Austin Road Trip
My first few days spent away have been in Austin.
After spending my first night on the road in a Walmart parking lot (which was surprisingly peaceful and comfortable!!), I made it to the Austin Lone Star RV Park. Nice place!! Also only a few minutes from my friends Kim and Anissa.
I've been to Austin multiple times so the point wasn't to tourist around, but just to spend some time with my friends and hang out in real life style. While Kim biked 40 hilly windy miles Saturday (that I missed getting to by about 30 minutes), I got settled in with the RV. Jake and I just hung out and got some work done. Dinner at Trudy's for some stuffed avocados and Firemen 4 beer.
On Sunday, we ran 9 miles around Town Lake. Very cool! This path/running trail is CLEAN, safe, and beautiful. There were tons of people out and about...dogs, cyclists, you name it! And there's a kayak, swim area that even holds open water swim races. If I ever live in Austin, it will be somewhere in this area, ideal for a triathlete. A quick shower and takeout lunch from Torchy's Taco. We ate takeout cause we shared our tacos with Anissa at the hospital...
Anissa gave me a tour of the microbiology section of the hospital's lab. This is where they analyze your samples (think swabs, urine, and poo) and determine basically what you have and what medicines will fix it. It was gross and interesting all at once. Anissa showed me what a few different yucks look like to include salmonella, yeast, and strep. Oh, I saw some feces bacteria in the microscope too. YUCK! They all laughed at me because I insisted on wearing a mask. Hey, I've got an Ironman this weekend!! Their insistence to not touch anything had me nervous!
Next we went to the original Whole Foods. Seriously, it had a parking garage. Not just a parking garage though, it was like a MALL parking garage! Stocked full of police support and everything. It was serious! Inside was a beautiful world of colors and aromas and tastes and PEOPLE <--- all walks of life. I love Whole Foods. We did a little shopping and headed back to the house for some grilled cowboy burgers and Pinot Noir.
Monday I took Kim to work and she let me borrow her car. I drove out to one of her favorite biking loops and hit a solid 90 minutes before the rain. Whoever said Texas is flat? They lied.
I spent the rest of the day cuddled up with Jake while it poured. It was really nice to just relax. Picking Kim up later that afternoon we went to her gym. The biggest gym I've ever seen in my life. Everything truly is bigger in Texas. A final swim gave me a little over 3,000 yards and Kim swam her farthest ever. Boom. Let's go get SUSHI...
Yanagi Japanese rocked our worlds with smoked salmon and fresh sliced tuna. I think I'm going to write them a review...
This morning I'm going to continue to Houston. Athlete check in starts tomorrow so I'm anxious to get settled in and prepared for my race. Kim and Anissa, thank you for being such great hosts!! I appreciate your time and hospitality; you are GREAT friends!!
After spending my first night on the road in a Walmart parking lot (which was surprisingly peaceful and comfortable!!), I made it to the Austin Lone Star RV Park. Nice place!! Also only a few minutes from my friends Kim and Anissa.
I've been to Austin multiple times so the point wasn't to tourist around, but just to spend some time with my friends and hang out in real life style. While Kim biked 40 hilly windy miles Saturday (that I missed getting to by about 30 minutes), I got settled in with the RV. Jake and I just hung out and got some work done. Dinner at Trudy's for some stuffed avocados and Firemen 4 beer.
On Sunday, we ran 9 miles around Town Lake. Very cool! This path/running trail is CLEAN, safe, and beautiful. There were tons of people out and about...dogs, cyclists, you name it! And there's a kayak, swim area that even holds open water swim races. If I ever live in Austin, it will be somewhere in this area, ideal for a triathlete. A quick shower and takeout lunch from Torchy's Taco. We ate takeout cause we shared our tacos with Anissa at the hospital...
Anissa gave me a tour of the microbiology section of the hospital's lab. This is where they analyze your samples (think swabs, urine, and poo) and determine basically what you have and what medicines will fix it. It was gross and interesting all at once. Anissa showed me what a few different yucks look like to include salmonella, yeast, and strep. Oh, I saw some feces bacteria in the microscope too. YUCK! They all laughed at me because I insisted on wearing a mask. Hey, I've got an Ironman this weekend!! Their insistence to not touch anything had me nervous!
Next we went to the original Whole Foods. Seriously, it had a parking garage. Not just a parking garage though, it was like a MALL parking garage! Stocked full of police support and everything. It was serious! Inside was a beautiful world of colors and aromas and tastes and PEOPLE <--- all walks of life. I love Whole Foods. We did a little shopping and headed back to the house for some grilled cowboy burgers and Pinot Noir.
Monday I took Kim to work and she let me borrow her car. I drove out to one of her favorite biking loops and hit a solid 90 minutes before the rain. Whoever said Texas is flat? They lied.
I spent the rest of the day cuddled up with Jake while it poured. It was really nice to just relax. Picking Kim up later that afternoon we went to her gym. The biggest gym I've ever seen in my life. Everything truly is bigger in Texas. A final swim gave me a little over 3,000 yards and Kim swam her farthest ever. Boom. Let's go get SUSHI...
Yanagi Japanese rocked our worlds with smoked salmon and fresh sliced tuna. I think I'm going to write them a review...
This morning I'm going to continue to Houston. Athlete check in starts tomorrow so I'm anxious to get settled in and prepared for my race. Kim and Anissa, thank you for being such great hosts!! I appreciate your time and hospitality; you are GREAT friends!!