Of course I wore my compression socks for the trip!
So funny to arrive at an airport filled with slot machines!
Jerold stayed behind with the kids and flew out on Saturday morning. It was really nice to have the entire day on Friday to relax and relax is just what I did! I arrived and got checked into my room at the Mandalay Bay right away...
Talk about carefree!! No kids, by myself with the entire day ahead of me. It was awesome. I went to one of the restaurants for a long and leisure breakfast, came back to the (very spacious!) room and took a two hour nap. Then I was off to the spa for a mani/pedi and time in the steam and sauna room + the jacuzzi. Let me just say - I did not take a moment of it for granted! I felt so blessed for every moment of solitude and relaxation on Friday.
I was super excited to meet Sue and she texted me later in the evening that she was on her way!
We finally got to meet in person and let me just say how lovely she is. I felt like we were friends anyway, but meeting her was pretty awesome. We hugged and hugged and then she gave me this beautiful present...
Isn't it so pretty?! I was blown away by the gift and she told me that I'm Unstoppable, which is like the coolest thing ever. I wore the necklace and earrings the entire weekend! I love how delicate it is...
We went to Lupo for dinner, which is Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in the Mandalay Bay Hotel. I normally would not drink before a race, but we had wine with dinner, laughed, talked and just had a great Friday night!
Saturday morning, Jerold arrived super early in the morning and what was the first thing I said to him? "Want to join me for a run?" Ha ha! I am sure he loved arriving at 7:45 am and hearing those words! So we headed out in the opposite direction of the strip for an easy 4 mile run.
Oh! Let me say that I was supposed to run on Friday and take Saturday off - but I was super tired and made the decision to rest on Friday. I think it worked out because I had more spring in my step on Saturday morning...
After our run, we met Sue and her friend back at the hotel and we all headed to the expo. I couldn't spend a lot of time at the expo because I scheduled a massage for the early afternoon and didn't want to be late for that! :)
The expo was really fun! I definitely think you'll have a good time there if you decide to run the race next year (which you should!).
The Vegas strip closes down two times a year: for New Year's Eve and for this race! They think runners are a pretty big deal...
An ESPN affiliate asked me if I wanted to answer some questions about running. Sure, why not?!
We went to pick up our race numbers and goodie bags...
And Meb was there signing race numbers!! We were sooo excited and as soon as we got in line, they told us he had to leave :(
Something really cool happened. Meb was scheduled to pace runners in the 1:45 pace group for the half. If you could prove that you ran the time or faster in the last 12 months, then you could RUN with Meb!!! So I immediately got on my phone and searched for my marathon time from last year. That was exactly the info they needed and I was put in the group to run with Meb!! We were all jumping up and down and it was a great moment. All I had to do was report to corral #6 on race day.
Soon after, I left the expo and went to have a massage, which my muscles really appreciated. Then, back to the hotel for a little more rest time (okay - I took another nap!) and later that night we went out for dinner.
Wearing my necklace and earrings from Sue! #runnerfriends
More wine and great Asian food at Tao in the Venetian Hotel. We stayed up way past our bedtime and the 4 of us had a blast talking, eating, drinking (only one glass of wine!) and laughing. Such a fun Saturday night!
Finally, it was off to bed and thank goodness the race wasn't until Sunday night! Plenty of time to get ready.
Stay tuned on Monday for my full race recap of the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
Have you ever had a glass of wine before a race?
How much time do you spend at race expos?
Happiness Is Running Life!
xo,
Natalie
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