As my mom facetiously told me in the car this morning, I
finally got my Spring Break for this year. A negative effect of working at one
college and attending another is that their individual Spring Breaks never
happen to coincide with one another. When I finally got to escape work and
classes this past weekend, Mom was right. I really did finally get to have a spring
vacation and it could not have been more fun.
On Friday morning, my mom TJ and I topped off the gas tank
for $4.17 per gallon (OUCH!) and headed down the highway to Vegas just before 10a.m.
Both the weather and the company were nice, so the ride was pretty fun and laidback.
Checking in once we got to Vegas was really simple and fun.
TJ and I were staying in the Towers of the Luxor Hotel and I have to say that I
was absolutely blown away with every interaction we had on the Strip. Everyone
was really hospitable and giving. My only complaint was that the hotel was an
absolute maze, so I had a really hard time finding my way around the facilities
until after the race on Saturday. We were able to manage our way in and out of
the hotel, though, to visit the Pinball Hall of Fame before dinner that evening. For those who don't know, the PHF is by far my
favorite thing in Vegas and if you haven’t been before, I highly encourage you
to check it out. All of the machines are playable and even though TJ didn’t think
she was going to enjoy herself, she ended up having an absolute ball—pun intended.
Fast forward to race day morning. TJ and I were awake bright
and early by 4am. Room service was precisely—and impressively—right on time
with breakfast. I took a bit of a gamble and went for bacon, eggs, and my
standard 12oz can of Diet Dr. Pepper. TJ went for a Power Bar. (Mine tasted
better and I was able to save the fruit for later…)
By the time we were completely finished with race prep and
dressed for our race, it was 4:30 and both of us were getting antsy to find our
shuttles before the line got too crazy. We were lucky to find a fellow racer
from Indianapolis who had figured out where to go and within no time we were
out at the shuttles to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It felt good to be out in
the cool air before we left, but in all honesty I was a bit nervous about
taking the shuttle to the Speedway. Our bus driver actually had to ask where we
were going, but it all turned out well and we didn't end up lost somewhere in the boonies of Nevada.
We got to the LVMS right before sunrise and after that
everything went remarkably well. The race directors did a phenomenal job. They
even parked the Shelby Mustang that they were giving away (and using as the
pace car) right in front of the start/finish line for us to take photographs
with before race time. Isn’t it an incredible car? We didn’t win it, but it still
really neat that they let us look at it up close before things got going.
Around 6:35am is when things started to get fun. I ran into
one of my favorite people in the world, Claudia. Neither of us was sure if we’d
see each other this trip, but because of her adorable gold running skirt I was
able to find her quite easily once she got to the track. We ended up racing
with each other the entire 13.49 (Uh, yeah, USTAF, my booty) mile course, catching up and making pacts to
race with each other again in upcoming events. The course was nice and scenic with a great view of the local mountains and even the Strip, but there was very little shade. The heat got to us around Mile
8 and we quickly went from being runners to power walkers to prevent
from getting some nasty heat stroke. It was still really fun, though. By the time we finished, the asphalt had
easily reached 90°F and despite all of the Gatorade and water that we’d been
drinking and tossing over our heads to try and stay cool, we were still incredibly
hot by the time we got our medals. And speaking of medals, look at how awesome
they were! I have to give Claudia all the credit for this photograph, but look
at how cool the design was. So classy!
Overall, the race was really fun, especially with friends
and family there to enjoy it with us. The volunteers and race coordinators did
an incredible job at keeping us safe and hydrated out in the desert. I was impressed, but the
number one thing that was on our minds once we knew that we were going to finish the race was the car. We all wanted it and our odds were pretty high, 1 in 2,400. In the end, we didn't win it, though, and that Shelby
Mustang now belongs to a very happy half marathoner who lives in Texas. She
was in absolute shock when they called her name and I was glad that she was so
thrilled to have won. It made not driving home a $75,000 Shelby Mustang a lot easier to do.
We
didn’t win, but we did get to run with old friends and meet many new ones, too.
I got to meet a lot of Half Fanatic members at this race. They were so kind and encouraging
toward me. It really made me feel like I would be a welcome addition to the
group after my second qualifying race on May 4. And look what Claudia made for me
and posted to the Half Fanatics Facebook group!
I’ve decided that woman is an angel. She is by far one of
the kindest people I’ve ever met and much like me, she knows no strangers. We
agreed to do the Dopey Challenge together at WDW in 2018 with TJ. I don’t know
what we were thinking when we made the pact, but now that it’s all said and
done, we’re signed up for another HM near my house in July and I might be
headed up to Claudia’s neck of the woods for the Long Beach HM in Fall. We’re
crazy, I know, but that’s what friends are for, being crazy together.
And we took so many pictures! Look at all some of the memories we captured
post-race. I actually got caught on camera dancing in the second image because I heard that we
were finally headed back to the hotel—and lunch—before TJ and I headed to the
spa for massages.What can I say? I was excited.
Overall, our experience in Las Vegas was a pretty special
one. Claudia went back to her hotel room after the buses got back to our hotels
and it wasn’t long before TJ and I had taken showers and grabbed some grub
before moseying over to the spa. Our masseurs were absolutely outstanding and
we were almost back to our pre-race selves by the time we headed over to
Treasure Island for our 7:30pm Mystere
show. If you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend going. I was absolutely
amazed by the talent we saw. It was breathtaking, but I am really glad that we
went for the 7:30 presentation and not the 9:00pm one. By the time we got back
to our room at 9:30, we were ready to curl up in bed and sleep in until late
the next morning...which we did.
Easter Sunday was a really quiet day for us. We ate brunch
down at one of the cafes and did some souvenir shopping for people back at home
before spending a large portion of our day in the spa’s whirlpool relaxing and
stretching. At one point I even fell asleep curled up in the lounge area while
I waited for my coffee to cool down. It was just a great day and overall an
incredible way to wrap up our trip. It was worth every penny in race and resort fees. If I could
do it all again, I would in a heartbeat. Vegas is a different sort of place,
but it turned out to be a great location to race at for the Ford Mustang’s 50th
birthday.
It was actually a little saddening to pack and
drive home this morning. I did really miss my animals and family back home,
though, so coming home was a bittersweet experience. I do wonder though, since
Vegas was that spectacular, if any other race will ever be able to top it. I’m
thinking WDW in 2018 might, but who knows. Something might just surprise me
sooner. Until then, I've run half marathons in two states with forty-eight more to go. I wonder how long it will take me.
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