This is the third year that Steffanie, Jessica, and I have met in Las Vegas to run the half marathon and to enjoy a boy-free weekend. Girls weekends are always the BEST, especially with fellow organized Type A personalities!
Back in March, we decided we would do this trip and had the foresight (thanks Jessica!) to book a hotel right away at the new finish line (they changed the course from the previous years). We ended up getting a KILLER deal on a premium suite at Treasure Island (TI) for booking so early; it was approx 1,000 SF, had two rooms, and an amazing view of the strip (see below). 
We DEFINITELY had many cheers to planning way in advance and getting such an awesome room! And TI is in a great location for the half marathon and is in close proximity to where the post-race parties were located.
We all arrived Saturday and took the day to catch up, hit up the expo, and RELAXED. Originally we wanted to go out on the town Saturday night, but we all were tired from the day and ended up agreeing that staying in, ordering room service, and watching a movie was the way to go. It was so nice to relax with the girls, even if we all felt old and lame. Oh well :)
Sunday morning we all slept 10+ hours and leisurely got up and ate breakfast. We then did some more relaxing in our awesome hotel suite and watched another movie. The afternoon rolled around and it was RACE time. After I French-braided the girls hair (yes, it is a cliché but we totally had a slumber party and hair braided) we headed to the start line.
The race started at 4:30 PM right as the sun started to go down. I was in corral 1 and decided to run as fast as I could until my legs gave out (totally going against my race plan as stated in the previous post, whoops). Steffanie and Jessica started in a different corral and decided to really enjoy the race, stopping to take pictures, talking the entire time, and ended up having an absolute blast. I was extremely jealous that I did not stay with them. Sad.
Instead I stupidly started running fast down the strip, getting carried away with the wind at my back and on a slight downhill. Weeee! I never looked at my watch and couldn’t see the numbers either way because it was dark out.
Soon my legs started to feel heavy at mile 8 and at this time we made a turn and the wind was no longer at my back. Instead the wind was right in my face. In fact, there was a wind advisory that day and there were gusts up to 40 mph (so I hear). I could definitely tell as I felt like the wind was stopping me in my tracks. I began to slow and the last 3 miles felt like a death march. My legs felt like crap and I was ready to be DONE. I also had some GI issues and was happy I didn’t crap myself.
I didn’t know there was a wall to hit during a half marathon, but apparently I found it and ran smack into it. Another horribly paced race by yours truly. Damn.
This year they had photographers every 3 feet (well not really that many, but it felt like it) and got a TON of photos of me. I didn’t look as tragic as I felt, I guess I hide it well when I see the flash of a camera.
I finished in 1:37:41, about 6 minutes slower than last year (and about 7 minutes slower than my half split during my marathon 2 weeks prior, RACE FAIL). But everyone else must have totally sucked as well because I finished higher in my age group and overall as compared to last year.
After I finished, I headed straight to TI where I ordered room service and food arrived right before Jessica and Steffanie made it back as well. We ate and got ready for a night out.
See, we clean up well!
We hit up LAVO night club where we tricked the bouncer into thinking we were a big deal and they let us sit at a VIP table. We did NOT order a bottle, because they mark those up ridiculously; a $30 bottle of vodka costs $300 (shame on you if you are stupid enough to pay for a bottle at a Vegas club). Instead I reached into my purse (personal bar) where I had stashed mini bottles and I drank for free all night. Yep, that’s how I roll. Eventually some females with larger boobs and who were stupid enough to buy a bottle came around and the bouncers kicked us out of the VIP area. We were left to standing around with the rest of the masses the remainder of the night.
We had a fun night and got very little sleep Sunday night, but it was worth it!
I love my girls!! Miss you already!!
(Jeff really isn’t significantly smaller than his brothers, it just looks like it in this photo. So tiny.)
(It was plaid shirt night and I didn’t get the memo.)
(We were joined by other friends which made a great night even greater!)
