Celebrating Ironwoman Betsy's Accomplishment in Las Vegas

I got off to a bit of a cruddy start on Monday morning.  My flight was supposed to leave at 7:45 am.  We cruised on over to the runway and the pilot took us back to the gate because of mechanical problems, so that delayed us about 2 hours.  Fortunately we made up about 30 minutes in the air and I was also the first person dropped off on the airport shuttle service.  My Grandma Esther met me for brunch at the Sao Paulo Cafe at the Rio.  We had a chance to chat and catch up, so that worked out well. 

My friends got in shortly after me and we got all settled.  The Rio is dog friendly, so Sasha got to party it up in Vegas.

Casino sign... you don't see this very often



After everyone met up, we headed to the New York-New York hotel to buy our Beatles Love tickets and gamble/ride the rollercoaster.  I chose the gambling option and I had some good luck at the blackjack table.  I tried a friend's $10/$30/$50/$70/$100 betting strategy (which was crazy for me because I'm such a risk adverse, conservative accountant).  I had a good run, and I just couldn't bring myself to bet the $70 (and, of course, I won that hand).  But I was up $115, and I stopped while I was ahead.  Then we took Claire, Ironwoman Betsy's daughter, to Claire's to get her ears pierced (second hole). 

On Monday night we went to the Mirage for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (probably due to my over-enthusiastic cheers for the BLT pizza on honey wheat crust) before the Beatles Love show.  I'm not a huge Beatles fan (it's okay music, but not something I intentionally turn to on the radio or Pandora), but it was entertaining.  After the show we headed back to the Rio and ordered some drinks at the bar.

Heading to the Mirage



We got up earlier than I expected on Tuesday morning and Stacy and I took Sasha (Shawna's dog) for a 5.4-mile run on the strip.  We were definitely the only runners with a dog.  It felt good to workout, but the top of my left foot was really tender (and it still is).  Our inner fat girls came out to play at the buffet afterwards... nothing like a mix of Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.  Then we headed downtown for some gambling at the Four Queens. 

Cute pre-taxi BFF shot

 

The gambling festivities began with a shot (not the best picture of some of us, but I'll go with it).

We had a lot of fun at the craps table (once I learned to play and stopped whining about not understanding) and about zero luck at the blackjack table.  I ended up losing the previous day's winnings, but I consider that success (especially considering the amount of "free" vodka sodas Shawna ordered us). 

Tuesday night was Betsy's celebratory dinner at N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms. 

The four-course menu

 

 

The Instagrammed food

 

The prettified BFFs

I blame this face on the unlimited wine



 

Group expresso shot

 

We hit the craps table again that night.  I had a really crappy roll to start and then I ended with a great rolling streak to win my money back.  I discovered my new favorite game, for sure.  It was a fun, activity-packed 48 hours in Vegas (and KUDOS to IRONWOMAN BETSY!!!).  



Fried Food, Flu, and (Somewhat) Free Flights

After the 20-mile run last Sunday, Cliff and I went to Boo Ray's for some electrolyte replacement.  While I chowed down on a side salad and red beans and rice and washed it down with two yummy Bloody Marys, the guy next to me went to town on some fettucini alfredo WITH FRIED CHICKEN ON TOP.  So I judged him for a second, and then I had food envy.  That looked goooooood.

On Monday Cliff and I had a lunch/movie date.  We had planned on eating sushi, but the restaurant in Lake Worth has obnoxiously bad customer service at times (and this was no exception).  So we mosied on over to Ginger Brown's Old Tyme Restaurant with an expired Groupon in hand (we ended up paying $1 plus tip with the $20 expired Groupon).  We each ordered the "Chicken Forever."  The meal came with rolls (I had two), two sides (I had mashed potatoes with gravy and macaroni and cheese), and a big, gooey cinammon roll.  For $8.95, you would expect a few little chicken strips, but instead we were faced with this... an entree-sized plate stacked with fried chicken.

And the movie "Argo" was just as good as this scrumptious artery-clogging lunch we ate!

I had been really looking forward to the Tempe/Las Vegas trip with my friends to see our buddy, Betsy, finish her first Ironman.  I woke up on Friday morning, fed the dogs, and got sick (repeatedly) in the kitchen sink.  Then I might have shed a tear or two because I had a 3:00 flight that afternoon and I knew that would be next to impossible to pull off.  After I slept a bit more, I headed to the doctor's office (with a bowl in hand... and then the doctor asked what the bowl was for... really, doctor?!?!).  I had a strep test (negative) and flu test (positive... what the heck, flu shot... way to let me down) and headed to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for Tamiflu and some sort of anti-nausea medicine that dissolves on the tongue.  I figured, "no big deal, I can just pay the $150 change fee and change my flight to Saturday."  So I called American Airlines, got the new flight set up so I would arrive in Tempe at the same time as my friend Stacy, and then the customer service representative says "that will be $400."  UMMMM.... WHAAATTT???  Not only was there a $150 change fee, but there was also a $250 increase in the cost of the flight.  So I had to cancel it.  I stewed for a day and had a hard time seeing all of the fun Facebook posts from my friends in Tempe.  I played around with flights to Vegas, but they were pretty expensive on such short notice.  So then I had the genius idea to try to redeem AA miles (which never seems to work, by the way) and I was able to use 25,000 miles (plus pay a $5 transaction fee and $75 late booking fee) to head to Vegas for a few days.  Woohoo!

So I'm hanging around the house today and creeping on Facebook and Ironman Live to track Betsy's progress.  And in the meantime, I'll steal some of Sarah's photos and pretend like I'm really there in Tempe cheering Betsy on.  GOOOOO BETSYYYY!

 

Fort Worth Marathon 20-Mile Race Report

I signed up for this race on Saturday and then looked at the weather report and realized it could be very bad! 

I started off the run at a controlled pace, and a girl behind me saw my Ironman tattoo and struck up a conversation.  We ended up running together for about the first 10K, and that caused me to go faster than I would have run solo.  I dropped her around mile 6 or 7 and I felt pretty strong, especially as I neared the turn-around at mile 10.  I saw a co-worker after the turn-around, and that was a little bit of a push for me too (because I'm not competitive or anything).  I was worried that I might have gone out too fast, but I continued to feel strong.  The rain started around mile 18, and it was actually a nice treat.  Also, we lucked out with the wind because it was out of the south, so we had a headwind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back.  The half marathoners started 30 minutes after the 20-milers, so I passed a ton of people at the end, and that was pretty motivating too.  I felt like I was flying. 

I'm starting to get my nutrition routine down.  I ate a whole wheat flatbread with almond butter for breakfast and also had a large coffee.  I also took two acid reflux pills in the morning, which seems to make a HUGE difference.  I had a gel at the 7-mile and 13.5-mile marks. 

Splits: 9:12, 9:20, 9:30, 9:37, 9:37, 9:51, 9:38, 9:29, 9:31, 9:19, 9:02, 9:05, 9:17, 9:19, 9:11, 9:21, 9:18, 9:20, 9:11, and 9:09

GPS: 3:09:00, 20.20 miles, 9:22/mile average

Official Time: 3:09:01
Place: 2nd (out of 11) in the female 30-34 category
Results here

This race in 2010: 3:07:49

20-mile run last month: 3:27:03

While I haven't been doing a lot of super long runs, I think the consistent 9-mile runs during the week before work have really helped me out with my fitness.  I'm very happy that I went 18 minutes faster than just a few weeks ago!

GusGus sports the bling:



One Year Later

One year ago five of us embarked on a little adventure... walking 60 miles in 3 days, with lots of alcohol and laughs along the way.  I gained some really great new friends out of the deal - Elizabeth, Sarah, and Caren.  Fortunately this year we didn't do the walk again... once was enough.  I couldn't imagine asking my friends and family for $2,300 more.  Plus none of us are really fans of the politics behind Komen. 

A trip down memory lane.

One of my favorite memories was when we were talking about other cancers and we referred to Elizabeth's very rare cancer as "alien cancer" and I got the genius idea to have a "rainbow" icon to emobody all cancers... only after walking quite a few miles, I had forgotten that the rainbow already represented something else.  But "alien rainbow cancer" is something I will never forget.  I also have to give a shout-out to Betsy's awesome "last loop dedication" to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth lives in Steamboat, and she and her friend, Michele, came to visit this weekend.  On Saturday we all met up at The Woodshed and then went to Fred's later.  A few photos from the evening:

Me, Shawna, and Elizabeth

Shawna, Michele, Sarah, Caren, Me, Elizabeth



Drinking some vodka and throwing some signs with my new friend, Michele

Group shot



 

The next afternoon we met up at the Pour House.  I decided to bring the pups... I felt too guilty leaving GusGus at home on his birthday.  Of course GusGus was a little monster and he loved all of the attention.

GusGus on the lookout for fallen jalapenos

GusGus Instagrammed by Sarah

The humans (me, Elizabeth, and Jenifer)... at least none of us pottied on the patio floor ;)

By the end of the night, GusGus was ready to stake a claim on the patio and all of its furniture 

We finished up the weekend with a trip to Esparza's tonight.  I am full of refried beans and ready to hit the hay.