In 2018, we decided we needed some specific goals oriented around physical activity. The year before had been chaotic, with work and kid schedules. Anticipating a more routine year ahead, we decided it was time for stability. Also, aging bodies needed something to offset excessive food and alcohol. Simple math – more (many more) calories need to be burned to compensate for diets like ours. Someone recommended the Austin Marathon – the half would be 13.1 miles of hills, starting in the city, wandering around the river, and finishing up downtown. Easy enough, said the sacrificial victims …

Friday 2018 02 16

We headed south on a Friday afternoon, leaving right after work and arriving in the Temple area by dinner time. We stopped at The Gin at Nolan Creek, a former cotton gin and mill turned bar and grill. We’d stopped a few years before and enjoyed the atmosphere and menu, and the beverage selection didn’t hurt, of course. The location is perfect – there’s a balcony overlooking the Leon River, which winds through downtown Belton, and the local and transient crowds are always fun to watch. Dinner and drinks accomplished, we set the goal of getting to Austin at a reasonable hour.

Reaching Round Rock, one of us suggested a “quick” detour to another remembered favorite. Fire in the Hole offered pizza and a memorable selection of beverages, including some beer favorites (sadly did not survive the pandemic, or we’d link it here). We fought the Friday night Round Rock crowd and squeezed into a table in the back, splitting a pizza which would probably be considered second dinner in some circles. We weren’t in those circles.

After pizza, it was time to get to our lodgings and get some rest. Destination: Airbnb, located in the Barton Hills area, just south of downtown Austin. As we got closer, we determined that it’s not very often we’re in Austin, and Barton Hills is a great neighborhood, and it just wouldn’t be right if we didn’t stop at Chuy’s and Odd Duck to make sure they hadn’t run out of food or beverages. Great news, they hadn’t. The day ended at Odd Duck, and in the early morning hours of Saturday, we managed to find our Airbnb. After taking in the authentically funky jam-packed Austin apartment vibe (beads, incense, wicker chairs, candles, shelves overflowing with stuff), we collapsed into bed to rest our floating brains.

Saturday 2018 02 17

This wasn’t race day, so we were allowed to sleep in. Fighting off hangovers, morning officially started around 11am, when we finally got up and explored the little place we had reserved for our half-marathon adventure. Tucked into a corner on the third floor (how did we get in the night before?) this tiny little studio apartment was stuffed full of every knick-knack available to humans. The owner was obviously a fan of flea markets and garage sales and filling up every corner of her residence. There wasn’t a bare spot on the walls, shelves or counters. Discovering a coffee maker, we brewed and slowly consumed what we desperately hoped would alleviate pounding heads. Today our only mission was to retrieve our race packets. We decided this would be more fun on two wheels instead of four, and we unloaded the bikes from the back of the car. First stop – Austin Java for fancier coffee than we had at the knick-knack closet. The Barton Hills area is a great place to explore via bike – we enjoyed some fresh air, wandering around and up and down the hills and soaking up a beautiful day. It was a challenging ride for two hungover travelers, but as usual, we felt the need to punish ourselves for our poor decisions the previous night.

The elevation in south Austin is quite impressive, especially for a city located smack in the middle of this dusty, flat, treeless state.

We rode over to pick up race packets while observing pre-race activities and crowds at Butler Metro Park. Between the complete jam at the convention center, normal tourist traffic, cyclists, students, dog walkers, and homeless people, there was no shortage of people and activities to watch. Exiting the packet pick-up, we of course had to acquire sunglasses, socks, and some souvenir shirts to top off the expense of a half-marathon registration.

Bodies finally recovering from the prior night of excess, our empty stomachs were directing us toward food. Lunch was a small taco joint in the neighborhood with directions in the courtyard. As instructed, we kept out of the fancy tree stump fountain.

After coffee, tacos and exercise, it was time for a reward. We stopped at Shady Grove, a nice little bar just south of the river with a huge outdoor patio. Having failed to learn our lesson the prior day, we consumed sunshine and some beers while watching the crowd. The bathrooms, while in a portable building, were clean and colorful and allowed for phone calls if one needed to communicate with the outside world while taking care of business.

Continuing our exploration, we followed bike trails towards downtown. Crossing one of the many bridges over Lady Bird Lake, we stopped to admire the work of a local graffiti artist. Sadly, this classic phrase has since been partially painted over but in 2018 citizens and residents were able to stand on the bridge and wonder, “what the —- does that mean”?

Austin is a city undergoing transformation. For years it held onto to its unique vibes, a liberal spot in the middle of conservative Texas. Now, there’s evidence of wealth taking over, as the home prices are skyrocketing and the downtown area is constantly under construction, with new businesses and housing evidently requiring modern skyscrapers to ruin the low-key skyline our capitol has always had.

After several more hours of cycling, we headed over to this place – was it a power company? – No, this is Boiler Nine Bar and Grill. Not a power company, but powerful drinks and allegedly healthy food. Immediately we felt underdressed and out of place, showing up in our sweaty biking clothes while other patrons were out for fancy Saturday night dinner.

After dinner, we weren’t quite ready to head back to the claustrophobic apartment. There were more trails to ride and more bars to visit. We did both, wandering around Austin, in and out of bars in bike clothes, and stopping when we came across this huge silver sculpture. Evidently someone liked bikes as much as we do, so much that they constructed an entire work of art and called it “Forever Bicycles.” We stopped to admire the 3-D bikes, and wondered how many beers we had actually had. Was that one bike.. or several?

Navigating downtown Austin on a Saturday night on bicycles demonstrates questionable judgement, but we were willing to be questionable. An example of the risks can be seen below – if you’re far enough over the guardrails of beverage consumption to just park your car over the parking stops, you might not have the best ability to dodge other moving objects. We also found bikes are easier to park.

The influx of money does provide some impressive visuals after dark. As we headed back, we enjoyed the view of Austin reflected in the lake.

There was one last stop on the way back – a convenience store for morning pre-race fuel: eggs, yogurt, cereal. While wandering around the store, we planned our morning: we would get up early, cook some eggs, adequately fuel for the thirteen miles we had committed to run. The final ride back to the apartment was a bit wobbly, especially since at this point, we were carrying grocery bags full of breakfast food on our bike handlebars and some number of adult beverages in our crowded bellies.

We started this day with two things to accomplish: pick up race packets and get in bed sober and early. Pick up packets – check. Early bed – umm.

Completely by accident, we had accomplished quite a bit of distance sans vehicle, burning calories and saving the environment for our children and yours. We were too intoxicated on arrival at the knick-knack hotel to appreciate the spaghetti bowl design we had created on MapMyRun, but knew we’d remember things better with a picture to remind us.

Sunday 2018 02 18

The problem with half marathons is the early start time. The alarm went off too early – around 5:30 AM. We hit snooze. Multiple times. Eggs and breakfast food purchased the evening prior would go untouched that morning, as we finally managed to drag ourselves out of bed and scrambled to find running attire and race bibs. The original plan had something to do with cycling. We had booked this place because it was a reasonable distance from the start line. It would be a great warm up, we thought, a quick bike ride over to the start. After a healthy breakfast and….

Of course that’s not how this morning went. We somehow managed to fight through the fogginess in our brains to dress ourselves, walk down three flights of stairs and drove over to the race. Squinting in the morning light, we were wondering how in the world we were going to run any miles, let alone thirteen point one of them.

It was cold and cloudy on this February morning. Half asleep, we lined up with the likely less hungover runners and waited our turn. We evidently weren’t paying close attention to where we were in the pace line either – at this point we had achieved close to or under 2 hours for half marathons. We’ll blame crowds and not inattention and probable leftover intoxication …

Once the run started, like any other big city event, we eventually crossed the start line and began the bob and weave around the walkers, the strollers, the beginners, the regulars, the cups and shoes and dogs …

The first long leg of the run is a gradual uphill as you work your way into whatever place in the pack you expect to hold. Turning around and rolling downhill for a few miles is a nice break, passing local coffee shops, tire stores, and other runners deciding bushes are perfectly acceptable places to take bathroom breaks. Turning the corner around mile 7, there’s a deceptively flat stretch passing the parks and bathrooms with indoor plumbing instead of twigs and berries. For the uninitiated, all that mellow running in the first 9 miles is intended to lull you before you face the Austin hills you forgot about. With the crowd slowing to a crawl, we managed to hang on to some energy and jog to the top of the last hill heading into downtown. From there, it’s a couple of turns that leave you asking “where is the damn finish line?”

Despite all odds, we were able to fight through the fog. One foot after the other one, music playing in our ears, we ran those miles. All of them.

Somehow, we averaged a little over 9 minutes per mile, coming in at just over two hours.

Post half marathon tradition in Austin includes a picture with the capitol in the background. Those smiles are masking the pain. We tried…

This trusty pair of shoes has survived many races over the last couple years. This might be the last one.

The other problem with half marathons? They’re typically scheduled on Sundays, which means it’s time to head home and prepare for another week of work. We returned to the apartment one last time to pack up. We made sure to grab our unused breakfast food, which remained unused. The Odd Duck brunch menu was to difficult to pass up, so we stopped (along with half the population of Austin) and grabbed some delicious food before leaving Austin.

On our way out, we passed the Shawarma Bites food truck. Not available yet, according to their sign. Comeing soon. We’ll check back …

Of the big-city runs that we’ve done, Austin is probably the best in terms of course, vibe, and run. We might try it next time with a little less pre-race celebration. We’ll be back.