Category: Training

Rock n Roll Las Vegas 5K Recap

My first night race! My first race in another state!

The 5K was up first on Saturday evening and would be followed by the headliner concert with The Goo Goo Dolls. Kate was super organized so we had a plan of exactly when to leave our hotel with plenty of time to get to the Las Vegas Festival grounds. Or so we thought.

The monorail platform was jam packed with runners, spectators and a few daring Las Vegas travelers. Needless to say it took a few monorail passes before we managed to get on one and then it was like sardines in a can. Or even closed than that. I jokingly call it the “friendliest” monorail ride ever. Seriously, we were so close, there was awkward touching happening. We were all cracking jokes about it but it was still super awkward. And each monorail stop just had more people trying to squeeze in, we had no space!!!

Finally we arrived with minutes to spare and all rushed through the casino to cross the street to the festival grounds only to be greeted by a giant line trying to get through security. They were checking everyone’s bags, waving medal detector wands over everyone and had made people dump out their water. They let me keep mine but I left it in my gear bag which we tossed to Kate’s parents as it was past start time and we had no idea where the gear drop trucks were. They had taken a taxi to the festival, smart people. 😛

We hustled over to the second set of corrals and looked for Kate’s corral. One security person tried to make me go line up in mine- my original corral was 4- but not only had it already left, with my leg being whiny all week, the plan was to run the race with Kate and we were aiming for party speed😀. All race info said it wouldn’t be a problem to drop back. Except to this one person. Grrr. She turned around and we jumped into the corrals. As we made our way to the start line, we soon realized we should have had some lights or glow sticks to brighten up our outfits. Oops, too late now! After a few minutes in the corrals and an energetic countdown, we were off!

The course was an out back on the road behind the Strip, so it took you behind Circus Circus. I had no idea that thing has an actual Big Top until I was running by it. I know this was a night race but I was still surprised by how dark it was. A light wouldn’t have been a bad thing, that road is not lit up like the Strip. It still had music stations- DJ’s, speakers and live bands along the way to liven it up, plus checking out all the runners in their glowing outfits was fun, it was just darker than I thought.

I told Kate to set the pace and I would do whatever she wanted but at one point during mile 1, I looked at my watch and tried to subtly slow her down. Hey, you’re running your first half tomorrow! I needed to be less subtle. 😛 She heard her GPS app speak and then knew what I was saying. But we were having fun.

One thing that helped reign us in was the lack of water. There was one water stop- at mile 2. And even though it was an out and back course, there was a center divider so you could only access the water at mile 2 not on both sides. It was still 70 degrees at race start. And security had made people dump their water. I left mine behind thinking oh Rock n Roll has this. See a problem?

Once back into the festival grounds, we looped around the back lot a bit to add distance before passing a KISS cover band and running under the giant guitar guy towards the finish.

Finish- 39:56

I tried a few selfies with the medal but the lighting was not my friend that night😂

Once across the line, we picked up our medals and they gave us a few snacks and a bottle of water. Then we hung and waited a bit for The Goo Goo Dolls to take the stage. They still sound good! We hung for a bit before heading back on thankfully less crowded monorail. 👌

Race #1 of the weekend complete. Half recap soon to come. 🙂

Week 45- Vegas Week!

Upcoming Races-

Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 13.1!!!!!

This won’t be long, haha. The previous Sunday’s failed long run was not only short on miles it left me with some serious leg and shin pain on the left side. That pain stayed present all week. And present in a way that I felt it when I just sitting down. Being smart enough to know that is never a good sign and having a double race weekend coming, I decided I wasn’t going to run until it didn’t hurt just to walk to the bathroom.

That day just happened to be Friday.😂🙁

So, the week was spent finishing up things at work since I am actually taking all of next week off and I wanted to make sure to leave them in a good spot and not start any new projects. I also spent multiple evenings running to stores picking up a few last things to pack for Vegas. I packed and repacked my bag multiple times. Couldn’t figure out what pair of shoes to wear. Yeah, I was a giant ball of anxiety by the time Friday rolled around.

Then came the airport. People, I damn near freaked out. Then to make matters worse, as I’m making my way to security I discover one of my Knuckle Lights and a pocket knife in the front pocket of my purse. WTH?!? I stopped and kind of spazzed for a moment. I was texting Kate, I was posting on Twitter. What do I do??? The knife went in the trash and the light passed security. 🤦‍♀️ I’m not allowed to leave the house anymore.

The plane ride was short and I only kept my eyes closed for half of it.😂 Apparently I am a very anxious flyer as an adult. Then I land in Vegas and McCarran is a ghost town. Where are the people? And you need to take trams to get around. Am I at Disneyland? Then I find out that the airport doesn’t like Uber so I have to figure out how to take a taxi. Did I mention small town girl?

Found the people when I got to my hotel- Excalibur- the check in line was 50 people deep. They talked me into a room upgrade. Can I say if that was an upgrade I’m afraid of the original room was. Nothing was wrong with the room- it was just average and the view was of the airport. I then left for a trek down the strip to stock up on all the water. You know like runners do.

This is sad but I was so exhausted I crashed hard that night around 10. That’s early for me even outside of Las Vegas!

Saturday- expo and 5k! The expo was huge and pretty good. All the usual race vendors were there. I love how organized Rock n Roll expos are. I stayed away from temptation although I did purchase a new belt that actually fits my phone and one tank from the merchandise booth. The belt was also great as I hadn’t packed any of my packs. My plan was to rely entirely on course aid and try carrying my phone. Hadn’t really thought about the inhaler. I was throwing that whole “nothing new on race day” rule out the window.

Race recap to come- it also includes the “friendliest” monorail ride ever.😛

Sunday- Rock n Roll Las Vegas 13.1 The morning started with a BibRave brunch, it was great getting to put real people to social media handles. I also put in more than 10,000 steps before the race even started so oops? Stay tuned for a recap that has the longest bathroom stop ever and cheaters!!!

So, 16.2 miles for the week and who knows how many walking around the Strip. My legs are tired.😂

Race recaps to come!

How was your week?

Week 44- Lazy Lesson

Upcoming Races-

Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 13.1!!!!!

Ahh, Daylight savings time. Love the extra hour for about 2 days in the morning but hate it in the evenings for running. However, since the time change didn’t take effect until Sunday, I can’t really blame the laziness of the week on that can I? Nope, this was all me.

Monday- Rest Silly Slacker forgot her Knuckle Lights and I do not go the gym on Monday evenings. So I just headed home. Bad idea.\

Tuesday- 4.3ish miles bike I had my gym bag from the day before and my previously misplaced lights but with it being Halloween I figured an outside run was probably not a good idea. My gym also has a tendency to close early for every holiday (which I previously learned the hard way) so I admit I didn’t even try. I aimed for some cross training instead. Maybe the not running was for the best as barely 4 miles in I was running away sick. Stupid stomach.

Wednesday- Rest Ok I can never miss my Monday run. It’s just a downhill slide of lazy after that. It was too easy to be talked out my run tonight.

Thursday- 3 miles I ran from work hoping to take advantage of slower sunsets except it was overcast and the summer barely came out. Boo. Other than that it wasn’t a bad easy run. And somehow even with the massive hill at the end I still kept my heart rate out of the red zone. Tiny wins.

Friday- Rest I didn’t have to work open to close- wow that was nice! Getting home was a little tricky as the league championship high school football game was being played down the street from my house. Spoiler alert- the home town that has gone through head coaches in a year (so much drama) somehow pulled off an undefeated season.

Saturday- 3.1 miles I am trying to prepare for Vegas for so it was another double afternoon run weekend. Saturday went according to plan. Not speedy and kind of chilly to start- odd storm clouds had rolled through on Friday but it cleared partially mid-run and suddenly I was overdressed. Ahhh, the running outfit struggles.

Sunday- 7.75 miles All aboard the struggle bus. I set out in the early afternoon with a plan for 10 miles. Mile 1 started out ok but mile 2 turned into a something different. I couldn’t control my pace and my breathing was out of whack. Just as my watch chimed mile 2, I felt like my blood sugar bottomed out and it was all I could do to stay upright. I stopped and took a few moments. I then changed my route so I was always near people and cars and I turned on the run/walk intervals so I could force myself to keep things easy from then on out. That said, I still wasn’t sure how far I was going to get. 7.75 brought me back to my car and that seemed like a good number. Or better than nothing.

13.94 miles for the week, 4 ish on the bike. Yeah, lazy week indeed.

And now we’re on to Vegas week!

How was your week?

Did you race?

Week 43- Strange

Upcoming Races-

Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 13.1!!!!!

Ever have one of those weeks where you are just kind of cranky but no there’s no real reason behind it? That was last week for me. Still not sure why.

I ran more than I have in months- which is kind of sad considering the overall total. I cross trained, work was fine, I watched lots of Stranger Things 2. I was just fussy some reason. Maybe I should blame the heatwave?

Monday- 3 miles Due to our abnormal heat wave, for the first time it was cooler in home town than work town. I headed that way after work. It was still warmish- 80’s- but nothing like the high 90’s I left behind in work town. For some reason I could only find one Knuckle Light- I am so not ready for the time change.

Tuesday- 7.3ish miles ride Oh hey, I have a bike! Tuesdays will likely be cross training days while training for Big Sur so why not start now? Once again I accidentally bumped the buttons with my phone again and started over so I’m not exactly sure how many miles I did. Oops!

Wednesday- Rest I was feeling super cranky and just wasn’t feeling my run. I was looking for any excuse to bail. I wasn’t going to without a reason other than me being cranky. Thankfully I got a text from my parents wondering if I wanted to go to dinner. Yes!

Thursday- 2.7 miles Damn that got dark fast. And it was hot. How is possible I needed lights to see but also a visor to keep the sweat out of my eyes? My legs felt good and wanted to run more but I think this was my last solo run even on the roads of the river path. I may have to visit the dang treadmill sooner than want. Or find a running buddy.

Friday- Rest Open to almost close? Say what? I was there through closing time but I did leave before everyone else. The new boss started. I can leave the building again! Do a little jig.

Saturday- 3.66 miles Stupid. I had a plan for the weekend to help get me ready for Vegas but I maybe should have adjusted since it was 90*. But I really wanted to sleep in. 😛 I set out for a 3 mile run in the afternoon but in an effort to stay cool I wore a shorter pair of shorts. Well, they seemed shorter than the last time I wore them. So short I took the longer way home so less cars would pass me. 😂 The heat slowed me down considerably but other than that it wasn’t a bad run.

Sunday- 8 miles I woke with a headache, turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. That wasn’t part of the plan but my head was not happy. Luckily the weather was cooler when I finally headed out around 3:15. Even with that I still drove across town where it usually a good 5-10* cooler and breezy. Which paid off except for miles 3 and 4. I was on a long stretch of road that zero shade and no breeze. It felt like the surface of the sun. It didn’t help that I was wearing capri pants. Why did I do that? Other than those 2 miles I actually kept a fairly steady pace which is good but my legs were very confused by a long run after running the day before.

17.40 miles run -7.3 miles bike for the week. I may have been cranky but I actually moved this week! Who knew?

How was your week?

What did you do this weekend?

Week 42- For Real

Upcoming Races-

Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 13.1!!!!!

Anyone else notice I skipped right past 41? I went from week 40 right to 42 last week. Oops. Apparently I forgot how to count, oops. 😛

All right let’s get to another episode of Confessions of a Chaotic Runner. Though I tried to ignore it and live in denial, by Thursday I knew I had a problem. When I had to put a customer on hold and pass the phone to coworker and excuse myself to run the restroom, there was probably something wrong. Problem is, I am so used to my stomach being an asshat on the daily due to my GI disorder that it was easy to lie myself about it being something else. I didn’t want to admit I had the weird bug going round. By Friday, I was coughing, bleary eyed, and just walking from my desk to the copier was exhausting. But I was still planning on a long run! Runners are crazy. My coworker told me I looked like her 5 year old- running a fever and ill but trying to convince her to take me to McDonald’s. Hmmm…accurate.

Monday- 3 miles Fairly, steady paced twilight miles. That will be the last venture into the actual river portion of the trail in the dark though. The most horrific, blood curdling scream rent the air just 1/2 mile from my car. WTH? What way do I go? I took the shortest path back to the street only to discover the source of the scream was a child throwing a tantrum at having to leave the park. Lady- hire your kid out for horror flicks.

Tuesday- Rest I am sure I did something else but I can’t remember what it was. Oh yes, the stomach troubles really started but I ignored them.

Wednesday- 2.3 miles Short easy miles as I was back at the lake and I will not run into twilight there due to previous creepy situations. But I got to enjoy a pretty good sunset.

Thursday- Rest I was feeling poorly but still refusing to admit that I was sick. I did let the registration window for a potential #29 close though- Ventura- so I wasn’t being completely stupid.

Friday- Sick I was still in denial. I took running clothes to work. Halfway through the day I finally admitted that I shouldn’t even be at work let alone running. But I forced myself to get through the day.

Saturday- Rest Other than running some errands, not a whole lot happened. I kept talking about running like it was going to happen but even I knew that would have been stupid.

Sunday- 5.25 miles Not sure if I would call that a long run but it’s the longest run I pulled off this week. I set an alarm for the morning but at some point in the night I must have turned it off. 😒 I still felt touch and go all day but I decided to attempt a run in the early afternoon. I maybe should have chosen a route with less hills. I wish it had been a little cooler than 80. I sat down on a wall at mile 4 because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish the last mile. But I kind of had to as I had to get home. 😛

10.55 miles for the week. Kind of crappy but considering half the week was spent fighting some crappy stomach bug, I’ll take it with little complaint. I’ll save that for another week.

How was your week?

Tell me about your amazing running!