Mustang 50th Half Marathon

Last week was the 50th anniversary of the Mustang. Last fall notices started going up that there was going to be a one time only half marathon/5k to commemorate this occasion. All who raced would be entered to win a 2014 Shelby GTS convertible. To date in my racing career, this is the only race my husband has actually condoned!

Last fall, my niece, Kirsten, decided she was ready to register for a half marathon so I convinced her this was the one and I would run it with her. Even with having a car wreck during training time, she trained very diligently and was excited, nervous and ready to roll when we left town Thursday night!

We got to Las Vegas Friday to pick up packets at the Mandalay Bay.  What a disaster. I haven't been "downtown" Las Vegas in years and Good Friday was not the time to try it. We spent over an hour trying to go 4 miles on the strip. Lesson learned!

After picking up packet, we headed to have our pre-race dinner. Of course it was my go to meal - pizza!

We hit the sack early since the alarm was going off about 4:30 am. We had decided that we would head straight back to St. George after the race since we were already going to be on the north side of LV so we packed up the car in the morning and headed off to the Las Vegas Speedway. It was a beautiful morning.

The temps were already pushing 70 degrees at 6:30 am so we knew we were in for a warm day. And did I mention the Las Vegas Speedway? Looking back, I'm not sure it was the most brilliant of ideas to run 13.1 miles all over the asphalt tracks at the speedway. But it was fun to be inside and see where the action happens.

There is room for a lot of crazy Nascar fans inside!  There were about 3000 race participants and as many spectators.  Kirsten had decided she didn't want me to run with her so we made plans to meet at the finish line. I was using this as a training run so wasn't expecting to push it much and set a goal on my IPod for 2:29 (because it sounded better than 2:30).

 

We started and everything was going fine for the first 7 miles. I even though I might finish closer to my pr time of 2:10 at one point but that quickly changed as the temps climbed. There was no shade and it just kept getting warmer. I was happy to finish with 2:27 and settled in to wait for Kirsten to finish. She texted me at about mile 12 so I was ready to capture her finish.

She did great! But since it was so hot, she was feeling it and wasn't sure she would be able to walk back to the car, which we all know just has to happen - no other options!

She told me she was never going to run again and didn't want to talk about it so I quietly waited her out and sure enough a half hour into the drive, she started talking about how her training could have been different and maybe she would have to try again to see if it would be better. By the time we got back to St. George, she was ready to register for another half marathon.

I tell this story because most of us have gone through similar situations when we have challenged ourselves and it is normal. I kept telling her before it was like childbirth and she will forget the pain and remember the accomplishment.

I am very proud of her and can't wait to cheer her on again! (Oh and by the way, neither one of us won the car!)