21 Reasons to Run the Strip at Night

1. THE RUNNER TAKEOVER

There is no better feeling than being a part of a massive weekend. 40,000 people from 50 states and 64 countries, all coming to run–and take over–the famed Las Vegas Strip at Night.

2. THE STRIP

Whether you’re riding in a taxi from the airport, walking the sidewalk from casino to casino, or reveling at it from atop the High Roller Wheel, there is nothing in the world like this 4.2 mile stretch of neon beauty.

3. THE HOTELS

15 of the world’s 25 largest hotels wrap the Strip, housing over 150,000 hotel rooms. And the best part? They know darn well it’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon weekend.

4. THE ENTERTAINMENT

Britney Spears? Check. Cirque du Soleil? Check (7 of them).  Seeing the crazy costumes people run in? Check, and free.

5. THE FOOD

Rated top-ten in the country for great food, and for good reason. Pick any top celebrity chef and they’ve got their name on something in Las Vegas. Into wine? There are more master sommeliers in Las Vegas than Los Angeles and New York City combined.

6. THREE DAY HEALTH & FITNESS EXPO

It’s the biggest (and longest) Expo Rock ‘n’ Roll puts on, and for good reason—it’s your first stop of the weekend! 100+ vendors, epic merchandise, and photo opportunities galore to get the weekend party started.

7. THE T-SHIRTS

Dark colored to embody the night races, but bright designs to reflect the Las Vegas neon lights, these are t-shirtsyou need in your collection.

8. THE SATURDAY 5K

The perfect distance to shake out to on Saturday night, and to get the friends and family involved who are tagging along for the weekend.

9. THE RUNNER PERKS

We’re putting together a bigger and better than ever list of Perks for you in 2016. Look forward to exclusive participant offers on dining, entertainment, nightlife, and shows to help amplify your race weekend–all unlocked by the wristband you receive at the Expo.

10. THE START LINE CONCERT

What other race can you get treated to a massive headliner concert from a 70 ft long stage with 30,000 of your closest friends, BEFORE you run?!

11. THE START LINE EXPERIENCE

The “pre-race jitters” are different here. The community is tremendous and as you cross the line, fire shoots into the sky. YES.

12. RUNNING PAST THE WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS SIGN

Your iconic Las Vegas tour starts before you hit the first mile marker as you run past the famed sign. Snap a selfie on the move, or jump into the photo area to line up the perfect shot.

13. THE COURSE ENTERTAINMENT

Local musicians and DJs lining the course with one goal in mind—to keep you pumped up from start to finish! All genres are covered, and they get into it!

14. THE RUN THRU WEDDING

Keep your eyes peeled on course for hundreds (yes, hundreds) of couples tying the knot or renewing their vows ON THE RUN! Only…in…Vegas…

15. THE RUNNING ELVI

The king of rock is well-represented each year in the form of hundred of white lycra-clad runners taking on the Strip at Night like the superstar himself. ROCK. ON.

16. RUNNING THROUGH DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS

Where Las Vegas all began. Staying true to it’s neon roots despite incredible gentrification, the vibe & energy is amazing!

17. THE MIRAGE VOLCANO

Not only are you finishing in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, but the Mirage volcano is erupting just to your right. If you’re lucky, your finish line photos will literally be on fire.

18. THE FINISH LINE

We bring the nightclub to the finish line, with lasers, lights and tunes to celebrate your epic achievement. See it all come together here in 27 seconds!

19. THE MEDALS

Words don’t do them justice…just take a look at the below, close your eyes, and imagine the feeling of crossing the finish line and being crowned with one of these like a running king or queen.

20. THE REMIX CHALLENGE

Those willing to take on the challenge of running back to back nights (Saturday 5K and Sunday marathon, ½ marathon or 10K) will be rewarded—heavily.

21. WALKING AROUND LAS VEGAS WITH YOUR MEDAL(S)

Wear them loud, wear them proud, wear them wherever the heck you want! You earned it.

Now, share this with your friends! The marathon and 1/2 price increases on August 2, so the clock is ticking! Use code RUNMEGANRUN for $15 off the half or full marathons!

(Originally posted here from Run Rock'n Roll)

Race Recap: Rock 'n Roll Seattle Half Marathon

I can't believe Seattle was almost two weeks ago. After playing all day in the city on Friday, we grabbed food on the way back from the Space Needle, chowed down and got ready for the morning. With the forecast of rain still lingering, we were totally uncertain about what to pack for the morning! Long sleeves? Jacket? Shorts? Gah! Stupid crazy weather. 

I set out my tank and shorts and had my running jacket packed just in case, but lo and behold when we woke up in the morning and headed out - no rain! It had clearly poured that night, but it seemed to have all gotten out of its system by the time we woke up at 5:30. It was almost humid outside - 50-something degrees, but it felt warmer than that, so I had zero complaints. I walked to the start in my jacket, just in case.

A few of us rocked our rainbows to #StandwithOrlando.

We decided to walk the mile up to the Space Needle and found ourselves very quickly in the throes of all the other runners getting ready. We walked over to the start line and played around with photos and shenanigans before we decided to find our way to Solutions to grab my VIP bracelet. We caught one of the staff members and asked when the wheelchair start was, as I'd never seen the start line that empty, save for the four wheelchair athletes starting to line up. He told us the start was delayed until 7:15 (it was about 6:35 at this point) due to traffic.

Yes, that's Libby in a onesie. Loved it.

Hearing that, we headed back towards the Seattle Center to find Solutions and get my wristband for a little post-race action. After hopping in the longest Solutions line ever (downside to a Saturday morning race, I think, is that a Thursday-Friday expo is hard for folks to get to sometimes), I learned I could just check in at VIP after the race and get squared away up there. Woot. We headed back toward the start line so we could catch the wheelchair start.

Apparently Seattle is one of RnR's largest events, as it offers an 8K, half and full. With 40-something corrals, you could tell it is certainly huge! Tons of people not following their corrals and jumping wherever - though I was assigned 13, I ditched my jacket with Lindsay and figured I'd take the risk and see how weather turned out. I headed back to 16 to hang out with Libby and try and find Briana in the midst of it. No such luck, but we were in the middle of 16 at that point and decided just to hang.

Libby and I got started and contemplated the idea of her running a PR that day. She wasn't sure, but she had a 2:21 to beat and maybe - just maybe - this could be the place to do it. My only goals for the race were to enjoy it, take it all in, and just have a better day than I had at San Diego. Easy goals, right? We caught up with Briana and Andrew about a mile and a half in, and ran with them for a bit and then carried on!

I LOVED getting to run through the sights of Seattle - it made me wish I had stayed an extra day to play in the city and take it all in, but such is life! We had a little fun as we ran through Pioneer Square, by the cruise ship terminals and down and around CenturyLink in the background. A 10K split PR for Libby, and we were on to good things! Boom! Libby split for a restroom stop and I carried on, trying to keep steady so she could catch me. I found this guy about mile 8:

Andrew and Briana caught up to me about there, and I continued with them through the last tunnels and back into the city. About mile 10, we caught up with one of the wheelchair athlete who was going backwards up the last incline - can you say inspiration? My legs were tired, but certainly not any more tired than his arms. I fought harder just to be sure I really tired myself out by the end.

It got really humid inside the tunnel - certainly mostly thanks to all of us sweaty folks - but also for the impending rain outside. When we came out of the tunnel, it started to mist... and then rain a little harder. Never a full on rain, but at mile 12, it was a nice little repreive from the humidity and the rain just teasing us. At that point, I actually really liked it. 

You come down up and over the offramp that leads back towards CenturyField and SafeCo Field. It's a nice gradual downhill, just to climb a little bit up and around the stadium, which was a little cruel, but whatever. The rain started to come down just a little bit harder but actually felt pretty good - at least for a little while!

And just like that, that was it! My goal of just having a better day than San Diego was more than achieved, and my 2:17 finish was pretty on point with how I felt. I walked when I wanted, enjoyed the course, took photos and had a great day. Zero complaints. I will note that I think this new course is totally worth of a PR kind of day - a few gradual inclines but more than enough decline to make up for it. Fast and flat otherwise and a beautiful one, to boot! 

Overall, I loved this race. The course is definitely quieter than San Diego, but that's not a fair comparison by any means! Gorgeous scenery, a fun run through a new state for this girl and I have zero complaints overall. I am glad the rain didn't totally pull through and the mist at the end was just enough to cool me off and feel nice (again, for a little bit). 

I was lucky to have access to the VIP area, but more on that soon in an upcoming post!

Where will I see you rock this year?

Want to rock with me at an upcoming race? Use code RUNMEGANRUN to save!

Disclosure: I am a member of Rock 'n Blog and was given a 2016 Global Tour Pass from the folks at Rock 'n Roll and Competitor. The opinions expressed herein are my own and represent my experience at the race and over the weekend as a whole. Otherwise, no compensation was given for this review. 

Weekly Workout Recap Roundup #26

June 26 - July 2

Happy Fourth of July, all! I hope your holiday weekend has been amazing and filled with food, friends, fireworks and lots of good times! This week wraps up the last FULL week of the 2016 #RWRunStreak - amazing!

Sunday

Started off the week with a too-late run in the morning. I had to work this day, but got to sleep in still and unfortunately, that just meant the heat took advantage too. These were slower than I'd have liked but the first 2 miles are straight uphill and then got to blitz right back down, so I think I made up for some of it. A decently long run to start the week - boom!

5.60 miles 

Monday 
Woke up Monday morning ready to roll! Doug was back from Vegas after a weekend away, so I was feeling a little more in my zone and ready to get this week started. A Monday morning 5K is never a bad way to start the week either. :)

3.17 miles

Tuesday
Somehow I jumped back on this run-in-the-morning streak, which is nice, given that my days are also getting crazier. Tuesday and Thursday nights for the next several weeks, I'm on campus until 9 pm doing workshops as part of our orientation program for our early starter students. This means for a) longer days and b) runs are mandatory in the morning, otherwise they will definitely not be happening! Sooo... morning mileage it is. Not gonna lie though, running with the sunrise is pretty fantastic.

4.4  miles

Wednesday 

Yoga was cancelled today, which was sad, but it left me a little flexibility with how fast I had to get home from work and how long I could run. Jacky was hurting a little bit from a calf workout, so we went for some easy miles and repeated most of the route I had done on Sunday - 2 miles up, 2 miles down and some extra. I need to stop wimping out on this incline and get some solid runs in - time to get back into marathon shape! 

6.54 miles 

Thursday 
Thursday was going to be the longest day ever - at work by 6:30 am, hosting our last transfer student orientation of the summer, taking an hour break for dinner and catching up on the rest of work, and then one of our late-night workshops. Whew! Can you say a bit much? Me too. To boot, my boss was out on jury duty from Tuesday on, so it got even a little crazier because it was just me running the show. Done and done. Morning miles, therefore, were the only option, so ya gotta make it work!

6.8 miles 

Friday
FRIDAY! Off day! Yay summer! I also let myself sleep in a little bit, which also meant then that it was hot, and that was dumb, so I paid for it. My legs were also quite tired from Thursday, so I figured one quick lap around the block was enough - besides, I had a haircut + color appointment and a massage waiting for me, so I had better things to be doing. ;)

However, I finally got to debut my new Abundant Heart tank Jenna had made for me. Is it perfect, or is it perfect? Madly in love - keep an eye on her FitBride collection and it'll be posted there soon too if you need it for yourself. :)

1.36 miles 

Saturday 

I was supposed to meet up with Arlene for 12 miles but by the end of the day Friday, my lower back was killing me. Honestly, I think the massage was a little hard and did me in - can you say first world problems? Sorry. Anyway, so come Saturday morning when my first alarm went off, I couldn't even fathom getting out of bed - what's one more day to sleep in, right? So I let myself, and then naturally, when I saw everyone's Saturday morning exercise posts, I felt lazy. Blaaaah.

So later in the evening, I headed out for 5 miles on a loop that would take me up to the dog park to meet Doug and Molly and then if  I was still feeling okay, I'd run home and get a little more in. The 5.5 to the park were hot and kinda lousy, but the 4  home were freakin' fantastic and a sub-9 pace for all 4 splits. So I guess that's an evened-out win! Woo!

9.56 miles 

Total for the week: 37.43. Booyah.

How was your week? Make sure you link up below!