Packing for a trip to Vegas typically involves a little black dress and enough painkillers to relieve the hangovers of a small army. But for my five-day jaunt I’m jamming joggers, a Fitbit and far too many running gels into my luggage. Yep, any blisters acquired during this stint will be from a 21km run, not a poorly fitted pair of heels. I’m taking on the Las Vegas Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon – an epic race that shuts down The Strip for a night while more than 40,000 people run down Las Vegas Boulevard in all its glittery glory. Sounds amazing, right? Well, quite frankly, I’m petrified.
Despite the half-marathon being a long-time bucket-list goal, my preparation has been substandard. Back-to-back colds, a bung hip and a whole lot of excuses has left me trailing far behind in my training schedule. Yet still, I board the 16hour flight on a wing (literally) and a prayer – and thankfully, I have two days of TLC to take my mind off things before the big race.
After I check into The Linq Hotel and try out their in-room fitness cart (to foam roll my very swollen cankles), it’s time to begin the notorious pre-race carb load. Studies and scientists agree: if you’re planning to run a long distance, you need to load up the glycogen stores in your muscles. This energy source usually taps out around the 90-minute mark – this is when you hit ‘the wall’. While I’m not one to argue with eating as many
