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!
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