Was a total success!
Jon and I left wondering why in the world we don't go there more often. Despite lovely traffic to and from it just really isn't that hard to get to for a weekend. Add that to the fact that my company has 2 corporate units there (one on South Congress and one a Mopac and 360), and hopefully we'll be showing up there quite a bit more often.
Saturday morning I had the fastest 21 mile run I have ever done. Yes, my 20 mile run for IMAZ last year was run at a faster pace than this one, but I said 21 mile run, not 20, so it is comparing apples to oranges, so I still get to claim this one as my fastest. And possibly close to my hottest too (at least compared to Houston/IMAZ training...Chicago and St. George training most likely brought similar weather conditions).
I rolled out of bed at 5 Saturday morning after a whopping 4 hours of sleep (need to talk to Camden about the lovely day glow lights they put outside each bedroom window...) and headed over to Rogue. I was a bit apprehensive, running with a new group, but as the time drew closers to 6am, more and more people showed up. They had 8, 10, and 14 mile routes and as we started running I began to get a bit worried because it seemed like everyone around me was running shorter than 14. If I was going to be running alone I would rather do it around the lake, so I was contemplating just doing the 10 mile route then adding 4 to the already planned 6-7 around the lake. The route headed north from downtown, through campus, and eventually ending up at 54th street before heading back south. It took me about 4 miles before I realized the first 7 miles were going to be uphill. At the split point for the 10 and 14 mile route (just before mile 4, so early on), I noted a group ahead of me turn for the 14 mile route and I headed their way. I had not really talked to anyone yet and was still doing just fine so I didn't want to turn back without good reason. I ran a few miles with the group once I caught them and they were very very nice and welcoming. One had done IMAZ and CDA before and another's husband was out biking 100 training for his first at CDA. The funnier thing about the first 7 miles being uphill is that I did not even think about the fact that if the first 7 were uphill then the next 7 would be downhill until I actually turned back to head south. I kept looking at my pace thinking I needed to slow down and it was stupid for me to be running 10:20 something pace just to stay with people. Then I realized I passed those people and had 7 downhill miles waiting for me, so the slowdown did not so much happen, but I felt strong so that was awesome.
I met Jon on the Town Lake trail and Congress at my mile 14. We ran until 18 together and after a mile or two with him I began to wonder what I was thinking asking him to run wtih me. His best efforts to run slow are still way faster than my best efforts to run fast after I've already run 14! He was great support though and it was great knowing I'd have company at the end of my run. I probably ran 11 of the first part by myself, but I need that. After 18 miles I thought I'd only have 2 more to do and I let Jon go "stretch his legs" as I was feeling ok and knew I'd make it just fine. We agreed to meet a little ways down the trail and I came back across him at 19.5 and said I was going to pick it up for the last half mile. That I did, and felt good after. Then we started walking back to the car and quickly realized it was a little farther away than I thought...oops. So we started running again. Where was my car? Magically at mile 21.0!
Gees, this post is going to be long - sorry. I can see it now. I had hoped to keep it somewhat short, but not so much.
After a quick stop for some chocolate milk (first time I have let myself have it after a run in forever...maybe ever...and it was sooo good) and ice for ice baths, we headed home. The apartment we were staying in had 2 bathrooms so we each had our own tub for ice baths. I get all settled in mine, reading my magazine and drinking my chocolate milk and I hear all this banging around then a pounding on the door. "Are you decent?" says Jon. "Yes, I am decent "(you wear as many clothes as you can in an ice bath). Door flies open. "How does your water turn on?" I show him, and he leaves. Next thing I hear even more banging and my door bursts back open with Jon with 2 ice bags in one hand and coffee in the other. "Move over. I'm coming in." Keep in mind he got the garden tub and I was in the normal size tub. I had also had time to get used to the water; he had not. It was hilarious. He kept telling me "Don't move" because when I did the cold water splashed around him. So we have no pictures of the ice baths this time around because we were both in the same tub and somehow fit. Maybe that will be our new ice-saving plan.
Anyway, after thawing out we headed to the Gristmill in Gruene to meet my sister's family for lunch. There were some pretty crazy storms all around us, but we did not get rained on there which was great. After that we had to make the obligatory stops at Jack and Adam's and Austin Tricyclist, the two tri shops in Austin just down the street from each other. We saw Houston/Beaumont people we knew at both - safe to say there was a big race in town that Monday.
Sunday brought the bike ride I have been thinking about for a long, long time. When I lived in Austin I saw bikers on 360 and thought they were crazy and that I could never possibly bike those hills. Even after I had started biking a little while still in school there, I never thought it was possible. Moving to Houston did not help that all since there are no hills here to be found. Anyway, I figured now was as good of as time as ever to conquer 360. Turns out I was probably making more of a big deal about it than I should, or that I'm actually in better biking shape than I thought. Jon and I rode 360, 2244, and Parmer for a 60 mile total ride. 360 was awesome. The shoulders are wide and the cars are friendly and there was little traffic. We headed south on 360 first, then did an out and back on 2244, then back up 360. I was still dreading the part part of 360 up to the Arboretum because it seemed like we did not have to pedal for the first few miles on the way down so I feared the way up could have been awful. However, I survived that as well. Don't get me wrong, I didn't Lance up any of the hills by any means, and my average speed was pretty low, but none of the hills got the best of me and I still felt strong by the end. I also didn't really "feel" my 21 mile run from the day before which is awesome. I had originally planned to ride around 75 miles but the weather was getting pretty bad and we didn't want to get stuck in the middle of no where in storms like we had seen the day before. Turns out 60 miles was just fine, and did not take too much out of me.
My hero of the weekend...without his company on the run and ride it would not so much have happened
On our way back down Bee Caves
360 on the way back up...I didn't die
The Bridge! I was a bit jealous when we rode over it of all the people skiing underneath us...my how my life has changed since I was in college there.
Jon and I left wondering why in the world we don't go there more often. Despite lovely traffic to and from it just really isn't that hard to get to for a weekend. Add that to the fact that my company has 2 corporate units there (one on South Congress and one a Mopac and 360), and hopefully we'll be showing up there quite a bit more often.
Saturday morning I had the fastest 21 mile run I have ever done. Yes, my 20 mile run for IMAZ last year was run at a faster pace than this one, but I said 21 mile run, not 20, so it is comparing apples to oranges, so I still get to claim this one as my fastest. And possibly close to my hottest too (at least compared to Houston/IMAZ training...Chicago and St. George training most likely brought similar weather conditions).
I rolled out of bed at 5 Saturday morning after a whopping 4 hours of sleep (need to talk to Camden about the lovely day glow lights they put outside each bedroom window...) and headed over to Rogue. I was a bit apprehensive, running with a new group, but as the time drew closers to 6am, more and more people showed up. They had 8, 10, and 14 mile routes and as we started running I began to get a bit worried because it seemed like everyone around me was running shorter than 14. If I was going to be running alone I would rather do it around the lake, so I was contemplating just doing the 10 mile route then adding 4 to the already planned 6-7 around the lake. The route headed north from downtown, through campus, and eventually ending up at 54th street before heading back south. It took me about 4 miles before I realized the first 7 miles were going to be uphill. At the split point for the 10 and 14 mile route (just before mile 4, so early on), I noted a group ahead of me turn for the 14 mile route and I headed their way. I had not really talked to anyone yet and was still doing just fine so I didn't want to turn back without good reason. I ran a few miles with the group once I caught them and they were very very nice and welcoming. One had done IMAZ and CDA before and another's husband was out biking 100 training for his first at CDA. The funnier thing about the first 7 miles being uphill is that I did not even think about the fact that if the first 7 were uphill then the next 7 would be downhill until I actually turned back to head south. I kept looking at my pace thinking I needed to slow down and it was stupid for me to be running 10:20 something pace just to stay with people. Then I realized I passed those people and had 7 downhill miles waiting for me, so the slowdown did not so much happen, but I felt strong so that was awesome.
I met Jon on the Town Lake trail and Congress at my mile 14. We ran until 18 together and after a mile or two with him I began to wonder what I was thinking asking him to run wtih me. His best efforts to run slow are still way faster than my best efforts to run fast after I've already run 14! He was great support though and it was great knowing I'd have company at the end of my run. I probably ran 11 of the first part by myself, but I need that. After 18 miles I thought I'd only have 2 more to do and I let Jon go "stretch his legs" as I was feeling ok and knew I'd make it just fine. We agreed to meet a little ways down the trail and I came back across him at 19.5 and said I was going to pick it up for the last half mile. That I did, and felt good after. Then we started walking back to the car and quickly realized it was a little farther away than I thought...oops. So we started running again. Where was my car? Magically at mile 21.0!
Gees, this post is going to be long - sorry. I can see it now. I had hoped to keep it somewhat short, but not so much.
After a quick stop for some chocolate milk (first time I have let myself have it after a run in forever...maybe ever...and it was sooo good) and ice for ice baths, we headed home. The apartment we were staying in had 2 bathrooms so we each had our own tub for ice baths. I get all settled in mine, reading my magazine and drinking my chocolate milk and I hear all this banging around then a pounding on the door. "Are you decent?" says Jon. "Yes, I am decent "(you wear as many clothes as you can in an ice bath). Door flies open. "How does your water turn on?" I show him, and he leaves. Next thing I hear even more banging and my door bursts back open with Jon with 2 ice bags in one hand and coffee in the other. "Move over. I'm coming in." Keep in mind he got the garden tub and I was in the normal size tub. I had also had time to get used to the water; he had not. It was hilarious. He kept telling me "Don't move" because when I did the cold water splashed around him. So we have no pictures of the ice baths this time around because we were both in the same tub and somehow fit. Maybe that will be our new ice-saving plan.
Anyway, after thawing out we headed to the Gristmill in Gruene to meet my sister's family for lunch. There were some pretty crazy storms all around us, but we did not get rained on there which was great. After that we had to make the obligatory stops at Jack and Adam's and Austin Tricyclist, the two tri shops in Austin just down the street from each other. We saw Houston/Beaumont people we knew at both - safe to say there was a big race in town that Monday.
Sunday brought the bike ride I have been thinking about for a long, long time. When I lived in Austin I saw bikers on 360 and thought they were crazy and that I could never possibly bike those hills. Even after I had started biking a little while still in school there, I never thought it was possible. Moving to Houston did not help that all since there are no hills here to be found. Anyway, I figured now was as good of as time as ever to conquer 360. Turns out I was probably making more of a big deal about it than I should, or that I'm actually in better biking shape than I thought. Jon and I rode 360, 2244, and Parmer for a 60 mile total ride. 360 was awesome. The shoulders are wide and the cars are friendly and there was little traffic. We headed south on 360 first, then did an out and back on 2244, then back up 360. I was still dreading the part part of 360 up to the Arboretum because it seemed like we did not have to pedal for the first few miles on the way down so I feared the way up could have been awful. However, I survived that as well. Don't get me wrong, I didn't Lance up any of the hills by any means, and my average speed was pretty low, but none of the hills got the best of me and I still felt strong by the end. I also didn't really "feel" my 21 mile run from the day before which is awesome. I had originally planned to ride around 75 miles but the weather was getting pretty bad and we didn't want to get stuck in the middle of no where in storms like we had seen the day before. Turns out 60 miles was just fine, and did not take too much out of me.
My hero of the weekend...without his company on the run and ride it would not so much have happened
On our way back down Bee Caves360 on the way back up...I didn't dieThe Bridge! I was a bit jealous when we rode over it of all the people skiing underneath us...my how my life has changed since I was in college there.The rain for the second afternoon in a row did change our swim plans, but I was not too upset about it. My #1 priority for the weekend was my long run which was a success and the next priority was to conquer 360, which I also passed with flying colors. Swimming was for the birds by that point!
Sunday night Jon and I went to dinner at South Congress Cafe - it was sooo good. I could have had the pesto goat cheese appetizer as my meal. After that we went to The Continental Club to see Kelly Willis and Jon Dee Graham play in their "gallery." I had seen "limited seating, only 40 seats available" when I purchased the tickets, but I'm not sure if there were even 30 seats in there. And when they say seats, they mean bar stools, folding chairs, lounge chairs, couches, and whatever else they had shoved in there - it was really fun. It was also on the second floor with lots of windows, so we had an awesome view of downtown as the sun was setting. So to say this setting was intimate would be an understatement. They played just over and hour and Jon Dee talked way more than anyone was interested in listening to, but the music was great, and was over by our 10pm bedtime!
Monday morning we walked from the apartment to town lake where we ran for a bit, then walked into downtown for breakfast, then walked back after - all during the CapTex tri. We saw people we knew all over the race course. It was very weird to be doing my own workout on the trail while there was a race going on all around me - people were still getting in the water when we were done with breakfast, and some had finished the race before we even started our run.
We finally made it to swim just before noon at Barton Springs and knew by the parking that it was going to be pretty dicey. We figured it would end up being more play than work, but that was ok, and most certainly deserved by this point. We probably swam about 1000 yds, but the cold water was good for recovery, if nothing else. When we walked out, the line to get in was crazy long and we were glad we had gotten there when we did.
So, I need to move back to Austin, but I think 95% of people who went to school there say that. It won't happen any time soon, but I can still dream...and visit often. Kelly and I just planned a Labor Day trip there this weekend. We're staying at Mopac and 360 that time around, so won't be able to walk everywhere like we did on South Congress, but we will be able to bike from the front door. Wow. What a novel concept.
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Looking forward to the ride on Sunday.