Just What The Doctor Ordered

I’ve been in a funk lately, especially with regards to my running.  This past weekend helped me slowly start to crawl out (I hope) of that funk.  I kicked the weekend off by running hill repeats at Friedrich with Chris and Amanda.  Dave brought the kids out for a hike and to cheer us on.  As crazy as it sounds, running up this steep incline over and over is just what I needed.  I tried my best to keep up with Amanda, but she was just too fast (speed runs in her family).  After Amanda and I finished our workout, she left and I joined Chris as he finished.  It was then that the skies opened up on us, and the rain fell in torrents.  Running down the hill, completely soaked, was the most fun I’ve had running in awhile.  The rain cooled things off, and I almost felt like I was in the mountains.  To top it all off, I was treated to a huge rainbow over the highway on my drive home.

On Saturday I went to Bandera for a run through my favorite local park.  The trip started (as usual) at Tiger Mart, where we witnessed 3 cop cars converge in the parking lot to arrest someone.  Quite  an unusual start to the day.  In all, 10 of us made the early morning drive to Hill Country State Natural Area in the pre-dawn darkness.  We were greeted with cool temps and a gorgeous sunrise.  For May, we really could not have asked for better weather.  For several folks, this was their first ever trip to Bandera.  I am always excited about showing people Bandera for the first time.  

 (Rockhopping At Bandera)

We traversed our “usual” route, knocking out Lucky Peak, Cairns Climb, and Boyle’s Bump, followed by Ski Island and Ice Cream Hill.  I really enjoyed the run, as we took time to soak in the views and snap a few pictures, something I don’t do often enough at Bandera.  Spending time on the trail is something I love, and doing it with friends makes it even better.  Having nearly perfect weather was icing on the cake, although I am secretly looking forward to the day the “newbies” get to run in the 100 degree heat at Bandera J

(View From Boyle's)

(Travis and Stefan Taking In the Views)