I spent all week in Las Vegas for a work-related conference which involved many hours of sitting and listening interspersed with heavy, starch-laden meals. Ugh. On two mornings, I managed to squeeze in short runs which began with passing through the casino at 5:30am. It was a startling and somewhat surreal experience for me, groggily starting my day, to suddenly be surrounded by flashing lights, smoky haze and scantily-clad cocktail waitresses. I'm not sure if the gamblers had begun their smoking, drinking and playing the evening before or if they were just early-risers getting a jump on the day. Either way, it was bizarre. I definitely stood out in my running clothes.

I felt stiff and tired this morning, but, with only two weeks until Pemberton, was determined to get in another 20-mile training run. Paul opted for the group bike ride, and so I was on my own. I took the kids for 2 miles and then dropped them off at home along with my gloves and arm warmers. I grabbed my MP3 player and headed out for another 15 miles with a ratio of 4 minutes running to 1 minute walking. It took a while to loosen up, but I eventually got into a comfortable groove and cruised along until around mile 15 when I began to fatigue.

I arrived back at the house with 17.5 miles under my belt and a slightly light-headed feeling . Hmm...that can't be good. I glanced at the outdoor thermometer and realized that the temperature had risen almost 25 degrees since I had started running, topping out at 73 degrees. Okay - that explains it. I popped two electrolyte tablets with a glass of cold water and talked myself into going back out for those last 2.5 miles. At this point, my run was more of a shuffle, but I was able to keep up my 4:1 ratio which was some consolation.

During the 10 minutes of my excruciating, post-run ice bath, I considered the fact that the race is 11 more miles than I ran today. I am definitely a little nervous. With a cut-off time of 8 hours, I feel confident that I can finish. I'm just hoping to survive it without too much pain.

Paul and I celebrated the beginning of my taper with a cup of Tucson's best gelato at Frost, where the owner thanked us for being "such loyal customers." I have to say, that expression of gratitude made me question our gelato-eating habits.

In other exciting news, Paul and I finished constructing our new spice rack! I've seen a few varieties of these in stores and online, but nothing exactly like I wanted and so we decided to make it ourselves. I must say, it came out quite well!



sheet metal - Lowe's
tins - Specialty Bottling
magnetic strips - Michael's
electrical tape (for labeling) - Ace Hardware