I didn't just run in Las Vegas

So I told you about the half marathon in Las Vegas. Now it's time to fill you in on what I spent the other four days doing.

I flew into Las Vegas with my sister-in-law Thursday late afternoon. After checking into the Excalibur (the resort we were staying at), we decided to explore The Strip. We grabbed some food at a Subway and walked around. We went up into the Eiffel Tower at Paris and took in the views of The Strip and watched the Bellagio fountain show from above. After we came down from the Eiffel Tower, we took in the fountains at street level. Pretty amazing from both vantage points.

Friday we hopped on a tour bus and headed out to see the Hoover Dam. We took a tour of the dam, learned why it was constructed and how it was made, and got to go inside to take a peak at the generators. Then we spent some time walking around and taking pictures. And during this walk? I managed to walk from Nevada to Arizona and back. And it was a long walk :) Actually, not really since the state line runs right down the middle of the dam.

After getting back to Las Vegas that night - and surviving the tour bus driver who liked to take huge speed bumps at 25 mph and didn't see the need to stop for stop signs - we headed over to The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. We wandered around there for a while, looking at all the fish and sharks. I even touched a sting ray. Multiple times! He (or she) was kind of slimy. And spongy feeling. Lucky for me there were no stingers.

While walking back to our hotel room I got a text message from Jeri! I've been stalking her blog since the spring. Las Vegas was actually the second time we were running the same event. Back in May I saw her while she was hanging out at Curly's Pub prior to the Green Bay Half Marathon (where she ran the full), but I didn't have the guts to go up and talk to her.

We decided to meet up in our hotel for a drink. We talked about racing, running and triathlons. And then a random cowboy sat down at our table. (Note: There were a ton of cowboys in Vegas for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo) And of course we took advantage of it and peppered him with a bunch of cowboy questions. We almost had him convinced to run the race, but then he realized he wouldn't be allowed to be chased by an angry bull in order to make him run fast :)

The sad thing? Both Jeri and I had a major blogger failure! Neither of us thought to take a picture (of us or the cowboy) for our blogs. Even though both of us had cameras in our purses! Blogger fail! Still had a great time meeting up with her though!

Saturday was expo day. This was the biggest expo I had ever been to and I made sure to take my time. I didn't do too much damage in terms of purchases, but I did treat myself. I figured I earned it. I got myself a hooded sweatshirt, visor and pint glass with the race logo on it and picked up a pair of green CEP compression socks (since the ones I ordered online two weeks prior to leaving for Las Vegas didn't show up in time) and a pair of arm warmers.

I also picked up a copy of Meb Keflezighi's book Run to Overcome, which he signed for me when I met him during a meet 'n' greet. I haven't started reading it yet, but it's one of the next ones on my list!

I also got a chance to meet Josh Cox, the American 50K record holder who won the marathon on Sunday in 2:25:05. Crazy. He was using RnR Las Vegas as a "training run" for RnR Arizona. Read about his come from behind marathon victory here.

The rest of Saturday was spent relaxing. Sunday there was that half marathon thing. After sticking around to watch Bret Michaels and cheer on some of the marathoners who were finishing up, I headed back to the hotel to shower and grab some food. Decked out in my Green Bay Packers T-shirt and my new green CEP compression socks, I then recovered by watching football in the sports book area at Excalibur. Let me tell you, even though the Packers had already beaten the 49ers, I was in heaven. So many TVs! So  many football games to watch!

And Monday? After losing my $20 in my one and only attempt at Las Vegas slot machines, the rest of Monday was mostly spent either in the airport or in an airplane, heading back to reality.

Thanks for the memories Las Vegas. I had a blast!