked up our pace a little.  Passing our hotel... the Bellagio.  Love.

Mile 4:  (8:27) Still running on the strip.

Doesn't that look fun?

Mile 5:  (8:14) Mile 5-8 were off the strip.  It was pretty dark but not too bad.  I am glad I brought my music. (First time ever for me).  It definitely helped keep me going when there wasn't much too look at.

Mile 6: (8:26)

Mile 7: (8:14)

Mile 8: (8:37)

Mile 9:  (8:33) My legs started feeling heavy.  But the strip was now back in few.  This really helped.

Mile 10:  (8:44) Pace slowing but I never felt like walking.  First time ever for me in a half marathon where I had no thoughts of walking.

Mile 11:  (9:18) Only mile with a 9 in front of it.

Mile 12:  (8:53) I really wanted to pick up the pace but my legs were now feeling the effects of my lack of training.

Mile 13: (8:58)
Mile 13.1 (8:15)

We did it!

I felt great when I finished.  Ryan and I got our picture taken, ate some food and more water and then headed back to the hotel.  Luckily we were able take the tram back.  Apparently the taxi line was hours long.  We showered up and then went out to eat at Olives.

I was so happy with how this race went.  I felt great almost the whole time (of course my legs were tired at the end), I enjoyed the scenery, and I wasn't too sore after.  It is ironic to me that I trained about 3x more for my last half marathon and I ran this one faster.  It makes me realize that I put way too much pressure on myself.  Oh yeah, and my foot felt perfect too.  I hope to run this race again!