After a week of TAKS testing at school, I was ready for a morning on the trails. On Saturday, I met Chris at Exxon at 5AM (Jean and Larry both had to bail due to family sicknesses), and we headed out to Hill Country State Natural Area for 20 miles of fun. We strapped on our headlamps and took off under a cloudy night sky. We had hoped for a breeze, but it never materialized, although it did remain overcast and relatively cool (compared to what we usually get this time of year). Anyway, we did our customary 10 mile loop, with one minor change – we reversed directions, heading over Boyles Bump, then Cairns, and finally Lucky Peak. After a quick refuel at the car (Chris opted to save the spicy pepper Tanka bar for after the run – good idea), we headed back out for 10 miles over trail 8 and 9. Chris had run this exact route last weekend, and I was happy to get some time in on these lesser run trails that are part of the Bandera 100K course. Chris was feeling good on this loop, and he pushed his way up the hills and cruised the rest. I tried my best to keep up and ended up feeling good for the last couple miles. We ended up logging just over 19 miles, and I felt pretty good most of the time. Even a bad day at Bandera beats a good day most anyplace else.
Sunday saw the return of Liza to Texas (actually she got back on Friday but took a deserved day off from running). Chris, Jean, Tony, Liza, and myself met early for a 10 mile run through McAllister Park. It was great to catch up with Tony and Liza and hear some stories from Liza’s trip to the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. Aside from a nice fall from Chris (complete with sound effects and a roll), the run was fairly uneventful. The weather was humid and the pace faster than my Bandera-weary legs would have liked, but I had a great time. It’s nice to have such a great group of running friends to share the trails with. I’m really lucky.
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