Las Vegas Half Marathon

Early this morning, and I mean early -- 6 am out here -- I ran the Las Vegas Half, which was a really fun race to take part in. Before I get into the day, I'll get to the results:

I finished the 13.1 miles in 1:41.41, or an average of 7:45.3 per mile. Out of 7,718 runners, I placed 288th. Out of 3,769 men, I finished 235th. I was 32nd overall in my age division (25-29).

This was a really satisfying finish for me. I was gunning for a 1:45 finish, or at least a 1:47 to best my cousin John's half PR. So, needless to say, I obliterated my goal, and by about 15 seconds per mile! This included a mid-run porta-potty stop, too. So I walked away very happy with the end results.

What's funny is my Garmin said I'd only run 12.75 miles when I crossed the finish line. It does the distance with a footpod, so it's prone to errors, but the discrepancy meant I didn't realize I was running as fast as I was. According to my watch, I was pretty much dead on an 8:00 pace. I guess I've been training harder than the ol' Garmin has been telling me. Nothing wrong with that.

The race itself was cool. It was still dark when we started, right by the Mandelay Bay hotel at the edge of the Strip. At the start, they shoot off fireworks and keep them going for a few minutes while everyone gets through the gates. Then you run for about 5-6 miles up the Strip with all the buildings lit up and everything. It was a very cool experience.

It was a slight downhill -- and I mean very slight -- for the first half. In the second half, it's a gradual incline that you start to notice around mile 9 or 10. Either way, it's still a pretty flat and fast course, as my time clearly shows. The second half you're running a few blocks over from the Strip, and it's not the most scenic route. It was probably in the mid-40s for the run, which felt warm after training in the cold in Toronto these past few weeks.

I flew into Vegas on Saturday and bunked with our Yankees writer at the Marriott Suites. He and our Tigers writer also ran the half. Jason -- the Detroit reporter -- finished in 1:35.26 and Bryan finished in 1:59.16. I'll gladly take the silver for us MLB.comers. Beck caught me at about mile 5, but I wasn't able to keep up with his crazy 7:00 pace.

Now, it's back to work here with baseball's winter meetings kicking off on Monday. I have some runs to try to squeeze in this week still, so I'll try to get up early and run the strip again. I still have a lot of work to do before being ready to run the Walt Disney World Marathon in January. This race at least showed I'm on the right track.