What Happens In Vegas Stays In The Legs

November 29th, 2008 Posted in Story

To celebrate son #2’s 21st birthday, Marcy and I took Drew to Sin City to expose him to all this nasty world has to offer; sex, money and rock & roll.   We stayed at the over-the-top Bellagio right in the middle of the Strip and we and half the population of Japan and China enjoyed a lovely and unique Thanksgiving together.  You really know the dollar is weak when 90% of the guests in a Vegas hotel are non-Americans. 

And to throw salt on the wound, a Brit was in the steam room with Drew and I bitching about how the value of the pound to the dollar has sunk recently, so this vacation was costing him 50% more…..whaa, whaa, whaa .

We gambled and walked, walked and gambled.  After two days of this I couldn’t tell (or remember) which casino we were in and whether it was day or night outside.   One day we must have logged 6+ miles walking from casino to casino, only interrupted from time to time with mile long shopping malls loaded with the most exclusive brands money can buy……but no one was.

We took in the Cirque du Soleil “O” spectacular (and it was) and an Improv comedy show where we sat in the front row and the entire family was abused by the comedian.  This front row seating was giving me great angst since the last time we did this the comedian decided to make me his tar baby and prattled on and on about my male pattern baldness all evening.  So this time I considered wearing a cap but thought no, I’m wiser and more confident now so I can take anything they throw at me.  Thankfully, the comedian started laying into the guy two tables over from us and sure enough, he started with the bald jokes.  Whew.  By the time he reached our table he was starting to run out of improv material so he went kind of easy on us.  Especially when Marcy announced she was a special educaton teacher.  I don’t think he wanted to go there- too touchy a topic.

Upon pouring ourselves out of a long plane ride home Friday, an 8+ hour sojourn through NYC on JetBlue, we arrived home at got to bed around 12:30 am.  I was up at 6:00 am to drive to the Fells, a beautiful park reserve just north of Boston, for fall version of the Middlesex Fells trail race.  After running one and a half 8 mile loop with regular training partner,

Chris “C1″ Haley, it was clearly not going to be my day as my legs were feeling the after effects of the long plane ride and mega walking from the week.  In fact, I was certain someone had slipped cement into my trail shoes during the first aid station stop, while I wasn’t looking.  It got uglier and uglier during loop #2.   Trail Dog joined me for loop #3 and a darn good thing he did.  I was feeling shot.  We walked and talked for the first half of loop #3 - the entire course is rocks and roots and only a small portion where you can get up any head of steam.  About half-way through the third loop, after injesting another Gu and Hammer electrolyte tab, I started to recover a bit and TD led us on a 4 mile “comeback” run where we were rock hopping and pounding the downhills and even powering the uphills again.  That lasted until about 2 miles to go when I ran out of fluid in my Camelback and bonked.  We survived and finished the 24-25 miles, consumed some Fresca, pizza and cookies (a perfect ultra post-race blend) and departed.  C1 was still out there finishing loop #4 & 5 (40M) and looking as strong as ever.  He eventually won the 40 miler in just under 8:00 hours - truly a trail animal and repping the club!  Thanks to TD for being there and to C1 for dragging me along the first loop.

So that “wisdom” I am supposed to possess definately left the building today.  What was I thinking, after jetting all day the prior 24 hours, 5 hours of sleep, having pounded the pavement for two straight days and jet lag?  Lesson learned: What happens in Vegas stays in the legs….like cement