I'm Back...

Hey everyone!  I'm back home now and trying to catch up from being gone since Sunday.  The trip was decent though I was a little disappointed in the weather (umm...warmer in Missouri??? plus crazy wind!!) and the conference was just ok (whereas I had had higher expectations).  My presentations went well and were well received from the comments I got.  I did get out a little bit for some fun.  Happy hour Mon night in a hospitality suite, Tues night listening to a small Irish band play in a pub with one of the guys from my chapter, and Mystere on Wed night. 

But the biggest news is that my weight held pretty well even with the crazy food they served us every day at the conference.  This, of course, was due to the crazy amount of walking and little bit of running I did while out there.  First, my daughter called me Monday morning before school to complain about the way Grandma does everything.  The problem is that with the time difference, it was 4:30 AM for me.  I couldn't go back to sleep so about 5:15 I got dressed and headed downstairs.  Found out the "fitness center" didn't open until six and since I assumed it would be "warm", I decided to run outside.  It was mid-40's so not awful, but not "warm" either.  I ran from the Gold Coast hotel down to the strip and up past Treasure Island and then back.  I pretended it was the RnR Vegas Marathon since it was still dark, but most of the casinos were lit.  I was mildly surprised to see plenty of people and cars out.  The sun was just starting to come up when I got back.  I mapped it last night when I got home and found I covered about 3.8 miles. 

After cleaning up, I headed (in high heels - ouch) from the Gold Coast to the Rio where the conference was being held.  Front door to front door is about 0.4 mi, but the conference center is about another 0.25 mi towards the back of the property.  The first day I walked this inside (Tue it was sunny and slightly warmer so I walked around the parking lots to the back of the conference center).  Plus, of course, there was tons of walking around to find the right rooms for the seminars, etc.  And then back to my hotel at the end of the day (while schlepping my very heavy computer and other crap along).  Blister on right heel from pretty shoes, but we'll say that was another 1.3 miles for the day.

Tuesday, I was smarter by wearing my running shoes to walk to the Rio (and back), carrying my dress shoes.  There was even more walking around inside the exhibit hall (all afternoon), but I won't count that.  Then, I changed back at my hotel and met my friend back at the Rio to share a cab to Mandalay Bay to go listen to music so tack on another 0.4 for that (though he made me take the taxi back to my hotel when we returned as it was 1 AM).  So we'll say the official total for Tue was 1.7. 

Wednesday was another hike to and from the Rio = 1.3 (completely skipped the pretty shoes this day!).  But when the conference was all done at 6 PM and I couldn't get anyone interested in going out, I decided to try to catch a show.  So I walked to the strip (Bill's) to a Tix4Tonight spot and picked up a ticket to Mystere.  Then I strolled up the strip, but missed the closer bridge to go across to TI (the one I planned on taking was closed on the east side for construction) and had to walk further up and double back.  Then after Mystere, I walked back to Bill's and took the shuttle the mile and some change back to the Gold Coast.  I mapped it the best I could and came up with another 3.1 mi for the evening for a total of 4.4 for Wed.

Thur morning, I wanted to head back to the strip to pick up a couple souvenirs for the kids.  I had seen a couple of things the night before, but the shuttle didn't start running until 9 and I figured I'd get there sooner by walking (although it was about a wash).  I did take the shuttle back from Bill's, but even then still covered 2.3 miles.  I won't count all the walking in the airport (though my gate was a hike and a half away from security) or through the hotels and casinos (just crazy how much walking you do).  But in four days, I'll officially call it 13.5 miles.  Holy half marathon! 

I did stop by the "fitness center" Thur morning, but there was only one recumbant bike (no regular bike) and an old man had just got on it.  So now it is time to kick it in gear on the bike.  Too bad the cooler weather followed me home.  I missed a bunch of 60's/70's while I was gone and now the high for today is mid-40's.  I have a lot of miles to cover in the next week and some change.

CTER 140.6:

Swim: 2.02/2.4
Bike: 46.5/112
Run: 34.5/26.2

Finished another book on the plane that will be due for a review plus I think I skipped one I read after Marathon Woman so I will catch up on that next week.  Now to go skim and see what I missed on everyone else's blogs.