After work, I drove over to Disneyland to pick up my race packet. Parking wasn't too bad in the Downtown Disney parking lot. After picking up the bib downstairs and taking a picture for the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge, I went upstairs to pick up my shirts. I went through the expo pretty quickly. I stopped for the runDisney green screen photo (Thursday was with the Hulk) and picked up a bookmark from the Lasting Commemoratives booth. I bumped into my good friend that was on the mic during the expo reading important race info and messages from the sponsors.
Expo!
Gamma Ray specialty drink!
Dr. Bruce Banner says, "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry!"
Avengers assemble!
Saturday 11/14
I arrived just before 3:30 am and was given free parking. I went downstairs to use the restroom before going back to my car to finish getting ready. While heading to the staging area, we had to go through security screening where they checked our bags. There were several bomb sniffing dogs around. Security was definitely heightened with the terrorism that took place in Paris.
Free parking
Hello Kitty!
Captain America!
My goal was to finish with about an 8 minute per mile pace which would be a finishing time under 50 minutes. I wasn't confident that I could do it, but I got the job done. However when I stopped, the right foot felt more sore that I had hoped it would feel. This was one of my favorite 10k courses.
10k finish
Finished: 49:02
Click here for my Garmin data.
This was my first run in the Adidas Boost shoes. There's a big heel to toe offset and apparently that's what my legs have become accustomed to after all of these years. I'm pretty sure that all of my recent lower leg ailments were from wearing shoes with much smaller offsets as that's the current running fad.
On to the half marathon tomorrow
10k medal and shirt
I went home. Showered and relaxed a bit. I waited until about 10 am to go buy some fish for the aquarium at work. I wanted to get some Green Terrors, but they didn't have any. I ended up getting two little Umbee cichlids. After dropping them off into the tank at my office, I drove over to the Crevier Mini to get a car wash and have them put air into my tires. Although the air pressure was ok, the car had notified me that the air was low. That sometimes happens whenever the weather turns cold. Good old physics.
Sunday 11/15
Again I arrived at about 3:30 am and was given free parking. For two days, that saved me a total of $36! I could eat a steak at a decent steakhouse for that amount. The Adidas Boost shoes worked well yesterday, so I wore them again for today's race.
Free parking
Powered by pizza!
The race started out okay. The first mile was a bit too fast, so I stopped to take a picture with the Black Widow. I thought that I might have a shot at running under 2 hrs, but I faded especially when the right foot got pretty sore. By the time I had gotten to Angels Stadium, I knew that I could not keep it under 2 hrs. I actually thought that I would finish closer to around 2:10. So I was pretty happy with my results.
Half marathon finish
Half marathon medal and shirt
Finished: 2:04:21
Click here for my Garmin data.
I went home, showered, grabbed my bags, and got on the road headed for Las Vegas. I got into Vegas at around 12:45 pm. I found parking in the Luxor self parking just off of Frank Sinatra Blvd. I took my bags and headed to the front desk to try and check-in early. However my room wasn't ready yet. They informed me that it would be an extra $20 if I wanted to check into my room early. I declined. After paying $28 for the resort fees, I was given my room keys. They would send me a text once my room was ready. I went back to my car to drop off my bags and walked across the street to the pre-race area to pick up my race packet. I had pre-paid $40 for race day pick-up. The entire perimeter was sealed and they wanted everybody to enter through the gate off of Reno Ave. There was already a pretty long line of people waiting to get in which stretched down to the Arco gas station. At first they said that it would open at 1:30 pm, then they pushed the time back to 2 pm. Once the gate was opened, they had about 4 lines of people doing security check. You can only bring in unopened drinks. If any bottle was opened, even if it was empty, they wanted you to throw it away.
Stage pre-race concert with Kid Rock
A special f*ck you to those God damn terrorists for making things difficult. Please find something more constructive to do with your freaking life!
Anyways I made a bee line for the pre-paid bib pick up. After getting my bib, it was time to go get some food. Getting outside was a pain in the butt. I don't think they expected anybody to leave that early. A security guard opened a gate for me to get out. Once outside, I walked up to the McDonald's that was near the starting line to finally eat something.
McDonald's!
While eating, I got a text that my room was ready. After finishing my food, I made the walk back to my car. I grabbed my bags and headed up to my room on the 19th floor. Riding the elevator was a little weird. It wasn't going straight up and down. The room was pretty nice and spacious. It was my first time staying inside the pyramid. I didn't have much time to rest. So after getting my gear ready, I headed back down to go to the corrals.
Luxor
Room
From the Strip
Start line
I wore a compression vest underneath my long sleeved shirt. It was a tad warm at first, but it was much needed later into the race when my body wouldn't allow me to run. The first two miles felt hard but okay. My friend caught up to me and mentioned how she wanted to walk already. Then all of a sudden, I just couldn't run. Sure, both of my feet were sore, my right hip was sore, but I've completed marathons before with practically the same conditions. I might have underestimated the energy demand as I was completely wiped out. I pulled over to the side of the road and walked here and there. The frequency of the walks kept increasing. The wind gusts also picked up. At one point, I couldn't open my eyes and had to shield them from the dust that was being blown around. While jogging and walking up the Strip, it even started to rain a bit. I knew that there was no way that I could finish the marathon within the 5 hr cutoff. So at the course split, there was no hesitation in taking the half marathon route. There wasn't even an ounce of temptation to continue on with the marathon course. I was thankful that some of my friends that saw me stopped to check up on me and offered me some encouragement. It was a long walk to the finish line. I finished just behind the 2nd place female of the full marathon. That was kind of cool to see.
Finish line
Finished: 3:08:42
Click here for my Garmin data.
Out of the hundreds of races that I've run, seldom have I ever felt so miserable. I was very demoralized. This might be the last time that I run in this event. I think I would enjoy the Avengers Half Marathon weekend more if it was just the races at Disneyland and not having to hop in a car immediately afterwards to get to Vegas.
I went through the finisher chute where I grabbed a bunch of snacks, drinks, and a mylar blanket. Once I finally got to the end of the chute, I picked up my race shirt and a bag at the information booth. I then got in a pretty long line to pick up my bonus heavy medal for having completed 6 of their races. Thankfully the line moved quickly. I then started my long trek back to my hotel which included several overpasses where most of the escalators were not working. The wind gusts made it feel pretty cold.
Dropped down to the half marathon
Monday 11/16
After getting a good night's rest, I felt a million times better. I even woke up at about 6 am without any alarms. The legs were still a bit sore, but they were definitely not as bad as they were last night. After taking a shower and getting my stuff all packed up, I thought I'd go to the Wicked Spoon for brunch. So I did the express check out via the TV and headed for my car. I kind of went on an extra long detour to the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino since I missed a turn and ended up on the West side of the 15 freeway.
View from my room at about 6 am
Too much for one weekend
No matter what time of the day I show up to this buffet, there is almost always a long line to get in. After paying and getting seated, I started from the very right section of the buffet and started working my way to the left. I pretty much tried a little bit of everything that looked appealing in every section. However I didn't try any of their desserts. I just don't have much of a sweet tooth. I think I replenished my body with some much needed protein as well as some greens to keep me regular.
Plate 1
Plate 2
Plate 3
Plate 4
One of my good friends texted me about a running group's meetup in front of the Bellagio fountain. Since it was nearby, I made my way over after I was done eating to check it out. It was a pretty chilly morning and the wind gusts were still pretty strong, so the fountains were never turned on. It was still pretty cool to see a couple of my friends and get acquainted with other runners.
@werunsocial meetup in front of Bellagio fountain
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