Normal (Week 16)

Tuesday - Set out to do just a mile, ended up doing a 5k in the basement inferno. Also, video trifecta (legs, arms, core), 105 push-ups, 105 jumping jacks, 3:00 plank. DEAD.
Wednesday - 1 mile before class, 1.5 after. BodyPump not so bad this week, and more fun since L joined me!

Thursday - 4 terrible, terrible miles. By the end of the week I am so hungry that I eat way too much at dinner, then I head to the gym. This was bad news. Almost died.
Friday - Before heading to the airport, I got in a mile in the basement inferno and did two of the videos (arms and core). The day was spent at the airport and in the car. Oh, and eating.
Saturday - Baker's Dozen Half Marathon! More driving, more airport and more eating.
Sunday - I stayed in bed FOREVER. The day was really busy with grocery shopping, taking A roller skating and A going to a birthday party. Exhausted, I did only a mile-ish, which was rough after 4+ beers. Womp.

Monday - A really REALLY great 8+ miles. REALLY GREAT. Had I not been so hungry, and if I had more time, I think I would have run more. Wish all runs were like this. Also, 3:00 plank.

Weekly Miles Run - 33.18 (13.1 racing, 20.08 treadmill)
Minutes of Strength Training - 125 (Not bad, considering I totally slacked on the videos this week)

Weekly Gain - 1.2 pounds

• Eh. I'm only .2 over where I was 2 weeks ago. Considering all the junk I ate over the weekend, this is to be expected.
• I ATE EVERYTHING THIS WEEK. EVERYTHING.

• Beer consumption was a tad bit up, but not out of control. It was mainly just on Sunday. I did not drink at all on my trip. Did you know a Guinness at the Vegas airport is over $10????????? OUTRAGEOUS. I am too cheap for that, for sure.

Everything Else

• The temp paralegal is gone. Not sure if she was let go or quit. No one has interviewed, not sure if she will be replace.
• The other legal assistant in the office apparently put in her notice last Monday. The office was not told of it until Friday. NO ONE HAS INTERVIEWED FOR HER POSITION.
• As a result of the above, I can no longer settle for the horrible-ness that is my job. I have been applying places, and CROSS YOUR FINGERS, I have an interview at another firm (pretty much right across the street from where I am now).
• The gym is extra crowded this week because a nearby gym is closed all week for renovations. I guess better now than January?
• Cute guy was at the gym last night. Did not say anything. Still stare awkwardly.
• I found out I did not make the Runner's Roost race team. A bit sad about it, but I knew I would be a long shot since I'm so slow. They SAY you don't have to be fast to make the retail team, but one of the "requirements" is to "consistently place well" - so I'm not super surprised. Everyone on the team is super nice, so I will see what I can do to improve myself and go for it again next year...
• And.... nothing else.

Las Vegas... the last day

So if you will recall, J and I didn't head up to the room until around 3 in the morning. Ugh. I am TOO OLD to stay up so late. I woke up early... somehow before 9 am (HOW??) and showered. Thankfully... no hangover. I hardly drink anymore, so I was a bit worried I'd be feeling it.

Our main goal today was to eat lunch at Chipotle. Inexpensive and healthier than other food options. Of course that meant... MORE.WALKING.

We checked out of the hotel around 11, and left our bags at the front so we wouldn't have to drag them around all afternoon. We stopped at a few shops on the way down the strip and got the last of our awesome/tacky Las Vegas souvenirs (where else can I get a nail file with Hello Kitty dressed like a showgirl??)

Finally make it to Chipotle and we have lunch. After lunch we decided we would head BACK down the strip, stop in the few hotels/casinos we hadn't been in yet, and make sure we got back to the hotel by about 4:30 to get our luggage and get the shuttle back to the airport.

We stopped in at Treasure Island, then took a tram to Mirage.

Me and J in front of a huge tree in Mirage

The Beatles Club - Revolution

We wanted to check out the "Secret Garden" at Mirage but found the $15 per person a bit expensive. Next, we decided to head to MGM to look at the lions.

Lions at MGM

We ran out of things to do and I think we all were a bit tired of walking. I bet in addition to the half marathon that I ran, I probably walked the distance of a FULL marathon. And I didn't even have the sense to bring comfortable shoes.

Luxor

Luxor

We made it back in time to get our bags. I had asked earlier and was told it takes just "a minute or two" to get the bags back. Ten minutes go by and we still have nothing. Start asking around. People keep going in the back and not returning. Starting to get tense and angry. WHERE IS OUR STUFF?? Finally someone comes up front. Shockingly there was a problem with our ticket. Whoever filled it out didn't write it legibly so they never entered it in the system. At least I allowed extra time and at least I got all my stuff back.

Had a hard time finding where to wait for the shuttle bus and then THAT was 20 minutes late. Man, I do NOT do well waiting!!! Get to the airport and after getting through security, L and I pick up dinner. I hadn't eaten at Chili's in almost a year, but they had one in the airport, so I ordered the Big Mouth Bites. They were just as delicious as I remember. Yum.

J managed to get a seat next to me on the plane, and this time we got a free cookie. I kept dozing off and then getting woken back up by some obnoxious teenagers behind me that talked very loud, giggled incessantly, and kept kicking the back of my seat. After we landed they said to their seatmate "I hope we didn't bother you." I jumped in and said something snarky like "You sure bothered the rest of the plane. You should be more aware of your surroundings, not everyone wants to listen to that for 90 minutes." Stupid girl has the nerve to say "Like I care, I'll never see any of you again."

UGH.

By the time R landed a half hour later, and we got backs, shuttled back to lot and drove home, it was almost 1:00 in the morning.

Glad to be home.

Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Las Vegas, NV
Sunday, December 5
Half Marathon #16/50
Weather - Cloudy, chilly, 50s

The Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll half marathon was one I signed up for AGES ago. Long enough ago that I was planning on only doing a race a month. Hmph. That didn't last long.

I had intentionally booked a room at the Luxor. For two reasons. First - it wasn't nearly as expensive as most of the other hotels at that end of the strip. Second - it was only one hotel away from the start line. We had a tough time finding out when the actual start was, but the info stated we could get in our corrals at 6:30. We didn't figure we needed much time to get ready and over there, so we didn't get up until almost 5:30. L and I are professionals. We have done race day together so many times that we have it down to a science. R sorta threw off our routine and we started to get a bit panicky. We still weren't REALLY sure where the start was, just the general vicinity. The nice thing about a race this size is you can just follow the herd and you will get where you are going.

Casino lighting makes my eyes creepy :(

R got a picture of the two of us - one of the few times we aren't wearing the same thing! I had Leah at Sparkle Skirts custom make me an Elvis type costume. I already had purchased the skirt (months ago), and she made me the awesome top and belt!

The outfit was perfect!

Complete Insanity!!

After we got all our pictures done, we headed for a quick bathroom break - so nice to be able to wash hands afterwards, then headed outside. And much to our dismay... the corrals were lining up backwards. So we had to go all the way past most of the runners. R was all the way in corral #3, and we were moving against the flow of traffic. We get to the corral with just minutes to spare, and there is a port-o-potty literally a block from the start. With no line. I go again. Better to be safe than sorry. Get my headphones in and pretty much walk up to the start line and go.

Start line!

I knew this race was going to be mentally tough. The strip takes a LONG time to walk. And knowing we were going to have run it both ways and then some... well, it hurt my head just a bit thinking about it. I was also a bit worried about my race outfit. I had never even tried it on before, much less RUN in it. I was using a different pouch to hold my phone, and managed to secure it under my Elvis belt so that nothing bounced around. All in all, my outfit was the least of my concerns. The first mile or so I was doing more weaving than I like, but... WOW. This might be the biggest race I have ever done. There were SO many people. And quite a bit of spectators!

It seemed like the water stations were pretty close together, less than every two miles. Which was NICE. I was getting hot with my collared shirt. I was feeling "ok" but not great. Passed the Stratosphere (over 4 miles) and then heading into the "other" part of Las Vegas and I noticed a small bar was putting out cups of beer. 4.75 miles in and yes... I had a cup. Not sure if it was a good idea or not but I felt obligated to! I was hitting a decent pace when I passed the 10K marker, but I was starting to feel tired. And I knew exactly what I'd be looking at for the last 4 miles.

There were actually not that many people in costumes, and I got lots of comments from other runners and volunteers about mine.

The last few miles of this race went on forever. I was starting to think I had missed mile markers. I mean, I had been able to see Mandalay Bay FOREVER and yet I was not making any progress. Finally I see the sign for the half and full marathon splits and then I give it all I have and book it. 

YAY!!

I missed my sub 2 hour time. Again. Curse it!! But I felt good most of the race, all my splits were under 10 minutes, and my last mile was under 9. That doesn't happen very often. Let's pretend that my beer stop slowed me down :)

Official Time - 2:00:58

5K Split - 28:17

10K Split - 56:45

10 Mile Split - 1:32:24

Overall - 3984/19169

Division - 322/2154

Gender - 1516/11917

Garmin Time - 2:00:57

Garmin Distance - 13.16 miles

Overall Pace - 9:11

Mile 1 - 9:12

Mile 2 - 9:04

Mile 3 - 8:58

Mile 4 - 8:54

Mile 5 - 9:09

Mile 6 - 9:18

Mile 7 - 9:16

Mile 8 - 9:31

Mile 9 - 9:10

Mile 10 - 9:27

Mile 11 - 9:20

Mile 12 - 9:10

Mile 13 - 8:56

Mile 13.1 - 8:26

All things considered... I'm pleased.

We headed back to the hotel to shower and change, and then it was back to the finish line for... BRET MICHAELS OF POISON! I had no idea he would actually be singing songs from Poison, and it was a BLAST. I saw him in concert last summer, and out of all the bands from that time period, he still is a great performer - and his voice still sounds awesome!

By the time they were done singing, we were STARVING. And we had our hearts set on Fatburger. So... more walking. Another mile or so down the strip and I had a fabulous burger. Mine is the "little" one on the left. J's is on the right. 

After lunch? More walking. We went back to the hotel because we were a little cold. Changed clothes, and then back up the strip to the wax museum.

This was a neat museum because it was "interactive" in the sense that you could actually get close to them and get your picture taken. This is my favorite:

Then we headed to Fashion Show, where I "just" missed Santa Julius at the Paul Frank store. By less than five minutes :(

Then.... you guessed it. MORE.WALKING. Heading back down the strip where we were going to relax for bit before deciding how to spend our only real night out.

Volcano at the Mirage

We stopped inside the "Munchbar" for snacks. Sweet potato fries, Miniature grilled cheese and Philly Cheesesteak sliders. DELICIOUS! Since it was happy hour, appetizers were 50% off. Cheapest meal of the trip!

Water show outside Bellagio

We stopped at the gas station across the street and bought some beer so we wouldn't spend as much if/when we went out. I had one and then I dozed off for a few minutes in the room. By the time J decided it was time to go out it was almost midnight and raining. R and L were both asleep so we decided we would just hang out downstairs. I played a few slots, and actually left with a small amount of money.

We got tired of beer, so we stopped at the "Slushy Stand" in the hotel lobby and got some drinks. Mine was called "Call Girlz" and was berry flavored with vodka. SO GOOD. Then we stopped for a snack (I had a chicken quesadilla) before heading to bed for the night just before 3:00 am.

Viva Las Vegas! Day One

We had funky travel plans for this one. Me, L, and J were all on a Frontier flight (though none of us managed to get adjoining seats, even with booking 6 months in advance) and R (L's boyfriend) ended up flying Southwest. Our flights were about an hour apart. R's flight left before ours, so we had a bit of extra time at the airport.

I was bored during the flight and was one of "those" people that fills out the puzzles in the free magazine.

Yep, did them all in pen - no mistakes!

Only bad part about the flight was that we left too early in the morning to get our free cookie. Bummed :(

Arrive in Vegas, find R, and then catch our shuttle to head to the hotel. We were happy to discover that we could check in and drop off all our stuff. I had picked the Luxor to stay at because it was close to the start line of the race AND it is located in the more "fun" part of the strip.

So I mapquested where the Expo was - we had to be thereby 5:00... and I was pretty distressed to find that it was at the Sands. Over 2.5 miles away!! Ugh!! Did NOT want to do so much walking on our first day (not to mention the day before the race). But, off we went. We had to get lunch anyway, and stopped for a healthy lunch at Subway.

Heading down the strip

After lunch we kept walking, taking our time. All of a sudden, there is only a few hours until the Expo closes.

Me and J

Paris... and Manilow??

After walking for a JILLION years, we finally pass the Venetian and are able to follow the swarm of people headed to the expo. I have never run a Rock 'n' Roll race before. It was PURE chaos. A billion people, but very well organized.

I had signed up for the race so long ago that I had put my estimated finishing time of 2:15. It's been AGES since I ran one that slow.  I was a bit disappointed when I saw I was put in corral #17. L said that it was possible to change corrals at the expo, and I moved up to hers, #7 with minimal effort. (Although I would never have signed up for that one... too fast!)

It was hard to even walk around the expo. WAY too many people and nothing I was interested in buying. Madness all around.

After the expo we decided that we had already walked THIS far, so we might as well walk all the way to the end of the strip. We made it down to Circus Circus before we turned around to head back. By now we were starting to get tired of walking. Race day was starting to seem like a bad idea. And L and I were both starting to get cranky because we were getting hungry. Did you know it's actually pretty tough to find pasta in Vegas?? We checked lots of restaurants and they all had ridiculous wait times. A pasta place a few blocks off the strip claimed the wait was over THREE HOURS. Are they kidding??! We finally found a buffet (risky) in Planet Hollywood. They line didn't look too bad. Until you got through the velvet ropes, went down the escalator and found yourself in an amusement park line. !!!! I thought I was going to snap :( It is not a pretty sight when I am starving.

On one hand, I was psyched to get salad, pasta and dessert all in one... on the other... I'd have to be careful what I ate.

Boring salad, hardly any topping options!

Mmmm... Pasta!

I actually cannot believe that I forgot to take any pictures of what I had for dessert. L and I picked a few and shared them. They were all pretty small and DELICIOUS.

Once we had our food we were good to go. We headed back to the hotel, where L and R called it a night. 

I stayed up with J and gambled a bit in the slots and finished my pre-race beer. In bed at a decent hour (pretty sure it was before 11:30).

Some Like it Hot

So I decided I should run a few miles in the morning before work since I'll have on off day on Saturday in preparation for... Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas half marathon!

I picked out my outfit the night before.

I intentionally picked this skirt because I haven't worn it in a while and I needed to test out my old running belt (to be explained more after the race on Sunday). I looked pretty cute!

I drive to Lake Arbor. Early. I have to make sure I am back in time for L to go to work. It's still pretty dark when I get there. "Some Like it Hot" - did I mention that when I got out of the car at 6:30 am it was already 51 degrees?? That is NOT long sleeve weather. I had calculated in my head that I would probably only have time to run 3 laps to guarantee getting back in time. I was HOT. Whoever heard over low 50s in Colorado... in December... before the sun is even up?

All in all, the run was at best "ok." I was not really into it. Felt more like an obligation. Normally I should have enjoyed the sunrise and the fact that my path was empty. But... I was just sorta tired and blah. Really the only good part of the run was a lady saying "you look cute!" when I ran by. Yep... I really DID look cute today :D

Sun is up, and just look at all the geese!

I get home, and it was a good call for me to only do the three laps.

Loop 1 - 9:54 pace
Loop 2 - 9:32 pace
Loop 3 - 9:21 pace
Total - 3.76 miles, average pace per mile 9:36

Munchkin Mile... Take 2!

A saw me come in and asked if she could run with me... ok, we could do a quick run around the neighborhood. She changed into some running clothes:

Pumped!!

She decided to also run in her running skirt (a real running skirt from SkirtSports!) - and check out her socks... she really IS a mini-Me.

So I figured we would try to run a mile again. With the warmer temps, and maybe since she just did it the other day, she was doing better. She kept telling me "I'm saving my breath Mama" and every time I would ask how she was doing she would say "Good!!"

Since we were running in the neighborhood, we had to cross a few streets. She LOVED holding hands and jogging through the intersections.

She ROCKED it this time! She made it until we were only a few blocks from the house (.9 miles done) before she needed to walk for a few seconds. From the time I started my watch until the time I stopped, we did 1.03 miles in 12:49!!! That's about a minute off her previous mile time. HOW AWESOME IS THAT???

Post Run!

A tells me - "I have rosy cheeks Mama... Now I need some water."

I wish Colorado weather would cooperate a bit longer so that we could have more of these mornings. This was a blast.