LSD in Austin

Had a nice day, but a late start. I arrived in Austin after 11pm Sunday night and was late getting to sleep after cab to hotel, check-in, unpacking, etc. Then a breakfast meeting (fruit and granola) before the run. Training plan had me psyched for a 12mile LSD. I was planning on running around "Town Lake". The lake is ringed by parks and greenways with primarily gravel running trails. I started below the Congress Street bridge and headed east towards the dam and a "clockwise" path around the lake.

Initial weather was great (overcast and 70's). Trail had multiple water fountains and promised a great experience. But around mile four, there were a few things that I would have avoided if I had known more. The first is the bridge over the dam; the pedestrian path is too narrow. The traffic feels really close. The railing seems low, the bridge is very high over the lake, and the drop is into the dam rather than water. I don't like heights and was uncomfortable most of the way across.

South side of the lake does not have trails complete trails on the east end; about half the distance was on the sidewalk along Riverside Dr. That meant that the path was concrete rather than gravel and there were no water fountains. The sun came out, it started to warm up, and the number of hills and the hardness of the trail made this section of the run much harder.

After I got back into the park area and the gravel trail along the river, I came across a large (10-12 coolers) water station for runners maintained by RunTex, the largest local running store. It was much appreciated, although it was much later than I needed. I continued on, but I felt the sun's intensity, developed a pain in my side that would not go away (it was not a stich, more of an oblique muscle strain). Around 9.25 miles, I really lost the ability to maintain a run for extended periods of time and decided to cut run short. I did a run 2/walk 2 back to RunTex's coolers and stopped the clock at 2:27:54 and 9.64 miles.

I then exited the park, crossed the street, and entered the RunTex store where I bought tee's for Cooper and myself. Then it was a mile walk back to the hotel.

The ice machine was across the hall from my room and I decided to try an ice bath to see if it improved recovery. It was very cold! Then, to my horror, there was no hot water and I could not take a shower to warm up. I ended up getting as warm as I could and then headed out for a late lunch. Walked about another mile or so and had a great lunch at a Chinese Noodle Shop. Back to the hotel for a quick nap and then a walk to a cocktail reception and supper for the conference.

I did call it an early night and tried to get to sleep early. I say tried because the errors of the day caught up with me and I did not sleep well. I started with heavy chills and ended up sleeping in my sweat pants and a LS running shirt. I also did not sleep well and the morning came early.

Tuesday AM I canned the scheduled recovery run and spent a half hour in the hot tub before breakfast and a full day of meetings. Tuesday evening was supper and a visit to Antoine's for a special performance by The Sharks. Their lead singer was some guy named "Dennis Quaid" and their set included a couple of Jerry Lee Lewis songs, although he played piano in the movie and played guitar at Antoine's. . . ;) Actually, Dennis and the band were very good and it was an enjoyable time. The only real problem I had was during his final song (Wild Thing). I kept waiting for him to do his brother Randy's verse ("Wild thing, you make my butt sting. You walk everything!"). But the "Major League" references were not included and Dennis and band delivered a very good, albeit traditional rendition of the song.

I was a bit torn; I was promised a chance to go back stage and meet Dennis (got my picture taken too!). But the theater next to the hotel was advertising "One night only: Jimmy Buffet." I was tempted to follow the parrot heads to the scalpers and ditch the "Sharks" for "Fins" and "a lost shaker of salt. . . "

Wednesday morning started with an early morning 2.5 mile run before a long day at the conference and flights home. Missed my first connection and again, did not get in until midnight and took a while to wind down.

Cooper loved his RunTex tee and I am glad to be home.

Runing in Austin:

Pros:

* Most of trail is gravel.

* Great scenery with lake, waterfowl, and a wide tree variety (cottonwoods to oaks, to pines to palms to even bamboo).

* Mile markers and maps

* Lots of runners, running groups.

* RunTex and their cooler support.

* No bugs! The Congress Ave bridge is home to a HUGE bat colony and despite lots of water for breeding, the bats eat enough bugs that I saw no misquitos!


Cons:

* Texas sun and heat.

* "Washed concrete." I had one running book that described concerte as "the worst surface to run on because it is crushed rock and very hard." "Washed concrete" where waterpressure is used while the concrete is setting to expose whole rocks. It looks real nice, but it is basically washing the crushed rock away to expose rock rock. It is harder than just concrete. The Austin trails replace gravel with "washed concrete on some hills and other areas highly prone to erosion. Also, the sidewalk along Riverside Dr on the SE shore of the lake is either concrete or "washed concrete". It is a hard surface that makes parts of the run very hard.

* Inconsistent water fountains. You need to know and plan your route so the fountains are where you need them. for my route, I ran past many early on when I did not yet need water, and then when I needed water, I did not see a fountain for a couple of miles.

* In one section of the trail, I noticed a BUNCH of these little white plastic signs zip-tied to plants and vines. I looked closer and it said "Beware -- this is poison ivy!" Yikes!