Weekly Adventure: Enchanted Rock

When I'm traveling out of this glorious state (or country for that matter) people will inevitably find out I'm from Texas, usually because I've dropped "y'all" into a conversation. The first question they ask, after telling me how they feel about George W. Bush and telling me where to stick it is, "do you ride a horse?" After politely telling them that I am from an actual city, where we have real cars, paved roads AND stop lights, I try to describe the variety of landscape we have here in Texas that does not include horses. For the record, I hate horseback riding. It’s not that I hate horses; it’s just that I don't trust them. They are bigger and stronger than me AND smarter, why the hell would I put myself on their back and at their mercy? That’s just asking for trouble if you ask me. I’ll pet them, while avoiding eye contact, feed them a carrot and then go play with an animal my own size. Something that does not have the power to break both my arms, legs and back, like a goldfish. But I digress…

One of the many things I love about my home state besides rattlesnakes, Republicans and Houston is the wide variety of landscape. Granted, sometimes you have to drive 10 hours clear across the state to get there, but still, Texas has it all. We may not have the most amazing mountain views (I’m talking to you Colorado) or the most pristine beaches (Florida has got to be good for something; otherwise no one under 65 would ever venture there.) Texas has a little taste of it all, a smorgasbord if you will, of mountains, deserts, plains, rolling hills, big cities, small towns, coastline (367 miles of it to be exact), numerous rivers, lakes, streams, bayous (Hi Beaumont!) and many other things that give this state it’s larger than life reputation. Or maybe that is just the people. Either way, there is more to Texas than just horses and the people who rode in on them. 

Last week, I finally ventured to one of these spots that make the landscape here unique: Enchanted Rock. Enchanted Rock is a state park with a giant pink granite dome (and other rock formations) peeking out of the tree covered hills.  It’s located in the heart of the hill country 20 miles north of Fredericksburg and two hours west of Austin. It's an easy day trip away which is why the place gets so packed on the weekends apparently. And cheap too, entrance fee is $6 per person for day trippers. My friend and I (both being gainfully funemployed) drove up on a Thursday afternoon so we could avoid the crowds and climb the rock during “magic hour” (the last couple hours of light before the sun sets). It was a warm, sunny and gorgeous spring afternoon. After wandering around a bit trying to find the right trail, we headed up to the summit which is a steep hike but totally doable, especially if you actually stay on the marked trails the whole time. There are multiple trails in the area, we just took the main one up to the top. We took a “creative” way down and had to climb over a few boulders, but that made it that much more fun.  Plus, we really had to something to earn the beers we stopped for in Fredericksburg before heading back home.  The view on top of the rock was incredible and the pictures really don't do it justice, but they are still quite perty if you ask me.

 

Trying to find the summit trail

On our way up the rock

View from top of rock, there are people on that other one too

Shawn on the edge of the world

Prickly pear on the summit

Magic hour

Shawn is really strong

As am I

Colorful moss on a boulder

The boulders we climbed down

Deer on the summit at sunset

Sunset

Weekly Adventure-ish: Colorado!

 Colorado will always be my second favorite state, after Texas obviously. Last week's "Weekly Adventure" gets and "-ish" on the end because technically I've been there before but I think it still counts since I don't live there. I lived in Colorado Springs for four glorious years during college and make it to Denver and/or the mountains at least once a year to visit friends. Last weekend I flew to Colorado and drove up to the mountains to stay with one of my BFFs in Frisco, CO and her family (not to be confused with Frisco, TX - the very large and very non-mountainous suburb of Dallas) and then drove back to Denver to spend the weekend with another bestie and meet her adorable 3 month old son.  One of the many things I love about Colorado is the variety of weather - it could be 60 degrees and sunny in Denver and 10 degrees and snowing 70 miles west up in the mountains. This meant I froze my fingers in Frisco while walking around the snow covered town and got sunburned in Denver the next day running on trails with my friend's wild puppy, Henry. The other thing I love is the incredible scenery no matter where you are, so long as the clouds don't cover the Rockies. Turns out that John Denver is not full of sh*t, man...

Pikes Peak (way off in the distance) while flying over the Springs

Driving through one of the tunnels

Tunnel

Mountains! And I-70

Cold afternoon in Frisco, CO

Snow and streams in Frisco

Condo in Frisco

Gorgeous day in Frisco

Driving back to Denver

Running around Broomfield

Field at the park

Big open park in Broomfield, view of the mountains

Henry Cotter, my running partner for the day

Weekly Adventure Destination #3: Volunteering at the Austin Marathon

Here is another weekly adventure that I am late in posting about (forgive me, I'm now on Oklahoma time).

I didn't run the Austin Marathon this year, giving my joints a little time off, but I did volunteer. I handed out medals to the marathon finishers after they crossed the finish line. This may not count as a "weekly adventure" since I have technically been there before, but not on the other side, as a volunteer. Since I'm making up all the rules for this challenge, I also get to break them, so this one totally counts! And holding 25 medals on your arm and being on your feet for 4 hours is actually a workout!

I've crossed the finish line on two marathons so far, and it took me HOURS to suffer through them both, but you can bet I will attempt a few more in the years to come, especially after watching so many people complete this feat. The coolest part about volunteering was that I watched the winners sprint their way across the finish line. The men's champion Keith Pierce, finished in 2:29:25 (average pace 5:42/mile) and the women's champion, Desiree Ficker, in 2:50:35 (average pace 6:31/mile). I can barely finish a half marathon in that time! After the elite finished, the super fast came in under 3 hours, the really fast in under 3:30, the oh-my-god-I-just-qualified-for-Boston in under 3:40, the oh-shit-I-didn't-qualify-for-Boston in over 3:41, the masses started around the 4 hour mark and then the rest trickled in, after I my shift was over.

When I ran the Austin Marathon in 2009 and 2010, I was in the post-5 hours group, alternating between jogging, walking and practically crawling. I was definitely in pain as I crossed the finish line, but the joy of finally being done drowned everything else out; I definitely had tears in my eyes as I took my medal from a kind volunteer. At this year's finish line I saw tears, vomit, bloody nipples (mostly men), sweat, elation, joy, pain, crippling pain, laughter, grimaces and many big smiles. Marathons are not a spectator sport. There is nothing that compares to actually completing 26.2 miles on your own two feet after months of preparations and training. I missed that feeling this year, but lived vicariously for a few hours through those awesome athletes who ran the Austin Marathon on the warm and humid morning of February 20th.

I didn't take too many photos, since I was busy sorting and handing out the medals, but here are a few...

The finisher medals, neatly hanging before the race

Prepping for the winners

Piles on the table

Finishers

close up of medals

Volunteer line

Halfway Home

This past Saturday, February 26th, marked the halfway point in the 100 days challenge. That's day 50 for the mathematically challenged folks. To celebrate I went out for a weekly adventure. I ran for over 100 minutes on the "Pathfinder Parkway," a paved 10 mile (or so) trail that runs through the middle of this little town. I probably only ran 7-8 miles at a pretty slow place, stopping to take photos every few steps it seemed. 

Every half mile for for three miles, there were mileage markers with inspirational quotes on either side. I must say, these were neat to see out on the trail and gave me some interesting things to ponder as I pounded the pavement on day 50. Here are the ones I ran by...

 

Throughout the past 50 days, I've read over 5000 pages, completed 18 books, did over 5000 minutes of physical activity, finished one film job, found some inspiration for the "career" direction I think I want to go, visited some fun, new outdoor spots, started another film job, and can finally button my favorite pair of pants again. This is all great news, but the best part about the past 50 days I am am creating new, healthy habits that I hope will stick with me for life. So far, I think it is working.

Now that I am living it up in a hotel room for a month, I have free wifi and cable TV at my fingertips whenever I want. I've wasted some time surfing the web, watched a few too many episodes of Hoarders and various reality shows, but mostly I find myself wanting to read when I have down time.  Instead of wasting my time and energy mindlessly staring at the TV for hours, I want to put my mind to work, and not just because I "have to" read 100 pages. I want to. I love learning (hence all the nonfiction books) and also love good page-turning stories more than I love watching another couple buy/redo another house or another overweight person getting fit, as inspirational as it may be. Now, I'd rather be working on myself and improving my mind than watching other people do something good (or idiotic) on TV. 

Most days, the physical activity part isn't too hard either. Knowing how good I feel after a workout makes it easier to get up early or stay up late to get in my minutes. Plus I can kill two birds with one workout by reading while I bike or watching bad TV while I do my Pilates DVD.

Pilates in the front, Biggest Loser in the back

Some days, it is still hard to find that motivation to get up at 6:30 in the morning, when I could be sleeping until 8:15 (like I did today, oops). As I lie in bed bargaining with myself for "10 more minutes and then I'll get up," there is another voice that whispers "you never regret a workout, but you do regret skipping one" over and over again until I get up. It usually works, though sometimes I still sleep in and have to get in my minutes later in the day or at night after work (like tonight). Thankfully there is a mini-gym at the hotel open until 10PM and I can always do my Pilates and yoga DVDs in my room. No matter how tempting it may be to completely skip a workout, I have managed to do my 100 minutes of physical activity every single day for the past 50 days and for that, I am pretty dang proud.
 
I am thrilled that it is all downhill from here, so to speak. I have loved the 100 Days Challenge so far, but it is quite a commitment every day, especially while working again. The hardest part is yet to come since I am now working long hours again for the next few weeks and will be squeezing in my minutes and pages on either side of 12 hour workdays, but I will figure it out. How? The quote below describes it, and was my favorite of all the ones I ran by over the weekend....

To the next 50 days, may you be as productive and enjoyable as the first 50!