Floatin'

Kyle and I have been wanting to "float the river" for a while now since we have lived in Dallas. Kyle set the plan in motion and we recruited some locals (Daniel and Chelsey Youman) and Matt McAuley. We set out on Friday after work and headed south towards Austin. We met and stayed with some of Chelsey's friends who so graciously hosted us. I have never been to Austin so I was interested to see what it is all about. We stayed in San Marcos and were introduced to "river surfing" that evening... it's is exactly what it sounds like which is also confusing because how do you surf a river? It can happen when there is a man-made wake/wave created in the middle. I did not dare try, it looked way intense. Chelsey toyed with the idea but wasn't given full encouragement when she heard some people try for multiple summers just to get up. Although we didn't try it was a nice night to sit and watch and take in the views! 

The next morning we woke up and prepared for a day floating the river. We started off the correct way with some breakfast tacos from the local gas station. Again sounds weird, but it's the way to go! So delicious. We had a few minor set backs when getting tubes and such ready for the river. Apparently the whole state of Texas decided to float the same day. None the less we were off and floatin'! It was a perfect day, nice and hot. It was much different than any floating that we have done in TN. A bit slower and a much bigger crowd but it was definitely fun! It ended up taking us about 5.5 hours to float-- I have no idea what the distance was? There were so many people that at one point the whole width of the river was blocked with wall to wall people! We also had a mini crisis when we didn't anticipate water shoots and cell phones... happy to report everyone and everything survived. Well wait, take that back... Chelsey's shoe is still MIA. After a full day of fun in the sun we were all pretty tired but rallied for some dinner at the famous Grist Mill. I think everyone got burgers or chicken fried chicken. Once again, the Grist Mill delivered a nice solid meal!

The next day we headed into Austin for a mini city tour and breakfast/ lunch... note this is NOT brunch at Gordough's. It was pretty crazy to say the least. Everything had a doughnut in it. I opted for fried chicken and doughnut combination. It was tasty, but very rich and filling so I think I ate about half.. maybe less. After our mini tour we headed to Barton Springs pool. This place was awesome! It is a man made pool filled with spring water. Water was nice and cold on the hot day. 

After an adventure filled weekend, we headed back to Dallas. Everyone was exhausted but Kyle was a trooper and got us home safely! 

Below is some evidence from our weekend: 

Microadventure: Trinity River Audubon Center

Sara and I took a trip to the Trinity River Audubon Center in South Dallas last weekend.  I often complain about the lack of outdoor activities in the Dallas area but there is beauty to be found in all places...

Cedar Ridge Trail Run

Another trail race in the books for me. I ran the Cedar Ridge Trail Run 18k last weekend at Cedar Ridge Preserve which is just 20 minutes outside of Dallas.  This is a place that I run at often so it was fun to know exactly what to expect from the trails coming into the race.

It was another early morning Saturday to get to the start line in time for the 6am gun.  I have been working on running "shorter" distances at faster paces the last month or so in hopes to be able to compete to win this race (18k = roughly 11.5 miles).  I had no idea what the competition was going to be like but I knew I wanted to get up with the leaders and stick with them.  If that meant I was going to have a blow up towards the end of the race, I was fine with that.  I wanted to push myself as much as I could.

The race was two laps around the Preserve.  I run there a couple times a month so I knew exactly what to expect.  For the first time in a race, it was completely dark at the start.  Headlamps were on for the first 25 minutes of the race.  We took off from the line and I found myself in the lead pack of three from the start. We ran the first three miles at a pace that I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold for the entire race.  Around mile 4, I let the two guys in front of me take off.  I wasn't able to keep up with them on some of the steeper climbs.  My hope was that they would tire out and I would be able to catch them later in the race.  Cruising along, I finished the first lap in around 49.5 minutes.  I dropped off my headlamp and shirt with Sara, grabbed some water and gel from the aid station and continued on.  I kept hoping that I would get a view of the guys in front of me so I knew where I stood but I kept catching the slower 36k runners (there were 36k, 18k, and 9k races all going on at the same time) but couldn't catch up to the two guys leading my race.  The second lap was a bit slower for me.  I walked many of the uphills that I ran during the first lap.  My legs (and lungs) definitely the increased pace.  I ran the last couple miles of the race scared thinking someone was going to catch me from behind.  Ultimately no one did and I finished in third place with a time of 1:43:46, five minutes slower than the winner.  Overall, I was happy with the effort.  I was hoping to possibly win the race but I gave it all I had and just got beat by two guys that were faster than me on that day.

RESULTS