I had just come off a marathon two weeks before, and the race the following day was predicted to be hot–which slows race pace.

I felt like the pictures with the 2:59 goal and the 3:05 goal were “you’re dreaming” goals. They convinced me to pose with the clock posting each of my A, B, and C goal-finish times.

And then I had my goal of just getting a PR which would be running faster than 3:13. And although I knew I wasn’t ready to break the coveted 3-hour marathon barrier at this race, it is always out there, like a dangling carrot. I felt sheepish admitting I wanted to get a 3:05 or better. They asked me what my goal was for Mt Charleston. They had this goal-time clock you could pose with. We picked up our race bibs and equipment and posed for pictures. We went immediately to the marathon expo, a mere five minutes away. I was met at the airport by my cousin’s husband, Adam, and some second-cousins who were planning on running the Mt. After a FREEZING Boston experience, it was a welcome change, but it did have me worried about my aggressive marathon pace goal. I arrived in Vegas, to heat, heat and more heat. And with Mt Charleston’s refund policy, I could pull out without losing any money so it was almost too simple to just stay home and not put myself under the kind of internal pressure racing requires. Boston 2017 was brutal in a different way than this year. The year prior, I had pulled out of Mt Charleston after Boston. Something I am glad I didn’t brush aside, but fed enough to get me there. I can’t put my finger on what made me get on that plane to Vegas the Friday before my Saturday race, but something did. I trained for it, but the Boston Marathon, just 12 days prior to Mt Charleston, with its record rain and cold temps, was such a mental battle that I didn’t have anything left between my ears to get me to the start line of Mt Charleston–well, almost nothing. I’ll be honest, the 2018 REVEL Mt Charleston Marathon almost didn’t happen for me. I couldn’t believe that after several attempts, I had finally succeeded in holding the pace I had trained for, a seven-minute-mile average. Crossing the finish line, of my 14th marathon, I was exhausted and elated at the same time. 14 weeks ago, on April 28, 2018, I ran my best marathon to date.

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