Driveway & walk are cleared. With every shovel of snow, I kept thinking how good it is for building core muscle strength.

Peter

A beautiful sunny afternoon on the national mall. 40F, a gentle breeze

A beautiful sunny afternoon on the national mall. 38F, a gentle breeze. Well, until it hits you in the face and becomes a 10mph headwind, then it's just plain old wind. A beautiful day outside.

several runs

I've had several runs out since Las Vegas - nothing more than 5 miles, and not consistently. I'm beginning to feel like a slug again. The problem is one of motivation versus being a wimp per se. It's cold and dark early in the morning, and I don't like to go running in the cold and dark. It's cold and dark in the evening, and I don't like to go running in the cold and dark.

I will go running for training in the cold, and I will go running for training in the dark, and I will go run a race in the cold and dark, but I don't want to push myself to train in the cold and dark for a training run. It really annoys me.

I'm going to have to bite the bullet and begin running at work during lunch. It's not the best choice because it means that I'm not able to interact with clients over lunch, and I'm also missing out on social time with my peers. But i need the run each day and I'm not getting it now and it is killing me mentally and physically, and that's not doing my career any good either. So that looks like the best choice.

I'm going to try to run at lunch tomorrow. I've got my bag packed (well, the bag is courtesy of my generous eldest darling daughter) with what I will need - running clothes, electronics, towel, shampoo/soap, etc. the only thing not in the bag are the orthotics that I put in my shoes. i only have one pair and i am wearing them now. that's my one "single point of failure" for running, the thing I need to never forget.

Marathons are so easy even a caveman can do it

There were several runners in costumes and I happened to be near the caveman after the race. I had passed him about mile 21 or so. The back of his shirt (shirt?) had a sign "So easy even a caveman can do it".

Peter

Two finishers

Lisa finished in under 4 hours! I am so proud of her. It is her third marathon.

Peter

Aspen, the youngest marathon finisher (she's 2)

she was zooming around with the medal around her neck, running away from her parents and then back to them and then away again with the best smile on her face. A joy to see.

Peter

Show girls at the finish line

It helps with motivation I suppose

When I first saw her next to the photographer, I thought I had happened upon her after having her picture taken, and that she had RUN THE RACE IN COSTUME! So I was tired, ok? And they asked if I wanted my picture taken with her and I thought "I don't really want my picture taken with another runner, even in that get up". Although I was wondering how she managed that head piece in the winds.

Duh!

Two minutes later I see a half-dozen of them in assorted colors walking towards the photograph station and it hits me. "Oh, they are part of the show."

Peter

5:28:41 by my watch

The reverse view of the finish line - a better view of the time clock then when I am moving towards it. Got to avoid the photographer sitting on the ground.

Peter

The finish line!

Approaching the finish line! Hear the roar of the crowd!

Hear the announcer say "another runner with a camera taking pictures of the finish line". Feel slightly silly.

Peter

Just around the next turn

That's what they all say. Mile 2 or mile 22, it's just around the next turn.

Peter

Just around the next turn

That's what they all say. Mile 2 or mile 22, it's just around the next turn.

Peter

the last band

The runners are on the overpass and circle around to pass underneath. There's a band under the overpass. The band was belting out a perfectly recognizable rendition of Ozzie Osbourne's "Crazy Train" with feeling and emotion. A perfect way to end a marathon.

Peter

The Cruel Hills

This is mile 24. See the time? 5:10 by the clock. Look past the right end of the clock and you will see the first of two Cruel Hills. Putting these in the way of the marathon in the last two miles is just not very nice. Lots of people walking them by the time I arrived on the scene.

Peter

Just a downhill race to Luxor

This shot looked better in person. At the end of the road you can see the pyramid for the Luxor Casino.

Peter

Tammy and another friend

This is Tammy, one of my many running heroes. She runs and runs and runs. She used to be as slow as me, but now she has sped up and I'm still slow.

Peter

Mile 21

This was kinda nice. out in the middle of nowhere is a race clock with the time. no generators, no people yelling, just time silently slipping away. Down the road you can see the Mandalay Bay Casino.

Peter

Beautiful painted hills west of LV

Looking west you can see the beautiful painted desert hills surrounding Las Vegas to the west. The city spreads out right to the base of these hills. It's quite lovely, in a desert sort of way.

Peter

Another Mile, Another Band

Another Mile, Another Band. Can't recall anything about these guys. I don't know who the people are hanging around in the left of the picture.

Peter

Elmo and friend

This was sooo funny!! They were here just to cheer on the runners and got so much attention!

And what simple costumes, too! That's me next October.

Peter

Long slow uphill grind

See, there's this hill that begins about mile 15 and continues to the turnaround about 4 miles away. And it looks like it might be flat and maybe your eyes are just tired or something, but it isn't flat, and when you FINALLY turn around and head for the finish line, you realize just how NOT FLAT it really is.

Peter

Another mile, another band.

I don't remember anything about these folks. When I walked past them I was trying to replace the batteries in my GPS - I always give others my helpful advice to replace batteries before a race, and then I don't do it myself. Probably cost me 10 minutes right there.

Peter

Cheering on the runners

Some local high-school cheerleaders and their fearless eagle mascot who came out to encourage the runners.

Peter

Mountains in the distance

I was trying to capture the mountains in the background - foothills compared to respectable mountain-sized mountains, but that's what is here. Also there were many Marathon Maniacs on the course - here is one.

Peter

Santa's helpers

A band in the background and some of Santa's elves and helpers cheering on the runners.

Peter

Dorothy

"Toto, I don't believe we're in Kansas anymore." If she had a stuffed dog that would have been even better.

Peter

Another pretty decent band

Peter

Da' Blues

Some good old fashioned blues, including harmonica.

Peter

A busy intersection

At this intersection there was a band (pretty good!), runners going outbound, runners coming inbound (other side of the street), and the Half and Full marathon runners beginning to separate onto their different tracks.

Peter

Water station

Volunteers at a water station handing out Cytomax. I dislike Cytomax - too sweet, and the taste doesn't go away quickly. Seems like they signed a galactic agreement to be used at all of the R&R Marathons.
I told the volunteers to "smile" and one of them dutifully turned her back to get another cup ready to hand off. There goes her moment of fame...

Peter

a band, runners, more building

Another band, viewed across a roadway full of runners. More construction in the background.

Peter

A band

A band playing in front of the Stratosphere (?) hotel. they were pretty good. next time i need to include some audio.

Peter

The Real Elvis

I think this photo says it all about LV. They charged me 10 seconds towards their finish time off of my time. Sounded like a good deal to me.

Peter

New York, New York

This is the New York, New York casino. See all the familiar buildings in the skyline? Incredible. What this must have cost. Think of how much $ they must get out of it to justify that kind of investment. Wow!

Peter

LUXOR

This is the Luxor casino. It is enormous. A Sphinx, an obelisk, and a 4-sided pyramid that lights up at night like a space ship. And it probably isn't the biggest. I am awed at the amount of money that has been poured into LV since I was last here about 20 years ago. Amazing.

Peter

The End of the starting line

Now, at 7:51, I can see the end of the starting line. 27,000 runners. Of course these folks can't see the actual starting line yet. but there's no one after them.

Peter

The Running Elvi

It was hard to notice and then get a picture of runners going the other way sometimes. You can see two Elvi (Elvises? how does one conjugate a dead singer? maybe like sheep or deer - Elvee?) running along over there.

Peter

the first band playing at the LV sign

This was a R&R marathon so there were bands playing throughout the course. Most would ham it up when you stopped to take your picture. I took a picture of almost every band, though I did not take pictures of the occasional empty stage. One band I didn't take a picture of had the vocalists screaming into the mike. Couldn't tell what was being said. And the guitar work was a perfect accompaniment to the lyrics, if you understand me.

Peter

at the starting line

There is a band playing up on top of the starting line (kinda hard to see). They are starting people off by corral, not en mass. The good news is that each corral gets to take off running from the get go (versus backed up just over the starting line like in so many other races). The bad news is it is annoying as hell to be herded along like cattle. Mooo!

Peter

Starting line fireworks

Starting line fireworks. The race officially started at 6:15 am. Starting line temp was forecast at 31F (feels like 25F) and it felt every degree of it. Thankfully only the occasional breeze.

Peter

Viva Las Vegas

Finally.

Peter

Fwd: De-icing at iad

De-icing at IAD.

The trip didn't get off to a good start. 5 inches of snow in a short period of time delayed the flight and caused me to miss my connection to LAS.

Thankfully American Airlines booked me on a later US Airways jet and got me there. Thank you, American!!

Viva Las Vegas

Trying to get myself psyched up for LV. It's hard because I keep on thinking about LA. Why am I dreading dealing with this? I just need to put this out of my mind for about an hour to get into the race and then the running genes should take over.

Look at the elevation chart. I ask you, where on earth does that hill come from?
I remember LV being flat as a pancake except for poured concrete.