What happens in Vegas...

...is generally pretty expensive.



Don't get me wrong - we had a great time. A really great time. And Vegas really has all of my favorite things. Shiny objects. Flashing lights. Cleavage. You really can't go wrong in Vegas - there's always something to do, something cool to see or experience. But as I said to a friend of mine, Vegas is also a little like whiskey. In the right amounts, it's pretty fun. But if you take in just a little too much, it can make you a little nuts. So. We were there for 4 days, and it was the perfect amount of time. Most fun was reuniting with some very good friends from Minneapolis who we met up with down there.

But it's a lot like Disneyworld for adults. A bottled water is $6. You know how it is. My favorite expense was heading down to the fitness center in my hotel and being told that would be $25, please. For a 3 mile run on the treadmill! I've had races cost less than that! Ah well, whattayagonnado. It is what it is, and it's all part of the experience.

Besides the fun and company, the best part was probably simply sitting out in the sun and heat by the pool. It didn't snow in Vegas. Not once. Though of course we did return to - wait for it - 8 inches of new snow on the ground. Pushing the season total snowfall over here to over 100 inches. Which is more than 2 feet higher than the old record, set in 1970-something. That's more than 8 feet of snow. That's hysterical. But, even with the new snow last weekend, it's all still on the melt. Looks like an archeological dig over here. The snow on my yard - which was truly shoulder high at some points this winter where the plows had pushed it up on the curb (so it was like running through a weird tunnel or something) is about half-way melted down or so, and suddenly I can see the branches and twigs from when I tossed my Christmas tree to the curb in January. Also, it seems we left the lid to one of our garbage cans on the lawn by the curb back in November, because its edges are beginning to reveal themselves under the tons of melting snow. Weird.

Meanwhile, as the scale reveals, this extended offseason has NOT been good to me. Cripes. I've got work to do over here, fo' sho'. But, I'm back into some consistency, albeit slow and steady - I won't even look at pacing until probably the end of April, concentrating just on heart rate, on basic fitness, on generally getting back in shape until then. 10 miles on Saturday were a little tough on my legs, but felt great. Rested on Sunday (and ate too much...sigh...), but 5 miles yesterday felt good. Today we're allegedly going to hit 50 degrees and if all goes well in my universe my old friend 'Blue may just get saddled up. I certainly hope so.

In the meantime, I'll keep you posted. Oh - I'm working on something ridiculous that goes back to the 3-faces logo conversation we were having, so stay tuned for that (not sure when that'll be rolling), and for your amusement this day, I'd like to introduce this season's new co-captain of the Team...