In search of...

Up and at 'em. Susan was still in bed, so I decided to start the day by myself. I ran into a couple with a very southern accent who are doing the half marathon as well on Sunday. I told them it is colder than here back home in Canada. They agreed as if they knew what they were talking about and like we live in igloos. Stupid southerners!!

I was in search of relatively healthy food, but had no luck. I walked around for more than an hour looking for a coffee shop, but they don't have them here. They're all in the hotels and I found out there is also no free wireless. So far I have no desire to return to this town. Everything's a money grab. I knew that before I came, but I expected the Internet to be free in the hotel at least. I finally found a mexican restaurant that serves breakfast burritos, which isn't my first choice for a healthy meal, but I was so hungry I could have eaten a kangaroo, and believe me, I would if I could.

There were a lot of runners out this morning preparing for the race on Sunday. Oh! Just got a text message. Susan must be up. I texted back telling her where I am. The Adidas store is next door and she remembers where that is, or at least she thinks she does. She said she'll be here in five minutes, but the streets are so big here and you forget which door of the hotel you come out of that I bet it'll be 10 minutes. No disrespect though - it is difficult to find your way around until you get your bearings.

Susan, where are you? I've been waiting for more than five minutes; as a matter of fact, it's been 20!

I'm looking forward to getting off the strip to do some shopping, and not just for the shopping, but to get away from this area.

After shopping for awhile in the Adidas store, we decided to check out Starbucks in our hotel, but not before we checked out the lion exhibit. After our lattes Susan wanted to go to the gym and stretch, but there is a fee to use the spa in our own hotel!!! There's another nail in Las Vegas' coffin.

I'm now on my way to the host hotel of the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon, the Mandalay Bay. On my way there I realize I don't have my water bottle. I had to go back to Starbucks in our hotel because I remember leaving it there. I am lost in the hotel because it is so huge. I thought I got lost a lot on the streets of Australia, but in a hotel! OK, got the bottle and I'm off again to the Mandalay Bay, a short 15 minute walk down the strip. The hotel is huge. Then again, everything is huge in Las Vegas. For a minute I thought I was in Aussie land again because there is a huge fish tank with tropical fish and down the way, there is a shark reef tank. I haven't seen that yet, but I'm on my way now. Of course I also have to go through the casino to get to the Convention Centre to pick up my race package. Whoever designed the hotels in Las Vegas is brilliant because no matter where you are going, you have to go through the casino. They really want you to lose your money to them. Well, I'm not falling for that game. I work too hard for my hard earned money to risk losing it by gambling.

I digress. I will now sign off and continue my way to the Convention Centre to pick up my goodie bag, or swag bag, as we call it. Oh, by the way...they charge to see the shark tank so I'm not going to see it. I saw enough sharks in Australia.

Maan, I entered this hotel 25 minutes ago and I'm still making my way to the Convention Centre Bayside Hall C. This hotel is so huge that I had to take a rest on the way there. Once I entered the hotel, it's a longer walk to get to where I'm going than it is to get from my hotel to this hotel. Enough resting Ellen, get going, and I'm off again.

I checked in to collect my number at the appropriate wicket, corral 6; there are 29 in total, so that means there are close to 30,000 runners in this race. I can't even imagine that. Good thing there are 29 different waves to start the race; otherwise, it would take half an hour to get to he start line. That's why there are so many corrals.

The next stop was a table to get my swag and t-shirt. After that I wandered around the expo for quite a while. The expo was huge. Every kind of product that an athlete might be interested in was available, from clothing to protein drinks to protein bars. There were lots of samples of protein bars and our favourite, a probiotic drink that was delicious. We definitely weren't hungry after the expo. I asked somebody to take a picture of me posing as Elvis playing a guitar.

Enough of this sporty stuff. Let's go to the factory outlets. Speaking of Elvis, guess what I bought? ...some blue suede shoes.

I'm tired, let's go! We caught a cab back to the hotel and unpacked our loot and now I'm finishing my blog for today. I'm yawning so I better get ready for bed.