REVEL, Mt. Charleston Re-cap

So REVEL came and went.
I was able to switch into a trip that got off earlier the day before, so I could make it to the expo to pick up my packet. I landed from my trip around 1410, got to my car at about 1446 (that's counting the passengers getting off the plane, and walking from the terminal to economy parking because I didn't want to wait for the shuttle)

It didn't take me long to get to the expo as it was literally across the street from the airport at the UNLV Cox Pavilion. I changed out of my uniform (in my car -phew- , and got inside the expo by 1500. It was a very small expo in comparison to all the other marathons I've run, and so it was easy to not spend so much time there. I looked through a bit of the merchandise, but I didn't buy any because along with our packet, they gave us a hat from Headsweats! Pretty awesome surprise! It's basically their black race hat, with the REVEL logo and branding on it. I ended up also buying some pain sticks, from a company called Magic Stuff. I got the Athlete's First Aid Twin Pack, the "A" stick is for ACUTE pain. It definitely cools down hot muscles. Has the same effect as Icy Hot, but I like the fact it's in a a sort of balm stick, and I think the smell is a bit better. The "H" stick is for HEAT and is used for blood circulation, old injuries, and you can even rub some in your mouth if you've got cold and flu symptoms! Kinda cool.
Anyway, besides that, I picked up a pacing wristband that had splits and paces specific to the race, and headed home.

I had been sort of slacking in the avenue of carb-loading before this race, as I was actually pretty unsure if I was going to participate. But, I mustered up my courage and decided that I was going to do it. A lot of the motivation behind it was that I was going to be running for the first time in an actual marathon in my new age group. So, I said why not.



This was the earliest I ever got up for a marathon! I woke up at about 2:30ish to make it the parking/busing area by 3:30. I changed into my ate a bowl of oatmeal, made a hydration mix, filled up a bottle of water,