2011 LV Rock n Roll Half Marathon Race Recap

1:47:15

Overall I am pleased with how I ran. Would I have liked to have run a faster time? Yes. Was this the best that I could do for my training and conditioning? Yes.

I left my home at 3:30 to get to the 5:30 race start time. I was traveling alone because my support crew had to stay home to watch the baby. I was glad I left the house early. Traffic was terrible but, I was able to score parking a half mile away from the start. By the time I got parking I had 45 minutes left to lift off. Just enough time to hit the porta-potty and get into my corral. I never do a gear check bag. I usually wear throwaway clothes to stay warm and then I will use a stranger's phone to call my husband after the race.

I arrived at coral two with 20 minutes to spare. I ran into two ladies that are super fast and I chit chatted with them. My running buddy also hopped into the corrals to wish me luck, then she  left to go meet me and other runners on the course at mile three. It was cold but, I kept my throwaway pants on till the last minute. Then it was time for the national anthem. I felt such a wave of emotion then.

The gun went off and it was crazy. I'm grateful for the wave start but the first two miles were just trying to find a groove and, I felt that I was running faster than I should have. My legs had a mind of their own. I told myself I would settle down once the crowd thinned out. It was hard to reign myself in. My stupid feet were numb from the cold and I couldn't wait for them to warm up. The first four miles on the strip flew by. Then we were headed into the downtown / art district. I had to really focus on the ground in front of me because it was really dark and I didn't want to trip over something.
I hit mile 5 at around 38:35. I was just a little off 1:40 pace. I was shocked to be running that fast, and then it really began to feel like work. The difficult miles for me were miles 5-9. Those middle miles had a lot of sharp turns and I was trying to run the tangents but people were running the corners over the curbs and I followed suit. Around mile 7 there were handing out GU energy gels and I was grateful to take one ( I hadn't been expecting these until mile 9) Once the race returned to the Strip I felt better. I started thinking of my husband and son and I tried to just ignore the pain in my feet and quads. With two miles to go I felt that I was picking up the pace. In reality I was just holding on and slowing down. I was so grateful to have friends on the course yelling at me during the final mile. I crossed the line 1:47:15.

Here are my split times
5k-24:29 (7:53 pace)
10k-49:07 (7:55 pace)
10 Mile- 1:20:45 (8:04 pace)
Finish- 1:47:15 (8:11 pace)

When I break my time down even further I realize that the last 5k was run averaging 8:32 per mile.... Wonder what I did wrong? It's a rhetorical question. I went out too fast like a dummy and paid for it in the later miles.
I kind of had high expectations for this race. But, I'm not bummed out by not meeting them. This will be my starting point. I will be getting faster as the months go on. I know that I will really have to start watching what I eat.  I have been making excuses for not loosing all of the baby weight and I know this is a factor in race performance. Running is not going to be enough.

I'm not sure if I will participate in next years LV marathon. I love racing in the city that I live in for the simple fact that I don't have to travel anywhere. But, this race was a logistical nightmare. There are so many negative comments on facebook and other blogs plus there is a rumor that they want to add even more people to this race next year. Yikes. From my experience I had trouble parking and I was so grateful that I didn't check a gear bag.  Running a race at night on a Sunday is a real drag when you have to be at work on Monday morning.