Aaron and I flew to Las Vegas this weekend for the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon. This was a last minute change as I had planned to run the Illinois Marathon but a late change with Aaron's work schedule caused a change. It made for a crazy few days but in the end it worked out for the best. It was a much more simple trip and My Mom flew to Austin to watch the kids so they didn't have to miss any school or anything. It takes a village and mine is very supportive of me.
We took off very early on Friday morning and woke up Spencer to go with us. He did a great job on the plane and even though it was work he fell asleep for a little while and then again on the landing. :)
After we arrived in Vegas we went to the temple, which was beautiful, and then ran an errand and went to check into our hotel. Oh our hotel. It was so beautiful. They upgraded us to a suite and it was fabulous. So Spencer had his own big room and bathroom. :)
After a much needed rest at the hotel we head over to the expo to get my bib. After we got my stuff I took this picture and we were starving.
We got dinner at Zupas (Yum) and then went to Sprouts to get some food for the hotel and breakfast. It was an early night and I was lights out around 7 and asleep by 7:30. We were up very early in the morning but with the time change it wasn't so bad. We waited until we were all ready to go and woke up Spenc on the way out. I fed him on the way to the bus.
After a long bus ride up to the top where it was freezing! I was ready to get started. I took this picture right before I had to drop by sweats.
I felt really great. I could tell that my legs were fresh and this was going to be a good day for me.
I kept a steady pace in the 7:20s for the first 20 miles. The pace felt relaxed and comfortable. I thankfully carried electrolytes on me and so I only slowed down to get water a couple of times. My 10 k, 20k and 30 K splits were all pretty identical, 7:28 pace then 7:27, then 7:25.
I didn't really run with anyone but I did meet up with a girl from California with 5 kids that also went to BYU around mile 13 and we ran together for about 5 miles. She was shooting for 3:15 and I was aiming for 3:20. It was nice to run with someone for a little while.
I took a gel around mile 17 and started to slow down to drink some water and my quads immediately seized up on me. I knew that there would be no more stopping the rest of the race or I would never get going again. Thankfully I met Aaron after the mile 20 marker and he handed me a fresh bottle of electrolytes.
My crew waiting to cheer me on.
Waiting for me to get there. I was so happy to see these faces. By this point my pace was feeling like work but I reminded myself I was over 20 miles in and it wasn't supposed to be easy anymore.
This boy did so great all morning, taking a nap in the car and just going around to cheer for Mom.
Around mile 22 the wheels started to come off and after mile 23 it was a death march to the finish. :) Oh my gosh my quads and calves were in so much pain.
Mile 24 is the hardest mile of the race and I slowed WAY down, clocking like a 9:20 mile. I wanted to walk so very badly but I knew I had to keep going. At this point I was reminding myself that the faster I got to the finish, the faster the pain would be over. I saw my 3:20 finish slipping. There is a timer when you have exactly 1 mile to go and I knew I was going to have to pull out a sub 8 min mile and that was going to be very difficult. The last mile of the course is nice, it has a good down hill to the finish but I was just totally done. I had nothing left to push. Mercifully the finish line appeared and I tried to kick it in to the finish. This picture of me at the finish says it all:
I pretty much collapsed when I crossed the finish line. I looked up to see 3:21. An amazing time and one I am so proud of. I would have liked to have been stronger at the finish but I am very proud of this race.
I was in a lot of pain. I found Aaron and fell into him crying for a minute. Then I pulled it together, drank 2 whole bottles of water, grabbed a 5 pound bag of ice and found Aaron. He was so proud of me and that made me feel better. I started to feel a bit better and sat on the ice and then got my bag and put on more clothes.
It was fun to talk to the other racers, it is a fast course so most people had a great day.
Aaron was a saint and waited in a recovery massage boot line for me and I did that for ten minutes and it felt really nice.
I felt up for making our way back to the hotel but we took a couple of pictures at the finish. Dang proud of this PR, just under a year after baby #4. It took a lot of hard work and dedication.
Spencer fell asleep on the drive back so Aaron dropped me off at the hotel to relax and he went to get my usual post race fare of cheeseburgers, french fries and milk shakes from In-n-Out. It was delicious and I devoured it. Spencer took a little nap, I took a 30 minute shower, we rested for a bit and it was time to head out. We stopped at Target to get gifts for the people we left behind and then got Cafe Rio to go to eat on the plane.
Spencer's first Cafe Rio tasting was a success! He loved it.
He loved watching the plane take off.
Tried to get one of the 3 of us. Didn't work out so well. :)
The ride home went pretty well. Spencer slept for awhile and Aaron got some rest and so it went by pretty quickly. I was moving very slowly but we eventually made it home, got Spencer to bed and then crashed. I don't know that I have ever been more tired in my whole life.
I am grateful that I have something I enjoy so much, that I enjoy working so hard for. It is fun to push myself and challenge myself. I also acknowledge how much effort it takes on Aaron's part as well. He had to give up a lot to support me in this race and he did 100% this training cycle. He was my biggest cheerleader. After a particularly hard run one morning I was pretty defeated and questioning this whole marathon thing. He picked me back up, told me it was just one run and motivated me to get after it on the next workout. When that workout came I had a note on the mirror when I woke up encouraging me to keep at it. Then after a really great run I worried that I had peaked too early and he calmly reminded me to trust in my coach, that she knew what she was doing. Race week he was getting me pumped every day. Marriage is a partnership and I love that he takes just as much joy from watching me succeed as he does in succeeding himself.
Is another race on my horizon before Boston? I am sure it will be but for now all I can think about is walking normally again.
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