Last Sunday I ran the Biggest Loser Half Marathon in Las Vegas, Nevada. I originally signed up for this particular race because 1) I love the Biggest Loser (although I stopped watching several years ago) and 2) because I knew I could convince my mom to do the 5k. My mom is super awesome and beyond supportive of my running, however she will be the first to tell you she doesn't understand the concept of paying to run when I can run for free anywhere I want. *shrugs*
Anyhoo, I knew I could convince her because she doesn't enjoy running, but she does like to walk, and will only consider doing a race if other people will be walking too (she doesn't want to be the last person coming in, which I totally understand!!). This is called the Biggest Loser Run/Walk Race series, and I've been waiting for one to come to California. When I found out this was going to be in Vegas, I figured it was close enough to not pass up and then I'd be guaranteed a travelling buddy, because #priorities. Well, my mom was all in until she got her retired butt a job!!! Its temporary, at the LA County Fair, but since she had to request off the last weekend of the fair due to my San Jose running trip (plane tickers already purchased) she felt bad asking for two weekends off in a row. Which I get, but I was bummed for sure.
Anyhoo, it was a super short trip and definitely not your typical "Vegas" trip, but I think that's what convinced my friend Mary to come with me in the first place. We spent Saturday laying around our hotel room watching Friends, after a delicious lunch of pizza and breadsticks. Yum. And then dinner was pasta and bread with pistachio chocolate chip cannoli for dessert. Yeah, she's got this carbo-loading thing down!
The race has a 7am start time, which concerned me since it was supposed to be a high of 100* that day. The race started and ended at Circus Circus, which is where I stayed, and that mean I got to sleep in a whole lot later than I normally do on race mornings! Yay! It was another out and back course (lame) which had a loop at the end, so you got to the end of the course, turned around and went back to the 5ish mile marker, got a bracelet, and turned around and went back to the end of the course, and then turned around again and could continue on to the finish line. Kinda weird, and possibly more boring because we saw that portion of course 4 times! And the race was down Industrial Rd, so while there was much more shade than there was at the Ventura Marathon, it was the backs of buildings on one side and the freeway on the other. Still better than last week, but not incredibly exciting. Oh well. The volunteers were all super nice and they had a ton of different flavors of Gu at the fuel station, so I got to try the caramel macchiato one. So good!
Side note: I like Gu's and gels, but tend to gravitate towards the chocolate and coffee flavored ones. The first one I had during the race was espresso, the second was mocha, and the third was the caramel macchiato. My coffee addiction has integrated itself into my running addiction!
I Periscope'd the last half mile-ish of my race which was super fun but also incredibly awkward to watch afterwards. Heavy breathing and shaky video aside, I totally messed up like half my words! I mean, it makes sense that my brain would go on strike after 12.5 miles of running, but I didn't realize just how many words I pronounced wrong, misused, or completely omitted! Haha, oh well.
Anyhoo, I felt so much better this race than last week. I don't know if it was the shade or just being better prepared, but I finished a good 30 minutes sooner than I did last week! Hopefully I can keep that up the next few races. While I don't necessarily race for time, I definitely want to get faster. In fact, I just hired a running coach! I love running and it is super fun, but I would like to be a more efficient runner, which means actually training. Races are fun and I enjoy talking to people and getting the most out of my entry fee, and I will continue to do that, but I know I've got some untapped potential somewhere in me and I want to explore where that takes me. Exciting things coming up and I can't wait to see where running takes me!
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