Per the usual, I didn't hit the road until after coming back from my morning walk. My first stop brought me out to the Tesla Supercharger in Barstow. I placed my walk-in order for Dunkin' on their mobile app. However when I walked up to the store, I found a sign saying that they were doing drive-thru only. I had to bang on the drive-thru window to get my food.
Tesla Supercharger Barstow, CA
Avocado & roasted tomato toast and Dunkin' Midnight blend coffee
After finishing my breakfast and the car was done charging, I got back on the road. However, since I wasn't able to use the Dunkin' restroom, I found myself needing to pee way before reaching my next scheduled stop in Primm. I pulled off the freeway at the Tesla Supercharger in Baker. Since I was there, I might as well plug the car in for a quick charge. Along the way over to the restroom, I overheard a group of bikers making a comment about the recent influx of all of the Tesla drivers at that exit.
Tesla Supercharger Baker, CA
I wasn't at Baker for very long because I still planned on stopping at the Tesla Supercharger in Primm so that I could have lunch at the nearby McDonald's. As soon as I had arrived at Primm, I placed my order on the mobile app using the "buy 1 Quarter pounder with cheese, get a second one for 29 cents" deal.
Tesla Supercharger Primm, NV
Quarter pounder with cheese x2
After I was done with my 2 burgers and used the restroom, I went back to the car to wait for it to finish charging. Once it was done, I drove over to Resorts World Las Vegas for packet pick-up. I pulled into the parking structure just off of Sammy Davis Jr Dr. There weren't any vacant parking spots until the 7th floor. I skipped waiting for the elevators and took the stairs.
Parking structure for Resorts World Las Vegas
While I tend to steer clear of The Strip whenever I'm in Vegas, I thought that this newly built resort & casino looked really nice! It looked really spacious and elegant inside. I thought it was a nice venue for a race expo. I just might have to come back in the future to catch a show or concert! I followed the signs which directed me over to the Events Center area with the expo being outside in what appeared to be a temporary tent structure. For the most part, it was the usual quick in and out packet pick-up. However, this time I decided to get in line to take a picture in front of a neon sign.
Bib pick-up
Long sleeve race shirt
Men's last names A-G
Found my name on shirt
Participants name wall
Found my name on the wall
I am not as lucky as Mr Papagiorgio :)
After getting back to my car, I drove over to the nearby Chick-fil-A to pick up an early dinner before heading over to my timeshare property. On the mobile app, I ordered the usual Cobb salad with grilled nuggets, a Greek yogurt parfait with granola, and a medium Sunjoy. After picking up my food via the drive-thru, I drove over to the WorldMark Spencer Street property to check-in. I was assigned unit #214.
After getting settled into my unit, I sat down to eat my dinner. Later that evening, I would lay out my flat runner for tomorrow's evening race. I'm not a fan of night time races as I'm not quite sure what to wear. It was supposed to get cooler as the sun went down, so I decided going with a long sleeve shirt. I took a shower before calling it a night.
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets and Greek yogurt parfait with granola
Flat runner
Sunday 2/27
It was nice to wake up early in the morning and not have to rush to get ready to go to a race. I got to enjoy the entire match between West Ham v. Wolves. West Ham won with a score of 1-0. After the match concluded, I hopped in the car to pick up breakfast at the nearby McDonald's. I used the "buy one breakfast sandwich, get one free" deal on the mobile app to get 2 Sausage McMuffin with egg sandwiches. I added a large coffee for $1.
West Ham v. Wolves
Sausage McMuffin with egg x2 and large coffee
As I finished my breakfast, I turned on the EFL Carabao Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool. Liverpool would go on to win in a very entertaining match for a neutral to watch. This was the second time in recent times where I've seen a match end up in a penalty shootout lasting all the way to the goal keepers. Both times, it ended with one of the keepers missing rather badly. Before this shootout, it was Man Utd v. Villarreal in the Europa League Final.
Mendy was a wall today, but was pulled for the PK shootout
I'm not a fan of Kepa. He was brought in as he's statistically better at defending penalties
VVD, one of the few players that I like on Liverpool
At least I didn't have to watch another match mired by Salah taking a dive in the box to get a cheap PK
Kelleher played a heck of a game and even made his PK that would win the game
At about 1 pm, I gathered my stuff and hopped in the car to head over to The Strip. Per the usual with this race, I opted to park at the Treasure Island self parking structure since it was one of the few places that doesn't charge for parking.
Treasure Island self parking
From there, I walked over to the start village that was located just to the east of Planet Hollywood. Last time, I entered from the Harmon Ave side. This year, I entered through the Flamingo Rd side. I wasn't particularly interested in the pre-race entertainment, so I found a spot next to the medical tent to relax. It was where they had laid out some artificial turf where people were either stretching or just sitting. Eventually, my running buddies showed up and joined me.
Map of the Start Village
Marathon Maniacs
At about 3:30 pm, the blue group was called up to head into the start line loading area. We were held there for about a half hour before we were released. Once the gates were opened, we could then walk out to Las Vegas Blvd. From there we still had to head south where the start line was across the street from Aria. I knew that my legs weren't 100%, so I didn't bother to push closer to the front. Apparently, there were people in the later green group that pushed beyond us.
Blue group called up
The race started at about 4:30 pm. My left Achilles felt tight and a little sore from the start. It would loosen up a bit, but I felt sluggish. There were some people along the side of the course passing out T-Mobile Vegas Golden Knights hand towels. I managed to snag one even though I have zero interest in the NHL. While heading north along The Strip, the stench of marijuana smoke was quite strong. I don't ever recall it being this bad in prior years. After reaching mile 10, I knew that I had to pull over and start taking walk breaks. I just felt exhausted. It got to the point where I was starting to become dizzy and was feeling a bit nauseated.
Vegas Golden Knights hand towel
Mile 11
Finish line
Finish: 2:08:04
Click here for my Garmin data.
I'm not sure what was off balance with my body, but I don't think I would've finished in under 2 hours even if I hadn't resorted to walking it in. Some days, the best you can do is just to finish the damn race. I just don't think my body is or will ever be used to running at night. I collected my finisher medal and continued down the finisher chute.
The Finish Line
Finisher medal
The cards spread out
I managed to bump into Robert in that finisher chute. I got a bottle of water, a bottle of Gatorade, fruit chews, a bag of potato chips, and a banana. I finally decided to find a spot off to the side to sit down before I fall down or pass out. My friend stayed with me to make sure that I was okay. After eating the fruit chews and potato chips and drinking the Gatorade, I started to feel better. I've only ever felt this way during a marathon or an ultra. I supposed that it was an electrolyte imbalance, but I really can't tell with night races. I didn't think that my effort was more than the usual for a half marathon. While I did wear a long sleeve shirt, I didn't think that I was sweating more as it was getting cooler as the race went on.
Latino Heat
Finisher medal and post race food
While waiting to feel better, I noticed a group of finishers dressed up as the Belchers from Bob's Burgers. I wasn't in any condition to get up and chase them down, but my friend ran over and got a selfie with them. They didn't have Gene with them, so I guess my friend can be Gene. :)
The Belcher family minus Gene
The walk back to my car was a pain in the butt as there were a ton of people on the sidewalk moving at a leisurely pace. Thankfully, I was able to get behind a couple that were walking about the pace that I was. They pretty much cleared a path for me.
Originally, I was planning to pick up dinner at Jollibee on the drive back, but they were already closed. I ended up settling for McDonald's. I used the "buy 1, get a second one for 29 cents" mobile app deal to get 2 Filet-o-fish sandwiches. I added a hamburger Happy Meal, but when I went inside to wait for my food, they informed me that they were out of hamburgers. How is that even possible? They allowed me to substitute it with 6 pcs McNuggets. I just had to get the Happy Meal because it was Stitch themed!
Filet-o-fish x2 and Happy Meal
Monday 2/28
I packed up, got ready, and checked out of the unit just before 7 am. I drove over to the Tesla Supercharger at the Town Square Las Vegas shopping mall to charge up the car before heading home. This charging station has the cheapest charging rates that I've seen. I'm guessing that's because it's away from everything. I didn't need a full charge as I was planning to stop at Primm to eat breakfast at McDonald's.
Tesla Supercharger Town Square Las Vegas
As soon as I had reached Primm and plugged the car in for a charge, I used the "buy one breakfast sandwich, get one free" mobile app deal to get 2 sausage McMuffin with egg sandwiches. I added a medium coffee for another $1.99.
Tesla Supercharger Primm
Sausage McMuffin with egg x2, medium coffee
After finishing my breakfast and using the restroom, I hopped back in the car and got back on the 15 to continue my drive home. About 1.5 hours later, I arrived at Barstow where I pulled off the freeway to go charge the car and to get an early lunch at Dunkin'. This time, I made sure that the dining area was opened for walk-in orders before placing my order on the mobile app. I got the hummus & roasted tomato toast and used my points to get a free large winter blend iced coffee.
Tesla Supercharger Barstow
Hummus & roasted tomato toast, large winter blend iced coffee
Once I had finished my lunch and used their restroom, I went back to the car to wait for it to finish charging. I hit the road for the final stretch home as soon as the car had enough charge to cover the distance. The final stretch took just a little under 1.5 hours.
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