Rock N Roll Las Vegas- Race Recap

Well, it's been a week since the race and I'm finally ready to recap it, sort of..

Vegas. 

I mean, come on! How amazing is it to be able to run in Sin City?! Granted, there are a lot of amazing places that I will probably (okay, definitely) never be able to run that top running in Vegas, but I'm going to enjoy the experiences I do get to have. 

I planned to run the half marathon a long time ago as race #12 of 14 for the year, but was really fortunate to also be able to run the 5K on Saturday night for the Remix Medal. 

I was also lucky enough to be able to run both races with my best friend and celebrate her first half marathon together. 

We picked up our race packets Friday after getting into town. It was a huge expo as well as very organized. It's nice being able to get in, get your stuff and get out without getting lost or frustrated. 

We had dinner at Margaritaville (where Isabel got a nice balloon tiara) before Lorien and I went to ride the High Roller observation tower. What an amazing view.. 

Saturday was mostly a rest day as I had rolled my ankle multiple times on Thursday. Tracy + heels + walking in downtown L.A. = no good.. 

We did spend some time at Circus Circus playing games and winning prizes before heading to the start line of the 5K. It started at 630pm, so we spent most of the day enjoying the build up of racing.

Running through to the finish line. 

It feels like it's been awhile since I've completed a 5K and I forgot how different it is. A 3 mile run is "easy" at this point of always being in half marathon training mode, so finishing at 3 and getting a medal for it was awesome! 

Sunday was another mostly rest day followed by some arcade time at the Excalibur before heading to our corral. 

My how things have changed from when I was a kid.. 

We started our race evening around 330pm as the race started at 430.. Well, corral #1 started at 430, but being on corral 43 we started around 530, and got to hear the countdown every 1-2 minutes 43 times. At that point we just wanted to start so that we could stay warm. We were not completely prepared for a freeze warning in the Mojave to start race day. 

According to the announcers, there were 35,000 racers and I'm going to assume that was for the full, half and half of the half. 

We finally started! It was a great race and I'm pretty happy with the course overall. We really lucked out with when we started and were lucky enough to run past the Bellagio right when the water show was going off. It's things like that that help make the race go by faster. 

We kept a pretty consistent pace throughout most of the race and finished in 3:06, which was exactly where we wanted to be for Lorien's first race. I'm really proud of her and what she accomplished. She really pushed herself to reach her goal and it's really amazing to watch someone cross their first finish line at a new distance race.

A lot has been happening since race day, but that will all have to wait for tomorrow. Lots to update on with running, training, plans for next year, more races, etc. I'm so motivated and ready to take on my goals. I love this feeling and am going to just go with it. I've been realizing that there may come a day when I can't run or race anymore and I don't want to look back and think about what I may have missed out on. I want to run while I can and enjoy the experiences while I'm lucky enough to be able to. 

Here's onto the next one- Santa to the Sea, December 14th.