VEGAS

I have now OFFICIALLY finished my season by ending with the Las Vegas Half Marathon. This race was really important for me to do well at since I have really sucked at running in my last couple of triathlons. (Cancun 70.3 - half marathon in 2:26.. oops!). I went into this race not feeling SUPER confident, but Lipe ensured me that I was ready and that I was going to do well. SOO.. I had to believe Lipster/Filiberto/Philip, so I decided I would TS the Vegas course!!

Mikey, Liz, Fred and I (yes please don't be jealous of that awesome car) drove to Vegas Friday afternoon after Hallie came by to bring us bottles of good luck/job champagne - thank you, Hallie!! After arriving at the Luxor at 11:30, 3 hours past my bed time, we went to bed! Saturday was fun at the expo and we met up with Lina to do a z2 30 minutes run. Lina's z2 is basically my vo2 max, but running with her is always entertaining. We all planned what we would wear and shared our goals and then it was time for bed because a 4am wake up call is not hot!

That wakeup call came at 3:55am - WHAT GIVES, LUXOR. Had to go through the usual routine of getting ready: clothes, gear, music, getting a cheer from ma. We waited inside until the last possible minutes and then we all lined up in our (different) corals. They unfortunately didn't have a 1:40 pace guy, so I went in somewhere in between the 1:45 and 1:35 people. The 1:45 man said if he caught up to me he would hit me with the flag pace thing, so I knew I couldn't slow down!

The first three miles were FREEZING but went by super fast. I had a 5k PR which I giggled to myself about/celebrated. Then all of a sudden I see a freak in blue jogging shirts, a blue sweatband, and had a blue bandana tied around his neck. This guy was flying past people, making jokes, smiling... most people were like WTF but then I realize that I know him! That's Mark Gorence... I see this guy EVERY race I do.. I saw him at Carlsbad, San Diego Rock n Roll, LJ Half, SDIT, etc. etc. I caught up with him and he decided that he would pace me. He was doing the full and wanted to do it in 3:20 so 1:40 would be a great target for him. Even though this guy is INSANE, he kept me distracted and I ended up having a good time running with him. At most of the miles, we were 1 minute - 30 seconds ahead of my 1:40 pace. When I would slow down, he would tell me to pick it up. Having him next to me helped sooo much. I thought I could handle the last 2.5miles without him (the full course went a different way after mile 10.5). At mile 11, I got excited because I realized I was almost done and I think I picked it up just a little TOO soon. I crossed the finish line at 1:41.23 - MY goal was 1:40, secretly 1:38.... so I am bummed that I couldn't hold my pace the last 2 miles. I told Felipe that I think I am scared to push myself into too much of an uncomfortable zone. I definitely need to work harder at my z3 and tempo runs. If I were running with someone or sprint battling in next to someone, I'm sure I could have broken 1:40 but with myself I let my mind wander (hence, FOCUS) and I let my mind get the best of me. Overall, I can't say that I'm NOT happy because it was a PR, but it is disapointing to know that I could have done better.

ANYWAYS... everyone else on the team DID GREAT! Richard, Mikey, and Lina all destroyed their old PRs, Gene went under 4 hourss (3:31!), Ed did very well, especially for having just done IMAZ, and Liz and Fred did amazingly for their first full marathon! Liz TS'd that course and came in looking strong and Ico did really, really well- especially for JUST beginning to run less than 5 months ago! I was glad that I was able to see everyone as they finished because Breakaway really conquered the course! Even though I wanted to run the full on Friday and Saturday, I'm SO glad I didn't because my hip is KILLING me - I am for sure going to call a doctor soon.

I am looking forward to see all of you at the Breakaway holiday party this Saturday! Get ready for some fun!!

ps- thank you to Sarah who stretched me out after the race!!