Sand Hollow Marathon 2021

Prior to my trip, I had checked the weather forecast for the race and it was looking to be quite hot! I'm definitely going to get plenty of heat training for my upcoming Running with the Devil race!

Weather forecast

Friday 6/4
Since my last race was pretty local, my car still had enough gas in the tank for the drive out to Las Vegas. After resting about an hour after my usual morning walk, I hopped in my car to start my trip at about 8:30 am. I rolled into the Vegas area at about a quarter to noon where I would take my regularly scheduled pit stop. I first got gas at the usual Chevron gas station on Eastern and then headed over to the nearby Chick-fil-A to get lunch. I ordered the lemon kale Caesar salad with grilled nuggets and because it was so dang hot, I also got a frosted lemonade. Once again, I drove over to the nearby Sunset Park to eat my lunch and to use the park restroom before resuming my road trip.

Pit stop in Las Vegas

Frosted lemonade

Lemon kale Caesar salad

Originally I had booked a couple of nights at the Super 8 in St George, but about a month out, I was able to secure a reservation at the WorldMark St George while waiting on the waitlist. Always better to use my ownership credits than spending money out of pocket. I arrived at the property at about 3:30 pm local time. Utah was ahead by an hour. Thankfully, one of the ladies at the front desk was able to check me in about half an hour early. She gave me my unit assignment (F140), a couple of room keys, as well as a wristband to open my unit. As I was leaving, the concierge called me over. At first, I thought it was going to be an invitation to yet another owner update. He just wanted to give me a wristband key. I told him that she had already given me one. I asked if that was it. Sometimes they'll also give me a parking pass. Turns out, that was it. Maybe they finally marked my account to not bother me with those incessant owner updates especially when that information can be conveyed in an email.

Before going inside my unit, I decided to drive over to the Hurricane Rec Center to pick up my race packet thinking that it opened at 4 pm. It would turn out that they were scheduled to open at 5 pm. I suppose that I could just pick it up on race morning, but I decided to wait since my friends were on their way. I sat on the bench outside. It was nice and warm, but not too bad in the shade. They arrived at about 5 pm.

Sat on a bench waiting for packet pick-up to open

Swag

Race shirt

Back of race shirt

After getting our race packets, we headed our separate ways. I went to the nearest Chick-fil-A to pick up dinner. I ordered on the mobile app before heading over. I opted to pick up my order inside the restaurant. Having come from Southern California, it was quite strange to see practically no one wearing masks inside. Besides myself, only a few of the employees were wearing masks. While waiting, my friends messaged me, asking if I wanted to join them for dinner at Pier 49 Pizza.

So after I got my food, I drove over to Pier 49 Pizza to meet up with my friends. Along the way there, I intended on eating my food from Chick-fil-A. However when I got there, I decided to save my food for later and eat a pizza with them. I thought it was interesting that they were a San Francisco themed pizza restaurant. I believe that this was 1 out of 7 locations in Utah. After looking over their pizza menu on the wall, I ordered their personal sized (8 inches) Trolley pizza and a drink. It was pretty decent for a meat-lover pizza. I don't drink soda anymore, but they did have Apple Beer as one of the options on their soda fountain machine. Apparently, it's alcohol-free, caffeine-free, and gluten-free. It's also made with pure cane sugar and no preservatives. That's good enough for me to give it a try. It was okay, but I think I'd stick to good ol' water.

Personal sized Trolley pizza

After we were done with our food, we went our separate ways again. I was finally able to get settled into my unit. I went through the race packet and then ended up plopping myself down in front of the TV, watching some WWE Friday Night SmackDown! While doing so, I ate my second dinner that I had picked up at Chick-fil-A. It wasn't too heavy as it was only a Spicy Southwest salad with grilled nuggets and a fruit cup.

Spicy Southwest salad with grilled nuggets and fruit cup

WWE Friday Night SmackDown!

I laid out my flat runner before calling it a night. I had packed my cooling scarf and arm coolers. The weather forecast had called for triple digits tomorrow, so I'll need everything that I have to deal with the heat.

Flat runner

Saturday 6/5
I got ready and left my unit at about 5:15 am. The drive over to the race took just under 30 minutes. I parked my car in the small parking lot just to the South of the Hurricane Rec Center. It was nice that we could use the restrooms inside the rec center so we don't have to use the portapotty outside. I had arrived about 15 minutes after some of the participants took an early start at 5:30 am. The regular start time for the marathon was at 6:30 am with the half marathon at 7 am. A few of us, Marathon Maniacs, gathered for the obligatory pre-race photo.

Start line

Pre-race Marathon Maniacs photo

The weather at the start was in the low 70's. I covered the first mile in 8:30ish. Normally, that's an indicator that I'm holding back since I tend to run sub 8's early on. I knew that I had to be extra conservative with my pacing today, so I kept pulling back until I was hovering around the mid 9's and low 10's. I also stuck to the strategy of talking a walk break at every mile. My goal was to just survive the heat and finish in around 5:30.

Around mile 4

Around 10k, I see Robert

I reached the turnaround point at about mile 7 in 1:08:36. It was a gradual uphill climb to the turnaround so it was nice to have a stretch of downhill heading back in the other direction.

I reached the halfway turnaround in 2:16:43. The half marathon loop measured about a quarter mile too short. I supposed the hot weather more than makes up for the shortage in distance! From about mile 15 on, I switched to walking only as I was really beginning to struggle and didn't want to have my legs cramp up.

Around mile 16ish, I ended up walking and jogging a bit with a guy named, Walt. We ended up chatting about anything and everything. He shared stories about his service in the military and aviation. He told me a story about how he had to load balance a plane and the Hawaiian passengers really made it harder to make the calculations as they tend to be heavier so he couldn't just use the standard average weight per passenger.

Around mile 18

Amador carrying Old Glory

Almost caught up to Karen

We reached the final turnaround point at about mile 20 in 3:58:37. Walt hung out a bit at the aid station. He said that he wanted to take pictures with the volunteers, so I went ahead thinking that he would just catch up to me right away. I wouldn't see him again until a few blocks from the finish line where he passed me!

Around mile 20, Deo not too far behind me

At around mile 22, I finally caught up to Karen. Robert had finished his race and drove the car back to encourage her along the course. She wasn't doing so well for me to have caught her. Normally, I can't keep up with her walking pace! She walked with me for a little bit, but eventually I went on ahead. The last 10k was difficult as the heat continued to increase. Also, most of the volunteers had abandoned the aid stations. I don't blame them one bit! At each aid station, I continued to pour lukewarm water on my arm coolers. Hey, they really do work! The power of evaporation!

From Robert at around mile 24

When Walt had passed me, I really had nothing left to run it in with him. Eventually as the finish line grew closer, I mustered up enough strength and will to run it in.

Finish

Finish: 5:32:10
Click here for my Garmin data.
Click here for my finish line video. Walt was bib #531.

Man, that was a beautiful rural course. However, the roads were open and some of those cars didn't care that you were running at the side of the road! After receiving my finisher medal, I started my mission of looking for something cold to drink! I went inside to the rec center to use the restroom, clean up my face a bit, and eventually I found a cold can of Sprite! I don't drink soda anymore, but this was a good time to make an exception!

Finisher medal

Post-race Sprite

I then hung out with Robert and Joyce in the shade as we waited for our friends to finish. Once the gang was all there, we traded the usual race stories and cheered on the final finishers. Eventually, we all felt good enough to start heading out on our own separate ways.

Deo

Karen

Marathon Maniacs post-race photo

From Deo... boys and girls have separate conversations

I tried to get into my car to head back to my unit, but the seat burned my thighs! Fortunately for me, I remembered to wear my longer cargo shorts over my running shorts when I came to the race this morning. I had to put those on. Nearing the end of the race, all I was craving was a frosted lemonade from Chick-fil-A. So I placed my order on the mobile app and drove right on over. I went inside to pick up my order as my legs always felt better to walk around a bit after running a race. I think I was really tried, but I didn't care to wear my face mask as the place was crowded and pretty much no one was wearing a mask. However, if I so much heard a mouse sneeze, I was going to put on my mask. Once again, I got their lemon kale Caesar salad with grilled nuggets to go with that ever-so-refreshing frosted lemonade. I've noticed that eating a salad post-race really helps. Must be all of the water in the lettuce to help with the dehydration!

Lemon kale Caesar salad

I watched some episodes of The Office while eating my late lunch. It took me a while before I dragged my butt into the shower to get cleaned up. I then totally vegged out. Eventually, I turned on the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes. I've never been interested in betting on the ponies, but there's so much pageantry that goes on at this event! Essential Quality was the race favorite and would go on to win the race.

The Office

153rd Belmont Stakes

Essential Quality wins the 153rd Belmont States

As evening rolled around, I had to summon the will to go out and pick up dinner. During my drive to get dinner, I noticed that the check engine light was on. The onboard computer showed that all systems were okay, so that sort of put my mind at ease. The car drove fine, but in the back of my mind, I begged the car to hold it together for the trip home. The last thing that I would want, to be stranded at the side of a desert highway! I was hoping when the weather was cooler in the morning, perhaps that indicator light would go away. Once again, I drove over to Chick-fil-A for dinner. This time however, I opted to get my food via the drive-thru. I haven't been vaccinated yet for COVID, so I really don't need to take any unnecessary chances here! For this meal, I got their Chick-fil-A deluxe sandwich with American cheese, fruit cup, and an unsweetened iced tea.

While eating my dinner, I turned on the TV to see what was on. Lo and behold, The Wedding Planner was on yet again. I seriously think they show this movie every weekend! After that, I had the unfortunate displeasure of finally watching Wonder Woman 1984. My goodness, that was a terrible movie! Who actually approved this god-awful script? Was it just me or did Gal Gadot sound like she just learned English yesterday? I don't remember her sounding this terrible in the first Wonder Woman movie.

The Wedding Planner... again!

Dear lord, that was a horrible movie!

Sunday 6/6
I got ready and checked out of my unit at just before 7:30 am. This was rather an early start since I would be crossing back into another time zone where I would gain an hour. I first drove to the nearby Chevron gas station just off of the Southern Parkway exit to fill up the gas tank. The price of gas continues to trend upwards, but it's always nice to still pay under $4 per gallon for premium unleaded gasoline.

Gas in St George

I rolled into the Las Vegas area at about 8:15 am local time. I drove to the usual Chevron gas station on Eastern to fill up the gas tank one last time before the last leg home.

Gas in Las Vegas

After getting gas, I drove over to the nearby Jollibee to see if I could order something off of their breakfast menu. When I pulled up, I couldn't tell if they were open. Eventually, I pulled on the door and they were open. I inquired if they served breakfast. Unfortunately, she informed me that they did not. I didn't ask and she didn't say why, but I'm guessing it had something to do with COVID. Hopefully, it will eventually return. I ended up ordering a palabok fiesta with pineapple juice. Kind of weird eating this in the morning.

Palabok fiesta with pineapple juice

After I was done with my meal, I hit the road and was on my way home. I made pretty good time and got home right before 12:30 pm.