Las Vegas--Mount Charleston Marathon

Well, I signed up for this last June. I had a goal to Boston Qualify. At first, I didn't tell many people because it's hard when you don't hit your goals...but then, I needed to hold myself accountable. My hip injury in November and December really caused me to reevaluate this goal--and my running in general. I realized the need to cross train. I worked with a trainer, Lizz, who helped me ease back into running only four days a week, put me in her gym twice a week and had me doing hip, glute and core exercises and yoga multiple times a week. It helped me tremendously. I had some great training runs downhill and was confident to attempt this goal race day. We had about 90 runners from NWA come to run this race along with Sarah and John (John's first marathon at the age of 40!). John traveled with me and we met up with Mike and Carol, too. Race day temps were unseasonably high--start of the mountain was around mid 40s, but the finish was mid 80s. It got progressively harder to hold the pace  the last 4-5 miles and I had to walk a little each mile. Fortunately, I had enough time built in to finish under my BQ of 3:40:00. I finished 3:36:48. Jack kept me in line during my training when I would come back from my long runs when I was just getting back into running and trying to get my speed back and I remember after one particular run, knowing I needed about a 8:14 pace, he said, that's cutting it close, you need to run a little faster. Haha!

Pasta dinner at Baristista Hole in the Wall

MGM Grand at 2:15am before the race

bus ride to the top of the mountain

after the race I had so many texts!