Rock n Roll Las Vegas Marathon 2012

Friday
I had used up too much of my vacation time, so I couldn't take a day off for this trip. I had to leave for Vegas after work on Friday. For lunch I ate at Pho Tasia. I got the chicken skewers and a bowl of pho to help recover from the marathon on Thursday. Since the traffic was horrible last time on the 91, I decided this time to take the 60 instead. But first I stopped by Rokuan to eat dinner. I got their black miso ramen and a half order of the langostino roll. Their black miso ramen is pretty unique in Southern California as I have yet to eat something similar at another ramen shop.

Chicken skewers

Brisket and tendon pho

Black miso ramen and half order langostino roll

I rolled into Vegas a little after 10pm and drove straight to the hotel. Self parking was hard to locate at first, but I eventually found it off of Audrie Street. This was a pretty swanky new hotel located just behind Planet Hollywood connected to the Miracle Mile Shops. Their actual entrance was off of Harmon Avenue where you could valet your car. The one thing I liked about this place was that they had people checking your room key before you got to the elevators. They weren't just checking to see if you had one, but to see if it was an active one.

The suite was very modern. It had a kitchenette, microwave oven, fridge, and a TV to control just about every setting in the room. The furthest wall from the entrance was one huge window with a view of the outside. Vegas always looks better at night. The wall-sized blind could be controlled by a switch near the TV or with the remote. I wasn't sure why the room had a picture of an Oscar statue.

Elara, Hilton Grand Vacation Club

Kitchenette

Microwave and fridge

Accessible shower

Bathroom

Very spacious suite

TV seems a bit small for the room

Oscar!

View from the room

Another view from the room

Saturday
The expo opened at 10am. I got ready and hoofed it over to the Sands Expo and Convention Center next to the Venetian. As usual there was a lot of construction and foot traffic all along the Strip. I stopped by a Walgreens to pick up some drinks. When I got there, there was already a huge line formed waiting to get inside. From experience, I knew that the line was nice but unnecessary. I just sat near the entrance and waited. Once the doors opened, it was a free for all. The first thing I noticed was that they used a much bigger space this year.

Vegas looks prettier at night

Drinking the good stuff

I picked up my bib and shirt. Then I headed through the very spacious expo hall to check out all of the booths. I spotted Scott Jurek. I asked if he had any big races coming up. Apparently he hasn't been training and is not in shape for any ultras. I think he has been busy promoting his book. After cruising through the whole place with nothing to buy and no race that I needed to sign up for, I hoofed it back to my hotel to go eat lunch.

Scott Jurek

Expo haul

I dropped off my stuff in my room and drove out to Fukumimi Ramen to eat a bowl of ramen. The local Vegas ramen enthusiasts had been touting this place as having the best bowl of ramen so off I went to check it out. It was indeed very very good! This was definitely the style that I like. I normally do not give out 5 stars on Yelp, but this place definitely deserved it. I also ordered their karaage which was really good as well. The chicken was lightly breaded and very juicy. I will be eating here every chance I get whenever I'm in Vegas.

Fukumimi ramen

karaage

I rested a bit in my room before going back out to what else... eat! On my way to the buffet, I saw one of many Bumblebees on The Strip trying to earn some tip from the tourists. I ate with my coworker and his friend at The Buffet at Bellagio for an early dinner. My coworker was also running in the race on Sunday, so we came here to "carboload". We both had eaten at the highly touted Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar's Palace and we were both not impressed. If you eat mainly crab legs and meat from the carving station, you should go to Bellagio. But if you like to try all of the other cooked food, then the Bacchanal would be the better choice even though it's about $10 more. But all in all, I think I'm done with buffets. I will make an effort to stop eating at buffets when I'm in Vegas. No matter how prestigious the buffet is, the quality of food is still pretty low. I might as well spend the same amount of money at a nice restaurant.

Bumblebee, transform and roll out!

King crab legs, cocktail shrimp, beef

More king crab legs and pork belly

Sunday
I packed up my stuff and got my race gear ready. I waited until checkout time and checked out of my room using the express checkout on the TV screen. Then I headed over to the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign to take a picture with the Maniacs. As soon as we took the picture, I took off to eat lunch at Fukumimi Ramen again. I thought it was a bad idea to eat so soon before the race, but I was hungry! Another bad idea was I decided to try their Tan Tan Men which was somewhat spicy. It was good and not too spicy, but it would come back to haunt me during the race! I had to try it because this was the favorite bowl of the cook! Unfortunately I had to tell him that I preferred their signature bowl, the Fukumimi ramen.

Race gear

Maniac photo

Tan tan men

I parked my car back at my hotel and waited in the lobby area to charge up my phone before walking over to the new starting area. From what I've heard, the race had a falling out with Mandalay Bay after last year's fiasco, so they had to move their staging area someplace else. It was moved across the street from Luxor. I went straight to the UPS trucks and checked my bag. It was very windy as I waited for the corrals to be opened. Fortunately I bumped into a few familiar faces so I had some company. Even though it was windy, it was pretty warm.

The full marathon started at 3pm with the half marathoners starting at 4:30pm. Since the half marathoners had a 4 hour time limit, I figured that the full marathoners had about 5 hours to finish the race instead of the advertised 4.5 hour time limit. My goal for the race was to finish under 5 hours.

View from corral 2

The race
The first four miles felt okay but it was warm and I felt like I was overheating. Then I started feeling exhausted as if I ran a marathon 3 days ago. :) But then it got worse. I started feeling a little queasy and started burping up my ramen. So by mile 8 or 9, I was already starting to really struggle. I began wondering if I could even make the generous 2:30 cutoff at mile 13. I was able to get to the halfway mark at 2:18:52. There was also another fellow runner that was struggling with stomach issues. She was trying to force herself to throw up to see if she would feel better. On the out-and-back on Carey Avenue, I could see that the SAG wagon was pretty close behind. It was about 2 miles behind me. Too close for comfort if you ask me. I knew I had to keep pushing as much as I could to get back onto the Strip. Once we rejoin the half marathoners, we should be safe. The wind was strong and very bothersome throughout the course. I had to tighten up my visor a bit to prevent it from flying off.

McDonald's aid station at Lake Mead and MLK!

Running through Fremont Street as we approached mile 22 was the best part of the course. We joined up with the half marathoners at around mile 24. They had gates and tape between the gates to separate the full marathoners from the half marathoners. Some half marathoners still ignorantly duck into our lane. But I didn't mind. The full marathoners were so far and few in between at this point.
1-4: 34:46 (8:41)
5: 9:48
6: 10:03
7: 10:30
8: 11:23
9: 11:06
10: 11:53
11: 11:28
12: 12:34
13: 13:35
14: 10:47
15: 12:44
16-17: 26:28 (13:14)
18: 12:29
19: 13:59
20: 13:16
21: 13:49
22: 11:20
23: 12:59
24: 13:38
25: 13:58
26.2: 14:42
Finish: 5:07:18

Post-race
They passed out our medal, Gatorade, chocolate milk, Jamba Juice, bananas, and water shortly after crossing the finish line. I took only a Gatorade and water as I ran out of hands to carry everything. I walked awhile before coming up to the table where I got my Rock Star heavy medal. It was still a pretty long walk before I got to my UPS truck. It was somewhat of a long wait for my bag partly because the volunteers did not have a light source to look for our bags. I guess that's a problem with having a night race.

Rock Star!

I walked a little bit more to Planet Hollywood and walked over to my hotel where I cleaned up a little bit in the lobby restroom. I hung out in the hotel lobby a little bit to charge the phone before going to my car and making the drive back home since I had to be at work the night day. The drive wasn't too bad since it was almost 10pm when I left.

The race organizer addressed all of the major shortcomings of last year's race. The space used for the expo was much larger to accommodate the number of participants as well as their family and friends. They used Water Monster for their water source instead of the now infamous hydrant water. The finish line was at the middle of the Strip where people could exit towards several different directions. The finish area was also expanded to accommodate the number of runners as well as emergency vehicles. The finisher photos was pushed way back from the finish line to prevent bottle-necking. I was very pleased with this year's race. Out of the 4 times that I've ran the Vegas marathon, all 4 being different courses, this was my favorite version. Again the section through Fremont Street was very fun. The course was deceptively challenging with a lot of small inclines and declines thrown in.

Colby's Marathon

Pre-race
I was invited by my ultra-running friends to run a marathon on their son's birthday. What's a better way to celebrate a birthday than to run a marathon? It was his very first official marathon. His parents put together an official marathon with registration, bibs, shirt, finisher's medal, and everything else.

On Wednesday after work, I swung by a local McDonald's to pick up my usual meal before a marathon, 20 piece chicken McNuggets and a Quarter Pounder with cheese.

20 piece chicken McNuggets and a Quarter Pounder with cheese

I took a personal day off from work and drove out to Temecula.  It turned out to be a rainy Thursday morning drive. I was optimistic that the rain storm would not reach the Temecula Valley because all of the weather forecasts said so. The rain pretty much stop at the 15 freeway. I was able to get off of the freeway just as a huge accident took place about a mile up ahead. The traffic was definitely already starting to back up. I stopped by a McDonald's to buy some Sausage Egg McMuffins before heading over to the park. The further east I drove, the rain got lighter until it was only barely a mist.

The race started and finished at the Pauba Ridge Park in Temecula. The course was an out-and-back totaling 6.55 miles. So for the marathon we had to run it 4 times. I tried something new thing for this race. I took the bladder out of my hydration pack and carried a few Sausage Egg McMuffins to see if they can be used for mid-race fueling. I also packed arm sleeves and rainproof gloves in case it started to rain. It was a good thing that I never had to pull them out.

Start/Finish area - aid station

First half
Instead of singing the National Anthem, we sang Happy Birthday to the birthday boy. Then off we went. The course started off heading west on the Pauba Bridle Path. We had to cross the street at Butterfield Stage Road. This was the only part of the course where we had to wait for a green light. We then took a left turn at Meadows Parkway where we ran on the sidewalk. Shortly after passing the Meadows Park, we hung a left onto a little dirt trail. At the end of the trail, we turn right on Butterfield Stage Road where it's back on the sidewalk. From here it was a long steady decline down to De Portola Road. It was a nice downhill, but in the back of my mind I knew that this would turn into a dreaded steady uphill on the way back. We then turned right at De Portola Road and hopped on the De Portola Bridle Path. We ran on the path until we got close to Campanula Way. The turn around was marked with chalk and 2 gallon bottles of water and Fluid.

I ran most of the way for the first two out and backs with my friends, Andrea and Laura. This was a slow pace for Andrea, as she kept wanting to push the pace. I backed off as I wanted to be somewhat fresh for the Las Vegas RnR Marathon on Sunday evening which was only about 3 days away. I ate some of my McMuffins at the aid station. But I had brought along my Margarita Shotbloks just in case.
33:49 (10:19)
33:50 (10:19)
2:25 aid station break
33:19 (10:10)
36:37 (11:10)

Off we go!

Low 5 near the turn around

Turn around spot

Second half
The McDonald's bag disintegrated, so I ditched the McMuffins at the aid station. Also eating them was making me sick to my stomach. A friend of Colby's parents joined me on the next out and back. They told her that I would be walking most of it, so she can get in about a 10k. I switched to a slow jog and walking combo. It was pretty nice to have company especially in a smaller race. When we got back to the aid station, I refilled my bottle and headed back out for the final out and back. I stopped at the Meadows Park to use the restroom. It was pretty uneventful as this was the fourth time covering the same route. However it was somewhat nice to be very familiar with every up and down and turns of the course. Also I got to see and avoid the same dog crap on the sidewalk for the 8th time. :)
46:22 (14:09)
47:47 (14:35)
4:13 aid station break
46:19 (14:08)
46:34 (14:13)
Finish: 5:31:18

Post-race
Apparently I was the last or one of the last runners to finish. I guess I should've taken the early start. I missed Colby's finish, but I saw the pictures and heard the play by play so it was as if I was actually there for his triumph. I was glad that I was able to be a part of his birthday celebration. We shot the breeze, ate, and played fetch with the dog, Ginger. I wish that there were more reasons for me to take a day off from work in the middle of the week... especially to run a marathon! :)

Shirt, bib, and medal

My goal was to finish around 5:30 and not wreck myself for my next race which has a somewhat soft 4.5 hour time limit. My right ankle was still the weak link in my body. It got sore, but I kept it very easy in the second half which helped made it tolerable. In this race I found out that McMuffins did not agree with me when I'm running. But I might try using them again in an ultramarathon when I'll be doing a lot more power walking.

We Run The City 5k UCLA vs. USC

Pre-race
Packet pickup began at 7am and that's when I showed up. We were instructed to park at parking lot 4 just north of the Pauley Pavilion. Parking was $11. The race started at 9am so I had time to kick around after picking up my bib and shirt. Before walking back to my car, I stopped by the new John Wooden statue. Along the way, I saw that the Bruin Bear was boxed up and "hibernating".

Rivalry weekend is upon us!

Start/Finish line

Supporting team USC

John Wooden was a great teacher of character

The race
I started the race somewhere near the middle of the starting corral. It was a mess. Obvious slowpokes and walkers were crowding the front. I ran comfortably hard for the first mile zigzagging through traffic. The hills came early and often. My lungs started to burn as I pressed the pace a little on the second mile. Then I started to feel my lack of fitness and the niggle in my right ankle come into play. I could not speed up on the downhills. The right ankle just felt weak. On the final stretch, I eked out a sprint because I felt footsteps closing in.
1: 7:49
2: 7:25
3: 8:03
3.1: 0:26
Finish: 23:44

Post-race
At the finish line a Special Olympian passed out our medals. We were also given a towel and a bottle of water. I was coughing a bit though after the race while enjoying a can of coke. I tried to run progressively faster each mile, but I just could not sustain it on the last mile. My right ankle was getting a bit sore. All in all, I was satisfied with my performance.

There was post-race entertainment provided by the UCLA cheerleaders and band. They also announced the winner of the rivalry run. UCLA swept all three categories. They won with most participants, most donations raised, and 1st team to have 100 finishers. Next year's race with be on USC campus. While going through the race expo, I was able to pick up a UCLA towel for my friend and a free polo shirt.

Post-race entertainment

Running for a good cause, The Special Olympics

After perusing the expo, I got my stuff together and drove over to Tsujita in West LA to eat some lunch as if I just ran a marathon. This place has been heavily hyped by everyone. The lines are long and they start early. I got there about 15 minutes before they opened and I was already the 2nd person in line. They take your order before they seated you so it helps to know what you want ahead of time. They're known for their tsukemen for lunch. But I'm not a fan of dipping noodles, so I got their tonkotsu ramen with hard noodles added ajitama and menma with a spicy tuna bowl. It sure lived up to its hype. The ramen was good. But they run this place like a well oiled machine and you sure felt rushed. As I was leaving there was a huge line of folks ready and eager to be seated.

Tonkotsu ramen with hard noodles added ajitama and menma with spicy tuna bowl

Really Big Free Marathon Las Vegas

Pre-race
There was a lot of doubt and skepticism leading up to this "free" race. I paid the $50 to secure a spot and booked my hotel. We would receive a refund of the $50 after crossing the starting mat. We were sent emails from the race director that the race was on. So Friday after work, I headed straight for Las Vegas. The traffic was horrible. It was at a standstill for a long section on the 91. I rolled into Vegas about 5 hours later. I stopped by a nearby McDonald's drive-thru to pick up a late dinner before checking into my hotel.

Big Mac and McNuggets

The race start was at 6am, so I didn't get much sleep. I picked up my friend at the Hacienda Hotel to carpool and save on the $10 park entry fee before heading up to Boulder Beach. It was really dark and there was no signs on where to go. I just turned at the sign that said Boulder Beach and found the race director's car. She directed us on where to park. We were able to park near the start/finish line. We kind of walked around and found a line. We figured it was for the bib and shirt pickup. After waiting for about 10-15 minutes someone was there to get us checked-in and give us our packet. We went back to my car to get ready.

The race is on!

The course was a couple of out and back sections on the River Mountains Loop Trail. Here's a link to the course: map

The Maniacs somehow gathered in the dark and managed to take a group picture before the start of the race. The race start was delayed about 15 minutes because it was still too dark. Their plan was to release in waves of about 100 runners to ease congestion on the bike trail. I'm guessing that there wasn't a whole lot of fast runners in the race since they had a hard time rounding up 100 runners for the first wave. They started asking for anybody. I was planning to go slow from the beginning, so I was hesitant to go up to the front.

Marathon Maniacs!

The Race
The course started on a gentle but long uphill. I took it slow. I kept the pace between 9 and 10ish minutes per mile. The rolling hills wore me out by the time we got to the turn around point at about 11 miles. I had to take extended walk breaks to get my legs back. But I was already starting to cramp up. During mile 16, I pulled over to get a pebble out of one of my shoes. It was a beautiful course, but the weather just kept getting warmer and warmer. I was able to reawaken the legs around miles 18-21. But the cramps came back. It was fun to see my friends heading towards the finish line. That's one of the good things of an out and back course.

Running in remembrance of Mari

Lake Mead

Going up to the final turnaround point at about mile 23.5 was a killer climb. It wasn't too steep but it was just a gradual climb that slowly sucked whatever energy you had left in your legs. I had to walk a lot just to get the cramps to subside. But after the turnaround, I was able to run most of it. The final downhill stretch to the finish line was pretty fun and nice.
1: 10:15
2: 9:38
3: 9:50
4: 8:59
5: 10:38
6: 10:34
7: 9:40
8: 9:36
9: 10:19
10: 10:28
11: 12:38
12: 13:08
13: 9:40
14: 12:21
15: 12:35
16: 16:00
17: 14:08
18-20: 40:03 (13:20)
21: 13:55
22-26.2: 1:12:26 (13:55)
Finish: 5:16:53

Post-race
After crossing the finish line, I stuck around with some of my friends to wait for our other friends to finish. While waiting, I got to see a guy in a full turkey suit sprint for the finish line followed shortly by a pilgrim with a huge battle axe. Marathons are fun. :)

The turkey beat the pilgrim to the finish line

Recreating the first Thanksgiving Dinner!

As of 11/16/12, I have yet to receive the refund of the $50. The race turned out to be a good race experience, but I'm not entirely certain that I would be back if there's a race next year. It was just too gimmicky and unpredictable. I guess it would help if I ever receive my refund.

This was the first marathon that I've run in remembrance of a fellow Team in Training friend that passed away in a tragic accident while training for her Ironman race. I will honor her memory by running marathons in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (donation page).

After leaving the race and dropping off my friend at his car, I finally stopped by the infamous "Dino House" in Henderson. The front yard of this house and the roof is littered with dinosaurs. No picture could do it justice. You really have to see the house for yourself. It was a ridiculous sight to behold to say the least. :)

Dino House!

For dinner, I met up with a couple of my Maniac friends to eat at the Bacchanal Buffet located at the Caesar's Palace. The line wasn't too bad but only because we got there pretty early at around 4pm. After about 4 plates, I had to exercise restraint by not stuffing myself with anymore food. This buffet was nice, but I don't think most people that dined here were remotely getting their money's worth. They should be eating at a nice regular restaurant. This was the second time I've been here and the service was pretty bad both times. It must be a tough job being a waiter or waitress at a buffet.

Clam bake, ribeye steak, sausage, seafood paella

Steamed crab legs

Ginseng chicken soup, salmon, halibut, seafood paella

Ginseng chicken soup, spicy ahi poke, siu mai, har gow

I slept in and relaxed in my hotel room. I checked out of the hotel and met up with a friend in Chinatown for lunch before heading home. We ate at a relatively new restaurant called Japanese Curry Zen. The food was pretty decent, but not spectacular. I would definitely come back here if I ever want to take a break from eating ramen.

Oolong Tea

Tonkatsu, shrimp, and sausage curry on white rice