Top 12 Reasons I Loved the Austin Half Marathon
Why not 10? 'Cause everything's bigger in Texas!
The first few reasons are due to the fact that the race was in Austin, so that meant... (for those of you only interested in the race-specific stuff, skip to #6)
1. Not one, but two nights at one of my favorite sushi restaurants on the planet, Kenichi (5th and Colorado). The fish was just as fresh and delicious as I remembered. If you go, be sure to order the Red River Roll and have Salmon Nigiri for dessert.
2. A visit to the Austin Museum of Art (see today's other post -- here).
3. An excursion to San Marcos (about 30 mi south of Austin) to spend time with Joanna's family. (Joanna aka JoJo and I are not only coworkers, but also great friends and racing buddies.) Since this was my third visit to San Marcos, I've gotten to know the family and they always welcome me with big hugs, great activities and warm hospitality. This time was no different. First, JoJo's nephew Gus took us to Comic Relief, where he and I each bought football cards of some of our favorite players. Gus went for limelighters Peyton Manning and Emmitt Smith, while I went for my beloved but beleaguered Chad Pennington, Laveranues Coles, Curtis Martin and Wayne Chrebet. Then we went back to the house and I jumped at the chance to join the twins, Sophie and Thomas, on the trampoline. Later on, we all had a delicious dinner of BBQ'd steak, shrimp and baked potato. Thank you, Harriet and Allen!
4. Retail therapy. JoJo and Lucy took me to what has to be one of the largest outlet malls in the country, only minutes from Harriet and Allen's house. I scored the deal of the century -- a fantastic Kate Spade coat that originally retailed for $895...and I got it for....$75!
5. Whole Foods. Whole Foods started in Austin, and the downtown store is like Mecca. The store is humongous. They have a nut bar that's almost the size of a full aisle at the SF store where they'll make you a nut butter on the spot with any one of a myriad of nuts. They also have incredible gelato, which in addition to Kenichi is a "must eat" for me whenever I'm in Austin.
Now, for the race-specific reasons I loved the Austin Half...
6. There were fireworks at the start!
7. The weather was spectacular. Not freezing cold (like Phoenix last month) and not blistering hot (like Austin usually is when we do the Danskin Tri there in June). Just right, Goldilocks.
8. I ran with my Shuffle. Until now, I hadn't done so -- I thought the headphones would interfere with me perceiving what was going on around me and that the crowd-fueled adrenaline would be enough. Boy, was I wrong! Having my own music in my ears made the race fly by. Not to mention the gear envy I inspired -- those with larger iPods and even mini's jealously eyed my little Shuffle inconspicuously clipped to my waist.
9. I was properly attired. At the Expo I bought some Asics running pants with compression technology. I have no idea if they really do make your muscles feel better while you're running, but I love their running shoes (brand loyalty alert) and I did feel great the entire race. I also wore some cotton gloves provided by AT&T in the Expo goodie bag that had the AT&T logo emblazoned on them. Do I associate them with having provided a valuable service to me at the race? Absolutely! Will it make me consider AT&T's products and services more in the future? Perhaps....
10. The course was challenging, but beautiful. OK, I live in San Francisco, so I know hills. But I think this course was even more hilly than the Nike Half Marathon course in SF! That said, it was a nice run around some beautiful southern homes, and toward the end it wound around the capitol building. The final stretch down Congress Avenue was a huge promenade -- exhilarating to the point of bringing tears to my eyes.
11. Our hotel, the Omni, was walking distance to the Start/Finish (as well as all the great restaurants, clubs and stores downtown). I highly recommend it to anyone looking to do this race next year.
12. My time... 2:24:03. Though I'd like to be closer to 2:15, my goal was to beat Phoenix (a much flatter course) and I did. I also loved the 72-year old man who asked me my time at the finish, and when I told him, said, "That's great, but of course you're in your 20's!"
I had to break it to him that, in fact, I'm about to turn 40 in a few months. Speaking of, as many of you know, in honor of my big b-day this year, my goal is to do one race per month and in the process raise $4,040 for Girls on the Run. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me so far with your donations and words of encouragement. If you haven't made a donation yet and would like to, please visit my fundraising page at www.firstgiving.com/laurafrofro.
UPDATE Race photos & video. I cross the finish line at the end of the video. Check out how I edge out the competition!
UPDATE: Check out my Google Map of the locations mentioned in this post.
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