Sisters, Doing it for Themselves

It's always hard to come back to reality after a really fun trip! My trip to Austin with my sister was a whirlwind of activity, food, and fun. Because even out of town, the workouts don't stop. I'm sharing some of the highlights of our trip on this post.

I'm also sharing a synopsis of the last 2 weeks of workouts. Since I was out of town last weekend, I didn't publish my usual weekly wrap-up post. In the interest of brevity, there won't be a lot of workout details in this post, but if you follow me on Instagram (and you should!), then you know I've been moving and posing.

Running: 
There's lots of good stuff happening on the road right now. I logged 91 miles for the month of September, a number that surprised and thrilled me. I'm back to my normal running baseline and have started to push my distances again, hoping to get ready for my December half and maybe a fall half. Here's the data:
Tuesday: 4.17m/39:19
Thursday: 6.03m/52:58
Saturday: 4m/39:22 in Austin!
Tuesday: 6.13m/53:28m
Thursday: 5.78m/50:33m
Saturday: 4.03m/35:06
Sunday: 8.25m/1:13:19

Yoga: 
I did yoga 2 times at the studio and once at home. My favorite class of the week was last Wednesday's class, where we did our entire class at the wall. I really like those classes because, with the stability of the wall behind you, you really get to experience the full pose. It can be humbling too since the wall forces you to find your alignment. I've had the realization many times how much I need to work on my poses after a class at the wall.

CrossFit/Crosstraining: 

My elbow tendonitis is calming down, but I'm still limited with regards to my upper body work. No worries. Becky modified my workouts both weeks, and we focused a little bit more on my lower body. I didn't mind that at all, in fact, I realized how much I missed it. The funniest thing she had me do was pull the weighted sled down the street, 800m there and back 3 times. I had cars coming at me and some geese honking at me. She pulled out the slide board this week which is always my favorite thing to do. This past week, I started back at the playground again with my upper body work, doing some hollow hangs, scapular pull ups, body rows, and push-ups.

Sister trip:
We did a lot of exploring as soon as we got settled into our hotel. First, there was lunch/tacos at Corner. We walked up to the State Capitol, which was as beautiful as promised.

Texas State Capitol

Walked down South Congress to shop. There were some really fun, quirky stores. And other sights..

Treated ourselves to dinner at TRIO at the Four Seasons, which has a peaceful patio on the waterfront:

The following day, we ran 4 miles on the Lady Bird Lake Fitness Trail. It was really warm and humid, but cloudy, and we ran along at Lisa's pace. I could not believe how crowded this path was, but I can see why, since it was mostly shaded.

 

We walked to the University of Texas. I wanted to get some t-shirts for my football loving men. The campus was much farther than we thought and we ended up walking about 3 miles. After shopping, we rewarded ourselves with tacos from Torchy's. I highly recommend them. We took the bus back to the hotel and hung out at the pool the rest of the afternoon. Dinner that night was at Jacoby's with some old friends. Chicken fried steak, anyone? Strawberry cake for dessert?

These guitars were scattered throughout the city

Food trucks everywhere!

Exhausted from all our walking and running the day before, we made plans to go kayaking, but not until we had some Texas BBQ for lunch at Lamberts. 

We launched our kayak and headed up the river in search of Barton Springs, a freshwater pool. There were a lot of kayakers and SUPs out on the water, but no motorboats. The water was calm and it was really peaceful. We found the inlet to the springs and were amazed the color change of the water. It was aqua colored and it was crystal clear. There were a ton of turtles swimming there as well. 

Heading up the Colorado River, destination unknown... 

Urban kayaking, Austin-style!

We wanted to get close to the springs but struggled with the current coming off the damn. We almost collided with a dreadlocked swimmer who came out of the falls. Then we got our kayak stuck on a rock. We couldn't stop laughing. 

Lots of kayakers and canoers. 

Barton Creek, heading back towards downtown Austin

Indeed.

Meanwhile, we took in all the beauty around us. This was a highlight of our trip. Who knew?

On our last day, we had planned to go for a second run but woke up to thunderstorms and heavy rain. A blessing in disguise? Exhausted, we headed to the airport after a delicious breakfast at Annie's Cafe. We talked about our trip on the flight home--both of us thought this may have been our favorite sister trip so far. The sightseeing and shopping were fun. The food was great. I tried some local craft beers with our lunches and gave them all thumbs up. The people were really nice. Our only regret was that we didn't get to see any live music. So it looks like we may have to return...

September was a great month, both on and off the road.

Bring it on, October!

How was your week? Your month? Have you ever been to Austin? Kayaked on Town Lake? Where do you want to go for a weekend getaway?

I'm linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap! And with Angela and Ilka for their Sunday Fitness and Food Link Up!