An awesome day in Austin, TX. I met Tom at 6:15 AM at Barton Springs Pool and headed up the Greenbelt trail 7 miles to the base of the Hill of Life where we did 10 HOL repeats and then ran back to Barton Springs Pool for a total of 24 miles. This was the best run this year on the Greenbelt and HOL. The last two times we have run the Greenbelt and HOL we have ended up stressed at the end of the run even with swollen fingers and feet due to the heat and lack of hydration at the end of the run, but not today, just an awesome day.
Thursday after work I stopped by the RunTex store in Georgetown and picked up some of the Nuun electrolyte tablets and I used them today on this run each time I would open a new bottle of sports drink I would drop in a Nunn tablet and load up the electrolytes. I think it may have helped with the hydration today.
On the HOL today we sure saw a bunch of people who recognized us from the past couple of months. We saw the guys who are going to Africa next week to hike up Mt. Kilimanjero, the tallest mountain in Africa, 19,340 feet. Those guys are pumped.
We met a couple of guys we had never seen before and got to talking to them at the bottom of the HOL on one of our loops. One of the guys is 67 years old and quite an athlete, but looking at both his knees it looks like he had zippers on both sides of both knees due to all the various surgeries that he has had. He is biking and running on a new replacement knee on one leg. Anyway it sure made me happy not to have any injuries and never to have needed any surgeries.
At the top of the HOL after our 10th ascent we ran into Mike R. who I had run with for 2 years back in 2000 and 2001. Mike is the guy I talk about who ran his first 100 miler at the end of our marathon-a-month group, and during that 100 miler he fell asleep while standing there taking a pee during the night, demonstrating the stress the body takes during a 100 miler race. Mike and I had a few good laughs talking about some of our running days. He has run several 100 milers now and even done 2 of the Western States 100 milers which is the classic of the 100 Miler races here in the USA.
We met a new guy named Richard V. who had his dog, Jack, with him and has run Pikes Peak before. He confirmed many of the things that I have been telling Tom in preparation for Tom's first Pikes Peak Marathon next month. After our 10th HOL ascent we ran with Richard along a trail high above the Greenbelt that I have never run on that took us to a scenic outlook view of the valley below where the Greenbelt trail runs, a beautiful view that I have never seen in several years of running the Greenbelt here in Austin.
Bottom line today, we met so many genuinely good people that it really reinforced the fact that when you are a runner you mix with a very special bunch of people, and they are everywhere you go as a runner. So many good people.
With about 5 miles to go on the way back down the Greenbelt, Tom tripped and took a very hard fall banging his left forearm and his left knee. It took his watch off its band. Fortunately he wasn't seriously hurt, but that was sure a reminder that no matter how focused you think you are, on the trail you can go down any time. Stay focused, focused, focused.
When we got back to the Barton Springs Pool, Lynn was waiting for us and happy that we had made it back okay. We walked down to the spring and joined a bunch of people and their dogs in the spring to get refreshed and get the sweat and smell off us. What a sight, all the men, women, children and dogs swimming and wading in the spring. Thank goodness there is enough of a water flow that you don't worry about dipping in the spring with the dogs. This is just another of the good things about Austin, TX. Austin is famous for Zilker Park and the Barton Springs Pool. I told Tom that someday when I am gone from Austin I will have many fond memories of dipping in the spring after hard sweaty runs.
Talk about a great start to the weekend. | 