Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon 2011

We packed up the van for it’s first road trip and the amount of room available in this thing is just amazing compared to the old PT.  In the PT we would have to remove one of the back seats completely and then it would be jam packed to the ceiling with all of our gear.  In the van we stuffed 3 suitcases, 2 guitars, a case of water bottles, a giant bag that Paula gave us to transport, and my toiletry case without even having to remove Shilo’s dog crate AND still had the whole backseat empty AND room for groceries we bought in Bakersfield!
Bakersfield…
This is where our story goes awry dear readers.
We stopped at an Albertson’s in Bakersfield to get some supplies for the trip.  While shopping, Rob noticed that one of the screws in his glasses was loose.  He told me to remind him to get his leatherman out and tighten them.  We finished shopping and stopped down the street for some gas.  I reminded him about his glasses and went into the Subway attached to the gas station to get us some dinner.
When I emerged with the food I found Rob messing with his glasses outside the gas pump.  I got in the car and had a couple bites of the sandwich when I realized all was not well.
Apparently while tightening one of the screws Rob had inadvertently stripped the opening, popping them open and resulting in one of the lenses falling out.  Because it was stripped he couldn’t get the screw to go back in.
Rob has REALLY bad eyesight so without his glasses he is pretty much blind.  He ALWAYS brings a back up pair of glasses for that very reason but last week his main pair had the same thing happen to him so he was in fact, wearing his back up glasses on this trip.  He had no other options.
I had thrown an eyeglasses repair kit that I had at work in my purse while cleaning out my desk that day so I gave it to him and he began the very painful and frustrating process of trying to fix the problem.  Unfortunately it wasn’t going to happen.
I have 20/20 vision(knock wood) so I can’t even imagine the level of frustration that he was feeling.  To basically be rendered helpless when something like this happens.  I just can’t fathom it.
Finally he sent me into the minimart(because he couldn’t see to go in himself) to get some superglue and in a last ditch effort we were able to temporarily fix the situation.
The second really big problem happened after we finally got to Vegas.
We booked downtown because we wanted to go cheap…we decided on the El Cortez because we had stayed here a number of years ago when we came on my birthday with my friend Renee.  The room was pretty nice and cheap.  While looking at their website we saw that it wasn’t THAT much more expensive to stay in their new “Cabana Suites”.  The pictures on the website looked nice so we got excited and booked it.
When we finally got checked in and went to our room at four in the morning we discovered a TINY little cracker box of a hotel room.  And to make matters worse they had filled the room with GIANT furniture to try and make the decor look more chic.  We were shocked.  Also, there were no dressers or anywhere to put your clothing.  So in a room that small you would have to keep your suitcase out to get your stuff out.

In addition to the incident earlier and the sheer exhaustion, this room just took the cake.  We milled around and discussed the logistics of it.  It just didn’t work for us.  If I were sleeping and Rob wanted to play guitar he would basically have to do it either in the bathroom or at the foot of the bed I was sleeping in.
Finally I called the front desk and asked if we could be moved to one of the rooms we had been in all those years ago with Renee for the duration of our stay.  She said yes, I asked if we could see the room first and she said to come on down she would give us a key.

When we got up to the room it was like a breath of fresh air.  It was so much bigger with a giant dresser, a desk, a chair, a sofa and a coffee table.  Perfect!  We switched immediately and it was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders.
We finally got to sleep around six in the morning.

Woke up the next morning with two things on the agenda.  We had to hit the marathon expo to get my bib number and also hit a LensCrafters to get Rob some new glasses.  The superglue was not going to last the whole week and Rob had a prescription in his wallet for his glasses even though it was over a year old.
Last year we hit the Expo on a Saturday and it was a MADHOUSE.  I’m really claustrophobic and it was a nightmare for me. 
This year we got there on a Friday afternoon and while it was still packed it was soo much better.  We were able to actually partake in some of the games and merriment of the affair.  There was some contest where you fill out a form and give it to the Prize Center and you can win something.  It looked like you could only win things like a beanie, a handkerchief, wristbands….things like that.  Well you could have knocked us over with a feather when Rob won us a pair of Brooks running shoes!  Over 100.00 value!  And just in time for me to replace my shoes!  Ha!  Things were indeed looking up.

We left the Expo loaded with freebies and headed over to the mall for Rob’s glasses.
The thing with Rob having such bad vision, is that his glasses get really expensive.  However, he has some vision insurance so we were relying on that.  Yeah, you can guess where this is going…
They didn’t take our insurance and they couldn’t honor Rob’s old prescription so that meant we would also have to pay for an eye exam.  We couldn’t afford it.  We explained our problem to the woman and she looked at his glasses.  She declared that she could just replace the screw.  Rob advised that it was stripped and a screw wouldn’t work.  She countered that they could rethread it with a bigger screw and off she went.  Ten minutes later Rob’s glasses were saved and it was FREE!!!  We tipped her a twenty because she basically saved our trip.
Finally it felt like the dark cloud of this trip had been completely lifted and we headed back to the hotel.
As we arrived in the parking garage, I got a text from my BFF Paula that she had landed and was in Vegas.  Hooray!!! 
While she waited on her bag and the taxi, Rob and I headed of to Mamita’s.  We had discovered this gem of a local Mexican/Cuban restaurant when we stayed at this hotel with Renee.  In fact if you happen to be the proud owner of one of my husband’s “Bubble Bath” CD’s, flip it over and look at the cute picture of us on the back.  That was taken in the back booth of Mamita’s.
We were waiting on our takeout when Paula called us.  She was in the lobby of the hotel, she was checked in but was having a hard time finding her room.  I beat feet over to the lobby to rescue her. 
She was in a Pavilion room so it wasn’t in the same tower as us.  It was one of the weirdest set ups I have ever seen.  Basically it was on floor of outside hotel rooms on top of a parking garage.  Not exactly safe looking but I was encouraged that you at least had to have a room key to get up to that floor.
We dropped off her bags in her room and chatted for a bit before heading over to my room to eat some yummy tortas and hang out.  After we ate we headed downstairs to get our players cards and play gamble.  Got a quick drink at the bar and settled in at a set of slot machines that hated us so we quickly moved on.  The machines we picked were pretty good to us.  We played for a couple of hours on 20 bucks and Paula was actually winning.
Finally, only getting five hours of sleep the night before hit me hard and I had to retire to my room.  I think at that point I was down fifteen bucks and Paula was up by 90 or so.

Saturday morning Paula made me wake up earlier than I would have liked so we could all go to breakfast.  Rob got an omelet while Paula and I got what we called the Lumberjack’s Special.

Two eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes and a short stack with coffee and juice and a side of biscuits and gravy.  We made a pretty good dent in it too!  I only had enough left of the pancakes to take back to the room with us.
We parted ways with Paula and headed up to our respective rooms for a small nap before reuniting and heading out to the Meadow’s Shopping Mall.  Rob had gotten a Salvation Army contact here in Vegas and got a gig outside Macy’s playing Christmas songs on his guitar for donations.

While he got set up Paula and I did what any self respecting woman would do if faced with two hours to kill in a mall.  We shopped and ate.  Because our lumberjack breakfast apparently wasn’t enough for us we had to stop at Hot Dog On A Stick and get some lunch and Johnny Rockets to get me a chocolate peanut butter milkshake    …yeah, it was as good as it sounds. 
Two hours later we were shopped out so we waited for Rob in the car because it was FREEZING outside and then finally we headed back to the hotel where another nap was had.
Around seven thirty I got up and started getting ready.  We were meeting our friend Aimee at the Excalibur to go see Thunder From Down Under.  We hadn’t seen Aimee in a long time and the irony was not lost on us that we lived very close together and it took a trip to Vegas to have a get together.  Aimee was also running the half marathon with me the next day.
How do you prepare for the night before a marathon?  We had cocktails and watched a bunch of oiled up half naked men dance.  Seemed like the right choice at the time. 
We took a cab to the Excalibur.  I closed my eyes the entire time because the cab driver was apparently a retired nascar driver or something.  At one point I heard Paula gasp and I looked up.  She just patted me on the arm and said: “Keep ‘em closed honey, keep ‘em closed.”
We survived and managed to meet up with Aimee at the bar outside the Thunder theater where there was drinking and laughter.

There were a couple of bachelorette parties in the bar and so this cute bartender jumped up on the bar and announced a free shot for the bride to be.  He took a bottle and poured a shot of red liquid into the bride’s mouth and then proceeded to do the same to her entire party.  Us girls just watched and laughed until he saw us and walked over to us, still on the bar and demanded we do the shots too.  We all said no, no, no…we couldn’t and then of course we did.  Heh.  I asked him what was in it and he just winked and said he made it himself.  He placed a towel under my chin and it was down the hatch!  It tasted very fruity and I suspect there wasn’t much alcohol in it since they weren’t charging for it.    Then it was Paula and Aimee’s turn.  The only one that actually got caught on camera was Aimee.  Priceless!

The show was to start at eleven and the doors were supposed to open at 10:30 but apparently there were some really horny women from the earlier show still inside refusing to leave.  Finally we were able to get in and get our seats.
This would be Paula and I’s third Thunder show.  The first one we went to we fell in love with a hottie dancer named Donovan.  Planned the second trip and show around seeing him dance again and much to our disappointment he had been on vacation.  We were SURE he had to be there this time…Yeah, not so much.
It was still a great show and since it was Aimee’s first time seeing it, her reactions were worth the ticket price alone!!  She had so much fun.  She had told us earlier that she hadn’t had a girls night out since her oldest daughter was born…and she’s in kindergarten now!  I was so glad we were able to provide her with such a fun night!!

I slept as late as I could on Sunday given that I didn’t get back to the hotel until two or so in the morning.

I woke up with an overall feeling of dread.  I wasn’t *that* tired but I just wasn’t feeling the race.  It was odd having been at the Expo two days before and then having the race at night.  I had nothing to get myself psyched up for it.  My back was tweaked from sleeping in the car on the way in and the last thing I wanted to do was walk/run 13.1 miles in the freezing cold.

I showered and got dressed and Rob dropped me off as near to the corrals as possible and I walked the rest of the way.  I was found my corral and texted Aimee but we never ended up finding each other.  I was cold and felt out of sorts.  I don’t know why but I felt more alone this year.  Even though I was by myself last year I didn’t feel the as lonely then as I did this year.  It was weird.

I was so glad Rob and I had decided to remember a pair of sweatpants of his that he didn’t mind me ditching by the side of the road because my legs would have been FREEZING while I was waiting the two hours for the start.  I’m also glad Rob talked me into buying a cheap pair of gloves because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to feel my fingers either.

After what seemed like an eternity, the corrals started moving.  How it was supposed to happen was just like last year.  There were 40 corrals and they were all supposed to be released within a minute to a minute and a half of each other.  The theory behind it is that you sign up given the time you know you can finish in and that gives all the faster runners a chance to get out there and get a headstart that way no one is stuck behind someone that is slower than them.  That is how it worked last year and it was perfect.

Last year they also had the full marathoner’s run the strip and then they broke off to do side streets before completing the marathon.  That way there was little or no merging between the full and the half.

A lot had changed this year.  Last year, because of the staggering of the corrals, it took me an hour to even cross the start line.  I’m not sure when the staggering changed this year but it seemed like after corral 20 we were all just kind of let go to run as a massive lump of people.  There were no more countdowns and the ropes were taken down.

At first I was thrilled at crossing the start line a half an hour earlier this year but I quickly realized what a problem it was going to present.

As we all started out on the road it appeared to be going well.  There were these random orange cones along the left side of the road that didn’t appear to have a function as there were no signs so I didn’t think much of them.  The first mile passed like nothing and I ditched the sweatpants(note to self, next year either wear tear aways or cut a slit up the ankles for easy removal, I lost at least two minutes trying to pull these suckers over my sneakers).

The first water station I started to worry just a little.  The first few tables were empty and there were only volunteers dipping cups into what appeared to be a large plastic garbage can being filled with a hose.  I had a hydration belt on so I kept on trucking and eventually found tables full of water that I grabbed a cup from.

Around mile three I noticed there was finally a sign on one of the cones dividing the left side lane.  It said full to the left and half to the right.  I wonder why it took three miles for us to be able to actually see a sign, but from then on I stayed to the right.

Last year I didn’t start experiencing doubts until mile 11 and that was just because everything was hurting and hurting bad.  That year I had trained in an old pair shoes and wore a new pair with only like nine miles on them for the race.  That was a lesson learned let me tell you!

This year around mile five I started to doubt myself.  There is a small section near downtown where you have to go down a few side streets and because this was a night race there was one area that was pretty poorly lit.  To be fair, it was pretty much the only spot that wasn’t lit well but it started to freak me out a little.

I went through the thoughts of, even though I was walking amongst a lot of people that I was all alone in a seedy area in the dark.  I don’t know why, but all of a sudden I started to have a panic attack.  I got over it once we got back into better lighting but it freaked me out a little.

As I came up on mile six I sent my husband a text.  I was going to be running right by our hotel (El Cortez) and he and my best friend Paula were going to be outside cheering for me with the sign Rob made at the Expo on Friday.

I thought about texting him to have our room key ready so I could run up and pee.  I had to go fairly bad at that point and going up to our room would surely be quicker than waiting in line for the port a potty’s that weren’t as plentiful this year as they were last but I missed my chance.

As I ran passed my cheering husband and best friend it put some wind back in my sails.  Rob told me I was looking strong and took some video of me and Paula was shouting encouragement.  My doubt from earlier was turned around a bit and I felt that I could do it.  It was half over at that point after all.

Back up on the other side of the strip I discovered the same thing I had thought last year but had forgotten about.  There is a very slight incline going from downtown to the top of the strip.  Something you don’t notice when you are driving it, but when you are run/walking you can tell.  That also means there is a slight decline going towards downtown.  The reason I know this is because the 1st half of the race I kept the same pace as the second half(I run to a certain BPM on my Ipod to keep my pace even all the time) and I was not winded or sore the first half, but was the entire second half.  It is by no means a hill, but it was an interesting observation.

Another thing of note is that in the dark, running the strip was a little more nerve wracking for me.  I am horribly afraid of heights.  To the point where if there is no railing on a staircase I panic.  It also effects me when looking up at tall things.  In the daylight it didn’t bother me last year.  This year, with all the lights things flashing I kind of felt like I was on sensory overload and looking trying not to look up at the buildings wasn’t really helping.  It was kind of weird.

Another difference between having a race in Vegas at night instead of in the morning is the appearance of hecklers.  I saw nothing but support from the crowds last year and while that was mostly true this year there were the occasional belligerently drunk people walking the strip and shouting rude things at the people running.  They were few and far between but I thought that was worth mentioning as well.
I finally stopped to use a porta potty around mile nine.  That was the one time I wished I had brought the little head lamp thing that they gave us in our swag bags.  Trying to balance over a filthy porta john while holding onto your IPhone for some sort of light and doing your business was a bit of a struggle but I managed it.

Mile 11 brought some pretty gusty winds and a bit of rain but that quickly passed.

When I finally crossed the finish line I was handed a full marathon medal and the girl explained that they had run out of half marathon medals and they would mail me one.  The full medal was just so we didn’t walk away empty handed.  While I appreciated the gesture, I couldn’t help but wonder how the hell they ran out of medals.  I mean, you have to sign up and pay to run this race.  You know EXACTLY how many people will be running both the half and the full so unless you started handing out medals to people with no bib numbers on, you shouldn’t run out of medals!  And why was there such an overabundance of full medals but not enough half?

I later heard a rumor that a lot of people changed their minds and ran the half instead of the full at the last minute but I don’t know if that is true or not.

I didn’t waste too much time thinking about, I was tired and cold.  I grabbed a mylar blanket and a bagel but I couldn’t make myself choke any food down.  With no one picking me up I was confused as to where to go.  People around me were angry and yelling and there were ambulances trying to weave in and out of the people walking.

I stopped to stretch briefly and then made my way into Mandalay Bay.  I recognized the way as the same route we used to get to the parking garage last year.  The difference this time was there were twice as many people and not a lot of forward movement.

We all bottle-necked about 500 feet from the door we had come in and moving forward was a slow and painful(literally) process.

Eventually we got to the casino entrance only to be rerouted through the convention center.  Apparently people were going into shock from hypothermia and dropping like flies.  I’m sure it must have been an absolute nightmare to try and get medics through the massive crowds of people and that is why they redirected us(or so I was told).

Downstairs we went, back outside into the freezing temps, around the building and in through the spa entrance I followed the crowd.  Finally spotting hotel registration I ran towards the taxi stand only to find a literally never ending line.  I could not see an end to the line, it just went on for days.

That is when I burst into tears.

I found an empty slot machine and sat down to bawl my eyes out.

I checked my phone and found a text from Rob asking how it went.  I can’t remember what I wrote back but I think it was something like “Clusterf*ck, giant wait for a taxi, going to sit here for a minute.”
He immediately called me and asked how he could help.  Did I want him to come pick me up?  At that point the only thing I could think of is that he’d never be able to get through the throngs of taxi’s that were flooding the entire entrance to the hotel.

After a few more tears and much frustration we decided that he would meet me in the parking garage.

I hung up and went off in search of the parking garage.  There were no signs where I was indicating which direction to go in and I couldn’t find one single staff member to help me.  Not even at one of the bars, the bartender just ignored me and continued chatting up two attractive females.

Like I wasn’t frustrated enough!!  Finally I sat down and dug my phone back out.  Thank God for smartphones!  I was able to pull up a map of the casino, determine where I was on said map and get my ass to the parking structure.

Rob said just to go all the way to the top so I did and there was my knight in shining soccer mom van.  I was so relieved to see him I got in the car and dissolved into huge wracking sobs.

Rob let me cry and then when I was better we headed out.  He wasn’t sure which way was the right way to get back to our hotel but at that point he just wanted to get on the road and moving.  Because he didn’t know where we were he was driving a little slower than normal and irritated that there was a cop on tailing us that didn’t seem to want to pass us.

Sure enough a few seconds later his blue lights came on and we were pulled over.  It turns out Rob didn’t have the headlights on.  Which isn’t totally true.  On our van we have automatic lights but they only work in front, so Rob thought his lights were on, but they weren’t in the back where the cop was.

Anyway Rob explained that he had just picked me up from the marathon and the cop went on and on about what a good thing that was and aren’t I proud of myself and so on and so forth.  Then he told Rob that because his wife did such a good job he was going to let us go without a ticket.  Heh.  He was really nice.

We finally made it back to the hotel where I took the best shower of my life and checked out the online world on my phone.  The reviews were in on the race and they weren’t good.  There was so much complaining about the way the race was organized this year but what I was shocked to learn about was how many people had gotten sick during the actual race.  Rumors were flying about tainted water or possibly bad samples given out at the Expo.  The other main complaint was that the full marathon runners got stuck behind the half marathon walkers and lost a lot of time and energy getting around them.

Overall I had to say I had a pretty good race.  I didn’t sick with whatever was going around.  My feet only had a couple of blisters, compared to almost having half of both of my feet covered like last year.  I wasn’t that sore, and I didn’t get hypothermia.    I ended up finishing seven seconds later than I did last year (darn those sweatpants taking minutes off my time!) but I am still pretty proud of my accomplishment.  My training actually paid off this year.