Las Vegas Marathon Blog

It’s hard to even call this morning’s run a “long run”. We are following Hal Hidgon’s marathon training schedule, which puts a 5-miler on the map for today, and it was an easy run. Easy because all the elements were in place–the weather was MUCH cooler, breezy conditions, enthusiastic morning runners at Forest Park, and we’ve finally adjusted to getting up early on Saturday mornings.

After our typical morning “flush” at the Visitor’s Center, Lindsey and I ran together for the first mile, then Lindsey took off a little faster and ran her interval training. I just ran straight through non-stop. There were times when I would pass her up, then she would pass me up right afterwards. She finished a few minutes before I did, but I was really happy with my run, and the weather conditions were perfect. Temps in the mid-70s, breezy wind, and a familiar course. I remember back to the first time I ran Forest Park, I could barely run it. Now, it was a non-stop jog, and I feel like I’ve built my endurance up quite a bit in the last 3 weeks.

After the run, we took my sister Ellen and my neice Erin to Six Flags St. Louis, where we dumped $250 into a typical day’s worth of expenses. I haven’t been at the park in over 10 years, and it’s quite the rip-off. They nickel and dime ya every chance they can. It’s so worth traveling to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. A 3.5 hour trip there will still be less expensive than Six Flags St. Louis. At Holiday World, the drinks and parking is free. Those 3 things at Six Flags St. Louis added up to $65. I’m just going to stop here before I really rip Six Flags St. Louis a new one.

Conditions: 73 degrees, breezy.
Results: today: 5 miles; shoe miles: 47; time: 51:35; pace: 10:18
Thoughts: The cooler temps was such a relief!  I almost felt like I needed a jacket!
What I’ll remember the most: Not dying for water at the end. We drank out of the water fountain at the Visitor’s Center and didn’t even touch our own water bottles.