Vegas race report

Where to start........ I flew out on Thursday afternoon, heading to San Fransisco first. The cool thing about that flight was flying over the Bridge....one of these days I would like to see it from the ground, Alcatraz too!

Then onto Vegas, here I was meeting Mike & Laura , Carolyn was flying in on Saturday.

On Saturday we headed over to the expo, which by the way is growing fast! I was amazed at how high the race numbers went up too. Seems like at all the expo's I have gone from buying a shirt to getting socks instead. Socks are plain with Vegas....none of the rock & roll crap.

I thought these were funny.....also I made sure to get my cookie!

Here is a pic of Meb Keflezighi ...winner of the New York City marathon this year, I wished I could run my 1/2 in the time it takes him to run his full....Hahaha!

Runner's world had a set up as well for pics.......I finally ended up on the cover
I really enjoyed my time leading up to the race, very relaxing & low key lol! We did abit visiting,eating,shopping & I even watched my first Gator's football game.

The one thing I thought that was really cool was all the compliments I received from My IMC Jacket. I also met a guy at the expo that just raced IM Cozumel & he recommends it racing it........so you never know!

Now as for the race..... 1/2 marathon ran up & back...all on the strip. Mike was running the full, Laura & I were running the 1/2.

I did manage to get a pic of me & Mike before the race......we somehow lost Laura while she was checking her bag in.

Who would have thought that your winter jackets & mittens would be needed. Carolyn did great getting up at the crack of dawn to watch a race that had way to many runner's in it to watch anything.

I started in corral 11, which seemed like along way back from the start. Again this year they had fireworks at the start,but by the time I pretty much started it was daylight......fireworks were not the same lol! We started running south for abit before we made the turn to run north on the strip.

My race was interesting, I felt good for the first 9 miles, then the IT flared up causing pain from my feet all the way up to my lower back. By mile 10 I was pretty much toast, causing me to run/walk mostly the final miles. So my finishing time was 2:35....exact time I ran in the Calgary 1/2. Honestly what are the chances. Overall, I was disappointed in myself & it showed when I finished. I thought that after all the training I have done in the past 6 months I would run faster.

On the upside of things I did come away from the race with another life experience lol! I know I may not achieved my goal time for the race, but I did manage to run my 11th 1/2. This fact alone I am proud of....not everyone has the opportunity to do this !

I ran 13miles for one of these paper weights lol!

Not the happiest pic of my life Hahaha
After the race we went in search of Laura,,,,she was a bit frozen from the race. It was the coldest race I ran yet in Vegas.

Laura ran a 2:01 today , & Mike ran a 4:58.........Great race guys!!!!

That evening we ate at my favorite hotel! I love this hotel, maybe one day I will be lucky enough to stay there lol!

I found one of my Xmas presents from Santa.......all I have to do is push it home Hahaaha
Monday Laura & Mike flew out, I spent the day with Carolyn doing what she loves shopping!!! For the first time I went to the outlet mall there,,,,,I am not a huge fan for shopping at times. I will admit though that I was really impressed ,as it had some stores that I liked, sooo I will go back again lol! We also went to a dinner show as well at the Excalibur which was cool!

It is funny how it never rains in Vegas.......every time I am there it rains! Also they even had snow on the mountains when I left.......just goes to show how cold it can get there in Sin city!

VEGAS Here I come.........

I should be packing right now.......but I am watching Cake Boss HAhaha

Tomorrow I have to zip into work to make sure things are organized first thing & then haul a$$ to catch my plane. I am really looking forward to the race!

I ran a 2:35 in Calgary in May. I was hoping to be faster that day, not the case. So for a change of pace I will say I would like to go sub 2hrs.....or at least close lol! This is my goal. This will be my 3rd 1/2 in Vegas.....so some improvement will be good.

Also for my first race of 2010.....I will be running the 1/2 marathon in Phoenix......sometimes I have too much time on my hands to look for airfare deals lol!

I am determined to improve on this years IMC race.

For the Hitmen....have fun on Friday at the casino.....win lots......And get Da to show ya the shark game.....it's my favorite!

Volleyball weekend.......

Canmore high school hosted the provincials this weekend. Michelle & Jilysa played in the tournament, so I watched a few games. I thought they played well, but apparently I am no expert on volleyball lol! The one thing I will say .....it is unreal how much drama is involved in the sport, I have never seen so many kids cry for losing. Talk about a chain reaction. Man oh man...one cries then another....it is hilarious! Teenagers! I just don't get it......they won zones to earn a spot to have the opportunity to play at that level,,,,,,,not everyone gets that chance, the bleachers were packed with spectators for every game, they played well. Each game was close, And yet they react like the sun won't rise tomorrow.......HAhahaha

Michelle is in white,Jilysa is on the green floor.

Bunch of blurry players lol
Jilysa's sister.......... I will refer to her as........little snotgobbler Emi.

By the end of the day she was seeing things my way lol. The funniest thing of the day with her, was Nat coaching her on the type of guy I need to meet. According to a snotgobbler in kindergarten,,,,,it is a guy with green eyes, no moustache & wears a birthday hat!

7 days I will be racing again.........running the strip in Vegas, I love this race!

Christmas arrived early at the compound

Since we now have a actual fitness room, I thought it would be nice to have a larger TV to watch. Don't go into shock here people, I didn't buy the crap. I was able to get it through a points thingy...like air miles. And since I was already in the shopping mood I decided to tack on a GPS Garmin watch as well. I love Xmas shopping for myself lol!

I went for a massage this weekend, My hip/It seems to be abit better. Tomorrow I go to Chiro boy, so I am sure I will be back in Pain soon lol.

Also to day I was looking at my medals from previous races, & Vegas will be my 11th 1/2 marathon & 4th time I will race in sin city lol!

Looking at them it all started in Kelowna in October 2004. Since then I have ran 1/2 marathons in Vancouver,Victoria,Billings Montana,Disneyland,Disney world,Las Vegas & Calgary.

I prefer to run a 1/2 any day over a full marathon. I love to travel to races & a 1/2 allows me to get my running fix, & doesn't kill me to do it.Good times.

In this week's news......

First of all the running has been going well. I have even managed to do a 2hr run on the treadmill on the weekend. My pace is getting faster & am running longer. This should make things interesting when I race in a few weeks. So far I feel good about my training I will be anxious to see how I do.

The kids have been sick a fair bit lately it seems, so I have been steering clear of them. I really don't want or have time to get sick in the next few weeks lol!

So I will spend a few days in Vegas at the start of December to run a 1/2 marathon. I am looking forward to time away from work. I need a mental break. Also looking forward to seeing Laura & Mike, also Carolyn is coming down as well from Vancouver to watch me race. I just hope I race well :)
Also I have made my plans for Christmas. This year I will be heading to South Carolina to spend a week with my Uncle Bill & Aunt Barbara. I think it will do them some good to spend so quality time with their favorite niece from Canada..... After all I am so cute & cuddly!

I am the only one that lives in Canada, all of my relatives live in the states. Maybe there is a reason for that lol!

Superstars from yesterday

How can you not laugh?

First of all a person must appreciate our sense of humour to find this picture funny

On the weekend I went for a coffee with Da & abit of window shopping here in town. We came across this photo in a gallery. All I can say is that I love this, makes me laugh every time I look at it.