Vegas... It hurt, but was worth it

Thanks for all the comments on my compression post. I will keep you guys updated with that!!!

In the meantime, I probably owe ya a little recap of our recent Vegas trip. So here's how three tri chicks roll Sin City...

Had I known I'd screw myself over and lose several days of quality training due to this trip...well... hell yea I'd do it again! Balance, right?! But, that said, I won't be doing that again for a long loooooooong time. Vegas is a harsh place. A once-a-year trip is all I need, if that. The smell of cigarettes alone is enough to keep me away--yuck!

Thankfully I was traveling with like-minded girls, Tatiana and Sara, so we all experienced a major 180-degree lifestyle change in a matter of 48 hours.

So, after an awesomely painful & good two-hour trainer session on Friday morning, we all met up and headed out. It was a fun drive... oh you wish you were a fly on the wall in our car ;) Got there just in time to hit the town...This picture is causing a stir in Tatiana's world apparently lol


Friday night we were at The Wynn and Encore the whole night. Had a way-too-expensive gourmet dinner, but well worth the splurge. Then thanks to Sara's hookups, we got into a Vegas show, La Reve, which is like Cirque but all in and over a pool of water. It's pretty epic what those people are physically capable of doing. I'd probably never pay to see a Vegas show, so I'm glad I got this opportunity. We even got a backstage tour with some of the stars (Sara's friends).

Before La ReveAfter, backstage with the crazy gymnast girls, wow!

After La Reve, we hit up a club, Surrender. Apparently Lance Armstrong had been there a couple nights prior. Too bad we missed him; instead we got the lame crowd, so we bounced pretty early--in Vegas terms--and headed to bed.

Saturday day was awesome. Tati, like a crazy freakin psycho, tried to go swimming pre-dawn while we were still sleeping! Wtf? Well, good think Vegas doesn't wake up that early so she had to wait. After Sara and I were up, I rallied the troops for a morning "urban run" along The Strip. It was nothing major mileage-wise but a total blast and included some stair sprints, people-dodging and, of course, sight-seeing and picture-taking!we discussed the potential of swimming in there lol....

After a mellow refueling break back in the hotel, we then headed to a pretty legit lap pool nearby. I was not expecting much from myself, but the swim went better than expected. Still, I cannot hang with Tati and Sara, those girls are speeeeedy! All in all about two hrs of training for the day; why we did that? I have no idea lol.

After the swim... hungry and over working out for the day.

Finally it was time to get ready for Saturday night..."the big night" for us that included The Black Keys live at The Cosmopolitan. We started with some quality recovery nutrition: red wine, Pop Chips, cheese, turkey, Pirate's Booty and Bacardi+Diet Cokes. Mmm Mmmmm.

The classic "getting ready in the hotel room pics." (I brought way too many clothes, yet I ended up wearing Tatiana's dress. Go figure)
After another nice dinner at Olives, which was amazing and very gluten-filled, we hung at The Cosmo--the place is super fancy shmancy. Somehow some Jameson made its way to us. Oh god, what was I thinking?! I'm a sucker for whiskey. But oh well, I was pumped for the concert and taking advantage of this rare occurrence of late-night social fun.

We met some interesting folks

Then the concert. I'm a huuuuge Black Keys fan so all I can say is: EPIC. I loved every second of it. During their set I was pretty much in my own world dancing and head-banging away (yes, I head bang at concerts!!!).... but oh man I was so dang sore the next day from that (or maybe that's because the dancing started at 10 p.m. and didn't end until an ungodly hour. Ouch).
Timex watches... don't leave home without them....
After the show, The Cosmo was a blur of people having fun. It was fun. At some point we made it into a club, but it was a little too much for me and not my scene (actually no club will EVER be my scene, but this one in particular was just over the top and annoying). Tatiana agreed and we were ready to go, but somehow we got separated, and then I ran into some friends and we went to a more mellow place and danced and danced.... a late night, considering the concert had ended around midnight.

I guess you can say I got a pretty darn good workout with all the dancing. Can I log that? lol

I was able to get some sleep but still woke up too dang early on Sunday. Thankfully the girls did too. We hit the road early. There were lots of good laughs recapping the night, but also lots of moans--our bodies were in shock from all this "foreign" activity. I was home in time for a couple quality recovery meals, then a lovely bedtime of 8:30 p.m.

All in all: Vegas was fun, but not for me. I like my triathlon lifestyle, grandma-ish tendencies and uber-healthy habits. Even so, it was good to get away because I came home focused and extra excited to work, train and do what I do!


Question for you guys: Do you ever majorly stray from your training and regular busy lifestyle for a night or weekend of craziness? If so, tell me about it!! Most of all, don't feel bad about those little "let-loose" sessions--own 'em! It's balance.