Race Report: Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll Marathon

Race morning started at 4:45am, and Laura and I were up and at em.  Nerves were in full force, so I was glad that everything was set to go for the morning, and I all I had to concentrate on was forcing food down my throat.  Before too long, the gents, Dan, Ryan, and Luke were at our door ready to head to the start.  My stomach was maaaaaaaad as normal.  We left our hotel and I was perfectly content in my shirt and shorts.  I laughed on the inside at all the wussies out there in pants, jackets, headbands/hats, gloves, etc.  Seriously, it was like 40 degrees out there!

We stayed at the Excalibur so we were right around 1 mile from the race start.  It was pretty crazy/awesome to see all the throngs of runners migrating to Mandalay Bay.  We saw some totally douchy guy strutting around smoking a cigarette thinking he was the coolest thing EVER.  We were all pretty annoyed, so we couldn't help but laugh that he tripped trying to climb over a fence.  Karma is a B.  Some people just look really good bright and early before races, no?  :)

I ditched the boys early on since they were heading for corral 1, and apparently I'm not quite that speedy.  I found the bag drop and met up with Slomohusky!  It was great to finally put a face to his writing and comments.  Unfortunately my stomach was still in freak out mode so our convo was cut short to accommodate yet another port a potty wait for me (I think this puts me at 5 for the morning :/).  And to make matters worse, not only was I in line for the bathroom as the star spangled banner was being played, I was also waiting while the first 2 corrals were released.  Stress meter:  max.

A couple of minutes later it was our turn:  marathon #2 here I come!  Because I spent 97% of my race morning in line for the bathrooms I didn't get much of a warm up in.  As in, I got zero warm up in.  No biggie.  When I first started out, I was a little concerned about how tired my legs seemed to be.  I chalked it up to not getting the warm up in, and after the first mile they did appear to warm up a bit.  The course was packed.  There was a lot of dodging and weaving for the first 4-5 miles.  It was so cool to be running down the strip with thousands and thousands of runners.  I tried to keep an eye out for Luke and Ryan who I knew would be towards the front of the marathon pack on the out and back portion of the strip but didn't get to see them.  Boo!  I was keeping a 9:20-9:30 pace, but it definitely wasn't feeling as effortless as it should have.  

I decided from the race start to run ~9:20 for the first half of the race and then either maintain the pace the second half for a PR or drop the pace for a sub-4 if my legs felt good.  Based on how fatigued my legs felt just 5-6 miles in, I decided to shoot for a PR party!

1. 9:28
2. 9:24
3. 9:20
4. 9:20
5. 9:26
6. 9:20 

I had my music off for the first 9-10 miles just to really take in the experience.  There were a ton of bands along the course, lots of spectators, and plenty of scenery to take in.  Around mile 6-7 my left hip started to throb.  Uh oh.  I've had issues with this hip when doing some aggressive speedwork this summer, and again during my 20 mile long run while training for Vegassssssssss.  Sadly, once this hip pain presents, itself, it doesn't disappear.  At this point I still thought a PR was possible, but the hip pain was also around a 2-3.  Within a couple of miles of the hip pain in the left leg, I had a ton of pain start up in my right knee.  Oy.  Clearly I was compensating my form to try to ease the pain and aggravated something else.  I decided right around the halfway point that a PR was just out of the question for the day, and I was just going to enjoy the race as much as I possibly could!

At the point that the half and full split, I was a little jealous of everyone who was just about done.  I was starting to make my trek out in to no man's land when I heard, "yeahhhhh TEAM GREEN!!!!"  Uh wha????  Laura!  No idea how she saw me, but she had already finished with her crazy fast half and was heading back to our hotel room.  We had discussed her possibly pacing me the last couple of miles if I needed it.  I yelled out to her that I WOULD need her and to try to find me at all possible.  :)  I started counting down to mile 24 from that point on for my company. :p

7. 9:25
8. 9:30
9. 9:31
10. 9:37
11. 9:53
12. 9:48

Once we split off from the half we got to the sucky part of the course.  There were some crazy hills and not much for shade.  Swell.  I just kept running and trying to give myself pep talks along the course.  I was bummed that I felt soooooooo terrible for this race that I had trained hard for, but kept reminding myself how lucky I am that I can run!  I just kept taking in all of my surroundings and kept a smile on my face.  At one point I thought I saw Luke off in the distance (if you saw his race outfit, you'll be able to see why I could pick him out from a mile away).  And he was walking.  Uh..... I yelled out to ask him what the heck he was doing, and realized that he had gotten hurt along the course.  0/2 for us for the day I guess.  I told him I was enjoying a total suckfest as well.  Hey-o!

13. 10:27
14. 10:24
15. 10:13
16. 10:26 

As much as the course sucked, the out and back areas were actually pretty cool for seeing other runners out on the course.  I saw Sam and yelled out to him.  Later I saw Emil as well.  Both of them weren't able to see me waving frantically and screaming their names....not sure how this is possible given my highlighter yellow shirt, but whatevs. :p  Eventually I caught up to Emil and we ran together for awhile.  Nice to meet you Emil!  You know you're a runner/blogger when:  you "meet" someone during a marathon.  :)  

At one point, Natasha Beddingfield's Strip Me came on my iPod and I desperately wished that Jenn was out there working on that $hit $how with me.  I had to listen to it on repeat for a couple of miles, and it helped to pass the time.  

17. 11:10
18. 10:21
19. 10:37
20. 11:31 

I was letting myself walk through water stations to give my hips/knees some reprieve, and because I was running ~10 minute pace otherwise, my legs weren't too fatigued to get going again, which was good.  I was also struggling with my GUs (I know, I need to try something new, because I always have problems, I'll learn eventually).  I kept burping/puking up GU flavored bile.  Sexay, I know.  Ickkkkk.  

It was entertaining assessing how my pain would rotate every half to one mile:

"Oooh left hip hurts the most..... oh wait... congrats left knee.... you're now in the lead.... but look out..... right knee is coming on strong in the back stretch!"

I had to stop a couple of times during the final 10k to try to stretch my hips out.  Not sure how I went from B.A. sub-4 finish to being ok with walkbreaks and all out STOPPING in a race, but whatever. :)  During a water station, a guy stopped to walk with me and asked how I was doing.  Apparently he had been pacing off of me for much of the race and was finally catching up.  We talked running/racing/life for a bit and it was so nice to not be alone in my misery (he was shooting for a 3:45 finish).  He finally had to take another walk break, and my legs had gone slightly numb so I figured I needed to go with it!

The last 4-5 miles were HORRIFIC.  They were just the worst out and back/curvy/unscenic route ever.  Being able to see the Mile 25 sign when you're at Mile 22 should not happen.  Seeing so many people just struggling to put one foot in front of the other really messes with your brain a bit at this point.
21. 12:18 
22. 11:28 
23. 12:53

With about 2 miles to go my savior, Laura, came to join me.  She was exactly what I needed.  She told me how her race went, and how the boys' races seemed to be going.  With about a mile to go, I realized that there was a bitch of a hill standing between me and the end of my race.
Me:  Uh.... does the course go up that?
Laura:  Uh..yeah.  I was hoping you wouldn't notice that.

Haha.

We made our way there, and I resolved to run up it until my hips felt like they were going to fall off (oh wait, that was mile 7).  She just kept babbling at me to not stop, so we just kept plugging away.  Hill win o' the day.  :)  Just shy of 26 miles I realized that I could come in under 4:30 if I hauled some booty (I had stopped looking at my watch around mile 14 for sanity sake so had no idea what my estimated finish would be).  I picked up the pace and just tried to pick off people.


I saw the finish line and ran as hard as I could counting all the dudes I was chicking in my head in the process. ;)
24. 12:13 
25. 10:39 
26. 11:02 
.39 1:56 (9:10 pace)


It wasn't pretty, but it was done.  Marathon #2.  :)

Sadly, because I suck at math while running, I ran fast enough (under 2 minutes) for the final .2 to put me under 4:30, but failed to remember that I had ran almost .2 extra.  Haha fail.  :)

I finished 26.38 miles in 4:31:53 for a pace of 10:18.


I was really bummed early on to realize that it was simply not.my.day. from the get go:  stomach issues, tired legs, intense pain in my hips and knees, puking up GU, but I was beyond proud of myself for sucking it up and gutting it out.  I have never felt that bad for a race right out of the gate, and many times I thought about quitting because I was afraid I was going to hurt myself by continuing with a different running form.  While a 4:31 is pretty far off from what I wanted to run, it's a damn good time all factors considered, and I really did enjoy about 95% of the race, which is what it's all about.  :)

There will be others, and redemption will taste oh so sweet.  

 Of course I had to take my finisher photo with the green showgirl. She said she liked that we matched. WIN!

Apparently I'm so excited that I'm rocking the Harrison squinty eyed smile.  Oh well. :)

**Oh and all is not lost.  At least I got some great race photos, which is really what running/racing is all about. :p

Las Vegas Marathon Race Goals

Usually my race goals are my favorite blog post to write (behind race reports that is), but for some reason I'm freaking out a bit about putting my goals in writing.  Not that I've kept my race goals a secret, but it still makes them serious being typed out.  But anywhosits, without further adieu here are my race goals (sorry Neal, no sweet dinosaur inspired goals this go around [sad face]).  (Sidenote:  I just re-read my race goals from Green Bay, was I on crack back then or what?!?!?!?  Seriously...suffering from some MAYJAH taper brain at that time like whoa.)

Goal C:  Finish marathon #2.  Enjoy the race.  Burst in to "Vivaaaaaaaaa Las Vegasssssssssss" no less than 6 times throughout the 26.2 miles.  Avoid accidentally getting married at mile 5 with the masses.  Avoid accidental prostitution.  Avoid running off with a showgirl.  Avoid becoming a showgirl.  If a blue man is encountered along the course, make sure to ask him how look it took to blue himself.  [Perhaps I should have a separate post for these "personal" goals throughout the race. :p]

Goal B:  PR.  My current (and only) time is 4:12:00.  Assuming nothing goes wrong on race day, I should be able to crack this puppy.  I was a pretty consistent 9:23 pace for the first 20ish miles of Green Bay until my legs gained 900 pounds out of nowhere.

Goal A:  Sub-4.  I've gone back and forth all throughout training about whether I would or should shoot for 3:5x.  My biggest fear in the marathon is crashing and burning after going out too fast, I want to enjoy the race as much as I can.  It's doable, just dependent on whether I can quiet the wussy part of my brain down come race day. :)

See ya'll in Sin City!  Vivaaaaaaa Las Vegassssssssssssssss!

November in Review + Last Run before Vegassssssss

November in Review

Total Miles: 119.7 down from 151.2  last month. Should've been about 40 higher if I wasn't sick for a week. :(  (Last November 80.1)

Total Time:  18:02:34 down from 23:52:41 (12:21:07 last Nov.).

Total Runs: 14 for an average of 8.55/run

Highest weekly mileage: 11/8-11/14:  45 miles 7:07:35

Favorite run: While parts of the 22 mile long run weren't super awesome, I felt like a B.A. for doing my longest training run ever.  And a lot of the miles were really really awesome.  So it counts.

Most hardcore run: Frightening mile repeats aka the Devil's workout.

Favorite Race: None.  Sniffle.

Bike Miles: 0 which is exactly the same as last month's 0.  Sorry Princess Leia.

Favorite Jams: Glee's Marry You, Just the Way You Are, and Cory Monteith's--Losing my Religion, Rihanna--What's My Name?, Katy Perry--Fireworks.

Tonight I hit the jim for my last run before I toe the line for 26.2 #2.  Also 26.2 #2 in my 26 year.  Whoa, mind blown yet? Awesome.  Moving on.  I skipped out on my tempo run last night to finally get my back adjusted at the chiropractor, and figured it wasn't worth it to run hard after that.  The good news is:  I can breathe!  Apparently I had a rib out of place.  So my assessment of "I feel like something's pressing on my lungs and innards that shouldn't be." was a pretty accurate.

My legs felt fab-u-lous on my run tonight, and literally felt like I could run forever.  Which is probably a good thing, because I think that 4 hours slightly under 4 hours is almost the equivalent of forever.  I did 3 miles in 28:09.

Marathon race goals to come tomorrow before I board the plane for VEGASSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Dear Santa Slash Birthday Fairy + Taper MADNESS

Thanksgiving always signals the question.....So what do you want for Christmas and your birthday? (I'm a day after Christmas baby.)  And I always stumble around with a non-answer requesting money, because I'm lame like that.  Except that when I get money I end up putting it away in to my savings account, because I'm even MORE lame like that, and then when I end up using it way down the line for a race fee or clothes I no longer associate it with the giver.  Last year I decided to construct a Christmas Slash Birthday list for those folks that would be interested in it.... except...for the first time ever....  nobody asked.  What the heck??  (For the record:  I did end up buying myself a good chunk of the stuff on last year's list at some point in the year, so it probably evened out. :p)

It was so much fun compiling my wish list, I decided to do it again, even if it's only for the purpose of referencing on my birthday aka shopfest #27.  :)

I'm pretty much obsessed with this stocking hat.  I saw it online from Kohl's for crazy cheap a few months ago, but the shipping was more than the hat.  I just couldn't do it.  Then while Aaron and I were in the Cities for the Pack v. Vikes game I had MAJOR hat envy whenever I saw a chicky with it. :(

During the great HIMYM obsessfest of 2010, I purchased Seasons 3 and 4.  Random, I know.  I think they were crazy on sale?  Anyway, I'm missing 1, 2, and 5 from my collection.  Also Jason Segal is missing from life as my life partner.  So feel free to include him as well Jolly ol' Nick.

I've resigned to the fact that I will allow myself to get a Nook (per your guys' awesome suggestions and input on this post).  Granted, I've settled on the black and white version, but since this is a WISH list, I figured I could get away with the spendy colored version, no?

And why not get a case for the Nook that is almost as expensive as the actual Nook?  Why that's my thoughts exactly!  I have a special place in my heart for Kate Spade, and this quote is sooooooooooo Jerbear:  She kept her nose in a book, and her head in the clouds.  LOVE.

Last year I talked myself out of buying these G.D. Uggs convincing myself that I would be over them by this winter, thus making the price tag not worth it.  Well frugal Jeri, this one backfired on you.  I still covet these immensely.

As of right now this is the one race I am for sure doing in 2011.  And who wouldn't like to have a race fee scratched off their spreadsheet?  Wait...not everyone has a ridiculous race spreadsheet?  That's lame as well.  :)

I'm pretty much obsessed with everything that Nan Lawson creates.  At any moment in time I would be ecstatic with 20 different prints in her etsy shop.  Edited to add:  After creating this post, I ended up buying the two book nerdy prints.  Happy Christmas Slash Birthday to me. :)

I couldn't quite justify the Harry/Hermione/Ron set just yet.  But once I find a wall space they will work on, they are mine!  Oh, I mean... when Santa puts them in my stocking.... yup.  :)

And on to running.  When I was training for the Green Bay marathon I thought I was sooooooooo lucky.  I barely had any taper craziness going on.  My body felt great.  I wasn't that nervous about the race.  I wasn't losing my mind.  I thought I was a taper queen.  This time around, I feel like the taper has chewed me up and spit me out!  I spent week 1 of the taper sick and ran a whole 3-4 miles.  Last week ended with the crappiest of crappy 10 miles where my legs felt like lead.  I've had random knee pain in both knees, prompting me to ponder whether I should get a knee strap for the right (aka good) knee in addition to the one I wear on the left for Vegasssssssssss.  I have something horrendously out of place in my back that is making it difficult for me to breathe while I'm sitting on the couch let alone while I'm sucking wind running on the treadmill (rest assured I finally made a chiro appointment.  yay me!).  Oh and my legs just feel like garbage.

Today it all kind of hit me in the face.  Taper MADness fo sho.  I almost skipped my run this morning, because it seemed like more work to get to the gym to do three miles than it was worth.  Sweet attitude me.  When I got there my legs again felt like garbage.  Sigh.  (In case you are wondering, this is doing nothing for my race day confidence... gaaaaaaaaaaah!)  Luckily after about a minute or two of lead-legs, they got their pep back and the rest of the run was a-ok.  I did 3 miles in 28:28.  Just goes to show that you'll never regret going for a run.  ;)

And now I'm off to find my mind.  I'm sure it's around here somewhere!

Daily Mile Meet Up + Last Long Run

Wednesday night, a group of area Daily Milers met up for some drinks, food, and running gab.  There were a few peeps that I haven't met before, so it was a blast.  Quite jealous of Tom and Sara's new daily mile shirts, I must say.  After polishing off my meal, I managed to eat Tom and Sara's leftovers as well.  I tried to claim I was eating for two:  me + marathon.  :)

John, Karla, Christopher, me, Joseph, Sara, and Tom.

Saturday I had my last long run of MARATHON TRAINING!!!!  I was supposed to do 8 miles, but because I shifted around my schedule earlier in the week, I had decided on 10.  To put it bluntly:  this run sucked!  I had a fun running buddy for the first 5 miles.  I was such a slow poke and I felt like I was running my booty off.  Blech.  At some point I just resigned to the fact that the run was going to be slow and just went with it.  The last 3 miles in to insane winds didn't help.  But, I always believe that a couple of crappy runs just mean that an awesome one is on the horizon.  Long run = crappy run.  Upcoming marathon = stellar.  :)

Also, one cannot complain about running the end of November in shorts and a t-shirt.  INSANE.

I did 9.16 miles (yes, the fact that I didn't end the run at an even 1/4 mile increment tells you how OVER the run I was :p) in 1:30:59 for a pace of 9:55.

Go Pack Go!

The second reason this weekend was so great was the Packers v. Vikes game!!!  I had planned to go to this game since the schedules were released way back when.  I did some work to convince Aaron to attend the game with me.  I was super excited to watch my boys dominate..... and maybe see my ex-boyf Brett as well.  :)

There were so many Packers fans at the game, I was really in heaven.  So many "Go Pack Go" cheers erupting through the crowd, which were actually louder than the "Fire Chilly" cheers later on in the game.

I really feel like I thrive amongst "my people."  You know...the cheeseheads....  good times.

Wednesday I got in a short and easy recovery run on the treadmill.  I took Tuesday off because my IT bands were beyond pissed at me for Monday's tempo run.  I've become a bit of a sadomasochist the past few days with my rolling pin.  Eeeeeeeooowwwwwww.  But in a good way, ya know? :)  I had that random pressure under my right knee cap that I had previously in my left knee before the annoying runner's knee kicked in.  Oh and just in time for the MARATHON.....joy!  I'm still hoping it's just the random taper aches and pains and nothing normal.  I did 3 miles in 29:02.

And in holy crap that's disgusting news:  Monday I was hustling booty after my tempo run to get ready and meet Matt at for some catch up time over drinks and football.  Since I knew I was going to be having some beers, I was trying to rehydrate at mach speed while getting ready.  I love me a good Cool Blue gatorade, and this was no different.  When I got home later that evening, I noticed that there was something floating in my Gatorade that was still one third full.  Upon closure inspection, I realized that there were black mold spores/chunks floating around inside.  Based on the sheer number of mold chunks remaining in the bottle multiplied by the two times the drank amount almost made me lose my $#!t.  SOOOOOO GROOOOOSSSSSSSSS.  But I haven't died yet, so I'll probably be ok.  Blech.

Black Friday: Scarves for PRs

As I've posted previously, I am hand crocheting infinity scarves to help fund my racing addiction.  The scarves are normally $30 + $3 shipping and handling.  From November 25th to November 28th I will be running a sale.  My goodness does the Jerbear love a good sale.  ;)  If you purchase a scarf during this time, you can get a second scarf for $10 off.  The scarves are so cute that you can justify buying yourself two (I seriously have at least 6 or 7), but they also make great Christmas gifts!  There are a lot of colors to select from. 

And to thank those of you who have already purchased a scarf, you can get a second scarf for the $10 off deal as well!  Only because I'm super duper thankful that you've helped out my running already yo. ;)

Send me an email jerbearshares [at] gmail [dot] com if you want more information or to discuss your super cute new scarf!