Friend of Jack highlights my weekend.

On Friday I went to the doctor and got some medication for the cough, sore throat, headache, stuffed ears and runny nose I've had for awhile. Usually I just let things ride their course and tough it out, but a couple of friends scared me into going to the Dr to get medication asap. Talk about pneumonia and 3 week coughs was all i needed to make a 1pm appointment to get me some drugs. When I got home I slept all afternoon, then went and studied American history and political facts.

Saturday, I was committed to running the run part of the Austin Duathletes Protest Duathlon (run, bike, run) with my friend Erin. We protested: The gypsies that stole my soccer ball" but apparently protesting George Bush for some Section 5 blah blah blah won the best protest. Whatever. That was a stupid protest. At least mine was real and happened to me.

The course wasn't a certified distance, so the times I put up were clearly not real. There's no way I can run a 19:05 5K, followed by a 19:03 5K! Anyway, we ended up winning the relay category, and won some capes, and a cool New Belgium Brewing Company cap. (we're supposed to wear the capes to pub runs, but I'm not convinced that I'm not going to 'misplace' it in my vast and expanzive mansion.)
A couple of people were asking if I even wear caps - I think they were trying to get me to say: "not really, you can have it", but that wasn't going to happen.
Erin kicked butt on the bike, coming in with the 4th or 5th fastest time overall. That was awesome!
Being sick and running was painful. Nothing like coughing your way through to 3 mile trips, and having your body cool down for 50mins in between both runs. I had no energy, but I kept running.

My marathon schedule called for a 3 mile run Sunday, and a 10 mile run Monday, so I switched those around so I can sleep in for work and not get up at 4:20am. Instead, Kerry had the brillliant idea of running from Moonshadow in Travis country, all the way down to Barton Springs pool on the trails along Barton Creek. Several people showed interest in joining, but come Sunday morning, only 3 of us were parked outside of Barton Springs at 6:45am. Bruce, Kerry and I loaded up in Kerry SUV and drove up to Moonshadow drive.
During the run, we stopped to swim in the creek by the waterfall where we always swim (see photo), and also down by the 360 entrance. It was great to break up the run with a swim!

We had a total of 5 water crossings along the way, and spotted some unusual wildlife. A giant toad, a crawfish, and last but definitely not least a red, yellow and black snake. We debated on if it was a friendly Kingsnake, or a mean Coral Snake, and decided it was "a friend of Jack". I'm not convinced, but I also can't remember the order of the colors now that I can see pitcures on line. Doh! It was still cool to see one, as I get to add it to the other stuff I've seen out there. (deer, toads, brown snake, spiders, insects a plenty, and a coyote).

At the 360 access area, I ran over and got the gallon of cold water I had stashed at 6:20am before our meeting time to refil our water bottles, and then we hung out in the cool water for a good 6 or 7 minutes... (Not too long, or you stiffen up.)

We finally got to the Barton Springs trail head, and went to soak. Erin and Phil were there to meet up with us, but unfortunately, we got there at 8:55 and it's not longer free past 9, so Erin and Phil took off, and we soaked. :(

Anyway, we had a great great run, total running time of 1 hour and 44 minutes, of which about 12 were swim and rest minutes. About a 9 mile run, but on a trail, everything counts as longer.