LAS VEGAS Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon

Have you run a Rock & Roll event yet?
Well I lost my RnR virginity this weekend.
Wasnt THAT impressed. Guess it gets better over time?

Well lets start at the EXPO.
MASSIVE. OH MAH GAH MASSIVE.
I've been spoiled with my mini Big Sur expos, thinking that those were big.
Sign in was rather easy. But the shirt .... Only unisex fits. Ive recently become a women's fit snob. I used to be THRILLED over the cotton shirts. Now I dont sign up unless its a TECH-TEE, and now I must make sure that have a women's cut.
Such a runner brat I have become, and I admit it.

While walking through all the RnR gear for sale we saw Scott Jurek! He was recently featured in Runners World magazine. As we were walking by him I was like "Is that the dude from Runners World?" The filled me in, and all I could think of "I thought he was WAY older".

So we got the autograph, picture, and I informed him that Runners World lead me to believe he was 50 years old. Not the 37 years young .... but he looks 24 in person. I guess winning 100 Mile Western States 7 times can leave you looking this good :)

Fast forward to RACE TIME.
Whats great about this race is that you run the ENTIRE Las Vegas strip. They close down the whole thing, just for the runners. The race fee in itself just covers THAT experience!
The weather was PERFECT, clear blue skies, and not THAT cold, probably around 40 degrees.
This was my first MASSIVE co-ed race. My other 1/2 Marathons have been the Nike Womens Marathon, so I was a little in WOW of ALL the people.
The hubby was my running partner for this race. I had only run 30 minutes in the 2 weeks prior to this race, so I wasnt expecting much, but figured we could still get a sub 2 hour.
We were corral 5, so we didnt have to wait long to take off. It was kind of exciting to start the race runner under a stage with the Blues Brothers impersonators.

Sticking with the 1:52 pace group things started off O.K. I remember turning to the hubby and letting him know my chest was heavy. Meaning it was a little on the harder side to breathe.
Then things went down hill from there. My breathing became extremely shallow.
Now if you dont have asthma it can be very hard to explain this. But do this: Go to a track , do 4x400 meters sprints with a 2 second break. Then after the last sprint, lay down, and put 100 pounds on your chest and try to catch your breathe. Thats how I felt.
Only into my second mile I was feeling like this.
I was scared, and didnt want to complain to my hubby. So I kept pushing. Then the tears started coming into my eyes, then I realized I was couldnt breathe AT ALL. Started to get light headed, and pulled over.    Gosh, I wanted to run. But could NOT breathe. Scary. Havent had an attack like this in a long time. Hubby tried calming me down, and it got to the point I could get gasps in.
My body was becoming exhausted with working so hard to breathe. Then hubby realized that we just passed a walgreens. THANK GOD. So we ran in and bought a rescue inhaler (PRIMITINE MIST, which will only be OTC till next year). Loved how we had to wait in line, and people asking us questions about the race, and giving us an odd look.
Whats great about that inhaler is that it works instantly. Amazing, but it leaves me with the shakes. So I took 2 puffs, and we were able to shuffle on. Then it came to a point that I was breathing in to much, and it burned my throat. So we kept an easy pace. Didnt push it, and just took in the sights.
This was all within the first 2 miles.
Got great views of sketchy places. Imagined myself in CSI tv shows. Ran with Show girls and Elvis impersonators.
All in all it was a great race. Final time 2:26:35.
Vegas is interesting.

Had a great trip. Would do it again.

As for the low down on the rest of the trip.... well you know the saying "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas