We arrived in SFO yesterday afternoon, as expected it was a lot cooler.  In fact we were delayed flying from Vegas as the airport in San Francisco was closed due to bad weather.  Our hotel has a little gym so I planned to get up early, have a bike ride in the gym first and then head out pounding the streets – my first jaunt was going to be up to California Street and see the views down to both bays. Last night wasn’t a late one with just a few beers and a curry round the corner from the hotel.  When I got in bed I thought the bed felt a bit soft but when I woke up this morning I could not walk!!  My back has completely gone, it was either having to lift Sharon’s suitcase at the airport or the soft bed but I am a cripple!  No chance of going for a run and I’m struggle to actually walk anywhere, I’m gutted! At least I don't have to run up here....

Despite very good intentions I’ve not been out running since Nike Run Club, more out of embarrassment than anything else!  As it was our last day in Vegas I made the effort to have only final jog up and down the back and front of the Strip before we head off to San Francisco.  Last night was a very late one in a sleazy off strip casino having a very late tea and beers so it was a bit difficult getting up.

 Once I had dragged myself outside of the hotel it felt ok and I just replicated my run earlier in the week – up the back of the Strip to TI and back down the Strip via the Venetian.  Another glorious morning but as it has been so unbearably hot over the weekend I’m looking forward to the cooler climes of San Francisco, although running up those hills might not be so pleasurable.

Every Wednesday is Nike Run Club at the Las Vegas Niketown store.  I’d been in earlier in the week to find out the start time and try on some new trainers; 6pm kick off but no trainers in my size – saved me a bit of cash.

Niketown is in the Forum Shops, which is attached to our hotel, Caesars Palace.  It’s a bit like having the Trafford Centre in your hotel.  I turned up on time and had to fill in some forms to indemnify Nike in the event of my death.  I got a free keyring, not quite as good as a free pair of trainers but it’s a start.  There was only one other person there so I chatted to him for a while; he attended every week and filled me in on what to expect.  Everybody else seemed to be Niketown employees and it was, apparently, a very low turn out – it had been ridiculously hot though so it probably put people off.

Just after 6pm we all walked out through the shops and exited via a rear door in the casino.  We ended up at the back of the Coliseum (Caesar’s Palace big arena), it was in the shade so it was quite comfortable.  I wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen next but a young lady took charge and asked who was new to Run Club – unsurprisingly just my hand went up.  She gave me the option of running 1, 3 or 5 miles.  I opted for the 3 mile run which was a run up the Strip to the Circus Circus sign and back again.

Halfway there!

Once we had the intro everyone just stood around and then suddenly, as if their minds were synchronised, they stood in a circle and put in their right hands with their hands in a fist.  I looked a bit surprised and the young lady looked a bit embarrassed and explained that this ritual is practiced at every Run Club: she would shout ‘JUST’ and we would then shout ‘DO IT!’ three times followed by ‘RUN CLUB SWOOSH!’.  As we were stood outside the Coliseum, the phrase ‘When in Rome…..’ came to mind, so I mumbled the words ‘do it’ 3 times and actually gave ‘Run Club Swoosh’ a miss as I’m English and do have some shame.  As soon as they had finished shouting all the locals turned around and ran off to the Strip leaving me stood there with my right arm outstretched looking a bit of a lemon.

I caught the majority of people by the Mirage and jogged along with them all until Treasure Island, you had to cross the road by a footbridge and the rest of the runners went up the escalator (honestly) whilst I ran up the stairs.  Once over the road and by Fashion Show Mall, Circus Circus did seem to be a long way away and whilst the sun was low it was very very warm and sweaty.  One of the super fit Niketown guys had managed to get to Circus Circus and was running back, much to the delight of the rest of the runners who were high fiving him for his efforts – I just slipped him a couple of cheeky V’s as nobody likes a show off!

 As we got nearer the turning point the tourist in me came out and I got out my camera and took a few snaps, I did get some funny looks by everyone running past me.  I managed to catch them all up again though and once we had turned I overtook most of them on the return to Caesars.  I had misjudged it a bit though as I put my foot down a little too early and the hotel wasn’t as close as I imagined.  I passed Michael Jackson on my way back (to quote one of my fellow runners, ‘one of many’) and also passed a lot of confused tourists who didn’t understand why loads of nutters were jogging up and down the Strip, particularly in the heat.

Jacko on his way to work

Back at the TI footbridge I also opted for the escalator as I was knackered and had really misjudged the distance, I did contemplate getting the lift.  I ended up walking past the Pirate ships  but picked it up again when the Forum shops came in sight and I got a sprint finish up to the Coliseum to finish ahead of the rest of the pack – a couple of super fits had finished before me but were nowhere to be seen.  I politely declined the high fives of the runners after me and settled for a  subdued shake of the hand and headed back to the room for a cold bath and cold shower.

 I enjoyed the run, it was the hottest I had run in and was soaking when I finished.  I’m glad I didn’t opt for the 5 miler though as 3 miles was enough.  Dodging the pedestrians on the Strip was a bit difficult at times but all in all I would recommend to anyone staying in Vegas on  a Wednesday evening – to quote my new running buddies ‘ JUST DO IT!’.

We arranged to meet in reception at 5am this morning to give us time to collect our bikes and get a taxi or (in my case)  ride to McGhies in time for the 6am start.  It was Sharon’s birthday yesterday and I did try and watch what I was drinking but we  ended up back the Seahorse bar after the meal and I’m not sure what time we left and went to bed.  I was woken up by my phone ringing – it was Lee and I assumed he was ringing to say that he was not coming on the ride.  However, he was ringing to see where I was as it was 5.15 and he, Karen & Dennis were downstairs waiting for me!!  After lots of swearing I did amaze myself by being dressed and downstairs in 10 minutes but it scuppered my plans of riding to the bike shop, plus it was still dark so I wouldn’t have really been able to ride there. 

Waiting patiently for me

 We were under strict instructions from the lady at the bike shop to be there before 6am as they would leave on time and not wait for us, which added to the pressure of being late.  Despite  queue of taxi’s outside of the hotel there weren’t any handicapped ones that would accommodate all our bikes.  We managed to persuade a people carrier one to put his seats down in the back and break a few speed limits to get us there at 5.55! 

Lee was a bit concerned as we were met by about 15 people all clad in lycra with very expensive racing bikes and he was dressed as he was off to the beach and hadn’t been on a bike for 10 years.  Everyone was really friendly and there was even a lady from Stoke riding with us.  ‘Riding with us’ is a bit of a misnomer as we set off together but after 5 minutes the main group had gone and we were left bringing up the rear!

 The route we took seemed to consist of going up and up and up, heading west out of Vegas.  It wasn’t really steep but just constant and Lee did remarkably well to keep going.  One of the locals was a guy called Tim and he spent a lot of time at the back riding with us, I think Lee really appreciated is support. 

The weather was sunny but not unbearably hot and it was great seeing the sun rise over Vegas, it was so calm being out in the country and seemed like a different part of the world compared to the madness of the Strip.  we eventually got to the top of where we were going and that meant it was downhill all the way back – happy days!.  Dennis and I managed to get over 30 mph on one part of the ride.  We must have been out for about 1.5 hours when we got back to the beginning of the route back to our hotel.  We said our goodbyes and continued the descent to Caesars without any mishaps. 

Back in one piece - in time for breakfast

 Lee said that he enjoyed it but I’m not sure that he will be trading in his golf clubs for a bike very soon!  I’m not sure that he will be able to sit down on the flight home either!

Happy Birthday Sharon!

A few months ago I told Lee that I was going to hire a bike in Vegas and go for a ride that was organised by the bike store.  He said that he would like to do that and to book him one too.  Karen and Dennis were also up for it.

So the day of reckoning came and we were all in Val’s 4×4 driving to the bike shop to pick up the bikes.  The ride is actually tomorrow morning at 6am!.  Now the bike shop is only about 5 miles form Caesars but it seemed to be uphill all the way and Lee seemed to be getting a bit stressed about this, I did try to reassure and when we got to the shop I did give him the option of going back in the car with Val.  But as he is very brave he stayed and collected his bike.  We spent ages riding round the car park and finally took the plunge and set off on our incredible journey home.

BMX Bandits!

We had been given a bike route map and told, in no uncertain terms, that we should stay away from the main roads or we would be killed!  It was extremely easy to follow and it was downhill all the way.  Lee thought this cycling lark was a piece of cake but would think again tomorrow morning!  It took us over an hour to get back to Caesars and it was good fun on the deserted roads and tracks, the route actually took us right up the back entrance of Caesars and we overtook all the taxis pulling up outside the hotel.  The very friendly bell hop took all our bikes and stored them for us/listed them on eBay.  All we have to do now is get up to meet at 5am…….

During a very boozy Sunday night I managed to persuade, with a lot of help from Karen, Dennis to come for a run with me on Monday morning.  We arranged to meet in reception at 7.30 but despite me dragging my overhung body out of bed he was nowhere to be seen.  I disturbed Karen in her room who told me that he had left to go running but he didn’t have his phone with him.  After quarter of hour hanging around I decided to set off on my Billy no mates own,

It was hotter than yesterday – mid 20’s when I ventured out of the hotel.  I headed off up Flamingo in the shade of Caesars and followed my little off-road route to get on Frank Sinatra Drive again  but headed northwards this time towards Mirage.  It was heavy going to start with but once I’d broken the back of the run and got to Treasure Island I was on a roll and really enjoying it.  I crossed over to the Venetian and ran over the Rialto bridge which, as we are in America, has a moving walkway that is not really necessary.  I got some good photo’s of the Mirage and dodged the early morning gamblers outside Harrahs/Imperial Palace/Flamingo on the way back to Caesars. 

TI Pirate Ship at 8am

The Mirage viewed from the Venetian

Back at Caesars I dropped by the pool to find Dennis doing lengths!  It turned out that he couldn’t find me when he got up and went for a run as well – on exactly the same route as me but with a 15 minute head start!  I did a few lengths but was knackered and went to find some sunbeds for another lazy day by the pool.

Dennis tracked down

First morning in Vegas and, despite a very long & boozy day travelling here and a boozy night once we arrived, I was up at 7am to go for an early morning run up the Strip.  Sharon had caught a cold on the plane(s) so I had to incorporate a trip to a Pharmacy to stock up on drugs for her. 

It was already hot and sunny when I left the hotel at 7.30am and it was interesting seeing people just getting in from their big Saturday night out  – oh to be young again!  I found out last year that it was a lot more comfortable in the shade and as the Strip runs North to South it is shady behind the hotels on the West side and shady in front of the hotels on the East side.  I set off very slowly and really didn’t feel up to a big run but as soon as I got going I saw a guy running in front of me and I had to catch him!  I ran up Flamingo heading westwards away from the strip with Caesars Palace on my right and then headed off road on some waste land to make my way on to Frank Sinatra Drive (not as glamorous a road as it sounds) which runs behind all the hotels.  Under the bridge and I was behind the Bellagio heading towards City Center.  Last year City Center was still under construction and the changes this year were unbelievable with whole buildings appearing since last year.  It didn’t take long to get to Monte Carlo and a  left turn up the Strip, with the sun beating down on me, got me to CVS pharmacy.   

A quiet Strip

 The first time I went to the US I was excited by all the different sweets you buy but it must be a sign of getting older that I now get excited by the multitude of pain killers you can buy in the pharmacy!  I stocked up on some cold relief tablets for Sharon and really didn’t feel like running back.

I took the lazy option and walked back to Caesars – the road was relatively quiet but there quite  few pedestrians out in the early morning sun.  I spotted a tosser on a skateboard and also a guy stood at a bus stop in his dressing gown with a cup of coffee in his hand!  He either lived at the bus stop or was really late for work and didn’t have time to get dressed!

And the word is......

Back at Caesars I went straight to the pool on a little recce and at 8.15am the majority of sun beds had been reserved, seems that Caesars is full of Germans rather than Romans!

Sharon was away in Spain this weekend so I had the time to myself.  If I ‘d had a bit more interest in any of the teams in the FA Cup it might have been a different (boozier) weekend.  As I wasn’t that bothered in the match I had a full weekend of exercise planned.

First up – a quick sprint on my bike to Woodbank park for Park Run.  No training again this week but I was feeling up for a good run.  The guy who always just beats me was there so I just followed him for the whole run.  I wasn’t totally lazy though and did my bit, particularly on the hills.  We were neck and neck on the last straight at the top of the hill, he usually ups his pace towards the end and I knew that I could do the same until disaster struck! 

Doing it for the greyheads.

My right lace came completely undone and it was just too far to run without fastening it.  I was still confident that stopping to fasten it wouldn’t slow me down and I would make up the lost ground.  But try as I might I couldn’t close the gap, I think if I was running next to him I would have kept up as the distance between us was the same all the way to the finish.

Anyway, 24.37 – another Woodbank PB by 1 second.  If it wasn’t for my pesky laces I would have smashed it, I’ve been meaning to get some fasteners to speed up my transition time in triathlon so I better get them sorted.

Next up – I cycled to Salford Quays, it took me longer than I anticipated but I did have to stop for 10 minutes on the way to buy something for Sharon off eBay – what did we do before iPhones? (saved money I think).

The intention of going to the Quays was to have a dip in the open water swim that is supposed to be on every Saturday.  However the place was deserted – there wasn’t a soul about so I don’t know what had gone on, I know that one of the weekday sessions was cancelled this week as it was too cold but it didn’t seem that bad – it was very overcast though.

Should have took my time getting here....

I had an hour to kill so I had a leisurely cycle round the Quays and up the Irwell.  The sun came out and it was quite enjoyable.  There were a lot of rowers out on the river, that looks a lot like hard work.

I had a pootle around Hulme and got over to Platt Fields for the midday BMF session.  It was very different to Bruntwood as there weren’t that many people, also there was no van to put my bike in – I spent most of the session trying to keep my eye on it chained to the gates, quite stressful really.  The session was good as we were split into two teams and had a few ‘games’, all involving ridiculous amount of energy being expended.  There were a lot of people there who were running the Manchester 10k on Sunday, it always puts my level of fitness into perspective – I’ve still got a long way to go.

After BMF it was a brisk cycle home, straight in the bath with a glass of wine.  It might be a bit girly but I didn’t have any beer and I was knackered.  I spent the rest of the afternoon continuing my stretching as I didn’t want to seize up and was in bed for 9pm.

Sunday – I was planning for 2 more BMF sessions but my ankle was killing me (I tripped on the tree roots at Woodbank) so I gave it a miss.  Perhaps my body is trying to tell me that I’m not a teenager anymore?

The final stretch

 

The competition

 

23.36! My fastest time by a minute! But, as Sharon kindly pointed out, ‘it was flat’. Nothing like a touch of reality to bring you down to earth. 

I gave Platt Fields park run a go today -I had to go into work so it was closer for me. 

Quite a different course to Woodbank – it’s by a big duck pond and the geese and ducks wanted to join in. As Sharon rightly said, the course is completely flat and there were km markers to assist your pacing – I managed to completely ignore them though. 

My initial strategy was to take it easy until 3k and then up the pace a bit for the last 2.  All very good in theory but I didn’t see any markers and we were on what I thought was the finishing straight and shot off like an idiot overtaking everyone in my way, I glanced at my watch and saw that we had only been running for 10 minutes though – doh!.  When the 3k marker did turn up I was knackered and wanted to walk it, I kept going and reached the 4k without stopping and then completed the slowest km ever – the world and his wife were passing me by.  I did shout some encouragement to a guy who was walking in front of me and he then shot off past me (he did thank me at the end though). 

I didn’t feel like I had done so well at the end and was pleasantly surprised with my time, if I had been a bit smarter I could have done a lot better.  The race was well organised with 150 runners, although I think the numbers will drop once term time is up as the majority were students.  It’s handy if I’ve got to work on a Saturday so I may pop along again – just need to start matching the time at Woodbank.

wrapped up for winter

Well, Race Day arrived and I put the alarm on snooze and had another half hour – not a promising start but I did get up eventually.  I was quite organised the night before and had got all my gear together, I’d even changed the tyres on my bike to the superfast skinny ones.  I set off to Lymm quite relaxed but not really having a strategy.  The weather was fine but it wasn’t the warmest day, in fact the hardest part of the day was walking from the transition area to the pool in just my cycle shorts – brass monkeys!  

Swim – the pool appeared to be organised chaos, 5 lanes full of people swimming in different directions with new swimmers joining every 5 minutes or so.  Suddenly an open water swim seemed quite appealing – at least you have plenty of room and you don’t have to count lengths.  The briefing was a bit of a blur as I started getting a bit nervous – I was worried about holding people up and getting in their way.  Once the whistle blew it all went swimmingly - I overtook a few people and it wasn’t as cramped as it looked from the side.  I only managed 10 laps of front crawl and did the other 14 breaststroke.  I still kept up a good pace though and was overtaking frontcrawlers in other lanes.  I’m sure the young lady counting the laps miscounted as I finished a lot sooner than I thought – I had lost count though.  

Out of the pool and into the bitter cold, we had the benefit of a carpet from the pool back to the transition.  I left the pool at the same time as a very athletic looking chap and felt good as I kept up with him in the sprint to transition  (didn’t see him again once he was on his bike though!). 

Bike – it was pleasure not having to wriggle out of my gimp suit, and I was soon on my bike and bunny hopping the speed bumps out of the school.  The race was on main roads but they were quiet and I never had to stop for lights/traffic.  It was windy and freezing but I had put on lots of layers and gloves – it was worth the extra minute in transition to be comfortable on the bike.  Once I was on my way I had chance to think about a strategy and decided that flat out on the bike was the way forward – the run would look after itself.  So there I was burning it through Lymm and out to the M6 when I was passed first by one lady and then by another, try as I might I couldn’t catch them.  I nearly caught one by the Lymm truckstop but messed up my gears going up a hill and never saw her again.  I could see a couple of cyclists on a straight stretch heading towards High Legh and I eventually caught people as we turned back towards Lymm.  I got passed by a third rider who must have had an engine – he shot past me and disappeared into the distance.  A few windy country roads later I was back at the school and bunny hopped my way back into transition. 

 

Run – now, in my mind, last years weakest event was going to be my strongest and I would glide to victory in the time it would take for a butterfly to flap it’s wings….  It all went well until 10 metres out of transition my calf cramped up and I had to pull up and have a hobble.  I’m not sure how, but I managed to walk it off and set off at a slow but steady pace.  I reeled in at least 6 people in the space of 2 fields and was feeling quite good.  It was one pace all the way round and I couldn’t increase the speed but I didn’t slow down – all those mornings at Park run are having a positive effect on my running.  The course was mainly off road, through stiles, up and down muddy slopes with a few big tree roots to dodge (or trip over).  One guy actually stopped and let me past when he saw me coming up from behind him which was a massive boost.  The finish was a big bouncy castle type structure and I even managed a sprint to receive my medal, a banana and 3 tea bags (no expense spared in the goody bag). 

My finishing time was 1 hr 21 minutes and I came 65th out of 137.  I was really pleased with the result and, more importantly, I could walk away from it and I got up on Monday morning without any aches and pains. 

I need to get some swimming done – open water starts this week at Salford Quays so the gimp suit will be out shortly.  I need to get some speed on the bike – road tyres will stay on for a bit now and I’ll get some miles under my belt.  Running is doing well and I’ve entered Offerton 10k for July. 

May pay day will see me entering New Mills triathlon for June – I’ve got a target time now so need to start bringing it down.  Looks like it’s going to be a fast summer……….