What the hell just happened? Boot Camp Las Vegas, that’s what.

I spent the last half of 2011 in a rut and just couldn’t get myself motivated to exercise anymore so I signed up for Boot Camp Las Vegas about a month ago. I haven’t done the Saturday Strip workout yet, but I have shown up at 6am every weekday at a park in my part of town and pushed myself to the limit with a group of fellow boot campers for a solid hour – no breaks. If you’re not doing an exercise, you’re running. If you’re doing a circuit workout, you run to the next exercise station. “There’s no walking in bootcamp!” barks John, our trainer, and he stays on us for the entire hour, forcing us to give it everything we’ve got and then some. He watches us closely and really gets to know each and every person’s fitness level so that when he has us do competitive activities we are matched against people who are equal – or very close to – our own level. It’s a very smart system and it works like you wouldn’t believe.

There’s a common misconception that programs like this are filled with mostly young people, primarily male, who can handle the intensity of the workouts, but the reality – at least in my experience – is that the group consists mostly of women of all ages from early twenties to late forties (maybe older, but I’m not about to ask…). There was even a seventy-year-old woman who did Boot Camp Las Vegas for a while then went on and traveled the world. Besides myself there are three to five other men aged from early thirties to early fifties. Most of these people have been coming to this class for years. Y-E-A-R-S. And it shows. The spirit of these folks is amazing and the endurance they demonstrate every morning is humbling and very motivating to me. Many of them tell me, when asked, that they’ve lost thirty or forty pounds or they’ve increased their 5k time by five or ten minutes. It’s really astonishing what a person can do when they put their mind to it.

On my first day (a “legs” day), after doing a half-mile warm-up jog around the park (which is nice because it’s usually chilly), I was immediately told to wrap a tow-strap around my waist and pull the tractor tire on the other end as fast as I could for as long as I could across the empty parking lot. Because of that workout I could barely walk for the rest of the week. In fact, I avoided stairs as much as possible and opted instead for handicap ramps and elevators as much as I could as I went through my week. It was hell, but in a good way. Now, nearly a month later, I’m able to handle the tractor tires a little better and I don’t get quite as sore, but every day, without fail, I wake up feeling the workout from the day before, no doubt about it. It’s totally worth it though because I’ve never felt better physically and mentally and I sleep like a baby for eight full hours every night. It’s exactly what I needed.

Yeah, I hear you; this is absolutely nuts. I won’t argue with that. Boot Camp Las Vegas is definitely not for everybody. It takes a special, almost warrior-like, mental toughness that most people, frankly, just don’t have – or at least they don’t think they do – to keep coming to these workouts, but if you’re willing to just show up, the rest takes care of itself. You’d be surprised what you can actually do, especially when you’re part of a group that is doing it right along with you. It’s a very liberating feeling when you finally beat that voice in your head that says you can’t run any farther and instead of stopping to rest you break out into a sprint and pass the person in front of you. Your body can go much farther than your mind says it can, trust me. Why just this morning my mind was telling me that I couldn’t carry that medicine ball up and down the hill another two times, and it was right; I did three more.

If you’re ever in town and you feel like maybe you want to work off that week-long Strip bender or, more realistically, if you’re in town on business and need a better workout than you’d get at your hotel’s gym, I strongly suggest you check out Boot Camp Las Vegas. You can drop in for a single day if you want or hit it up every day while you’re here if you think you’re, as they say, “boot camp tough.” In the meantime, enjoy your Stripwalking and I promise we’ll try not to run you down on Saturday morning.

You can learn more about Boot Camp Las Vegas at their website or on Facebook.

What color will your first foot long margarita be?
Blue    7/2
Red     7/2
White   5/2
None- 3/2

After partying all night on the strip chances of spelling NY Giants Osi Umenyiora name.
1000-1

Over/ Under -4  Trips to the ATM during your trip.
Even

What will be higher?
Tom Brady TD Passes -140
Miles you walk on the strip in one day -Even

Over/ Under -10  Casinos that you will gamble in during your trip.
Even

Busiest Sports book on the Strip during the game.
Mandalay Bay -5/2
Aria-5/2
Caesar’s-5/2
Bally’s-5-1
Harrah’s -5-1

Over/ Under -300lbs- The weight of Big Elvis
Even

Enjoy the game. 

Vegas, I hear you callin’
But I can’t come back right now
Me and the wife are workin’
And we just can’t find the time

Just a few more months
And I will have some time off then
I think I can catch a red eye flight
Oh, Vegas what can I do
Vegas what can I do

My heart just feels so empty
but our house just ain’t the strip
And I can’t wait to be there
And don’t care where I stay

Just a few more months
And I’ll be there for a week
I think I hear the tables callin’
Oh, Vegas what can I do
Vegas what can I do

Vegas, I know you’re not lonely
And I hope my luck changes soon
‘Cause me and the wife will be gamblin’
All night.

1. Elvis Aaron Presley born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
2. Despite being regarded as the “King of Rock & Roll”, Elvis only ever won a Grammy for his gospel music.
3. The Holy Bible and The Impersonal Life were Elvis’ two favorite books.
4. Elvis and Priscilla married May 1, 1967 in Las Vegas at the Aladdin’s wedding chapel.
5. His first Vegas show was in 1956 at The New Frontier.
6. Elvis performed most of his Vegas shows at the International Hotel renamed the Hilton International in the early 70′s.
7. He performed 837 sold-out shows at Las Vegas Hilton.
8. Viva Las Vegas was the most successful of the his 31 films, returning more than $5 million on an investment of less than $1 million.
9. Elvis was inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ” in 1986.
10. Elvis has sold over 1 billion albums worldwide.

Happy Birthday Elvis. Viva Las Vegas.Thank You Very Much.

Celebrities galore packed the Hyde Bellagio, as the new lounge is modeled from an Italian villa with book, photos, and shelves to match. The DJ booth doubles as a fireplace and they also serve amazing appetizers like Kobe Beef sliders, Ahi tuna tartar cones, and a Thai Mango salad. Make sure you check out the mixology program. The indoor/outdoor lounge overlooking the fountains is a great place to enjoy a drink, a view and an evening after a day of stripwalking.

Did I mention the balloons filled with $100 bills? Only in Vegas.

2) Lion Habitat at MGM – Property-wide renovations and no plans yet for the space. The last day will be January 31st.

3) Hooters – The hotel-casino will be sold at auction on February 17th and we will have to wait and see what will happen to the property.

4) Las Vegas Monorail – Trying to emerge from bankruptcy. The Sahara closing hurt, plus the new Linq project could affect more monorail stops so it will be hard for the monorail to survive and most likely will go away for good.

5) Imperial Palace – Caesar’s plans to rename The Imperial Palace and re-theme the casino as part of the new Linq project.

When people talk about ziplines in today’s world they normally mention fastest, longest and highest depending upon the location, design and company. All of these are qualifiers for some recognition but only one consistently earns the title of most spectacular from it’s riders and that is Bootleg Canyon Flightlines in Boulder City, Nevada, only 20 miles from the World Famous Las Vegas Strip.

Bootleg Canyon Flightlines (not little ziplines) is rightly called flight as the experience is much more about flying than zipping. The drops, the speed and the exhilaration is of course fantastic but what makes Flightlines such an unforgettable experience is our ability to design a trail that shows off nature.

As one of the world’s most progressive conservation companies with projects in Rwanda, Nigeria, Haiti, Guyana, Brazil, Belize, Peru, Canada and the United States: Greenheart designs Aerial Trails or Flightlines as we call them with the goal of creating a no trace trail (or path of a bird) that promotes and preserves nature. To do this we bring you to the summit of Red Mountain (which separates Boulder City from the Las Vegas valley) and provide breathtaking views of Vegas, Lake Mead and the Eldorado Valley. There we launch you at speeds of up to 60 plus mph over a series of Flightlines that cover 1.6 miles and total over 1000 feet of vertical drop. Most importantly each take off and landing provides for a more fantastic view and a different perspective of Bootleg Canyon.

With four Flightlines, experienced guides and a tour duration that allows you to take in the beauty of the Canyon we have guests realizing that Bootleg Canyon is a Vegas attraction that leaves everyone feeling like a winner. Most importantly our guests flight over the park has allowed us to create over 64 jobs nature based jobs and provide Boulder City with direct revenue that makes Bootleg Canyon Park one of a handful of sustainable and profitable parks in the U.S.A.

www.bcflightlines.com / 702.293.6885 / mailto:info@bcflightlines.com