Sunday, February 23, 2014

A Weekend In Vegas

We had quite the adventure this weekend.  We went to Las Vegas for Kobe’s gymnastics competition, the Black Jack meet for the youngies and the World Cup Competition for the Elites.
Friday morning Jorge, Holly and I woke up to run the strip.  I much prefer the strip at 5:30 am than any other time.  Other than a few drunks we were the only ones on the strip and it was glorious.  




We were all rocking our Pro Compression socks, 2 low cutters and a marathon socker.
The strip was still all a glow, it was awesome.  The stairs we had to run up and down added a little something extra to our workout, hard core par kour!
  We didn’t have much time so we busted out 7.15 miles and then it was time for me to get back for Kobe’s competition.
As I was walking to the meet I saw a guy sitting on the floor, I knew he was an Olympian but I wasn’t sure of his name.  I almost turned around to get his picture but decided not to.  I looked at Jake Dalton’s Instagram page to see if I could figure out who I had seen, it was Brandon Wynn.  As I sat there kicking myself for not going back I saw him sitting off to the side of where we were.  Jake made me get a picture with him.  I put my arm around him and HOLY CRAP, that boy is solid muscle.
I even caught him with his shirt off, you're welcome.  His muscles have muscles! 
We also saw Danell Leyva
One of Kobe’s coaches, Coach Wan Wan (Wanda) used to coach Jake Dalton.  She set up a meet and greet with Jake and Steve Legendre.  Steve was so nice and told Kobe he had awesome muscles, his weren’t too bad either…holy biceps.  
Kenna decided to skip Kobe’s meet to hang out with the Garcia’s, little did she know she was going to miss the meet and greet.  McKenna missed out on her one opportunity to meet her “future husband” as she would say. 
Jake and Steve signed Kobe's bib 

As we were waiting for our turn to see Jake I realized that no other moms were getting their pictures taken, I tried to get another mom to go with me but she wouldn’t.  I decided I didn’t care what people thought and I was getting a picture.  I may or may not have accidentally touched his butt, cute bum where ya from ;D  As Jake Dalton had his arm around me for the picture Jake, my Jake, said “Jake is Steph’s dream guy!”  Seriously!!!  I was so embarrassed, you should have seen the look he gave me after that…oh well.
 I had to get in a picture with Steve too.
The Black Jack meet is a big one with teams from all over.  There were kids from Utah, California, Canada and who knows where else.  To place at one of these meets is a pretty big deal.  Kobe did awesome!  He got an 11.000 on high bar which was good enough for 1st place.  He got 6th place on rings and 9th all around.  He is a pretty big deal :) to me at least!
As we were walking back to the room I noticed Brandon Wynn and a few other Olympians at the pool.  We asked for a picture, they were all super willing and nice.  The friendliest one was Justin Spring he competed in the 2008 Olympics.  He said he almost named his son Kobe but they went with Cody instead.  He was just a real swell guy.
Brandon Wynn, Joshua Dixon, not sure of his name, Donnell Whittenburg and Justin Spring. 
Kenna found us just in time to get her picture taken with a couple of them.
After the meet we met up with the Fullmer’s at Pawn Star, as soon as we walked out Chumlee made an appearance, typical. 
We had to go to my favorite pizza place, Grimaldi’s…delicious!

The Wynn Hotel 
Saturday morning Jorge, Holly and I headed out for a 16 miler.  We ran all the way down the strip, stairs and all  then continued on until we hit 8 miles.  We turned around and did it all again.  If you want to spice up your long run, add numerous sets of stairs all along the way.  We did 16 miles with an average pace of 8:15 which is pretty good considering all the stairs they will really throw your pace off.
Saturday was spent trying to find an open pool…we never did find one #fail.  At least we had the World Cup Championships to look forward to.
We headed to the meet at 5:00 to watch the elites warm up and to save seats.  The muscles on these guys blow me away, amazing!  
Watching the Olympians and elite gymnasts was probably the coolest thing I have ever seen.  We saw a couple of guys get injured, not so fun.  Here is Steve Legendre doing rings, he ends up hurting his pec…watch for it.
That was the last we saw of him, so sad.  It was cool to see Jake Dalton’s concern for his friend.  He watched sadly as Steve walked away and then as soon as Jake was done he ran to his friend.  Another guy blew his knee out, at least that’s what it looked like, and a guy broke his leg when he landed on vault.
At the end of the meet we got our pictures taken with a bunch of the gymnasts.
Chris Brooks who won the competition 
Jonathan Horton, he didn't compete due to an injury. 
Not sure of his name but he is awesome! 
Holly and I LOVED watching this kid, he is only 15 and is amazing.  I do believe his name is Davis, we are determined that he will be the next big thing in gymnastics. 
Hey Jorge, nice purse :)
John Orozco!!! We were lucky to get a picture with him. 

I caught Whittenburg in the hall and then I told him to RUN!!!!  I didn't want him to get stuck with a long line again.
What a way to end a trip.  It was a great weekend with good friends and lots of muscles.
Oh and Kenna did finally get her picture with her beloved Jake Dalton.

I can't wait for next year!!!



Saturday, February 8, 2014

Sometimes You Just Can't Stop

Yesterday Holly and I decided to see what the "Ho's" running plan was for this morning.  Just FYI the Ho's are Jorge, Joanna, Josh and Heather.  They call themselves the Jo's but to me they will always be the Ho's, plus since Heather joined the group it just makes sense...not that she's a ho but because of the H in her name.  Anyways, Josh said that they were doing 20 miles in Provo.  Holly and I decided on our way to meet up with them that since we had done 20 miles last Saturday that we had better be smart and only do 16.  

We got out of the car and it was quite warm, for Utah in February, it was 40 degrees.  The weather was perfection!  When we started out my legs didn't feel #awesome but somehow being outside and not stuck on the treadmill made everything okay.  

As we got up the canyon it started to get pretty slick, there were slick patches that were super scary.  I can fall down on dry ground thank you very much, I do not need ice.  Luckily, we ran right into Dr. Lloyd (I guess he prefers Mike) and Paul.  We decided to turn around with them and head to the Murdock Canal Trail.  I have never been on this trail but I am here to say that it is pretty much my favorite.  

We had to run through some snow for a little bit, which wasn't very fun., but once we got out the snow we had a great time.  Mike runs the trail a lot and gave us a bit of a tour, it was fun!  
I'm running through a piece of pipe that is a replica of what we were running over.  Or something like that, it was part of our "tour" but it is now bed time and I'm very tired.  Mike made a right fine tour guide but some of the details seem to have escaped me at the moment.

We stopped for a photo but I kind of screwed the whole thing up so we gave up and ran on.  Heather was taking said photo and for some reason she said "10" just as I thought why the heck did she just say 10, Mike said "10???"  For some reason I found it hilarious and could not compose myself.
I don't know...I'm strange and was a bit giggly.  Those endorphins will go right to your head if your not careful.
I had to walk away for a moment.
Look at Poshy with his hands on his hips in disapproval :D
The miles flew by, then Josh said "we only have 3/4 of a mile until it's time to turn around."  WHAT???  I guess our plan of running 16 miles didn't quite pan out like we thought it would.  Holly and I were both feeling great so we were fine with it.  
Selfie, usie, wesie, whatever Saturday.
We had such a great time, these are the runs that I live for.  The miles flew by, we laughed and had a great time.  We did 20 miles in 2:49.

Now I am sitting here recovering in my USA Pro Compression stockings.  I wish I was recovering in my HEARTS Pro Compression stockings, I need to order some ASAP!  If you want to know what to get the runner in your life for Valentine's Day may I suggest some of these cute marathon socks...I wear an XS just FYI ;)

You can save 40% and get FREE shipping when you use the promo code BEMY at checkout.  You can click HERE to place your order.
The other day I posted something about Pro Compression on the Instagram and apparently I had people confused so let me clarify.  Proper recovery requires R.I.C.E Rest, Ice, COMPRESSION and elevation.  I said #dontforgettheCinRICE.  That's all.