In Vegas, during peak weeks for ironman training, how to manage it all? With a mindset for adventure. I knew it’d be hot going in, and the Vegas hotels are known for slot machines and bars, but not so much for gyms. Time to get out and embrace the environment.

Getting off the plane about noon CST or 10am Mountain time, I was already hungry, but decided to jump right into my surroundings, with a short 2 mile walk to the hotel, with my travel bag, in pants and a polo, 104º. I learned quickly that this town was not built around pedestrians outside of the accommodations baked into the main strip. Traffic moves fast and unforgiving. The roads are all at least 4 lanes wide and there is zero shade. This may have been a mistake.

Eventually, I made it, time for a bite and a run, to see just what proper heat training feels like.

Running at 108° and into the wind, my mouth immediately goes dry. The sun bakes like an oven, causing the feeling that your skin shrivels, growing tighter around you. My lips chapping and cracking in he heat, wind and sun. While the water I carried with quickly melted the ice cubes and climbed to the ambient temperature. So I’m forcing myself to continue trying to drink 100° water as much as I can, as any sweat that’s produced evaporated immediately and you can’t be sure of just how much water your losing. Garbage every, as there’s just dirt and sand and rocks, it just blows around. Feeling literally sand blasted and baked, the steady run turns into a run/walk. Slower and slower, each run effort seems to escalate the heart rate higher more quickly than the last time. At this point, I’m unable to dissipate heat correct and realize that unless I get cooled off soon, I was going to be doing some longer term damage. My 2.5 hour run with 2x10k blocks ended up a run/walk 10k taking almost an hour.

Back to the hotel, a long cool shower later, and it was time to explore the town. Vegas is a tricky one though. How to keep on track with healthy habits in sin city? I chose to get a rental car at 6am the next day, and drive out into the desert for a some hiking around the Grand Canyon West before I needed to be at the conference. So, gotta get up early, make sure I’m hydrated, fueled up and ready to go!

This really wasn’t that difficult, as I don’t gamble, drinking and dining out alone in a strange city feel awkward to me and due to the time zone shift, I was tired by 9pm every night anyways… but to each their own, and this is about trying to continuing maintaining a healthy lifestyle balance while traveling for work and preparing for an Ironman, and hey, this worked for me 😉

I got out early the next day, hooked up with my rental convertible and headed for the hills. Not knowing that Grand Canyon West was on reservation territory and I wouldn’t be able to just drive out there. There was a whole shuttle system and I had no clue how long that was all going to take, so back in the car, enjoy some more sights and headed out to Red Rock Canyon, on the other side of Vegas. Way too much driving time. But I was able to hike for a bit through the desert, caught some beautiful views and did have a truly memorable time.

Once the convention started, a guy sat next to me with a PTO backpack on for the Keynote, so, of course, I couldn’t help from striking up a conversation. Andrew was from Texas, a fellow triathlete and at the conference as a vendor. So of course we met the next morning for an early sunrise run before the day got too warm (and the sessions started).

Early is the time to run in the desert, even in the 80’s, that’s as cool as it’s going to be. We got about an hour in, and it was so much more enjoyable, both for the company and for the temperatures. So I guess that’s the second lesson, put yourself out there, make some new friends and follow them on Strava.

Mostly though, it’s just about making the most of the situation. You can’t bike? Fine, go run. You can’t run, go hike and explore. Just keep making the most of the moment and enjoying all of life’s little opportunities as often as they arise.

Here’s some pictures of some cool Vegas and desert stuff.