Tag: Las Vegas

Rock n Roll Las Vegas 13.1 Recap

Fallon @ Slacker Runner12 Comments

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Race #2 for the weekend!

I was feeling a little of that leg pain from last week on Sunday morning when Mai and I were walking to and from the BibRave brunch.  So after getting back to the hotel, I rested my legs until it was time to head to the start line.  I still cleared my daily step goal well before the race started.  😛

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Learning from the previous day, we left the hotel with plenty of time to walk to the start line area giving us time for gear drop, bathroom stops, the We Run Social meet up, and whatever else we needed.    And unlike the previous day, we accomplished it all with time to spare! And I met Helly! If you look really close in the We Run Social pic, you can see my hat in the back.  😛    Then we separated and Mai made her way to her corral and Kate and I went to squeeze our way through the people towards our corral to wait.

The second I knew I had convinced Kate to fly to Las Vegas from Texas and run her very first half marathon, I knew I was running it with her, no matter what.   In the week leading up to the race, she was worried about slowing me down but I said to not even worry about the pace, we were aiming for ‘party speed’.  😎

With an impressive fire show for each corral start, we were off!  That said this is going to be a little different from my usual recaps.   Mile 1 was our fastest, mile 2 was our slowest and everything else fell in between.

Recent events moved the start line up to New York New York but the course still went south towards the Las Vegas sign before turning around and coming back.  These miles were quiet and dark as a moment of silence for Las Vegas.  Which made the cheaters we observed just past mile 1 even worse.   The course was an out and back and this part of the street had a large center divider.  Just past the first water station, 3 people just jumped on over to the other side and joined the runners on the way back into town.  WTH????!  Kate and I and 3 runners behind us were like did we really just see that?

Then came mile 2.  We both admitted we could use a bathroom.  Waiting in the corrals had been long and there were no port-a -potties near the corrals.  So we stopped.  And waited forever.  Seriously…this was a 20 minute mile.   7 of that was non moving time according to my Garmin.  The bathrooms were set up in an odd way that both sides of the course could access them but it didn’t make sense for lines and was causing serious confusion.  And apparently we picked the wrong line because the person before me took forever.  To the point where the lady in line behind me wanted to knock on the bathroom door.    And can I just say that entering a port a potty in the dark is like entering a scary unknown land? 😛

Finally, we were on our way.  We were running 1 minute, walking 1 minute.  Hit the 5K mark and all was shiny.   A little past that I told Kate she officially had less than 10 miles to go.  Another runner near us thanked me for saying that. 😀

3.6 is when disaster struck.   I heard a very verbal inhale, saw a wince and then Kate was limping.   Her right shin was not happy and not happy in a very bad way.  We started walking.  I said let’s walk to 4.5 and see how you feel.  The answer was no better.  I actually tried to get her to stop but she was having none of that.   All right, then let’s go slowly.

So we walked.   We embraced the party speed and took in the sights of the Strip.  All of the casinos and all of their lights.  Counting the CVS’s and Walgreens turned into our version of the license plate game.  No, seriously, why are there so many within such a short distance from each other? And why were more people cutting the course?!?!😡

I took a ton of pictures.  Except the sketchy mile.  The Fremont area was awesome and worth the sketch mile to get there though.  We got water at every aid station and Gatorade.  We stopped at a medical tent and Kate had them apply some Icy Hot to see if it would help.   Every now and then I would jog in place just to reset my feet.  I had worn my old Adidas and they’re too big, not exactly built for walking, my feet were sliding around.  Jogging every now and again helped ease some of the pressure my feet were feeling.

We had a Ghost bride moment too.  I looked up to see a runner dressed like a bride just standing forlornly all alone up ahead.  The way the light was hitting her, she looked a little ghost like.  So then we starting cracking jokes that we needed the Winchester boys.

We were walking, we were slower than planned and Kate was hurt but if you look at the race pictures the photographers took, we’re smiling in all of them.    Kate kept telling me to leave her behind and run ahead and I kept saying hell no.  We started together, we’re finishing together.

And we did- 3:27:49🙂 We collected our awesome spinning medal and went straight to the med tent so Kate could get ice on her leg.  Then we headed out through the long staging area getting the goodies.   Once again, no bags were provided to carry everything but I had come prepared- I had shoved 2 dog bags (clean of course) into my belt so that way we could shove the snacks all in those.  Then we headed for our Remix medals and then found a spot to rest before beginning the walk back to the hotel.  Where was a taxi when you needed one?

So this wasn’t the race we had expected but it was still an awesome race. 

Rock n Roll Las Vegas 5K Recap

Fallon @ Slacker Runner7 Comments

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!

Fallon @ Slacker Runner6 Comments

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?

little less conversation, a little more action

Fallon @ Slacker Runner10 Comments

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Holy crap people, it’s Vegas weekend!!

How did that happen?

My bags are packed, I’ve purchased my monorail pass, my race confirmations have been printed- twice, once for each bag- I’ve checked into my flight, I’ve charged all my devices.

What have I forgotten?😛  How did I pack wrong?

I am heading into my first double digit double race weekend- while I’ve run 2 races the same weekend before, once I ran 3, but I’ve never crossed the 10 mile mark when combining those races.  This weekend I will run 16.2 miles along the Las Vegas Strip. And I recently discovered that the Strip is not flat.  Not sure why I thought it was.😛   Oh well, I don’t like flat anyways.


This will also be my first time in Las Vegas so this will probably be very much “small town girl lost in the bright lights” situation.  Whatever am I going to do with myself?  Luckily Kate is coming in on Saturday.  Yay!!!  Follow along on Instagram as we run 13.1 miles of lights and sounds and Kate runs her first half marathon!

I am also having a shoe dilemma.  I think my Ultra Boost are dead.  But I’ve never run more than 5 miles in any other pair of shoes.  Do I take 2 pairs of shoes?  Can I fit two pairs of shoes? Even then that would leave me running the half in the Ultra Boost.  My last 8 miles in them left me with screaming shins for 4 days.  More on that in my weekly recap.  Or lack there of.  😛 So do I wear old shoes that definitely hurt me or newer shoes that could hurt me?

I am looking forward to the expo.   However I am hoping to not spend too much.  Rock n Roll knows how to do an expo and I can be very easily tempted.   Shiny new gear!  Except I have to remember that I have to be able to pack it all and bring it all back.   Bummer.

Plus I get to meet more BibRave peeps!  Yay!  And hopefully some blog buddies too!

Any tips for Las Vegas?

New shoes or old shoes?

Rambling On 20

Fallon @ Slacker Runner13 Comments

The airline freak out edition.

Ok, freak out is too strong of a description.

People, I haven’t been on a plane since the 90’s, saying things have changed would be an understatement.  So can I pick your brains?

So, yeah no real tickets anymore?  I either print it at home or once I get to the airport?  That’s so odd.

Can you really not lock your luggage anymore?

And what’s with the no assigned seats?

I mean for crying out loud, the last time I flew it was on an airline called Ryan International and my flight number was 007.  Doesn’t even sound legit but I had an assigned seat.  I was also flying over the ocean so maybe that makes a difference who knows.

Can I take food? Like my drink mix and some gummy bears? Or is that a bad idea? A bottle of water?

Or medications? I can throw them all in a jumble in one container right? I don’t have to lug 4 pill bottles around with me do I?  

How about a tennis ball?  My back sure would appreciate it.  😛

I know nothing!

You should check in the day before? Well, that’s just stressful.  I don’t really have internet or printer access or work so that means I can’t until I get home.  Among everything else I need to do before leaving for the airport Friday morning.

Oh and that airport is still a good 3 hours away from here.

Am I missing anything?

Any helpful flying tips?