Parties, Go-Karts and Vegas, Baby!

What a weekend! (I know, it's almost Wednesday, but this past weekend was so exhausting that I had to recover a bit before the recap.)

It kicked off with my roommates and I finally throwing our housewarming party, nearly three months after moving in.

On Saturday, I knocked out a 4.5-mile run in the sunshine! And since sunshine is such a rarity in Seattle these days, I took full advantage by rocking shorts and my stunna shades (also known as my silly, cheapo sunglasses that I don't mind losing or breaking — and they worked wonderfully).

Then it was off to a fabulous dinner party in honor of my good friend's 24th birthday.

I slept in nice 'n' late on Sunday and woke up just in time to head to my big brother's birthday celebration at Traxx Indoor Raceway. I drove my go-kart under the intimidating pseudonym White Chocolate, while Aaron ended up owning the track under the guise of Gato Negro.

This was my first time go-karting and it was super fun! The karts went way faster than I expected and left my arms and legs pretty sore from maneuvering away from walls and flooring the gas. I was quite happy to sit out the second race and just take pictures!

I also... (drumroll, please)... booked a trip to Las Vegas this weekend! But not just any old trip — a three-day stay that will include running the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon on December 4.

Remember my list of 2011 goals? My running-specific goals included tackling every major race distance, ending with the Las Vegas marathon. I'm already registered for the race, and now that the flights and hotel are locked down, there's no turning back!

A very cool change to the marathon this year is that it'll take place at night. That means I'll be running down the Las Vegas strip in its full, lit-up glory!

A not-so-great change is that there's a new course time limit of 4 hours and 30 minutes — not an unreasonable feat to achieve at an average pace of 10:18/mile, but certainly a tall order for a first-time marathoner. I'm fairly sure I could run the marathon in under 5 hours, and perhaps even under 4:45, but a 4:30 time limit is a lot of pressure.

I'd be lying, though, if I said I didn't secretly enjoy this extra layer of challenge. I'd love to finish under 4:30 even if there was no time limit, so this just motivates me to train extra hard.

But there was a moment when I was about to register that I considered backing out. Would it be stupid to even attempt a sub-4:30 time? Most people say you shouldn't have a time goal for your first marathon — just focus on finishing. But I'd like to seize the opportunity to finish and kick some butt, too.

If, after several months of training, I feel like it's absolutely impossible for me to drag my body across 26.2 miles' worth of Las Vegas in any time close to 4:30, I can always drop down to the half-marathon.

But telling myself right now that I can't do it is unacceptable. Quitting before I've even started is far more foolish than gunning for a sub-4:30 first marathon. And even if I attempt the marathon, get kicked off the course and earn myself a big, fat DNF — Did Not Finish — I'll at least be satisfied in knowing that I trained like hell and tried my hardest to do something awesome.

I'll take Did Not Finish over Did Not Try any day.

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