The Almost 15 Mile Long Run at Town Lake



*These pictures are not in order! *

Today we ran at Town Lake in downtown Austin. I was really looking forward to running there as we haven't run there in over a year. I was majorly dragging butt to get out the door as I was tired and am a baby when it comes to the cold. When we got there and I started running, I was really cold the first mile and pushed it too hard. I ended up starting out too fast and paid for in the second mile. But I did get warmed up so there was that! I refilled my water on the 2nd mile and continued on!

Mile 1- 12:43
Mile 2- 15:51

The light started to come up and everything was just so awesome to look at. I really think running in a different area then what you are used to helps brighten your run. More people started to come out to run as well. I really love people and dog watching here. There is always such a variety of people. I saw a lot of UT college runners. They were SKINNY and NAKED! Not really naked but a lot of them had little tiny shorts on and no shirts. I'm thinking to myself, it's like 50 degrees! Aren't you cold with no fat on you?

Mile 3- 13:05- gel
Mile 4- 14:01

So, the town lake loop, at least where I was starting from, was a 10 mile loop. Since I was planning on going about 15 miles and since the town lake trail is pretty flat, I decided for distance and elevation I was going to run up and down every set of stairs that came by way throughout my run. After about 9 miles though, I was WAYYYYY too tired to go out of my way to go up and down stairs though but at least I managed for 9 miles!

( These are views from some of the stairs going up and down.)

Mile 5- 17:39- bathroom break
Mile 6- 13:30
Mile 7- 14:20- waffle bar
Mile 8- 14:09

Something that really annoyed me during this run, however, was that all the bathrooms were locked. What is up with that? Fortunately though, I saw Vince go to the Porta Potties by where we parked the car. However, he told me there was no toilet paper. So I tried to hold in but I couldn't. So I took the short cut up the bridge after about 4 miles and used the restroom. After that, miles 6-8 went by pretty fast. The weather started to warm up a little, the waffle bar gave me some energy and life was good. :) So this part was actually my favorite and that made me feel good as usual I really start to drag around the middle.

I mentioned earlier about the people watching, but I think it is also worth mentioning that at Town Lake there is also so much varied scenery. You could be on a trail one moment, then on a bridge overlooking the river, look at the canoes, see sculpture and see art on the walls. It's really pretty cool.
Mile 9- 15:20
Mile 10- 14:50
Mile 11- 14:50- gel

Around this point, I was starting to get really tired, paranoid and cranky. When I was on bridges, I would worry about the weight of everyone on it making it fall. I would die in what would be known as the "The Great Town Lake Bridge Collapse of 2012".

Later, I was running low on water and was getting pretty thirsty. I'm not familar with the area and didn't know where the water fountains where so even though I was thristy, I didn't want to drink my water in case there wasn't another water stop for a while. Finally, I saw a water fountain and a beacon of light fell through the sky and all was good. UNTIL....

I went to the water fountain and no water came out. Then I threw a temper tantrum and starting cussing as I was not in no mood. Pretty Mature, I know. Luckily, it was one of those 3 spouts water fountain, with one on top, one a little lower and one on the floor for the dogs. So the top one didn't work, but the middle one did. Which was good as I was at the point where I was fixin to lie on the floor and drink from the dog fountain.



Mile 12- 14:16
Mile 13- 14:26
Mile 14- 14:40- 3:23:40
.67 miles- 9:05- 13:33 pace

So after 14.67 miles, I was done. I was hoping for 15 miles, but I had nothing left. Still, I am happy for yet another new distance PR and to get to run somewhere different!

Week #13 of marathon training in the bag- 19 weeks left after this

40 PERCENT DONE WITH MARATHON TRAINING!!!!