I've been in a bit of a quandary. I don't want to do too much unnecessary travel, but I also have a bunch of timeshare credits that I need to use up or they'll go to waste and expire. I was also only 2 half marathons away from reaching #200. Somehow I decided that it would be a good idea to run back-to-back half marathons out in the Valley of Fire State Park. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch with my endurance as I had just completed the virtual Dopey Challenge. So after lunch, I hopped in the car and made the drive out to Las Vegas. After having made the same drive for the 4th time in the past 4 months, it has become a routine and quite familiar. The drive took about 3 hrs and 40 mins. Once again, I was staying at the WorldMark Spencer Street location. This time, I was assigned unit 206 which was on the second floor.
After I got settled in, I headed back out to fill up the gas tank, buy some snacks, and to pick up dinner from McDonald's. I first stopped at the Chevron gas station at the corner of Maryland Parkway and Flamingo Rd. I wanted to make sure that I had a full tank so I wouldn't have to worry about that tomorrow morning when I made the drive out to the race.
New soap
After getting gas, I drove across the street to buy supplies at Target. I bought 2 gallons of water and a bag of Ritz toasted chips. I paid for my items using my Target gift cards via one of the self-checkout kiosks. I still have a bunch of money left on my gift cards. It's quite convenient to shop while using the Target app. You can even use it to locate your desired items!
Fill 'er up
Water
Snacks
Next stop was McDonald's to pick up my traditional pre-race dinner. Per the usual, I placed my order via their mobile app. I used the deal: purchase 1 Quarter Pounder with cheese at regular price and get a Big Mac for 25 cents. Lately, I've been having issues with the app not recognizing that I'm at the restaurant. This creates a problem as the employee working the drive-thru can't see my order until I've checked-in on the app.
1 QPC at regular price, get a Big Mac for 25 cents
Flat runner
Saturday 1/16
I woke up early to catch the Wolves v. West Brom match at 4:30 am. I got ready and started my drive out to the start at about 10 minutes before 6 am. The drive was pretty nice and took about 1 hr. Per the usual, my lead-footed friend zoomed right past me along the way. Since the gatehouse wasn't manned yet at that hour, we had to use one of the self-pay envelopes. The park entrance fee was $10 per day. Since I only had a $20 bill on me, I just went ahead and marked it for tomorrow as well. We were directed to park in the lot next to the landmark called, Beehives. The start and finish line would be just a little further down the road where people camped. There were restrooms which were basically just a non-flushing toilet seat over a huge hole in the ground.
After picking up my race packet and using the restroom, I headed back to my car to get ready for the race. It was nice of the race director to give me bib #199 knowing that tomorrow would be my 200th overall half marathon. After taking the obligatory pre-race photo with my friend, Latino Heat, we headed over to the start line.
Latino Heat's girlfriend had taken an early start, so he decided to run with me until we caught up to her. Less than a mile into the race, we had some big horn sheep standing on the rocks right next to the road. They ran across the road as they were spooked by so many runners running through. Everything started nice and easy until we got off of the asphalt shortly after reaching mile 1. The terrain was not firm and comprised mostly of dirt and loose gravel.
After leaving my friends, I headed off on my own. I ended up following two ladies that were running around my pace. The loose gravel was quite a pain in the butt to trudge through, but misery does love company. All aboard the suffer train!
At about 6.75 miles into the race, I came into the aid station at a small parking lot. From there the course got even more difficult. It was very sandy and also uphill! This was part of the White Domes trail. Although it was difficult to navigate through, it was worth it as I got to run through the narrows. Had I known that that section was so short, I would've pulled over and taken a picture! It wasn't a convenient spot to double back as there were regular park visitors there as well. Oh well, maybe next time when I'm not participating in a race!
Around mile 8 or so, I jumped down a small drop while running, but I didn't anticipate my legs being so rubbery, so I ended up falling and scrapping up my right hand. I guess, it's not a trail run until you fall down! After I dusted myself off, I continued on with the race. I noticed that my right shoe was feeling weird. The tread was peeling off and flapping around. Once it got bad enough, I pulled over and just pulled it off. These were an older pair of shoes, so I guess shoes will lose their structural integrity over time. I guess that'll teach me for semi-retiring shoes and buying new ones. I ended up running the last few miles with zero traction on the right foot. I had to be extra careful as some sections were a bit technical and the right shoe offered no grip whatsoever.
Park entrance fee receipt
Beehives
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Marathon Maniacs/50 States pre-race selfie
#199 here we go!
Big horn sheep!
Lots of loose gravel
Steep decent!
We caught up to Evil Twin
Around mile 8 or so, I jumped down a small drop while running, but I didn't anticipate my legs being so rubbery, so I ended up falling and scrapping up my right hand. I guess, it's not a trail run until you fall down! After I dusted myself off, I continued on with the race. I noticed that my right shoe was feeling weird. The tread was peeling off and flapping around. Once it got bad enough, I pulled over and just pulled it off. These were an older pair of shoes, so I guess shoes will lose their structural integrity over time. I guess that'll teach me for semi-retiring shoes and buying new ones. I ended up running the last few miles with zero traction on the right foot. I had to be extra careful as some sections were a bit technical and the right shoe offered no grip whatsoever.
It was such a welcomed sight and feeling to finally return to the asphalt at about mile 12. My legs were so worn out from having to wade through the very gravelly and sandy terrain. So much energy was being spend on going at such a slow pace! I kept getting passed by other runners, but I didn't care. I was basically running on a flat tire and just wanting the race to be over!
Finish: 3:03:33
Click here for my Garmin data.
Damage assessment:
- Just below my left knee felt bruised. Once I got back to my room and took off the sleeve, I noticed that it was bleeding a little.
- Bloody right hand. Got the wound cleaned up by the EMS guy.
- Blisters on the arches of both feet had ripped. That made for a painful shower.
- Right shoe was done with complete tread separation. The tread on the left shoe was starting to peel as well.
Tread separation
Finally earn my very first Calico Slam!
Finisher medal and post race food!
Race swag and post race Cup Noodles
Originally, I was going to buy a new pair of shoes at the Green Valley Ranch REI, but my local friend suggested that I go to Red Rock Running Company instead. The two stores were right across the street, so it wasn't an inconvenience to change my plans. While their selection of shoes wasn't the biggest, the girl that helped me was able to select a suitable pair for me after asking me a few questions. I was fitted for a pair of Brooks Cascadia 15's. As of late, Brooks, has been my go-to brand for running shoes. I could've easily found better prices online, but I needed shoes for tomorrow!
After taking care of my shoe issue, now, it was time to take care of my lunch issue. I went to Jollibee for my usual post race meal. Fortunately, for me, they had ube pie! I ordered my usual palabok fiesta with 2 pcs Chickenjoy, pineapple juice, peach mango pie, and an ube pie. I took it back to my room to enjoy. The ube pie was better than the tried-and-true peach mango pie.
For dinner, it was back to McDonald's. Before heading there, I placed my order on the mobile app for the all-too-familiar deal, 1 Quarter Pounder with cheese at regular price, get a Big Mac for 25 cents. Unfortunately, the app didn't recognize that I was at the restaurant. I tried to manually check-in, but when I got to the drive-thru ordering kiosk, the employee's tone was clearly of frustration as she was not seeing my order and told me to drive up to the pick-up window where she told me once again that she saw no mobile orders. I told her that I would park and reboot the app to see if that fixes things. That appeared to do the trick as the app finally saw that I was at the restaurant so I was able to check-in and hop back into the drive-thru line. I'm pretty sure that that previous employee told her coworker to handle my order as she saw me back in line. This time, there were no problems. Man, for a big company with the revenue and the size of McDonald's, you would think that they would have a much better functioning app!
After finishing those two burgers, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race. Every now and then, I will have a race that I really don't want to run. Even though this will be my 200th half marathon, this was one of those races. It was quite uncomfortable just walking around with those ripped blisters on my arches. The idea of running was already not very appealing let alone having to run a trail race!
Sunday 1/17
Here to buy a new pair of shoes for tomorrow's race
Brand new Brooks Cascadia 15
After taking care of my shoe issue, now, it was time to take care of my lunch issue. I went to Jollibee for my usual post race meal. Fortunately, for me, they had ube pie! I ordered my usual palabok fiesta with 2 pcs Chickenjoy, pineapple juice, peach mango pie, and an ube pie. I took it back to my room to enjoy. The ube pie was better than the tried-and-true peach mango pie.
Ube pie!
Palabok fiesta with 2 pcs Chickenjoy, pineapple juice, peach mango pie, and ube pie
For dinner, it was back to McDonald's. Before heading there, I placed my order on the mobile app for the all-too-familiar deal, 1 Quarter Pounder with cheese at regular price, get a Big Mac for 25 cents. Unfortunately, the app didn't recognize that I was at the restaurant. I tried to manually check-in, but when I got to the drive-thru ordering kiosk, the employee's tone was clearly of frustration as she was not seeing my order and told me to drive up to the pick-up window where she told me once again that she saw no mobile orders. I told her that I would park and reboot the app to see if that fixes things. That appeared to do the trick as the app finally saw that I was at the restaurant so I was able to check-in and hop back into the drive-thru line. I'm pretty sure that that previous employee told her coworker to handle my order as she saw me back in line. This time, there were no problems. Man, for a big company with the revenue and the size of McDonald's, you would think that they would have a much better functioning app!
1 QPC at regular price, get a Big Mac for 25 cents
Flat runner
Sunday 1/17
I got ready and left just a little after 5:30 am. I arrived at the same parking lot next to the Beehives at about 6:45 am. After picking up my race packet, I met up with my friends at our cars. My friend, the Evil Twin, bought me 3 Nothing Bundt Cakes to celebrate my 200th half marathon. I believe there are 4 locations in the Las Vegas area, but I've only seen the one on Rainbow Blvd. She said that she bought 3 instead of 2 since she probably won't be alive by the time I had gotten around to completing my 300th. We shall see! :)
As the 7:30 am start approached, I gathered my stuff and headed over to the start line. For some reason, I had this feeling that I had forgotten something. It wasn't until about less than 10 mins before the start that I actually remembered that I had forgotten my water bottle! That was kind of important, so I ducked out of the starting corral and jogged back to my car. During that time, the race director had announced to the race participants that I would be running my 200th half marathon, so I ended up missing my shout-out. I swear, I would forget my head if it wasn't attached.
Latino Heat ran with me at the beginning, so the pace was on the brisk side. Thankfully, the discomfort from the ripped blisters were tolerable. I wasn't going to be fast today, so once we got off of the paved road and onto that energy-sucking gravelly terrain, I started walking and sent my friend on to run his race.
Evil Twin bought me 3 Nothing Bundt Cakes for my 200th!
#200 here we go!
The race director gave me bib #200!
Natalie
Eventually I caught up to another runner during a technical section and didn't pass him as he was moving at a decent pace. I followed him to the aid station and turnaround point at about 6.68 miles into the race. I was feeling pretty good after leaving the aid station, so I pushed the pace a bit and passed the runner that I had been using as a pacer. It was cool to see a few of my friends on the way back. One of them was carrying Old Glory, quite a feat for this difficult course!
Unfortunately, I ended up getting spiked by cactus spines. The pain brought me to an abrupt halt. I had to lean against a sign pole to remove my shoe and try to get that spine out of my little right toe. Thankfully, most of the spines were on the outside of my shoe, but one made it through the shoe and the sock. I didn't want to try and take off my Injinji sock, so I tried digging through the sock and ended up ripping it. Fortunately for me, I was able to get remove that 1 pesky spine, put my shoe back on, and continue on with my race.
Amador carrying Old Glory
Evil Twin!
I eventually caught up to that same runner where the course got technical and once again I decided to just stick with him. We ended up talking about the pandemic and how different States were handling it as well as anything to take our minds off of the running. At about 11.45 miles into the race, we came up to the self-serve aid station. I stopped to fill my bottle and sent my fellow runner on as he was clearly feeling stronger than I was. The last stretch was mostly an uphill climb back to the where we started. Thankfully, it was on paved roads. Once I approached the Valley of Fire Highway, the last bit of climbing was finally over and it was a downhill run to the finish line. A couple of my friends were at the finish line to greet me as I crossed the finish line.
Finish: 3:05:38
Click here for my Garmin data.
Finish line #200! Pic from Latino Heat
Finish: 3:05:38
Click here for my Garmin data.
After getting my finisher medal, I sat down at one of the nearby metal benches and tried to empty some of that sand from my shoes. One shoe was like an hourglass, where the sand kept spilling out nonstop. Eventually, my friends and I headed over to the camp and picnic table area to get out of the sun and to catch up a little bit. I grabbed the usual banana and another Cup Noodles for later. After a while, we headed back to the finish line to wait for some of our friends to cross the finish line.
After the Evil Twin came through, we all got in our separate cars and started heading out. It was nice to finally get back to my vacation rental property. I was able to get out of my dirty clothes and take off those shoes. While cleaning up, I was able to catch the last part of the Man City v. Crystal Palace match. Sure that shower stung due to my broken blisters, but it was nice to be clean again. In lieu of an actual lunch, I ate all three cakes. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I always love some white chocolate.
I decided to wash the socks that I wore for the race from yesterday and today as they were pretty filthy from running trails. Another reason why I don't particularly like running trail races. I made sure to turn the socks inside out to make sure all of the sand was washed out. It was nice to finally use the washing machine that was in my unit.
When it was dinner time, I wasn't very hungry, but eventually I headed out to pick up my meal. Along the way to Jollibee, I stopped at that same corner Chevron gas station to fill up the tank for the drive home tomorrow. Once I got to Jollibee, I ordered the usual palabok fiesta with 2 pcs Chickenjoy, pineapple juice, and only one ube pie this time. I guess even though I wasn't hungry, I could still eat.
Later that evening, I had some serious GI distress which led to some unplanned toilet time. It was too soon after dinner for it to be what I ate for dinner, so the likely culprit was too much sugar from wolfing down those 3 bundt cakes! :)
Post race snacks
Amador coming to the finish line
Finish line in sight
Evil Twin heading for the finish line
Nothing Bundt Cake: red velvet, snickerdoodle, white chocolate raspberry
All gone!
I decided to wash the socks that I wore for the race from yesterday and today as they were pretty filthy from running trails. Another reason why I don't particularly like running trail races. I made sure to turn the socks inside out to make sure all of the sand was washed out. It was nice to finally use the washing machine that was in my unit.
When it was dinner time, I wasn't very hungry, but eventually I headed out to pick up my meal. Along the way to Jollibee, I stopped at that same corner Chevron gas station to fill up the tank for the drive home tomorrow. Once I got to Jollibee, I ordered the usual palabok fiesta with 2 pcs Chickenjoy, pineapple juice, and only one ube pie this time. I guess even though I wasn't hungry, I could still eat.
Palabok fiesta with 2 pcs Chickenjoy, pineapple juice, and ube pie
Monday 1/18
I decided to get an early start with my drive home. I was packed and checked out of my unit at 7:30 am for my drive home. While approaching the agricultural checkpoint, a car ahead of me just kept going full speed towards a closed lane. I noticed in the rearview mirror that a patrol car had turned on its lights and started heading over. As that car got near the gates, I think the driver finally noticed and started moving over to an open lane. That what quite the brief and unexpected excitement for an otherwise boring drive back home!
A couple days later, I received the usual post race email from the race director, Joyce. It was the usual post race results and stuff. However, this time I was mentioned in the shout-outs for Calico Slam finishers. It's always nice to run these smaller races and to receive such personal recognition from the race director.
Post race email
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