Most years, my parents happened to be out of town for Thanksgiving which was why I had registered for this race. Most recent years I passed Thanksgiving solo by eating a turkey leg at Disneyland. This year, I thought I'd run a half marathon in Las Vegas and maybe have a Thanksgiving meal at some buffet. Although we don't celebrate most holidays on the exact date, my parents actually purposely remained in town this year. However they didn't tell me. Oh well, communication was never really that good with our family. We did all go out for a meal once I returned home from this short trip.
With the Thanksgiving holiday, there was early dismissal at work, so I was able to get a slight head start with my drive up to Las Vegas. Most of the traffic that I ran into was going Eastbound on the 91. I was not able to reach my destination without a pit stop. My bladder was pretty full and I was hungry, so I exited at Barstow for a late lunch at El Pollo Loco. I got the 2 pc chicken meal with broccoli and rice as my sides for $5. That's a pretty good deal! The condiment station was a mess, but the food was pretty standard for any El Pollo Loco.
2 pc chicken meal for $5
I arrived at my destination at about 4:45 pm. The first thing I did was to pull into the Chevron gas station that was located the closest to my hotel to fill up the tank. Having rolled in from California, it's always nice to see the cheaper gas prices. I then drove across to the next street over for my hotel, Baymont by Wyndham Las Vegas South Strip. During check-in, the front desk employee gave me a care package.
Check-in care package
Baymont
After I unpacked and got settled into my room, I went back out for an early dinner. I drove out to the Jollibee over on Rainbow Blvd. I got the usual palabok fiesta with 2 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice. I'm sure this wasn't the optimal meal to have the night before a race, but lately this was all that I have been craving.
Palabok fiesta with 2 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice
After getting back to my room, I laid out my flat runner before calling it a night.
Flat runner
Thursday 11/28
Race day parking and packet pick up was at the Hoover Dam Lodge. Packet pick up started at 6 am, so I planned my morning routine so that I would get there a little before 6 am. The race packet included a race bib, ankle timing device, race shirt, and a coupon for 1 free draft beer.
Race check-in
Race packet pick-up
Race shirt
Free beer coupon
Since the race didn't start until 7:30 am, I opted to go inside and pass time in the Hoover Dam Lodge instead of waiting in the car. The first thing I did when I got inside was to give the beer coupon to a fellow runner. I then went into the convenience store were I bumped into Marathon Mitch. I didn't know he was also running in the race. He just so happened to be staying at the lodge and was buying some snacks and toiletries.
Reminds me of Zoltar
At about 7 am, we started getting ready to head to the start line which required a short hike from the Western end of the parking lot down to the Historic Railroad Hiking Trail.
Heading over to the start line
Start line
More people arriving at the start line
Before
The half marathon course had us heading West first for an out and back. It was a gradual climb on the outbound. I was following a couple of runners, but at about 1.25 miles in, I had to break off and take an unscheduled walk break as the effort was a bit too much for me to sustain with my current level of fitness. I took 3 additional walk breaks before reaching the turnaround to get the breathing and heart rate back under control. They had the turnaround at about mile 2.8 which seemed to have been too early as from that point on, the mile markers were way off. The run back was much more enjoyable as it was a gentle downhill. Once the course flattened out and had reached the tunnels, I had to slow it down and not get too carried away as there were some significant climbs on the way back after reaching the dam. Running through the dark tunnels while interesting never fails to make me feel a bit disoriented with the lack of sunlight.
Here we go!
While it was a relief to have reached the dam, the climb back up via the switchback ramp was a pain in the butt! My legs were cramping up once I had reached the top. I had to suck it up for the last 4 miles or so to the finish line.
Heading to the finish line
Finish line
Finish: 1:58:11
Click here for my Garmin data.
The weather turned out to be perfect and ideal for running. It was purely coincidental that I had driven all the way out to Las Vegas to avoid running a race in the rain as it was raining quite a bit back home.
After crossing the finish line and getting my medal, I waited for my friend Mitch to finish as he wasn't that far behind. We got our post race goodies and shot the breeze for a little bit before we parted ways. He was actually going to drive home to have Thanksgiving with his family.
Finisher medal
Mitch crossing the finish line
After
Post race goodies
Finisher medal
After getting back to my hotel and before heading up to my room, I stopped by the breakfast area to see if they had anything left. The only thing left that I saw were Yoplait yogurt cups. I took one. I got cleaned up and watched the rest of the Bears vs. Lions game while relaxing in my room.
Hotel breakfast
Bears vs. Lions
I then decided to go back out for a late lunch at Cracker Barrel. Apparently it wasn't late enough as it was Thanksgiving day and everyone else pretty much had the same idea. It was a 90 min wait time for a table. It also didn't help that this particular Cracker Barrel is always very busy every day of the year! When I was finally seated, I ordered their Homestyle Turkey n' Dressing meal off of their simplified Thanksgiving menu. I also ordered an unsweetened tea, however she brought out sweet tea. All of the servers were extremely busy, so I didn't bother getting that changed until it was time for a refill. The meal was pretty standard for Thanksgiving. It was delicious to eat without having to deal with the food preparation. The meal concluded with a slice of pumpkin pie.
Sweet tea
Homestyle Turkey n' Dressing Meal
Corn bread muffin and biscuits
Slice of pumpkin pie
After my meal, I drove over to Town Square to catch a movie at the AMC Town Square 18. With my AMC A-List membership, I watched A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. At first I was a bit hesitant to see it as I wasn't too keen on Tom Hanks playing the role of Fred Rogers. The acting by Tom Hanks wasn't all too convincing as Mr Rogers as his speech and mannerisms were obviously forced. However the story more than made up for it. It turned out to be a pretty good movie.
After the movie, I drove to Jollibee to pick up dinner before heading back to my hotel. I guess I had been coming here too often as one of the employees recognized me. I ordered the usual palabok fiesta with 2 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice. However this time I went with the spicy Chickenjoy as I didn't have to worry about running a race the next day. I took the food to-go. Along the way back on Blue Diamond Rd, there was a detour at Decatur Blvd as it had been raining, so therefore accidents would inevitably follow. I ended up driving to Warm Springs Rd in order to cross over to the other side of the 15 freeway. Once I got back to my room, I was finally able to enjoy the delicious food! The spicy Chickenjoy definitely had more flavor!
Christmas tree at Jollibee
Palabok fiesta with 2 pc spicy Chickenjoy and pineapple juice
Friday 11/29
I timed my departure so that I would arrive home at around lunchtime. Before checking out, I got ready and went down to the lobby to get some breakfast at about 6:30 am. I picked up another cup of yogurt and a banana.
Yogurt and banana
I checked out at about 7:20 am and headed to a nearby Chick-fil-A for another breakfast, but mainly for some coffee to help with the drive home. I first stopped at a Chevron gas station to top off the gas tank. At the Chick-fil-A, I found an empty booth and ordered their Chick-n-Minis and a small coffee with their mobile app. The piping hot coffee really hit the spot.
4 Chick-n-Minis and a small coffee
After I was finished, it was time to hit the road and head home. As I was headed to the freeway, I felt like Waze had a hidden agenda. Instead of having me continue down St Rose Parkway to the 15 freeway, it had me turn right on Starr Ave. There were a lot of new home properties in different stages of being built. Perhaps it's time to leave California! The rest of the drive was pretty nice with very little traffic. I'm pretty sure a good majority of people were headed to Las Vegas on a Friday. The snowstorm that had gone through left quite a picturesque view as I drove through the Cajon Pass!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Cajon Pass!
Later that evening, I went out with the family to have our Thanksgiving meal at Maru One. This place has become our go-to place for some quality Taiwanese food which is somewhat hard to find in the area. Here were a couple of items that we had ordered.
Stir-fried Taiwanese sausage with leek
Half order sliced chicken with ginger scallion sauce
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