Las Vegas Turkey Trot Half Marathon 2019

Wednesday 11/27
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

LaceUp Palos Verdes and Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Double 2019

Friday 11/15
The LaceUp Race series used to have free race day race packet pick-up. However it seemed to have been quite chaotic with so many people needing to pick up their bibs on race day that they started charging $5 this year for that convenience. I guess that's a small price to pay, but I decided to drive there after work. The pick-up location was at the overflow parking lot over at the Palos Verdes City Hall. Most of the slow driving was on the dreaded 405. Once I got onto the 110, it wasn't as bad. Waze had me take the Seaside Freeway where I got to drive over the Vincent Thomas Bridge. I've always seen this bridge from afar, so it was actually pretty cool to drive across.

As I turned from Hawthorne Blvd onto the small street leading up to the City Hall, they had a person station there to direct you over to the overflow lot as there wasn't any signage designating the lot. At the very end of the lot were the familiar pop-up tents. Per the usual, the packet pick-up process was very quick and easy. After I got my bib, race shirt, and a sturdy Lexus tote bag, I used a portapotty before heading on home.

Packet pick-up

Race shirt

Swag

Good thing I used one of the portapotties as the drive home was a crawl at an excruciatingly slow pace. It took about 2 hrs to cover the 50 miles.

After dinner, I laid out my flat runner. Lately I've been making it easy and just going with the race shirt from my last race. However on this occasion, I decided on wearing one of my Disneyland Paris race shirts. The sublimated graphics pretty much guaranteed that there wouldn't be any nipple chafing.

Flat runner

Saturday 11/16
Before heading out to Palos Verdes, I stopped at the gas station to fill up the tank. Unlike yesterday, it took just under 1 hr to get there. This year, I opted to park at St Peter's by the Sea Presbyterian Church. Although I was there at about 5:45 am, they had already blocked off the left turn into the church parking lot so I had to drive further down and make a u-turn. It was still early and pretty dark when I had arrived, so I relaxed a bit in the car. I didn't have to be at the start area too early as I had already picked up my bib and I wasn't planning on checking-in any gear.

Parking at St Peter's by the Sea

It was nice quiet walk over to the start area. Once I got there, I was able to use one of the portapotties without having to wait. Once there was more daylight, it was nice to take in some beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean.

Pace car

Beautiful views

As the 7 am start of the race approached, I headed into the start corral on Palos Verdes Dr. As I was waiting, my friend that had moved out to Arizona shouted out my name. That was a pleasant surprise as I didn't know he was in town let alone running in this race.

Start line

I was hoping to finish in just under 2 hrs like last year, but by mile 2, I already knew that that goal was pretty much out the window! This course had plenty of rollers and I might have pushed too hard on some of the early ones as my pace started to slow after the 3rd mile. I tried to salvage the race, but the left hamstring felt sore. Also by mile 9, the usual discomfort in the right arch and ankle forced me to slow down even further. Just to top things off, the weather also got pretty warm. All in all, I was okay with my finishing time, as I didn't need to completely wreck myself in this race with another half marathon tomorrow.

Find me in the crowd

Downhill stretch

Finish line

Finish: 2:05:11
Click here for my Garmin data.

This course really chewed me up this year. To be honest, I didn't start the race with the mindset of saving my legs for tomorrow night's race. I just didn't have a spring in my step which made those rollers feel unrelenting. Besides the first 3 miles, the entire race was a grind.

After crossing the finish line, I got my finisher medal, a Kind bar, and a small bottle of water. Before getting my complimentary food from one of the food trucks, I stopped by the Lexus area to get a nice black water bottle. Once again I went with a gaucho bowl from the Piaggio truck. This time they had steak available as one of the protein choices.

Post race food

Post race goodies

I wanted to wait for my friend, but I needed to hit the road for Vegas. So after finishing my food, I took a picture of my medal with the ocean in the background before leaving. I also used a portapotty just in case there was a lot of traffic driving home. I only stopped at home long enough to take a shower.

Finisher medal

Before hopping on the freeway for Vegas, I stopped at the Chevron gas station to top off the gas tank as it normally takes nearly a full tank for the drive. The drive was free-flowing until about halfway between Barstow and Baker, the drive slowed to a crawl. I turned on Waze to see what's up ahead. There was a major crash. The damaged cars looked pretty bad, but it looked like everyone was okay. The highway patrol was able to move the cars off of the freeway so that most of the slowdown was from people rubber-necking.

I arrived in Vegas before 4 pm. Waze had me take an unfamiliar route over to the Las Vegas Convention Center. It had me exit at Highland Dr where I took that over to Desert Inn Rd. That was a nice route to take, but I messed up and got in the left turn lane at Paradise Rd. Luckily for me it wasn't too bad driving past the Silver Lots via Silver Dr to get over to the free Bronze Lots. The expo was held in the South Halls.

Las Vegas Convention Center

Per the usual with Rock n' Roll races, the race packet pick-up was very well-organized and streamlined. After getting my bib and race shirt, I briefly checked out the official merchandise. The only item that remotely interested me was the shirt with the participants' names. However since I have way too many race shirts already, I wasn't about to purchase yet another one. They even had a magnifying glass to help you find your name.

Expo

Race shirt

Participant name shirt

Found my name

I then proceeded to visit all of the vendor booths. It was a pleasant surprise to bump into one of my fellow Disneyland Half Marathon legacy friends handing out flyers for the Lake Havasu Half Marathon!

Before leaving the expo, I did sign up for next year's half marathon for $99. They gave me a free, nice looking t-shirt for doing so. Normally they go straight into the donation bin, but I might actually keep this one.

Free shirt for early registration

Expo stuff

After I was done with the expo, I hopped in my car and drove over to the nearby Jollibee for dinner. It was located inside the Seafood City Supermarket over on Maryland Parkway. You can't miss it as it's near the entrance and they have a huge sign. I got in line and ordered the usual palabok fiesta with 2 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice. Once my food was ready, I found a booth to enjoy my food. I had already started eating my food before I noticed that they had forgotten to give me gravy for the chicken. I was too lazy to get up and ask for it, so I made do without it. It was still delicious without it. On my way out, I was pestered for money from someone that appeared to be strung out on drugs. Have this become the norm in Vegas? I'm always being solicited for cash which I hardly carry on me these days. Why carry cash or even credit cards when I can just pay with Google Pay?

Palabok fiesta with 2 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice

I then drove over to the Target across the street to buy some snacks and water. After perusing the aisles, I ended up purchasing a 20 oz bag of pistachios and a 3 liter jug of Arrowhead water.

After paying for my items, I drove over to the La Quinta Inn located on Paradise Rd to check into my room. These days, this is probably the closest I'll get to staying near The Strip whenever I'm in Vegas. I prefer to have peace and quiet over being near all of the action. The check-in process was slow mainly because everyone at the front desk was already helping other people. Once it was my turn, everything was pretty quick. They must have issues with unwanted guests here as all of the doors to the hallways on the ground floor were locked. You had to have a room key in order to get inside.

After I was unpacked and settled in, I laid out my flat runner. Although I didn't have to wake up early tomorrow with an evening race, I still turned in pretty early as I was pretty tired from the morning race and the drive up.

Flat runner

Sunday 11/17
After checking out of the hotel at about 10:15 am, I drove over to the Cracker Barrel next to the Silverton Casino Hotel to get some breakfast. I'm not sure why I come to this location as it's probably the busiest Cracker Barrel in the entire country! Lots of newbies come here for their first visit not knowing that there's really nothing special about the food. It's just good ol' American comfort food. If it has to be explained to you, then you probably should eat elsewhere. After putting my name on the wait list, I passed the time while perusing their gift shop. After I was seated, I ordered the Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast with the country fried steak as my choice of meat and an iced tea.

Passing time at Cracker Barrel

Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast

After I was done with my meal, I started heading over to the Planet Hollywood parking structure off of Audrie St. I was told by one of the ladies at the information booth at the expo that that parking structure would be available for race parking. Unfortunately, that was not so as the cops had closed off E Harmon Ave. I was unable to make a left turn from Koval Ln. The closure of Harmon caused quite the backup of traffic. I kept going on Koval until I made a left turn at Sands Ave to park at Treasure Island. It was one of the resorts that still had free self parking.

Parked at Treasure Island

Since I had a couple of hours to pass, I went up the escalator to check out the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. (Scientific Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network). I didn't pay for the tour. I only went through their merchandise area which was pretty cool enough. Once I was done with that, I walked around the casino a bit and watched a little bit of the NFL games at the sports book.

Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.

Non-Disney Mermaid

At about 2 pm, I got my stuff ready and started walking over to Planet Hollywood. I went inside to the Miracle Mile Shop to wait for my friends for the pre-race photo. However there turned out to be a little miscommunication, so that was eventually canceled. By happenstance we bumped into each other in the starting area where they had pre-race entertainment. At about 3:30 pm, we waited for them to open the gates leading to the start corrals located out on Las Vegas Blvd. The wait was somewhat lengthy, so a bunch of us went to use the nearby portapotties. Once the gate was opened, we walked to the corrals via a small street between Paris and Bally's.

Waiting for them to open the start corrals

I positioned myself on the left side of corral 2. Eventually my friend the Latino Heat would join me after he was done taking his traditional pre-race selfies with all of his runner friends.

Latino Heat

I almost never do well with evening races and this one was no exception. I usually deal with some sort of GI issue as I do most of my runs early in the morning. The first mile was the only mile that I ran with no problems. Then it got progressively worse. I surmised that it mainly had to do with my poor choice of eating a country fried steak for brunch earlier in the day! I stuck to jogging a mile and taking a walk break at every mile marker. That only got me through mile 6. I had to take more frequent walk breaks as I was starting to feel pretty nauseated. I thought that I was going to lose my brunch for sure! I felt the worst at about mile 10, but thankfully it got slightly better from there after a few burps. I kind of liked that they were passing out potatoes instead of gels for race fuel. I always looked forward to eating salted potatoes instead of sugary gel packs during ultras.

Here we go!

Course map

Finish line

Finish: 2:28:48
Click here for my Garmin data.

I was so glad to see and cross that finish line! My race didn't go quite as planned, but I got it done. It was a rare half marathon double for me. Other than the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World every year in January, I really don't like running more than 1 race per weekend.

After grabbing a bunch of post race goodies, I started making the long trek back to my car. I took a quick pit stop at The Venetian. I decided it was a good time as any to take a post race picture of my medal. Unlike the actual location, this representation of Venice wasn't flooded at all.

Post race goodies

After getting back to my car, I exited the parking garage and turned left onto Spring Mountain Rd to hop on the 15 freeway. I exited Blue Diamond Rd to fill up the gas tank at the usual Chevron Terrible Herbst.

Gas up the car

Before heading home, I drove out to the Jollibee on Rainbow Blvd to eat dinner before the long drive home. I ordered the usual palabok fiesta with 2 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice. Man that meal really hit the spot! After polishing off that delicious food, I made sure to make a quick pit stop in the restroom in case there were any traffic delays. Thankfully there weren't many cars on the road with me heading South. I think going forward, I would want to only run this race for the weekend so that I could actually enjoy it!

Palabok fiesta with 2 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice