Raise Your Glass
Las Vegas, NV - State 21
4:14:49
Running a marathon in every state creates a risk of getting bored. You can only PR so many times. So what has been my strategy to keep things interesting? Well, I add an ultra here or there and I started to also complete triathlons. I finally qualified for Boston, so what next? I think my future will one day include a 100 miler, and of course I will go back to trying to get a new PR. BUT for state 21, it was time to have some fun.
If you were to ask most marathoners, especially first timers, what are the basics of preparation, I'm sure some would say they give up drinking for a bit before and if they don't give up the drinking for a long time, they certainly would say you don't drink the night before a race. Sleep would rank up there in importance. And then of course your nutrition and hydration during is key.
If you don't take those four factors seriously (Sleep, Soberness, Nutrition and Hydration), you put yourself at a greater risk of having a bad race, and potentially not finishing. Well, I just have to say: 'Raise your Glass if you are wrong in all the right ways" I most certainly was wrong in all the right ways in Vegas.
While most stay on the strip when in Vegas, my co-worker, Lily offered up her time share which was off the strip near the Palms, and provided a free shuttle service that runs every 30 minutes between the Time Share and Planet Hollywood. I arrived on Friday, and Ashleigh and Nate drove in from San Diego. The moment I stepped off the plane I grabbed a drink waiting for Ash and Nate to pick me up from the airport (okay partial lie, I had some work to take care of first, then i put a dollar in a slot machine...THEN I got my Triple Shot Vodka Red bull drink).
We spent most of our day at the Venetian and Caesar’s Palace. We didn't excessively drink, but we drank enough to keep a steady level of drunkenness. We stocked up our fridge with all sorts of liquids for the weekend then we went out for dinner. I'm sure I would have done just fine with one martini not two, but....Nate decided a second was in order.
Friday night was a good night for sleep, I slept maybe 6 hours. When I woke up I wasn't feeling the greatest from the day before. I managed to get a 4 mile run in but not without feeling extremely sick. So I decided Saturday would be a beer day.
Back track to training: On my 18 mile run I realized that if I went out the night before a run, I started my run strong. But once the hangover hit, I had to slow down, and even walk. With the 20 miler, I got a good night's sleep, and got drunk on the run, and it was a great run (Thanks for joining Sheila and Veronica, and Rachel A- Thanks for bringing me beer refills on the path!). What I learned in training was this: I must stay drunk on the entire run, otherwise it's game over.
There was a lot of walking going on Saturday as we were under the impression the Expo was at the Mandalay Bay (read directions Tara!). We Casino jumped from the Excalibur, to the Luxor to Mandalay Bay (all the while playing the slots- being conservative as I am, I broke even on that round). The Expo was actually at Sand Expo which is connected to the Venetian, so we once again spent a great amount of time at the Venetian (I'm actually a pro at finding my way around there by now!). I made it through the expo pretty quickly and then we had lunch.
Rather than going out too hard on Saturday night, we decided to go see David Spade. This was a great idea, because I was still doing the goal of Vegas (drinking), but it wasn't excess, and I had been on my feet long enough for the day that it was good to sit for awhile. After dinner, we did a little more casino hopping at Harrah's and Planet Hollywood. I was in bed by 12:30-1ish giving me maybe 4 hours of sleep before the Marathon.
My Alarm went off and I kept to most of my normal morning routine: An hour to wake up, move around, do my sit-ups (it's a mental thing where I think if I activate the core before the long run, I will have a good run), and have breakfast. As this is a drunk run, breakfast included a beer.
I planned on meeting up with Evelio at the start and hope to literally run into Tony on the run. Evelio was easy to find. The gun went off at 7am but we started with Coral 12 so it took some time to get to the start. I managed to jump out of the coral and go to the bathroom before we started. I handed Evelio my beer when I did this which I then thought. that could be disastrous... I might lose him and never see my beer again! Luckily I found him within a minute or two of the run (running fast where I'm sure people thought I was crazy).
It's amazing how long the strip really is, but you don't realize it until you are running it. Around mile 3, Tony and I were e-mailing trying to find each other (yes e-mail...that's what Tony does I guess because I attempted to call and he wouldn't pick up). He was ahead of us then. I was running low on beer already, but I figured I would find someone on the run giving away beer. Around mile 5 there was a beer stand, but we didn't see it until we passed it and I didn't think much of it thinking, this is Vegas, I'm sure there will be more (wrong).
Since I had my phone out e-mailing Tony, I was also getting work e-mails. Alice was busy working (it’s quarterly reporting season). I almost wrote her so she could have a fun e-mail between all the work, but I was trying to minimize my phone use to just finding Tony and Ashleigh.
Ash and I had planned to find each other around mile 12 to give me another beer. However, we missed each other. I was 12 miles down with only 2 beers. Now I know it is ONLY 2 beers, but add running to two beers at 7am, after a night of drinking...that's enough to make you start to feel miserable when you don't have a third. Evelio saw the unpleasant Tara as I yelled at a runner for stopping right in front of me at a water station…I maneuvered around them but managed to get citomax dumped all over me by the volunteer and I just wasn't happy. So, he said it was time we make a stop when there is a place to buy some beer. This is a little harder on the second half. Though the first is up and down the strip (and to the old strip), the second part is all industrial and pretty bare. This is pretty common for marathons with halves.
We saw places we could stop at, but they were on the other side of the road where you have to cross over the race. I didn't want to draw any attention to people to make them think we were cheating, so we just had to make our way to the gas stations that were on the same side of the road. Finally at the 25K we were able to stop and fill up. I waited out by the race in hopes to see Tony pass as Evelio went on in the gas station. He ended up taking about 10 minutes to complete the transaction. As I waited, I received some comments from runners passing, like "what's wrong with you, you look fine and you are just standing there like a spectator!" When Evelio came out, I learned, he was joining in on the fun as he got himself a beer as well and put it in a 'to go' container. We finally saw Tony for the first time as we were passing in opposite directions on the out and back. At this moment I was very happy, and half way done with the current beer, singing Poker Face or some other Lady Gaga song- I don't remember which one the band was playing.
There were a lot of cheerleaders from high schools on the course. Of course, with the next beer fully consumed in 3 miles, I was not just running a marathon, but pretending I was a cheerleader, attempting toe touches (these cheerleaders loved me). At mile 18 we stopped at another gas station for a bathroom break and another refill. Somewhere along the way, Evelio and I decided Gus and Nutrition were not in order on this run. So the only thing I really consumed was the Beer, and a few water stops when I didn't have any beer (but maybe 5 water stops at max).
We continued on, and the last part of the marathon was pretty boring with out and backs on a frontage road. Lucky for me, I was not boring, and I did what I could to entertain myself and Evelio. We were breathing in the wonderful car exhaust air and making our way to finish. I had one more bathroom stop in there (usually I can sweat off the need to go to the bathroom- but apparently not when it's beer). We crossed the finish together (second marathon I've ever started and finished with one person) and I felt GREAT. I got a text from Caitlin, she saw me cross. Apparently she turned on the live feed just as I was crossing - now that's pretty cool!
The party didn't stop there though. Ash and Nate greeted me at the finish, took me back to our place and took off to avoid the Vegas to Cali traffic. I fully utilized what the timeshare had to offer (soak in the hot tub then read my book by the fire), and then I got ready for one final fun night in Vegas: The post race party. I swore off beer when I crossed the finish line, so it was back to Vodka. The post race party was at Encore - XS. I was so happy to make it to a club in Vegas and dance. I went with Evelio and his friends and I made friends there. They let us dance up on the platform with stripper poles, and I happened to find a girl who is a teacher at a studio like flirty girl fitness....so... she taught me some tricks on the pole, where I proceeded to make a fool of myself I'm sure, but it was so much fun. I don't know if I'm more sore from the marathon or from that pole- but my right arm is all bruised (I kept on my bracelets....silly me).
And yet still, the night wasn't over. I needed ot learn how to play Craps. I never got to see Mike Evans on the race, so we met up at the Mirage and I watched him lose some money (only after winning $600!). I do have to say, when I was rolling that dice, I made many people a lot of money- go me for rolling the dice! :)
I tend to make friends post marathon on the flights home. I met Jeff on the flight home from Fargo (he was also in Vegas but we never managed to meet up), and this time I made friends with Christine- from the suburbs of Chicago. ...an Ironman and Marathoner...like Jeff, with her own inspiring race stories.
This Marathon wasn't just about the race; it was about the entire weekend. It was about having a good time, about celebrating my accomplishments over the last 20 states. It was learning that I've managed to make the Marathon so routine, that even skipping the most important elements to preparation (Sleep, Soberness, Nutrition, Hydration), that I still can manage to complete it in a respectable time. Raise your Glass- Cheers!
