I'm done!!!! 1000 miles! I finished my 1000 mile year December 6th with 27,000 runners in the Las Vegas Rock n' Roll marathon (6AM start time ughhh!). It was a great race, very festive, rock n' roll bands and the run was virtually flat (I was told there were some hills in the second half of the marathon). I ran the half in 1:57 minutes, making in under the 2 hour mark as I had hoped. Sue and Daryl both had good runs, with Daryl qualifying for the Boston marathon (unlike the L.V. run, you have to have a qualifying time for the famous Boston marathon before being allowed to enter). I also met some very nice people waiting in "corral no. 9" for the race to begin (picture above). I was very under dressed compared to them, thinking it would be warmer than it was. However, once I began running I warmed up to a comfortable temperature and then did my best to make my time. I had a few problems with my right knee at mile 9 and at one point thought I would have to stop. However a bit of stretching fixed the problem and I was able to finish the race. I also ran with my camera and took a few pictures along the way. The pictures in no way capture the fun and festive atmosphere of running by crowds of people on the Las Vegas strip cheering us on while rock n' roll bands played music at different points along the course. And of course there were many many Elvises. I snapped a picture of two who were in my corral before the race started. They look amazing. "Thank you, thank you very much."
We had a fun time in Las Vegas however it was colder than I thought it would be. Nothing however like the cold weather we returned to Saturday evening with the temperature down to minus 45 with the windchill. We picked up Jack Sunday and are now settling into winter "for real". Jack and I ran 2 miles last night in the dark -25 degree weather (1002 miles, Jack 72 miles). He was bouncing around like a kid...or a puppy :) obviously the cold weather isn't a problem for our guy. What next? I think I"ll just keep running.....:)
Today was our last run of the year (2 miles). I finished the year a little over 1000 miles. I decided to take a break once I hit my goal and before beginning to run in the new year. I also wanted my knee to heal completely and knew it needed at least a couple weeks without running. I know Jack is missing our runs and so am I! Above are pictures of mom and Sken playing Beetles Rock Band on New Years eve.
