Just arrived at Lake Las Vegas to watch the Land Rover G4 Challenge. They're putting us up at the glorious Ritz Carlton, with its luxury spa and splendid mountain backdrop. I came here a few years back with my wife for our anniversary, and managed to find some fairly great running trails. I can see one of them out my window now, snaking up the side of a red-rock desert peak. At the top you can look out across the miles of desert and see clear to the Strip, which is a particularly nice view at sunrise and sunset. There's a media lunch in a little bit, and if I don't gorge myself too much and wind up napping away the afternoon, I aim to get out there and run a few desert miles.

That nap thing does sound awfully inviting, though. I am at the most unusual place career-wise, in that I have just concluded work on several major projects and have absolutely nothing to do. I am taking a break, which is something I never do. Oh sure, track season continues, as several of my runners moved on to post-season competition after last week's finals. But writing-wise, I'm getting a little mental health break. And to be invited by Land Rover for a couple nights at the Ritz in the midst of all that... well, it doesn't get any better.

Actually, it would get better if my wife were here, but she's at an NICU Social Worker convention in Indianapolis all week. Not for the first time in my career, I am at a romantic hotel all alone, destined to connect via text message and phone calls rather than over a candlelit dinner table. Ah, well. The price one pays.

And though Calene is not here, I am most definitely surrounded by old friends. My good friend Jimmy Garfield, with whom I raced the Raid Gauloises and participated in dozens of other adventures around the globe, arrived on a flight five minutes after mine. Not only that, but Janet Clarke and the gang from Team Unlimited, whom most of you know for the Xterra Series, are helping to coordinate this junket. In the morning, teams of competitors will set off on a mad dash across Nevada, both auto-powered (hence, Land Rovers) and trail running and mountain biking. The winners of this G4 Challenge will go on to compete at the world championships somewhere in the world later this year. I would tell you the exact location but I don't have my press kit yet. Suffice to say that it will be someplace with mud and vigorous terrain. 

Now, let me a share a secret with all of you: for years, I've been trying to get the Land Rover folks to loan me a vehicle to drive at the Tour de France. I figure that the car is always a part of my daily writing, and that they'll get plenty of exposure. For some reason, it's never gotten off the ground. Maybe this week could change all that. Stay tuned.