My second attempt at the Las Vegas Marathon was Sunday. Vowing to never do a full again, I did the half. 13.1 miles; still a lengthly distance and still difficult. But when you see the 6 mile marker, you’re almost half-way done. So it’s a good mental boost.
I knew I’d be on my own since Justin is faster than me and has done maybe three training runs at my pace. And my other partner injured herself as did her husband (who was to run with Justin) so they stayed back and took it easy. So we were on our own.
A few things I did differently with this run that cost me:
1. I didn’t take the two nights before it seriously like I did with long distance runs while training for the full marathon. Nothing greasy, no beer, lots of water, sleep and stretching. I just thought, “eh, I’ve done 10 milers with no prep, I’ll be fine!”
2. No headphones. I thought, “eh, I’m running in a big crowd, I don’t need them!” The most boring part of the race was the second half. Why is that?
3. Not taking any precautionary meds with me. When I did the full, I had a few Advil and some Immodium in my pocket for emergencies. I didn’t even have pockets this time! Stopping 4 times at the scarce port-o-potties was not fun or time saving.
4. Only hitting the restroom once before the race. See above.
Things I did differently this time that was rewarding:
1. Since my husband ran and we’ve got connections, he was able to put the medal on me when I crossed the finish line. That was sweet.
2. I wore pants not shorts. So I didn’t freeze.
3. I had the endurance to run from water station to water station. Or from port-o-potty to port-o-potty. However you look at it. On the full, I was done at mile 20. And when I was done I mean done, I didn’t want to take another step.
4. I didn’t sleep the day away. I slept maybe 30 minutes and hung out the rest of the day. And I came into work today!
Do I have a sense of accomplishment? Maybe. I’m not really sure because it was a crappy run and I know I could have done better. But I finished. I guess there will be other runs out there, but I won’t let people talk me into them either. I love the idea of doing races like that, but it’s the training that I feel takes over my life for 6 months or longer. I’d rather casually train for something longer than 6 months so it doesn’t seem so daunting.
Yesterday, when we got home, we watched the recording of the event, Justin asked, “I don’t know how you did the full.”
Honestly, I’m surprised too.
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