10/28 Day 19

Miles: 8
Total for week: 26

Notes: Beautiful afternoon to run. I left work a little early to get to the trail before 5pm traffic. Jorge texted as I was driving, and so we were able to run together. My original plan was 4-5 miles, but with someone else there, 8 seemed doable so we decided to run from runtex to mozarts and back along LAB.

This stretch of road/trail is heavily traveled, especially during marathon training season. In fact, my first ever run in Austin was along this stretch. I joined Julie Luft and an old Austin Fit group that included Greg Thomas for a 10-12 miler on a weekend in August. I remember my sunglasses fogging repeatedly, and running back on Exposition feeling strong. It must have been in the summer because there were pools of sweat left after stopping for water. Paul Rodriguez was the coach of that group if I remember correctly. It was that next week that I first met Rosenthal. We both showed up at the Austin High Track to do a workout at the same time, and ended up running it together. Good times.
Here is a picture of Mike. He is leading me in an old Decker challenge that we ran together back in the day. He is an incredibly talented runner and musician, and I've shared many a long discussion with him about a range of topics on the trails.
I also have included a picture of Julie, who was a great motivator and guide for me as I got more serious about running.