Second star to the right and straight on till morning!

This time next week, I will have completed my 4th 21.1 race in 5 months which no doubt explains my almost weekly visits with my Chiropractor and Massage therapist. Frankly, being sick and not running for 3 weeks was probably a blessing in disguise as a few of the injuries I had been nursing have cleared up. Although, my jumping mileage this past week in an effort of back into fighting shape will no doubt give birth to others. Especially, given the road conditions in Ottawa right now. Sidewalks are not clear and it takes sooo much effort to propel yourself forward when you tend to do more sliding backwards.

Just stabilizing yourself takes a toll but in my mind – it just means that running in Disneyland California will be all the easier. Which is key as I haven’t run more than 15 since we got back from Vegas 6 weeks ago so an a little behind. Although, the 15k on Sunday felt like a 20k effort easy so I am clinging to the hope that no layers and no snow will equal a great race.

Still, I am very excited for my flight to California on Friday. I am hoping that traffic won’t be to bad in getting me from LAX to Anaheim as we’d like to hit the race expo Friday night if possible.  I have heard stories of the 40 mile trip taking everything from 45 min to 4 hours depending on traffic and getting in at 2:30 is going to be close.

The current plan is Disneyland on Saturday, race and Disneyland on Sunday and Universal for Monday and home Tuesday. A relatively quick trip but it should still be fun and just getting away from the snow for a bit sounds wonderful.

2011 – A year in review

Happy New Year.

Unfortunately my new Year has started off with a persistent cough that is interfering with my training for the upcoming Inaugural Tinkerbell Half Marathon in Disneyland California at the end of the month. And by interfere, I mean completely and utterly halt…..grrrrrrrr. Anyway, instead of dwelling I am going to take a look at my top moments from last year.

Princess Half – Amazing race with amazing Friends

God-Daughter – It was wonderful to participate in Megan’s baptism.

Grand Canyon – I thought this would be underwhelming – it isn’t

Bon Jovi – I love this man.

Glee – Even though the actual concert was way too short, it was still fun and a nice week-end in TO.

Duathlon – I got it done…am looking at improving this year.

Run for the Toad – I did not think I could do it right up to the point where I crossed the finish line. So I signed up again  this year…

Vegas – Race was so-so but trip overall was awesome.

Another race bites the dust....

Algonquin – Surprising how much I enjoy teaching and I am loving adding the medieval class to the mix.

Fall Colours – Running with Madison was fantastic. So proud of her…..

House – Wow, still hard to believe I am an actual homeowner – that is until the payments come out

What are your top moments of 2011?

Vegas: The final Day

Monday was our last day in Vegas and our last chance to pack in the last of our “must-dos”. On that list was: The Burger Bar, Outlet shopping, The Shark Tank @ Mandalay Bay, Tao and a Limo tour of the strip.

That was a lot to fit in one day but we did it.

We started with the Shark Tank @ Mandalay Bay. This is a pretty cool exhibit and worth a visit if you ever get the chance. They have a few interactive displays that allow you to pet stingrays which is always pretty cool. They also have some pretty awesome sharks. I had never seen a saw-shark so that was pretty awesome. They also had a few really large sea turtles.

We then headed to the Burger Bar, it was just opening so we got to walk right in. This place is generally packed so we definitely timed this perfectly. The Burger Bar is amazing and allows you build your own burger and best of all has the option for Kobe beef. My burger went as follows:

• Kobe Beef Patty
• Sesame Bun
• Jack Cheese
• Jalapeno Bacon
• Grilled Pineapple ring

It as awesome. We all went together with the sides so we had – skinny fries, thick fries, sweet potato fries, cheese sticks, zucchini sticks, macaroni and cheese wedges. Insane but oh so good. Suffice to say, we were pretty stuffed after this meal. Good thing shopping was up next and we really needed to walk it off.

We grabbed a cab to the Premium outlets at the north end of the strip. For some reason, I was just not feeling it that today so only picked a few items. The others were much more successful. I did however, pick up a wonderful pair of Cole Haan loafers that I love as well as a few Christmas gifts. I found these outlets to be more store than outlet and I was looking for deals.

After shopping we headed back to the Vdara to relax for a bit before getting ready for dinner. Vanessa highly recommended Tao, an Asian fusion restaurant at the Venetian. We were not disappointed. This one of our best meals which is saying something.

The waiter offered us the option to give him a price point and allow him to choose our menu. This intrigued Gina, Julia and I so we agreed while the guys ordered off the menu. Our appetizers were pork pot-stickers with a chime sesame sauce glaze and a lovely yam maki roll with Serrano peppers. Very very nice. This was followed up with a amazing Chinese fried rice unlike any I have ever tasted before along with roasted Thai Buddha Chicken, Sea bass and a wasbi encrusted Filet Mignon with tempura onion rings. It just kept getting better and better. My favorite was the sea bass, it was like butter in your mouth.

Dessert was a huge almond fortune cookie with vanilla custard on one side and chocolate on the other. Delicious! We all had fortunes as well but Jay had the best – “Tip well, we know where you live.” LOL.

We ended our last day in Vegas with a 2h 30 Limo tour of the strip. The Limo picked us up after dinner and we were off. It came with a bottle of Champagne and a bottle of bourbon so happy night all around.

Our first stop was the Las Vegas sign…no trip to Vegas is complete without it. We had been looking for a chance to get a picture in our Running Rooms shirts so this was the perfect oppurtunity…if a little cold.

We also got to see both the pawn store where Pawn Stars is filmed, the Chapel where The Hangover filmed. We also got to have some time on Fremont St (Old Vegas), it was a chilly night so unfortunately there was no light show but it was still really cool to walk down and see the older casinos like the Golden Nugget.

Ending the tour with the Bellagio foundations was perfect, they do an amazing job and although we had seen them Friday night from the hotel, you really need the accompanying music to really get the whole affect. What a fantastic way to end our trip.

The race had a few ups and downs but the trip itself was pure awesome. Thanks to Jay, Julia, Gina and Shaun for being such amazing travel companions and letting me “organize” without locking me in a closet – I know you must have been tempted.

so…..where we going next?

Vegas: Guns and Runs

Sunday was race day but the bad thing about a 5:30 pm start time is filling in the spare time. As we did not want to walk too much around Vegas before the race we decided that Sunday morning would be a good time to head out to The Gun Store. This was the opportunity to fire a gun something I would most likely never have the chance to do again.

4 of us piled into a cab and headed out. 10 minutes later we arrived at The Gun Store and selected our packages. I had read a few reviews and The Gun Store tends to get some pretty long lines so I was happy that we arrived not long after it opened and we could walk right up. Julia and I went with the women’s package – 20 shots with a glock 19 and 10 shots with a semi-automatic. Julia went with the pink AK-47 with Hello Kitty sticker while I gave the Beretta CX4 a try.

BERETTA CX4

Overall, it was an interesting experience. I could not believe how loud guns are, definitely a good thing that you have to wear ear covers. The gun range is also kept really really cold. We got to choose 2 paper targets  and I went with a clown (I have never liked them) and a military zombie. I used the clown for the pistol and zombie for the Beretta.

Die Clowny Die!!

Both guns have serious lick but in very different ways. I don’t think that I feel the need to ever fire another one but it was actually a pretty fun experience.  I know that the target was not that far away but I am pretty proud that I hit the target for all 20 shots.

The guys went with the Coalition package that included a pistol, semi-automatic and also a fully automatic machine gun. That looked pretty cool.

Semiautomatics are more fun...

After the gun store, we headed back to the hotel to pick-up Gina and head out for lunch. We found a lovely Thai restaurant at the Aria. It was particularly nice that it was out-of-the-way so not as busy as some of the other restaurants we passed. They had quite a nice menu and I went with the cashew chicken. We the race just a few hours away so I wanted something not to heavy but hardy enough to last. I think this was a good choice although I also ate a Luna protein bar in the car on the way to the race.

Around 4 we headed back over the Aria to grab a shuttle down to the race site at Mandalay Bay. There was a quite a line up but before long a few shuttle buses came a picked up a bunch, we were at the very front of the line when the buses just seemed to stop coming. The race started at 5:30 and at 5:05  we were still waiting for the shuttle and the start line was over 2 miles away. Not Good. It came to a point we started to walk away to start the walk down to the race site when two limos showed up. It was probably bad Karma but we raced back in line and jumped into one of them.

Shaun, Julia and Jay during the Limo to The Race site

Gina, myself and a girl from Texas enjoying the Limo ride.

With the strip closed, traffic was INSANE so it took much longer than normal to reach the start line and we still had to hit the bag check and then get into our corral. We had arrived at the race just as it started but unsurprisingly enough (or not considering 38, 000 runners) we still had a 10 minute wait in our corral before we hit the start line.

Waiting in the corral - The start line is around here somewhere...

Running with 38,000 is crazy….completely and utterly crazy. I knew that a PB was out of the question and boy oh boy was I right. The crowds were intense and we spent most of the time weaving between other runners. We all started out together but it did not take long for us to separate out with Julia cutting out early and I lost the others not long after.

Running up and down the strip at night is actually really cool, however the strip is only about 5 miles long so there was some distance through some of the seedier areas filled with pawn and bail bond shops. Interesting but in a completely different way than the strip.  I stopped to take a picture of a giant ruby slipper around the 11k mark and amazingly enough Julia found me just after. Great timing. We ended running most of rest of the course together. I was extremely happy to finally see Mandalay Bay in the distance but everything in Vegas is farther than it looks….sigh.

About the 11k mark.

However, after 2:25 I finally crossed the finish line followed shortly by Julia and then surprise surprise Jay (who must have made up some serious time). While I personally found the race good, I did not enjoy the recovery area at all as you came a complete halt about 100m after the finish line. It was insanely packed. I managed to get a bar and a bottle of water and cytomax. I saw people with other food items but there was simply no way to get to it.

We had agreed earlier to meet by the bathrooms in the Bag check area and we were definitely not alone. Gina and Shaun both had a difficult race with cramps and nausea ….so not fun but they still managed to finish which was awesome.

Another race bites the dust....

We were lucky enough to be a group that consulted the recovery area map and so knew where to get the shuttles back to our hotel (apparently many people had no idea where to find them). It was great, we walked right on and they had the heat going full blast and it wasn’t long before we were back at our hote

Vegas – Forum Shops, Mesa Grill and Fiamma’s

Saturday morning, Jay, Shaun and Gina had all booked themselves a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon so they were off early. Julia and I on the other hand, had a mostly low key morning. I was meeting up with an old friend, Jill for bunch at 11:00 but beyond that it was nice to just relax a bit.  Jill now lives in Seattle and was in town to also run the Half on Sunday. Sally, Jill’s sister (and one of my all-time favorite people) has Crohn’s so Jill had participated with Team Challenge to support the Crohn’s and Colitis foundation as the official charity of the event. She was there with two friends – Julie and Kelly.  It was Kelly’s first race ever…so very exciting. We met in the Bellagio lobby and headed to Olives for something to eat.  I was quite hungry at that point and order the burger with Parmesan fries….super yummy but very filling which was not good considering the day to come!

I had not seen Jill in a few years so it was great to catch up and we all agreed that I should try and mix in a Seattle race in the next few years. It sounds like they have a few great ones that I should start looking into. Jill is also really into cycling so I was inspired to make more of an effort to get on my bike come Spring….

Lunch was great and afterward we wandered down to Caesar’s Palace as Jill  et al headed to the Race expo and I waited to catch up with the others from my group as they had returned and we had 2pm lunch reservations at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. Yes, I had 1st lunch and 2nd lunch that day. Although, the menu at Mesa Grill was a brunch one….anyway……..

While I was waiting for the others to catch to me, I wandered into the Forum shoppes at Caesar’s Palace which is really just a giant mall done in roman motif complete with sky ceiling and fountains. It was here that I found a Sephora…now I generally don’t wear a lot of make-up but for some reason I am still fascinated by it. I had been eyeing their mascara and used the occasion to pick one up but more importantly, I picked up these awesome fake eye lashes that scream Tinkerbell. Not sure that I can, but I am going to try and see if I can’t run with these on:

I am no doubt going to have to give them a trial run but they certainly look like fun (minus all the ye make-up obviously…could you imagine after sweating for 2+ hours HA).

It was in Sephora that I met up with the others and we continued to explore the shoppes for the next little bit before heading back into the Casino for our table at Mesa Grill. This was one of our Must-Do restaurants in Vegas and we had originally planned to have our celebratory dinner here on Monday but they were fully booked so we adjusted it to Saturday afternoon.

As I mentioned above, it was the brunch menu and there were so many amazing choices. Gina and I went with the Spicy Chicken and Sweet Potato hash. It was divine and like most items from Bobby Flay, had quite the kick. I also treated myself to a Cactus Pear cocktail seen below. Jay went with the Pork Sandwich, Julia the Burger and Shaun  the steak:

Although, the location of Mesa Grill leaves something to be desired (next to the Sport Betting Center) the food lived up to its reputation.Dessert was an equally lovely deep dish banana cream pie shared 5 ways:

Suffice to say, we were all pretty full after that meal so we continued to explore the forum shoppes to trya nd walk some of it . I picked a few Christmas presents at the 2 story Nike store, where I also misplaced my Sephora bag while browsing the t-shirts. Luckily, some nice person handed it in to the cashier. Sigh…..how can I be so organized in some ways and completely clueless in others….

Also, picked a few things from Banana Republic and Victoria Secret. It was only we when we reached shopping exhaustion that we realized that the mall had 2 other floors….insane. But we had 8pm reservations at MGM’s Fiammas and needed to head back to the hotel room to get ready as we wanted to head over early to check out the MGM casino and hotel.

Back in the hotel room, we had time to relaxed for a bit but then it was time to change and we were off again. At night the MGM is swathed in green lights…very cool. This was the primary hotel for the Rodeo and NASCAR events that were in town so the place was packed with cowboy boots and hats. A unique experience in Vegas….A NASACR driver was signing autographs in the main lobby but considering I know next to nada about NASCAR, I can’t tell you who it was. He was pretty cute through…..

We wandered around the hotel for a bit and located our restaurant, Fiamma’s. We also discovered the CSI Experience. Not sure what exactly that entailed but I wish we had known about it beforeas we did not have enough time to check it out before dinner and it closed before we were done. It could be fun if I ever get the chance to go back. While waiting, we also explored the Sony 3D experience area where we got to test drive the latest in Sony 3D TV and gaming. Very, very cool  stuff.

Finally, it was 8pm and we made our way to the restaurant where we were told that it would be a 20-25 minute wait…..um don’t we have reservations…….this was a bit irritating and by far the rockiest start to any of the restaurants we went to in Vegas. The food ended up being excellent but the initial service was not quite up to the standards of the others. The restaurant redeemed itself by being the first restaurant so far actually capable of splitting the checks. This is hardly ever an issue in Canada but it like splitting a mountain in the states. I can safely say that tips may have suffered because of this.

We were in carbo-loading mode for the race the next day, so I went with a Lobster double header – the Lobster Bisque and the Lobster Gnocchi. Both were divine but as you can expect, I was pretty full by this point and ended up taking most of the gnocchi back to the hotel with me. (it made an amazing post-race meal the next day) You could get a tasting platter of all the house gnocchi (Lobster, pumpkin and Bolognese) which is what Julia went with:

After dinner, we returned to the Vdara for the night. Sunday evening was race time and we had plans to hit the gun range in the morning…now that was an experience!! Stay tuned….