How to run the Las Vegas Rock n Roll marathon in the cold, wind & rain while keeping makeup on fleek!

Hi ya Gorgeous!
Ok, today is a unique blog post: it's a bit of beauty, a bit of encouragement and a lot of photos!
I get it now why people hire editors because they are the ones who can help trim the extra words and pictures.

I love to write, though since this post has so many photos I am going to caption  each one and let the photo speak for itself.

This is my 2015 Las Vegas Rock n Roll Half Marathon experience. Why the half you say? Because a half is fun and a full is a lot of work and takes a lot of recovery!

By the way, yes, I am sore! It's worth it though!

Now, the  Las Vegas Rock n Roll Half Marathon in pictures...




 So let's get started!

 I worked the expo and upon arriving for day 1 I picked up my bib and was the only person there, but in 30 minutes this area would be filled with thousands of eager racers!

 Meb Keflezighi doing some team  building, crowd encouraging and being his overall nice guy self!

 After work I did this again. And. It was awesome! Again!

 I'm such a "view" girl. I love to have a great view and get a bird's eye look at things! Good night!

 Good morning! It's going to be a great day!

 I'm back at work for day 2...

 No trip I ever take will ever be complete without taking a Lego minifigure with me. Ever since my son found his passion for Lego, when I travel, he packs one for me and I take pics and send them home to stay in touch on a "lego" level!

 It's time. I've trained for this. Race day!

 It's also Sunday, so I am enjoying one of my favorite things and that is coffee in bed with my online church service and of course, Unikitty!

 My Vegas and race skincare routine. Arbonne and the Colleen Rothschild cleansing balm cared for my skin in the high desert, pollution filled, smoke filled, cold Vegas weather!

 The obvious choice for race day makeup may have been long wearing, but no! I picked moisturizing with spf and some lip/cheek stain with a "long wearing" mascara that did not hold in the rain of the race.

 Speaking of race...dear friend shared a bus ticket with me to ride to the start line. Most had to walk, cab, uber or monorail though I got such a blessing! We are actually on the wrong side of the road because the other side is set up for the race!

 This massive un-structured lack of stancion mass I am in is the security line to get in the pre-race concert and it's a big mess. Slow. Really slow. I get it, I should have gotten there earlier than the early I did get there.

 By time I get through security there is just enough time to boogie to one Kid Rock song then start warming up!

 Warmed up and ready to race! Got my pink Tink costume on!

 I am in the gate and ready to run!

 Only in Vegas do they start a race with a firework show...

 I'm out of the gate! On the race course! I just ran past the iconic "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign and took a selfie on the way!

 That's my view to the right side of me: the gates before me running on the other side of Las Vegas Blvd.

 I'm taking a selfie to share with my son, who I called and texted as I ran since he was unable to come on the trip. That's the M&M store sign behind me.

 I'm still running. It has already rained on me three times, hard. I'm so cold. It's beyond windy! But that's also me running underneath the Stratosphere hotel. This is a place I will most likely never go given my concern for high places.

 Honk! That's the new soon to be iconic "downtown Las Vegas" sign. By this time, I'm way past cold and muscles are seizing up a bit. I am beyond hungry.   I did not eat enough before the race, and I had no where to carry food, so I just went hungry. I'm coming around mile 8 here and oh, so, hungry!

 Running as a pink Tink and seeing this shadow photo made it all so apropo. Where's Peter Pan?

 I took photos of each mileage sign to document my experience and this one is really funny due to the extra sign. Yes black girls run. Florence "Flo Jo" Joyner anyone? 

 I'm out of the weird and scary, pothole ridden, pitch black construction filled zone and rounded the corner into the Fremont street experience area. This is  epic because now the end is near with just a little over 4 miles to go.

 Scratch that. It's not epic for the reason you think. I do not know the temperature, but I guess the wind gusts are a minimum of 25 miles per hour and so strong it feels like I am running in place. I am one to suck it up and stick it out no matter what happens, but there came a moment where I was so cold, that my hands and feet were numb and I could not feel them while running. So I gave in to getting a mylar blanket from the medic station at mile 11. That sucked and felt like admitting defeat.

 See those lights? That's the finish line!

 And, that's me crossing the finish line with the worst time of my entire life. I do not know if it was the night run effect on my morning person self? The rain/wind/cold? The soreness and fatigue I felt from working the event the two days before the race in a sneaker that is extremely flat?

 No matter what the reason is for me posting the slowest time in my personal history, I was rewarded with this medal. Marathons nowadays are like kids soccer teams, everyone gets a medal.
It's worth it and I like it. Putting this in my collection of medals.

Personally, for me, this is the first time I have raced and not been obsessed with beating my last race time. I wasn't concerned with form, stride, strike zone, or pace. I just ran and had fun. I had a personal game of shouting out an encouraging word to the people I passed. Giving them a pat on the back. A thumbs up and reminding them to "run their own race" and "to not give up" because "finishing is winning".

All of that makes todays soreness not feel so sore!

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