Las Vegas Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon

Scott and I love to run.  It is a hobby that we share and something we enjoy as a couple.  So, just after Anna Scott was born, we decided that we would start running one or two half-marathons a year to #1 keep in shape and #2 enjoy a little time together combining two things we enjoy - traveling and running!  Scott had already run the Rocket City Marathon and the New York Marathon.  He also ran the New Orleans Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon when I was 27 weeks pregnant with Anna Scott.  Yes, all of this has been blogged about before and is in the blog archive... I am just updating those of you who need to be brought up to date.  :)  The first Rock-n-Roll half-marathon we ran together was Savannah in November 2011.  The second was Nashville in April 2012.  The third was Disney in January 2013, and we just finished our 4th - Las Vegas in November 2013.

Now, when I say we "run together" I do not mean this literally.  We both run the same race, but we don't start together, run together, or finish together.  :)  We train together, but that is about all.  We just do our own thing during the race, and find each other afterwards.  Works better that way.  For those of you who have done these races, you can probably identify with how tough it would be to stick together the entire time.  The three pictures below are after our first three races together - right:  Savannah, top left:  Nashville, and bottom left:  Disney.

We arrived in Vegas on Saturday.  We had a wonderful Pasta dinner that evening at a favorite Italian spot in Vegas, before seeing Boyz II Men in concert.  On Sunday, we relaxed most of the day, until the race started at 4:30 that afternoon.  This was something different about the race, that to be quite honest, we did not know how to tackle.  All of our other races had started early in the mornings.  We were unsure how to eat correctly and how to spend the first part of the day, knowing we had a race to run that afternoon.  I guess we did the right thing, but it was a bit different.  Needless to say, after waiting around all day, when 4:30 pm rolled around, we were ready to rock and roll...  

It was a hard race.  It surprised me, to be honest, because I thought the mixture of a flat course and great weather would have been a perfect recipe for the easiest race we have done.  Well, I think it was the toughest.  I don't know if it had something to do with starting later in the day, but I do know that the difference in altitude was a big factor.  I was tired at mile 4!  :)  

To our surprise, we both did great.  I set a personal record at 1 hour and 48 minutes and finished 46th out of 1651 in my division.  Scott finished in 1 hour and 51 minutes and placed well in his division also.  We stayed at Mandalay Bay (because that was near the start line).  The only problem was, it was not near the finish.  We finished at The Mirage and had a long walk back to our hotel (after running 13.1 miles).  Once we made it back, we did have the strength to smile for our traditional post-race picture before getting ready for dinner.  :)

Scott had made reservations at MIX for dinner the evening after the race.  It was delicious, and the view (from atop Mandalay Bay's The Hotel) was incredible!  If you have ever been to Vegas and seen the sign in the next picture, you know just where we were - pretty high with a great view of the city of lights!

On Monday, we enjoyed walking the strip and seeing some of the new sights since we had last visited Vegas (while also reminiscing memories from past vacations).  Monday evening, we had dinner at my favorite Vegas restaurant, Strip Steak, then went to the Michael Jackson Cirque Du Soleil.  This is a brand new show (held at Mandalay Bay) and let me just say, if you go to Vegas and do not see this show, you are missing out.  It was spectacular in every sense of the word - the best I have seen since Celine Dion.  Just awesome!  Don't miss it.  

Before flying back home on Tuesday, we could not leave Vegas without a trip to In-N-Out Burger.  

Scott Laney is crazy about this place.  The last time we had this was on our way back to Vegas from Pasadena, 4 years ago!  We were way overdue.  

We are still trying to decide which half-marathon is next.  For now, we are happy to have successfully completed our 4th one together!