Back on the Wagon!

I guess last week could be described as “recovery” since I started feeling sick (congestion and sore throat) on Monday night, I went to the Lady Gaga concert on Thursday night, and my brother came to visit Friday evening – Monday morning. I ran a total of 18.76 miles. Even though I wasn’t feeling well, I still got out there and did the 5K course around my neighborhood when I could. At least it was something!

Now it’s time to hop back on the wagon and work on the diet (especially limiting the alcohol) and hit the road and trail. I drove out to Samson Park yesterday at 3:00 and tried navigating the trails by myself for the first time. It went very well. I did 2 loops around the green (the easiest of the three – green, blue, and red – courses), which amounted to 5.40 miles in 1:08:41. I felt like I did a better job carrying my momentum downhill with less hesitation.

With the Rocky Raccoon 50-miler looming on the horizon, I decided to sign up for the 30K trail event at “The Falls” on Saturday night, August 14. It’s in Pedernales Falls State Park, which I assume is somewhere near Austin. This will be my first trail race AND my first night race. Yikes! One of my friends, Derek, also signed up. I need to learn all of the basics, like what to pack. There is another trail run in Grapevine in November, but I want to set my marathon date first. If I do Vegas the first weekend of December, that is going to be too close.

My weekend was fun, and involved a lot of calorie consumption rather than burnage. I picked up my brother at the airport on Friday night and we came home and picked up Cliff. Then the three of us went to Boo Ray’s (Cajun food) for dinner and then the Eagle’s Nest for some drinks. I was pretty impressed with the country band. They played Pat Green, Tom Petty, etc.

Uncle Aaron brought GusGus a new toy:


But Uncle Aaron needs to pick on someone his own size:


My brother and I at the Nest:


My hubby and I at the Nest (we got the memo to wear blue):


On Saturday we had some friends over for a pool party. Gus was excited that in addition to the seven humans, there was also a Dexter Dog!

Gus and Dexter, new FurBFFs:


On Saturday night my brother and I went out in Dallas. We made the smart decision to Priceline a hotel room so that we could take a cab to and from the hotel and then crash over night. We had a great time, and we weren’t even miserable on Sunday morning.

Chillin’ with Cher in Dallas:


Sunday was a lazy day with lots of eating. My brother, Cliff, and I went to Cracker Barrel for brunch. I hadn’t eaten in almost 24 hours, and I was starving! I stuffed my face with 2 biscuits, a cornbread roll, homestyle chicken (two huge pieces of boneless fried chicken), hash brown casserole, and dumplings. Yikes! I took a nap in the afternoon and ate even more bad food (3 cookies and some crackers with spinach dip) when I woke up from my slumber. Then my brother and I went to Taste of Italy (the Italian restaurant up the street) for dinner. At that point, my stomach was begging me to stop the madness!