Before the half marathon Dec. 4th, the most I'd ever run continuously (without slowing down to walk) was 4 miles. That's it. I say "that's it" now, but at the beginning of my training, I could not run a continuous half mile without stopping to complain, spit, get mad at myself, and wonder how big a wimp I was! So you can imagine my excitement when I ran my first half mile, mile, two miles, three miles, and four miles. I just could never really get past that four mile mark, and always told myself it was because where I train is right by my house, which isn't flat. Knowing Vegas would be "flat" really gave me something to look forward to, and I figured I could run farther.
Our weekend for the marathon started on Friday when we got to Vegas and stayed at Rio. We shopped a lot that weekend before the race, which started at 5:30 p.m. Sunday night. Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning we spent at Fashion Show Mall and the Planet Hollywood shops - Bobby was down about 60 pounds, so it was fun to shop for completely new and new LOOKING clothes! We counted all that walking as our training before the marathon. We also ate DELICIOUS food at Union in the Aria hotel, and Bobby treated me to tickets to see Viva Elvis, the Cirque du Soleil show, and it was awesome.
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| shopping spree in Vegas |
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| grilled cheese, with burger in the middle. |
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| some fish I had, i can't remember now...but it was a 10 outta 10 |
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| the apple pie with pecan something ice cream and a syrup sugar swirl on top...this was also a 10 outta 10. |
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| we were SO happy with our dinner at Union - we will DEFINITELY go back there, it was amazing. |
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| Still at Union in the Aria - one of our favorite dining experiences EVER. |
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| our running shoes |
The afternoon of the marathon we rested in our room and then started to get ready, and we were so excited. It was SUPER cold and windy the entire weekend, though, so I layered up:
disregard dorky face...it's the only first-layer pic I have
layer two
layer three - plus gloves
Bobby ran in shorts, of course, and two layers on top, but I don't have a picture of that. He started out in pants, but when we got down to the race start, at the Mandalay Bay hotel, so many guys were in shorts, Bobby changed his mind. He was glad. I thought he was crazy. The temperature at race time was in the low 40s, and by the time we finished it was in the 30s. It was COLD, I thought, and I don't care how cold it is, I still sweat like a boy, so my entire headband (which is by Moving Comfort, I bought at the expo, and I LOVE and you can find HERE now on sale for only $8!) was wet, my upper body was totally wet and I was frozen.
But back to the start of the race, here we are in our corral, #29, so it took us an extra 30 minutes or so to start the race, I think we started around 6 p.m.
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| on the strip in Vegas, waiting for the FIRST night run of the Rock and Roll half marathon. |
It was SO crowded. For our first run ever, we didn't know what to expect. We had to dodge and weave around so many people, it was insane. I heard there were more than 40,000 people registered for the marathon and half marathon, and soon after we started running I realized all the marathon guys and girls were merging in with us, and people were yelling "Marathoners stay to the left, half marathoners go to the RIGHT" and just yelled and yelled.....it was kind of annoying. Just tell us nicely BEFORE the race how it works, don't make us feel like idiots DURING the race.
But I have to say, our pace was so much faster (and our pace is relatively slow) than the people in the half marathon area, we DID go over to the marathon area on the left hand side of the strip, because that way we weren't running over WALKERS! I dont' mind walkers, are you kidding me? Walk, go for it. Just don't walk arm in arm with 5 other ladies and make ME stop! We felt SO held back at the beginning of the race and thought maybe it would let up in a few miles. It didn't. But I think that's what kept me running with Bobby instead of slowing down - I wanted to find that free open space, like a pioneer! I was headin' toward open land! There never was any.
I felt like I was chasing a little bunny through the crowds. Bobby is such a good runner, and with 60+ pounds gone from my sweetheart, he just bounced around through the crowds and made his way through. I lost him a lot of times, but always caught up. I ran for 8 miles without slowing down, except when my shoe came untied, but even then I tied it at mach speed and was so proud of myself for getting right back to it!
At about 8.5 miles, that's when the wheels fell off. My bowels felt like they were going to BURST. Not just a regular "hey I need to use the restroom" kind of feeling. It was a "did someone just remove some of my intestines without telling me?" kind of feeling. I won't go on and on about it, but it was horrible. And it was scary. I slowed down to a quick walk, saw Bobby speeding away, and as soon as I could, I sped up to find him. I did. I did this about 4 or 5 times, but the pain was unbearable and at one point I had to completely stop on the side of the street and fold my body in half...arms to the ground, just so I could get rid of the intestinal cramping I felt. I wanted to quit, and I totally didn't want to quit. I was kind of in a fog and wondered how far away Bobby was now, or if he had finished, because I didn't know what mile I was at, I just knew I was coming up toward the Venetian, and I saw the volcano at the Mirage going off. I knew I had at least a mile or two left til the Mandalay Bay finish. I walked, and ran, and sprinted, then walked, and walked some more, trying to stay out of the way of anyone else. My body got tingly, then stopped, then I'd run. This went on and off for several minutes. Finally I saw Bobby jogging in place on the side of the strip, somewhere near the Flamingo maybe? He urged me to run and I did, and we finished together! He waited more than 5 minutes for me to catch up, so that tells you how far ahead he was! He could have finished without me, but didn't. I love him.
We ran over the finish together, got the metallic blankets they give you, and I was FROZEN. Took a picture with our medals, and then I went down. Literally, I had to get down on my hands and knees on the ground about 20 times on the way to bag check, and I felt queasy and achy and cold and like I was going to white out. Finally Bobby got me to bag check and I proceeded to throw up like nobody's business. It was horrible. It's a bit of a blur how we got home, .a bus, and a taxi, then I was in the bathtub at my hotel room and feeling awful. A few more hours of vomiting and horrible abdominal pain, and sleep, and it took me about 48 hours total to feel better.
I thought this was all my fault. I had eaten a sandwich about 4 hours before the marathon started and I figured I'd messed up my system.
But when I got home and told my friend Shari about it via email, all she answered back with was this link to a news story she'd read. Reading about the lady's symptoms, I felt like they could have interviewed me! I still dont' know, and I never will, if my taking water at all the stations had something to do with this illness I got or not. I know they've tested the water and say nothing was found. I'll never know. But I have spent the rest of December ill. I got over this illness quick, but then had a cold. Felt better, then worse. Better, then worse again. Every time I thought I was better, I was knocked down again, and on Christmas Eve I took myself to the doctor and found out I have pneumonia. I hate to think that RUNNING is why I've had an unhealthy month. I don't think that's the case. Things happen. Illnesses lead to weakness and other illnesses. It's just unfortunate. If I DID get sick in Vegas from the water stations, though, how gross is that. I was telling my friend, I didn't know what to expect at water stations - if someone was there with a garden hose and I had to get under it and drink, I would have. I just wanted water. It didnd't bother me in the least that they were dipping my cup into a trashcan full of water. It should have, I guess, but it didn't. I didn't even think about it then!
All in all, I'm so proud that both of us ran the marathon. We have plans for two or three more in the next few months (one at the Safari Park in San Diego, a relay with friends from Huntington to Coronado Island, and one in Redlands), although I haven't run once since the marathon because I've been under the weather. I surely won't run for a few weeks now, since I'm recovering from pneumonia! But I look forward to the next run - I need to prove to myself that I'm not so weak that I'll puke after every event! :)
I'll leave you with a little video of a tiny part of the run - in the old Vegas part, where it was dark and quiet.
that's bobby in the black beanie ahead of me. Boring video, but gives you an idea of how crowded it was, and this was at about mile 7 or 8.
Oh and by the way - my time was 2:35:52 - which is one second shorter than Bobby's time, so technically I beat him. He waited several minutes for me, and I beat him by one second. TWO HOURS, THIRTY FIVE MINUTES and FIFTY TWO SECONDS. I cannot believe I did something for that long. Cheers to that.
And telling the story as "I beat Bobby by one second at our first half marathon" would have been such a cooler post!
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