Only 359 days left!

For the last two weeks I have been mulling around in my little bird brain the idea of a countdown to when I turn 40.  A little over five years ago, I reached my goal weight and a total of 100 pounds lost.  In the last five years, I’ve fluctuated up and down and managed to gain 25 lbs back.  At the top of that weight, I go up and down 5 pounds from there.  The biggest change that I can think of is that I let up on the weight training and I added back to my diet fast food and a lot more sugar.  Talk about a flip flop.  Weights are key in changing your body composition.  However, I DO NOT WANT TO GIVE UP DISTANCE RUNNING!  Nope!  Running is my jam.  Oh and then there’s that whole….Abs are made in the kitchen, dealio.

And….I’m getting off topic. (shocking!) And…I need to keep this short. (Probably not happening.)

I now have 51 weeks left and there’s not a spread sheet in sight.  This type A person needs her spread sheets.  But, in an effort to curb my perfectionist ways….let’s just keep moving forward.

Source

My goals for week 51 are:

• Run 25 miles (Also part of the Pile on the Miles challenge.)
• Strength Train x 3 (Using ChaLean Extreme…heavy weights, low/slow reps)
• Take my vitamins
• Cut out the sugar (No extra sugary treats until Thanksgiving)

I’m planning on adding on to my goals, a little at a time, each week, in an effort to make each one a solid habit over the next year.

Forty is the new Twenty says everyone me.

The actual half marathon Vegas race recap..a “sort of” recap

 

This artistic pose was meant to capture the irony in that I was dressed in clothes to go running, complete with a race bib at 5am while others stumbled around drunk or hung over trying to figure out if they should throw up or keep drinking.  I think I nailed it, don’t you?

The directions to the start of the Really Big Free Marathon were not posted very well.  We did have a scenic warm-up walk to the start though.

This artistic pose was meant to capture the irony, just kidding….S and J are being awesome goofballs.  These girls are adorable and I hope they know that we are besties from here on out.  Bestie S and Bestie J.  It’s official!

S, J, and the hunchback of Lake Mead

I need to stop hunching over.  I must thing that the person taking the picture will chop my head off?  I do it all the time.  The guy over my shoulder is tired.  The lady with the visor is staring at the hill we are going to climb right after crossing the start line, and the lady in the blue hat is happy her pony tail isn’t too tight.  Or something like that.

 

Pretend you don’t see the vehicle in the picture.  And then pretend you’ve seen the movie “The Hills have Eyes.”  Then pretend you know what scenes went through my head a couple of times during this run.  I guess there were coyotes out earlier that some runners were able to capture and keep as pets on film.

 

Despite the hilly course, I had an absolute blast.  It was so much fun running with friends (knowing they were on the course and seeing them at turnarounds…we all had different paces). I was also really please with myself as I had ran the Portland Marathon on October 7th and a week and a half later, I succumbed to the flu.  Between getting sick and then the half marathon, I had run a total of 11 miles.  Eight of those were done right before I got sick.  So I was off  over 2 weeks from running and still made out with a decent time even including the hills.  Makes me excited for what I can do when I’m properly trained!

My goals for this race were:

A. Finish it

B. Come in close to 2:30 hours (finished in 2:46…not bad for having not trained on hills.)

C. Have fun (which I DID!)

I might have spent the rest of the day coughing up a lung or two but hey, I was in Vegas and who cares!

I think this is the next to last blog about my Vegas trip.  You are very welcome. Exciting Stuff to come!

The one with the pink gorilla suit

Friday afternoon, after recovering from my one drink hangover, we headed to the MGM to meet up with this girl who had wheels. Jen lives in the same part of Canada that my Indian/Canadian sister-in-law lives in and so I was mesmerized the whole trip that she sounded just like my SIL.  I think I told her that at least 2954 billion times. From the MGM, we drove out to Henderson, Nevada for the packet pick up for the half/full marathon that was being executed by The Really Big Free Marathon.  It’s a unique racing event in that you secure your spot with a credit card payment of $50 and then when you cross the start line, you are refunded the money.  More on that later.  Let’s just say that there was a scuttle on Facebook and concerns were raised that the race might not even go on.  So we drove out there, not sure what to expect.

Seeing the lines for the packet pick-up all of a sudden made the race feel real. The race was a real deal and it would happen.  It would happen to kill us with hills as well. But more on that later!

There wasn’t an expo, which I didn’t really mind, but I can usually be suckered in to buying a few things from the excitement that is buzzing in the air.  The only thing buzzing in the air here was one of my running friends repeating on a loop that our buns would only benefit from all the hills.  Her comment would haunt her the next day and make her want to punch herself in the face.

Our pre-race dinner was really good. The Trattoria Reggiano inside the Venetian sounded like a place we could do some great carbo loading. I got the pesto gnocchi with chicken and ate two pieces of bread before I thought to take pictures of .the bread  It was warm and buttery and I was carb loading….so you can imagine.  I was thrilled to get to add salt to my meal too.  Sadly, it needed it.  Despite a cranky Italian host that rushed us in and out, it was an awesome evening.  Awesome = girls you’ve been friends with for four years, yet haven’t met in person + carbs!

L to R: Jennifer, sister to Dana, Juli, Steph, Hope, Amee, and Jen

PS My eyes aren’t closed.  I’m just checking out Jen’s blouse.

Watching over us while we ate….the giant pink wizard gorilla. The price tag is how much I would have to be paid to wear that thing.  Kidding, just kidding.  I would wear it for FREE!  On our way back to our room for an early lights out, I had to stop and take a picture of the Mirage’s volcano.  It “erupts” every evening from like 7 – 11pm?  And apparently I have a thing for volcanoes because each and every time I heard it go off, I’d rush to the window in our room to watch. Be glad you don’t have to see all the pictures I took of it.  I did that with a squirrel once…and my cat.  I do that with everything I guess.

Next up? I’ll be posting about the race.  I know you can’t wait!

How much would you have to be paid to race in a pink gorilla costume?  It’s a half marathon and the temps are 80 degrees.  Go!

We might have been tipsy, but at least our clothes covered all of our secret parts.

  

Meet my friend Denise.  Our girls were friends in elementary school and then we decided we liked each other too.  Denise is really awesome and I’m amazed that she still answers my phone calls.  “Deniseeeeeeee, could you take me to the airportttttttt??” Plus I dragged her to Pita Pit with me!  Well, not dragged, but she let me pick where we would eat.

The best pita sandwich ever!  Chicken breast with hummus and almost every veggie they have.  Plus I like to get them to grill the onion and mushrooms along with the chicken.  My 13 year old daughter is hooked on this place too.

Upon checking in to my hotel room and meeting my roommate H (whom I’ve been “online” friends with for over four years but we’ve never met face to face – turns out she isn’t an axe murderer), I was about to get ready for bed and be a fuddy dud.  What?  It was 11pm and 2 hours past my bedtime already! Do you see her in the reflection of our dirty window?  Are you amazed at my photography skills? She was going a little stir crazy with a headache and needed to get out for a bit. So I decided not to be a grandma and then this happened…..

I sent this picture to my hubs and got back a “good girl”.  I guess he was impressed that I wasn’t already in bed, asleep, with sheet lines forming on my face.

From there, we took to the streets.  Amazed at my new found energy, we took a block or two walk on the strip and gawked at the drunkards.  We might have been tipsy, but at least our clothes covered all of our secret parts.

We stayed at Treasure Island.  I kept wondering where all the Johnny Depp look alike employees were.  I found the pirate ship, and later it dawned on me that this place was more about the booty and not the booty….if ya know what I mean. Arrrr matey!

I wished we had stayed at this place, the Venetian.  A place I could relate to since I’ve been to Venice.  It was pretty and I liked seeing their versions of the most famous landmarks.  I have to go back to Vegas because I didn’t make it to the Paris or NYNY…and a bunch of other places.

All of the travel, combined with a full day of work, a semi long drive to the airport, and then the smoke and the above margarita led to this…

…a hangover that finally went away thanks to a large black coffee and sitting by the pool for an hour.  People were out swimming and sunbathing already while we sat bundled up in hoodies and sweats.  Stylin!  Note the Christmas cup with the palm trees in the background.  (I had just gotten my studded snow tires on that morning too.)

Stayed tuned for race details and the rest of my Vegas adventure!

PS Where is your favorite place to stay in Vegas??

Leaving....on a jet plane.

Blogging from my phone..really hoping the lady talking super duper loud in the waiting area isn't sitting anywhere near me on the plane!

Had to stop at my fave, Pita Pit before leaving on a jet plane. I have decided that I really need to get out more.

When was your last getaway?

Ps t
Thank you Denise for being my chauffe! I love you!

Yeah, definitely nailed it

Did you see my Halloween costume?

I kind of nailed it right?  Well…except for the cleavage as one person pointed out.  I explained that that’s what happens when you squeeze into your teenage daughters clothing.

Remember my inspiration?

Halloween…I survived it.  Actually, I was a lamo and finished my packing while my hubs handed out candy. I did trip a small Transformer that wandered in to our living room.  It really was an accident.  My hubs had just finished handing these kiddos a variety of hot sauce, fry sauce, and other assorted condiments in small packages.  We ran out of candy!  JK!  We didn’t run out of candy but S always likes messing with his mini buddies.  He wraps up full size bottles of mayo and mustard for these boys, trying to trick them into thinking that’s all they got for presents.

Oh and guess what?  Since I haven’t told any in the last hour…I’M GOING TO VEGAS!  I’m sort of interested in how the half marathon will turn out since my training flu didn’t really prep me in a good way. Mheh…13.1 miles is a short run for me. haha!  Until I die.