Monday, June 25, 2012

Rogue Trail 10K

Kim talked me into running the trail race at Reveille Peak Ranch, she sold it as a Swim, Bike, Run, CAMP weekend like we did in Sommerville a few years ago. Unfortunately, she ended up with bronchitis and didn't get to come, Ingrid ended up riding in Gatesville, and Del couldn't bring a bike since he had to go straight to the airport on Sunday after the race. So it was mostly a camp, hang out at RPR, and trail run weekend.

Jeff and I scouted some potential bike routes on the way out, not a lot of luck, the "best" looking road was mostly gravel and had gates across it!
gate that I opened (and closed) so we could drive on the county road
We went through a couple gates but eventually just turned around and went back to the main road. We got out to RPR and chose a campsite, then hiked around part of the run course and Jeff mountain biked while Del and I SUPed and played in the water. We watched the sun set and the stars come out from the roof of the pavilion after Ingrid got there.
Del and I SUPing
Jeff at a creek crossing
Sunset
Waiting for the start
 I had never done a trail race before and very little trail running. So my only goal was to not get hurt! When people started lining up for the 10K start, I went way to the back, unfortunately that meant I had to walk some of the single track at the beginning. The course was beautiful but pretty brutal too.

Mostly uphill and lots of rough rock to try and run on. About a mile in, I ended up in front of 3 or 4 other runners and we stayed together most of the run. It was actually tough to stay on the course and I had to stop and look for course markers a few times. I also had to stop to look at the view a few times. By biggest concern about the race (aside from getting hurt) was that I'd spend tons of time trying to get out of the way of the fast 30K runners. About mile 3, a few of the fastest 30K runners started to pass us, but they were all really nice and getting out of the way wasn't really an issue at all. At the last water stop, most of our little group kept going, but Mandy and I decided to take a detour up to Decision Point where the owners of RPR got married, totally worth it!
Pretty flowers, and that's Mandy behind me

Mandy and I ran the last 2 miles to the finish, my first trail 10K was actually just over 7 miles, but I had a great time, made a new friend and I'm thinking about doing another trail "race".


Mandy and I finishing


Bike to Work Day 2012

 I look forward to Bike to Work Day every year, yes, I bike to work most days, but on Bike to Work Day, biking to work is like a party! They set up breakfast station around town and I usually eat 3 or 4 breakfasts and have at least 3 cups of coffee before work! This year Jeff had the day off, so he was going to ride with me to work. Linda and Josh met at our house and it turns out they both had the day off too, so Linda renamed it "Escort Heather to Work Day." Monica met us along the way.
Airplane with a propeller that spins as Jeff rides
 As usual, first stop was The Peddler
Linda, Jeff, Monica, Josh & me at The Peddler
 Second stop was Dolce Vita about a quarter mile down the road :)
Jeff, Josh, Monica & Linda at Dolce Vita
That's when things got interesting. Linda and I do Bike to Work Day every year, and every year we stop at Thunderbird Coffee on Manor. Neither of us looked at the breakfast station map, we just assumed. So we rode across I35 out to T-Bird...and there were no bikes there! We talked to some of the organizers later and they said they felt like there were too many stops so they got rid of a few this year. Guess we'll actually look at the map from now on!
At Freewheeling
Next stop Freewheeling, it worked out that we rode a little extra because we were actually hungry enough to eat another breakfast taco by the time we got to Freewheeling. Normally, I head to work after Freewheeling, but everyone (mostly Josh!) was a bad influence on me and talked me (and Monica) into taking the day off, since it was a beautiful day to ride around Austin!

Now we didn't have a time schedule so we rode down the new Rio Grande cycle track to Mellow Johnny's and hung out there awhile.
at Mellow Johnny's
Then we went over to City Hall, but by then they had taken down the breakfast stop, so we headed over to Austin Java, because we really needed another cup of coffee- yeah right!
City Hall

all the bikes and Monica at Austin Java
Jeff had been wanting to ride the metrorail forever, so we decided this was a great opportunity since Austin Java is just a few blocks from the downtown station. So we rode over to the station, put our bikes on the train and rode the train about 3/4 of the way home. Perfect finish to an awesome Bike to (places other than) Work Day!
Bikes on the train