Results

Ok, so I'm a dork. I totally forgot to update my blog like 2 months ago to give you all the results from the race. I think the excitement of it all, totally just made me space out, though you wouldn't think it would. Duh.

Anyways, so let me tell you:
Saturday Morning, December 5, 2009
5:45am - Meet at the airport - UGH! Sooo early!!
8:30am - Arrived in VEGAS!!


December in Las Vegas is COLD!! Seriously. It was like 30* out and it totally rained, but luckily not on race day.
So we stayed at the MGM Grand, but check in took FOREVER. Ugh. I think we waited for our room for like 3 hours. The coaches wanted to do a group run to the race expo after everyone checked in. I totally didn't do that run. I walked. While most people changed into their running gear, I and a few others, just changed into our running shoes and we walked over with the group. I found some neat stuff over there. I bought a thermal long sleeve shirt with the Las Vegas RnR logo on it. Got a bag full of samples and free stuff. Can't go wrong with that, right?! :)
Once we got back to the hotel, we hoped our room would be ready. But we were wrong. It took probably another hour or so before that happened. But in the meantime, I was able to meet up with my friend, Sara, and her mom. Sara was gonna share the room with me and Caitlyn and Jessica.
We had our TC Pasta/Inspiration dinner. All of us mentors went down early to line up so that when our mentees came down to the ballroom, they'd have to walk through a pathway full of mentors, coaches, and endurance managers from all over the US. It was so neat. My parents met up with me for the dinner. That was nice. They stayed across the way at their time share place. I was excited to have my mom there as she's the reason that I was running this race.
After dinner, we had a group meeting with all the last minute details before the race. Everyone was anxious about the race. Even after already completing one half marathon, I was still anxious about this one. But excited.


Sunday, December 6, 2009
3:30am - Wake Up for Race!! - sooo early, I don't even know how I functioned.
We met our team down in the lobby of the hotel. There were HUNDREDS of people dressed in their orange Team Challenge jerseys. We were like a blob of orange. It was awesome. We all walked over to the Mandalay Bay together. It was freezing out! Next time, I might actually wear long pants instead of capris. Or at least search earlier for leg warmers. I checked in my "after race" bag at the bag drop and peed and then met up with the group for a warm up. We took pre-race pictures and before we knew it, we heard the gun shots for the start of the race. It seemed a little unorganized as to where to go. Everyone was pushing each other to try and get into the corrals. 
I paired up with Tiffany since we were in the same corral, #28 out of 29. HA! But last year my race time was over 3:30, so the slowest are always in the back. I went searching for my parents because I knew they were looking for me. Found them - they took pictures and Tiffany and I took off. It took about 45min before we even reached the start line. 
They were filming the race and had it playing on the jumbo screens outside some of the hotels. It was crazy. Just as we were finally getting out there on the race course, a few of the racers were almost done!! OMG. It was nuts. Those were some serious racers. I think the first person to finish, crossed that finish line in just over 1 hour! To be able to run that fast would be AMAZING!! 
Tiffany and I kept a slow, steady pace. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be able to keep her pace since I was trying to keep my breathing under control. I was determined to NOT have any asthma attacks this year. I decided to do any early bathroom break in the course. I found some bathrooms that didn't have a long line (like the ones I ended up at last year). And that was a good decision. The ones further down, had the line, which totally made the early break justifiable. *And I didn't need one for the rest of the race!!*
We past Tiffany's boyfriend first. Then I found my parents, who took some motion shots. And then I got into super focus mode. I worked on my breathing, kept a good pace and was able to stay with Tiffany for about 1 hour and 45 minutes until I started to feel my asthma kicking in. I slowed down, she kept going. But I'm really proud of myself. I was able to run for 6.5 miles without stopping!! That's a record for me! I've NEVER done that before. Though my body wanted me to slow down and walk, my legs didn't. I tried walking but they wanted to run. It was wierd. Finally I overpowered them and made them walk. 
I saw some guy working at a bar pass out beer to some of the runners/walkers. That was funny. I passed some of the brides and grooms who got married at the Paris Hotel. That's a neat idea. Get married while running a marathon. Who would have thought?
I passed some local HS cheerleaders, Team Challenge supporters/cheerleaders, and some random people on the sidelines in their lounge chairs watching all of us crazy people run or walk in the 30* weather. 
The weather was insane. I never truly felt like I warmed up. I got warm enough to toss my jacket on the side somewhere along the course, and eventually my gloves, but even with my long sleeve shirt and TC jersey, I was still cold. Yes, definitely long pants next time.


Finally about mile 10, Michelle Layton, one of the TC honorees, found me and ran the last 3.1 miles with me. She kept me motivated and inspired. Jess Johnson found me too, and her words of inspiration always get to me, and I could feel that emotional asthma attack coming, but luckily I kept it in check. Yay me!
Those last three miles were the worst. Actually, no. Scratch that. The worst was the last mile. It's like I knew I was almost done but my energy level was on empty. I kept telling myself, "you're almost there!" and then I saw my parents. And I pushed it harder. Not walking, but not running either. Somewhere in between. Michelle was there by my side. And once I saw that finish line, I pushed it hard! And crossed it. And almost collapsed. I got all teary-eyed. But I did it! All 13.1 miles. AND, I beat last year's time by 20 minutes. I finished in 3:21. How awesome is that?!! 20 minutes! Amazing!


Now I have a goal to shave off another 20 minutes. If I could do a half in 3 hours or less, I would be soooo happy! So it's something to work at.


The rest of my trip was great. After the race, I hung out with my parents and my boyfriend. We ate, I got a massage, and waited for Sara to finish her marathon. Yes, she did the marathon. And did it in about 5 hours or so. I don't remember her time. But that's awesome. Go Sara!


We partied that night with friend and teammates. Monday morning I walked to the buses with everyone and said bye. Then went to meet up with Arnon at Excalibur and spend the rest of my time in Vegas with him. We had a great time. 


Thanks to everyone who donated. I raised a total or $3,873.60! I couldn't have done it without your support.


So, now I have completed my 2nd half marathon. Still not brave enough to do a full, though Sara really wants me to do one with her. Maybe later.