Viva Las Vegas!

Running the Rock'N'Roll Las Vegas for my birthday was the best choice I could have made.  This race was especially important to me since it marked the one year anniversary of when I started running.  I wanted to go big, I wanted it to be fun and more than anything I wanted an unforgettable experience.  I got all of that and more at this race.  I had never been to Las Vegas and running down the middle of the strip at night was the most memorable way to take it all in. 

Before I get ahead of myself, let's do a little visual recap of the whole trip...

keepin it clean...?

Birthday dinner/drinks

pre-race in front of the Luxor

post-race, 13.1 miles smashed!

The man, the legend, Dr Dribble!

ran into a fellow Rambler

this is how fast I run, seriously

about to fly off the giant shoe

set and ready to go

met up with some sorority sisters

Well after seeing all of that I'm not sure there's much left that I can say.  This race was epic.  I had tons of fun at the expo fooling around and picking up some sweet swag.  My birthday was spent doing what I love most, eating and running.  I met Doctor Dribble and was overjoyed that he didn't pass me until after mile 3 this time around. (Last time it was during the first mile, so I'm pretty sure that means I'm making progress right?)  I felt amazing for the first 7 miles, unstoppable really.  I crushed my 5k and 10k times, well at least that's what it felt like.  I think more than anything the atmosphere was so electrifying that I couldn't help but feel like I was a superstar breezing down the strip.  I made it til about mile 10 before I had to finally give in to my bodies requests and slow down to a walk.  That's when everything caught up to me, all the walking around and dancing in the days leading up to the race.  Will power got me through the last 3.1 miles because by then I was definitely on the struggle bus.  A fellow Loyola Rambler was working the medical tent at the finish line so I stopped to catch up with her and then limped my way back to my hotel.  The rest is a bit of a blur, but somehow I managed to eat some food, drink a lot of water and get myself into bed.  I would recommend this race to anyone who wants to try a half marathon but needs an extra boost or a fairly lax cut off time.  Hopefully I can be there again next year and maybe I'll even see you on the strip!