Almost two weeks have gone by since I landed in Las Vegas. Being my sixth visit to Sin City I knew how trying it was going to be to resist temptation for the two days prior to the race. I was a bundle of nerves, doubting myself. “I’m not ready!” I said to my friend CC. “Calm down or I’m going to slip you a roofie! You’re ready!!” She said. We were tucked in bed by ten pm on Saturday; restless I tossed and turned as butterflies had a party in my belly. I stared at the ceiling replaying my training (or lack thereof) over in my mind. The alarm went off at 4:45 am; we laid in our beds waiting for our pre ordered breakfast to be delivered. Before leaving I filled my water bottle with XXX Vitamin Water, put six Gu candies cut in half in my back pocket and popped an electrolyte pill.
The Rock & Roll Marathon started and ended at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Standing amongst 27,000 other runners a surreal calm overcame me; confident all of a sudden I was ready to go! The gun went off. We didn’t move, it was well over fifteen minutes later when we finally crossed the start line. “See you girls at the finish.” I waved and took off. The entire strip was closed off for the race. This was an unbelievable way to see it in its entirety. In all my visits here I’d never walked more than two blocks of the strip at once; maybe because I’m usually inebriated and wearing five inch heels?! I ran by MGM Grand and New York New York. I flew by the Bellagio and then the Venetian. Feeling fantastic I passed the Wynn and then headed out towards Old Vegas. I passed a cheap motel and saw an old man handing out draft beers to the runners. “Oh that would add to my story…” I thought smiling at him and shaking my head as to say no thanks. All of a sudden I found myself stuck behind a large group of runners; feeling good I decided to hop on the side walk to pass them. I looked up for a second to acknowledge a lady that was cheering me on and before I knew it, I was ejected through the air and hit pavement, skidding on the entire right side of my body. I picked myself up before the lady had a chance to make it over to me “Oh my god are you ok?” she asked concerned. The right sleeve of my shirt had been torn and I could feel a burning sensation and see some blood. “I’m fine.” I said and took off again. Leave it up to me to slip on the one lonely Gu pack that was on the sidewalk. I could feel my right hip throbbing from the road rash as well but refused to let it slow me down. As I veered back onto the strip at mile eight I’d manage to completely forget about my spill. From that point on, without stopping I forced myself to grab a cup of water from each station. As I approached the thirteenth mile I could see the excitement in many of the half marathoner’s, picking up speed to get to the finish line. I on the other hand popped another electrolyte pill and turned right gearing up for the second half of my race. I ran over the hill with ease and was still feeling fabulous at fifteen miles. I’d created the perfect play list which kept me pumped. Nothing like Boney M. Christmas song followed up by some dirty Ke$ha to keep me going. At eighteen miles I started to feel my legs and I slowed a little bit. But then my mind went to a place I didn’t know existed, a place where no thoughts existed, a place where the only thing that mattered was keeping a nice happy pace. A place that made me run fast, easy, & smooth without having to think about it. “It’s all new miles from here on, so make em’ count.” I thought as I ran by the twenty-one mile marker. I tried to relish the last few miles pretending it was just another Saturday morning hangover run rather than fixate on the fact it was the last 5 miles of a marathon; physiologically this actually made the last leg of the run enjoyable. As I ran back over the hilly bridge I gained momentum knowing I was mere minutes away from finishing. I started to run faster; just before I turned back onto the strip I noticed a big sign that said “26.2 miles” and I started to get chocked up. “No! no! Get it together and run!” Five hundred meters away from the finish I saw my friends on the side lines yelling “GO PT GIRL!!!!” waving their pom poms. This gave me the extra kick I needed to cross the finish without slowing.
4:13:10 and I was done my very first marathon! I was totally pumped!! I’d meet my goal of 6 minutes per kilometers down to the second.
I walked round with a bagel in one hand and water bottle in the other. It was impossible to find my friends in a sea of 50,000 people and visualizations of a hot shower was over -powering so I made it to the taxi line up at the front of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. There I was faced with a lineup of thirty people that weren’t moving. Frustrated after standing there for thirty minutes I eyed a stretch limo that had just pulled up and next thing I knew I was sitting in the back. Some things are just worth paying for!
My friend CC ran her first half marathon in five years , her friend Bonbon took ten minutes off her previous half marathon time and I ran my first marathon; needless to say we were all high on adrenaline and after being “good” for two nights were ready for a night on the town. All the girls got dolled up; I wore a mini dress and four inch heels. After some great eats at TAO we made our way to The Bank at the Bellagio. Twelve girls = free cover and too many free drinks 
We laughed hard, danced the night away under fake snow and meet tones of random fun people (and some douchebags as well). The girls slowly dropped off and by three am there were only the last four hard core standing. We decided it would be best to head back to our hotel, the Aria. A riveting conversation with the taxi drivers had us in stitches as we stumbled out. Some chicken wings, ten lapse around the casino chatting on the phone and another glass of wine (not necessarily in that order) and next thing I knew it was five am. I’d been up for 24 hours… then I crashed!!
In summary I must say this was the best first marathon I could have ever asked for. I wouldn’t change a single thing! I want to thank all my friends and family for their support as well as their understanding of my neuroticism. A special thanks to IronMike who’s been there since my first ten k race telling me “I can do it!” Three year ago when he said “Watch out it’s a slippery slope you’ll be running marathons soon!” I laughed and said “As if, never!”
“To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who’s never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind.” Jerome Drayton
PT Girl xo
But I rather share how New Orleans awakened a part of me that has been sleeping for some time and opened my eyes to living in the moment again. The city of New Orleans has definitely seen some hard times but that hasn’t broken its spirit. It is alive and well. There are certain events and people that remind us that the possibilities are endless. Genuine kindness helps us to remember that the world is a beautiful place, to be grateful for what we have and to live every day to its fullest! Life is about taking chances and we should embrace the unknown, it’s actually a gift! Although life may not always lead us where we want or think we should be, fate will always land us exactly where we are meant to be and that, my friends, is what I took away from my fabulous five days in wonderful New Orleans.
