Well, I feel like my running is really
getting real again. Unfortunately, I just don't feel like I'm quite
where I'd like to be with my training. I feel like my progress isn't
as swift and hearty as I'd like it to be at this point. I feel like
I'm not as fast as I'd like to be and I feel like I'm struggling on
the long distances. I'm ok until about mile 9-10, after 10 though,
it's been tough. My feet have been hurting after about 10 too. I'm
hoping that my continuing to drop weight will help, but I'm just not
sure I'll be ready for my full in October (
Detroit International Marathon). I'm pretty sure I'll be good come December (
Reggae Marathon), but October just seems really soon for me to still feel
like I'm struggling. I don't know, maybe I'm fine and I just don't
realize it. LOL. Time will tell, right?
So, I wanted to talk about the
ET Full Moon Midnight race on August 29-30, 2015. This is the next race that I
have coming up. This is another Race from
Calico Racing, the same racing company
that put on the
Once in a Blue Moon race that I ran a couple of weeks
ago. This race is pretty well known country-wide. It's a very
unique race in that it's a midnight race! Here in Las Vegas, it's
hard to put on races during the summer – this tends to be the
opposite of what the rest of the country does – as our most popular
race seasons are spring and fall. It's just so hot here in the
summer, even if the race starts super early, you can't have long
races because it just gets too hot too fast.
ET Race Photos 2010
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| 2010 - Me on left with friends Patty and Melanie who also did the half - on the bus on the way there |
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| 2010 - At the marathon start, Black Mailbox area |
The ET race takes place out on Highway
375 in Rachel, NV, which is right next to Area 51. It is nicknamed
the “ET Highway” because there are said to be an unusually large
number of UFO sightings out there, so many that ET enthusiasts from
around the world frequently go out there hoping to catch a glimpse of
a UFO. The race includes 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon and
51k ultra distances. The route is a paved road, and the finish line
is at the Little Ale'Inn in Rachel, which has also been on tv and is
known worldwide as a place to visit for alien lovers. I've ran the
half out there four times previous – 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. I
didn't run it last year because I just didn't have the motivation and
the drive, I guess I just didn't feel like it. But this year I've
been running like a maniac for several months and I got the bug
again, so I registered for the half again.
Even though I said in my opening that I
felt like I was struggling, I did run 13 miles today (on the
treadmill) so I know that I can complete the half distance. I do a
ton of training on the treadmill because it's just too hot outside.
The treadmill is convenient for me and is a controlled environment
such that I can watch Netflix or baseball while I'm on it to pass the
time. I know some people hate it and get bored to death but the
boredom hasn't really ever been a factor for me. The gym CREEPERS
however, are highly annoying to me. Today I was running and I always
pick the mill at the end of the row so that there's only one spot
next to me. It was Sunday and there were probably 60 open mills but
of course this guy gets on the one right next to me. I HATE it when
people do that. Why would you want to get on the one next to someone
when there's a ton of open mills? I will never understand that.
So he gets on and starts running. He
has headphones on, but he starts running and he's grunting and
groaning as he's running. It was gross and obscene. Keep in mind
that I had headphones on and they were turned up loud but I could
still hear him “uuuhhhh” “uuuuhhhhh” “eeeehhhhh” as he
was running. I kept flashing him the evil eye and then he started
blowing his nose into his t-shirt! Not even in the sleeve or into a
napkin or paper towel that he had with him to clean the thing, but
into the NECK. Like he'd take his collar from below his chin and
pull it up over his nose and blow into it. I could not have been
more disgusted. I have some serious treadmill creeper stories but
this was just absolutely despicable. WHY ME?!?!? Luckily he got off
after about 45 mins or so, but I sure gave him a lot of stink eye.
Some people are just so nasty and disrespectful. If you're gonna
grunt and be gross, go do it on an empty treadmill, why do it next to
me? And it's always guys too. I'm a girl running alone and it's
always some gross dude that comes up next to me. I should've moved
but I was like two hours into a three hour run and I was comfortable
there. Note to self: ALWAYS disinfect machine before getting on it.
No matter how clean it looks.
I know that supposedly the mill isn't
as good for training as running outside since you aren't actually
moving your body through space but I usually find that I'm faster at
races than I am on the mill. I think it's because my body finds a
more natural pace that ebbs and flows as needed when running outside
instead of being forced into one consistent pace by the mill. I
trained for my last marathon in 2013 almost completely on the mill –
everything up to 16 miles – and I will probably do that this time as
well. Usually in September I can start running outside again, and I
am looking forward to that.
So back to the ET. Since it takes
place out in Rachel, about 2.5 hours from Vegas, there are various
options for getting there, but fortunately, the RD charters buses and
as part of your registration, you can purchase round trip bus
transportation. Some people drive themselves, some people stay out
there – there are some camping and hotel options in Alamo, but that
is still about 30 mins away from the race. There are limited rooms
available at the Ale'Inn, but I can't imagine staying out there in
nowheresville all night, lol. When I get done with the race, I'm
ready to go home. The buses depart after the race back to Vegas on a
rolling basis - as soon as a bus fills, it departs. So you may have
to wait a few minutes for the bus to fill, but it's never been too
long for me.
ET Race Photos 2013
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| 2013 with friend Kate before boarding the bus, she did the 10k | | | |
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| 2013 finish at the Inn! |
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| 2013 glow in the dark medal! |
The buses leave Vegas about 8:45 and
you arrive at the “Black Mailbox” which is where the turn off for
Area 51 is, about 11:15 or so. There are porta-potties and things
there, the race volunteers hand out glow bracelets and glow necklaces
to the participants and everyone basically huddles up and waits for
the start of the full marathon. The full starts at 12:00 midnight
and the route goes 20 miles to the Inn, then 3.1 miles past the Inn
out and back to get the marathon distance. After the full starts,
runners running all of the other distances get back on the buses and
off they go 7 miles up the road to the half start. The half goes 13
miles straight to the Inn, turns left up the Inn driveway and finishes.
The half starts at 12:30am. After the half starts, the 10k and 5k
runners get bused to the Inn. The 10k runs the last 6 miles of the
marathon course, 3.1 out and back past the Inn and the 5k does the
same route but it's 1.5 out and back.
There are some great advantages to
running out there – first off the elevation is about 4000-5000 feet
(Vegas is about 2000) – so this higher altitude contributes to
cooler temps. Plus running at night means cooler temps as well. The
race is really out in the desert and since it's ran under the full
moon, you get to see the moon rise over the mountains and it's really
pretty. You get to see so many stars and many shooting stars since
you don't have the light pollution that you have in Vegas. Since it
is at night, everyone has to wear a headlamp or carry a flashlight
and all runners are required to be reflective front and back. You
can buy some reflective tape with your race registration or from a
store but people also come up with some amazing ideas to make
themselves visible – everything from glow sticks to lights to light
up tutus to flashing lights – I've seen it all out there. It's
really for safety but it adds to the ET ambiance – when you look
ahead or behind you in the darkness all you see is a long line of
disembodied bobbing lights. It's trippy and fun, a very unique
experience.
ET Race Photos 2012
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| I did the race alone in 2012, a nice stranger took my yearly Inn photo |
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| 2012 medal |
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| 2012 Inn finish! |
There are a few things that give me
pause out there. I always tell people that I have a love/hate
relationship with this race. It is a challenge for me, more mentally
and psychologically than physically. When you're on the bus going
out there, the bus climbs, climbs, climbs uphill and when you get out
far enough you lose your cell service. The road is in an open range
area so there are a few sections of the road that have cattle guards
on them (grates to prevent the cattle from walking across and
parking) and the runners are warned that you could actually run into
a free range cow on the road (I've never seen one). Also, there are
snakes especially that come out at night to lay on the heat of the
road. I saw a small snake once (non-rattler) but people have sighted
rattlers out there. I feel pretty confident being a back of the
packer that the runners before me tend to scare off the snakes, but
it's just something to be aware of. Now that I've seen a (HUGE)
snake when I was out at Blue Moon I'm not so afraid and I'm pretty
sure I could get around a snake ok. I just don't want to not be
watching and step on one or right in the path of one, so I tend to
look down and watch the road closely while running this one, which is
why I think a headlamp is really effective. I try not to think about
how far you'd be from medical care if something happened to you out
there, but they always have an ambulance on standby and I always
rationalize that even if you get bit by a rattler, it's probably not
going to kill you immediately before you get to medical care. It'll
probably hurt and really suck bad, but I think they'd just get you to
medical as soon as they can. They do have volunteers who cruise up
and down the route, and as far as I know they've never had any really
bad things happen out there during the race so that gives me
confidence in the whole process.
There is one pretty big hill on the
route, it's from about miles 4.5 – 6 on the half route (11.5 – 13
on the full route) (
course map). Luckily once you crest it, it's a pretty gradual
smooth downhill on the back half and when you get about 4-5 miles
from the Inn, you can see its lights (they are the only building
lights out there) and you know you're on the home stretch. You can
bring a drop bag and leave it on your bus, all of the buses are
numbered and when the buses get to the Inn, volunteers unload them
and lay the bags on tarps with numbers the correspond to the bus
numbers. This is good because I always pack for basically an
overnight trip in my drop bag on this race. Things I bring include:
fuel for before the race, glow stuff, food for after the race, a
change of clothes, a sweatshirt (it can feel quite cold at the end
when you're all sweaty and it's 3:30 am and 50 degrees F at 5000
feet), towels to dry off, water and whatever drinks I want, a neck
pillow and sleep mask for the drive back and anything else I can
think of.
One of the best things about the race
is it's a straight line for the half, 13 miles and then a left turn
at the Inn and a .1 mile run up the driveway for the finish line.
The road is paved and the driveway is gravel. One year I completely
bit it making that turn onto the gravel and got road rash and gravel
in my knees and hands when I fell. The EMTs cleaned out my wounds
and bandaged me up. When I asked them if they had a lot a patients
that night they said that I was the only one! Calico always puts on
such cool races, the race shirts are really cool, usually black tech
shirts with aliens on them and the medals have been glow in the dark
the past few years. There is also a breakfast at the Inn for all of
the runners and a lot of the locals come out and hang out at the Inn
at the finish. I highly recommend this race if you're looking for a
unique experience. Lots of people dress up in alien garb and it's
quite a sight to see.
ET Race Photos 2011
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| 2011 Race wounds! |
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| 2011 Finish at the Inn |
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| 2011 Finish at the Inn with my friend Kim who did the 10k |
So, wish me luck, this will be the
first half I've ran maybe since October of 2014? After the race I should have a race recap with my 2015 photos! My running took a
break for the first half of this year, but now it's back with a
vengeance. My friend Irene will be out there with me doing the 10k,
and this will be her first 10k so wish her luck too! Even though I
feel that I am not exactly where I'd like to be, I think I'm in a
much better position that I was in 6 months ago and I'm still moving
forward. I have to look at my progress and not chide myself for not
having reached perfection. I am down 31.8 lbs since February and I'm
well on my way to having my amazing running body back. But more than
that, I have two marathons that I'm registered for and it looks like
I won't be panicking and dropping down to the halfs on either one.
The feeling of crossing that marathon finish line is like nothing in
the world – it gives you the belief that anything is possible and
everyone needs to feel that at least once in their lives :)
Stay tuned for a BIG post tomorrow and
for more info on my upcoming races and updates on my training!
One life!
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