Las Vegas Rock & Roll Half Marathon

I ran my third half marathon of 2009 in Las Vegas, it didn't go quite exactly the way I had planned. At the halfway mark point in the race, I looked at my Garmin and was ecstatic to see that I was on my way to a person record. My legs were strong, my breathing was good, and my mind was set on shattering the 2:11:32 record from The Eye-Q Two Cities Half Marathon a few weeks before. I was feeling good! However, when I hit mile 9, every runner's worst nightmare happened to me: I kissed the concrete.

I slipped on somebody's GU and landed on both my knee caps. I couldn't stop bleeding. I saw race officials approach me, but I limped skipped away from them. I know what happens in these situations! They throw you onto a golf cart and drive you back to the finish line, and I ain't gonna DQ! For the rest of the race, I limped, I whined, I grimaced, I cussed, and I did whatever I had to do to get to that finish line. I managed to complete the race at 2:32:14.

I was very annoyed with myself, but those feelings of frustration quickly changed when Luis and Christine crossed the finish line. These two members of the Chew Crew rocked it. I remember a few months ago when we first started training, they were skeptical, but if you could see the look in their faces when they crossed the finish line, you knew that these two truly believed in themselves. It was that confidence that brought them to the finish line. Coming into this, I only had two rules: Be on time and show up ready to work, and leave all negative energy at the door. Christine and Luis did just that, and now these two members of the Chew Crew have medals hanging around their necks. I am so proud :-)