Before I forget.....Vegas Marathon...

Well, Eric woke up around 1:45am.....he started the morning with a redbull instead of coffee.....the Starbucks wasn't open when we had to start walking towards the Monorail.....I needed a little coffee...a jump in my step, but no time.....we jumped on the wrong monorail....:)...oops.....we thought we had plenty of time before the start, but the potty situation was ridiculous!!!....we were in line at the Mandalay Bay for probably 40 minutes....I made some friends....we bonded over the smell of rankness coming from the few stalls and hundreds of people trying to do their business before the race started......not a wonderful experience so far......

I was in corral 14 and Eric was in corral 4.....Eric dropped me off and passionately kissed me goodbye...who needs coffee???....The corrals were crazy.....Eric had to run to make his start and I was squished like a pancake.....not a wonderful experience so far....well, except for the goodbye kiss....:)

It was finally my corrals turn to start....ROCK & ROLL!!!....and down the strip I ran....running past an Elvis or ten....when I got to mile 3, people were stopping in front of the Venetian to get married....that was cool....at mile 4 or 5 someone threw a cup of cytomax (like gatorade) and it hit my legs....not cool.....I let that roll off of me and focused on finding my chi.....it didn't really come.....around mile 8, I had to pee like a pregnant race horse....NOT ENOUGH POTTIES!!!!....That is what I was screaming until I found one lonely porta potty behind one of the bands playing on the course.....aaaahhhhh relief.....I again tried to find my chi.....it didn't really come....not a wonderful experience so far.....

I tried to look at everything around me....the people....the crazy people....the magnificently huge hotels....more crazy people....there were so many people running.....I was hoping that most of them were half marathoners....I was looking forward to having a little more space....it was pretty crowded......pretty good entertainment, but crowded....as the half-marathoners were splitting off to finish their race, I kind of wish I were them.....I could hear the music and cheering in the background....I thought at one moment I could taste the victory margarita I was planning on having later.....much later....if I had known that the miles ahead were going to be as boring as they were.....

Soooo BORING....there was no one cheering...no music...no energy gels....no snacks...no fruit...I saw Eric at mile 19 running up the hill that I was running down....that put an extra bang in my whammy for a couple miles.....until all I could think about was how I was mal-nutritioned....how my insides were eating my outsides......I was ready to start gnawing on my own arm.....until there was a energy gel station at mile 21.....the next miles were boring and I just wanted my margarita already!!!!.....seeing the finish line was the best feeling ever.....no wait....seeing Eric at the finish line was the BEST thing ever....I was soooo physically drained and all I could think about when I saw him was how much I loved him and my son....how far we have come in our marriage and our life together....of course, I started bawling....as Bret Michaels was playing "Give me something to believe in"......just for the end....it was a wonderful experience....

I beat my Richmond Marathon time....by 9 minutes!!!!