What Makes Me Laugh

Day 3 of the Vegas Adventure

5:15 a.m.

I’m not an early morning runner. If I had my druthers, I’d run mid-morning every day. I’d get up about 8:30, run about 9:00, shower and be to work about 10:30. But this is not my life, so I usually run over my lunch break or after work, or on weekends.

So, believe me when I say that getting up after four hours of sleep to run a half marathon was painful. Laura and Terry knocked on our door about 5:40 a.m. and I wasn’t sure whether I’d find them in running clothes or not. The last thing that happened before bed was Terry left a big tip at the front of the hotel for the shuttle driver who was supposed to return the carry-on with all of the running clothes. They had also had a “situation” with the hotel with the room, so by the time that was all figured out it was well past midnight.

But there they were, dressed like runners, ready and energetic. They had gotten up at 4:00 to order room service and eat before the run (the thought of which makes me semi-nauseous).

5:45 a.m.

The Vegas Strip was closed to traffic by 4:30 a.m. and since we were over 2 miles from the start of the race, we took a cab the “back way” via the interstate, and when we finally entered the traffic jam over the overpass the cab driver told us this was it, it was the furthest he could take us. People were getting out of cars and running toward the start line so we joined the crowd of runners, and tried to warm up. It was 34 degrees and I was freezing. I knew that once I started running I’d get hot quickly and there was no place to drop clothes before the race started, so we all collectively shivered our way to the start of the race.

6:15 a.m.

The four of us split off to go to our respective “corrals” a term that I only associate with livestock, so I wish they wouldn’t have called them that, but I guess when you have 27,000 people in a race they start to seem like penned livestock. A 1,000 people were jam-packed into each corral, which would be released in waves across the start line, and we slid into position next  to a group of running Elvis’s in red and black on the left, and another group in white on the right. Behind us a woman with a white running outfit and a wedding veil stood next to her running bridesmaids and groom. They were going to go through the run-through wedding ceremony. We didn’t have room to stretch or warm up and we were too far away to hear Cher sing the national anthem, so we just huddled together and watched the fireworks overhead, moving forward inch by inch, waiting for our start time.

6:45 a.m.

Finally, our run started! We each were given a chip to put through our shoelaces so that they could electronically record our individual start and finish times when we crossed the rubber mats at the beginning and end. I was cold, so we ran slow at the beginning, trying to get warm, listening to the sounds of the rock bands that lined the street and the Elvis’s next to us who were running with a baby jogger filled with beer and a stereo system playing both Elvis tunes and the Beatles. They took turns running with the stroller.

There was a lot to look at as we ran. Between the Vegas casinos, the mountains in the distance, and the costumed runners, the race zipped by like an entertaining movie. The only annoying thing was that there were so many people to zig zag around that I actually added on several tenths of a mile to the race distance (13.1 miles). If you want to see a slide show and video of the race, check out this link to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s slide show. Crystal and I split up around the three mile marker, and Laura and Terry were somewhere ahead of us so I ran most of it “alone” trying to stay between a 9 and 10 mile-per-minute pace. The longest training run I had completed (based on the plan) was 10 miles so after the 10th mile I was in new territory. The swelling in my feet started to catch up with me about mile twelve so I had to slow down toward the finish line, but I was really happy with my time: 2 hours 12 min and 37 seconds. I had wanted to finish in under 2 hours 15 minutes.

9:00 a.m.

Reunited, and it feels so cold

Terry and Laura

Me and Crystal

I was so hot at the end that I stupidly refused the free space blanket to wrap around my sweaty, rapidly cooling body. We reunited at the letter Q, told race stories, drank some water, took some photos, and then went to look for a cab back to the hotel. The Strip hadn’t opened back up to traffic, so we stood in an endless line at a casino for a taxi, and kept getting colder so we decided to hoof it to the next casino. The shade and wind combined to make me so chilled that I was feeling desperate for warmth. When we finally hailed a cab, it took 45 minutes to get back to the hotel, and it cost $21 (normally $7), but I didn’t care, I just wanted a warm car.

Afterwards

First, we checked in with the hubbys and our respective football teams (Steelers and Patriots) who were both losing, then we soaked at the spa and Crystal tried her first Eucalyptus steam room, and then we napped, and then we went for all-you-can-eat sushi, and I got to wear my little red dress at the roulette table, where I lost $40. All in all, it was a marathon of a day, and a marathon of a trip, and the best introduction to Vegas a woman could get. Thanks for hanging in there for the blow-by-blow!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Travel Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.