13.1

Sunday was the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll Marathon and 1/2 Marathon. Months and months ago Nathan and I had signed up to run the 1/2. Well, we didn't run the whole thing but at least we finished it and got our pretty medals. In training, we only worked up to 5 1/2 miles. Then my back would freak out. So, we decided to just run the first 5-6 miles and finished the race with walking and jogging.

Our morning started very early. We had our outfits picked out. In fact, a major cold front blew in so we woke up to 35 degrees outside. Nathan didn't have the appropriate clothing so I did what any caring wife would do, I went shopping for him on Saturday while he worked all day. I spent about $500 between Target (sorry, Daniel) and Academy. Don't worry, we're getting most of our money back when I return all the things he didn't wear. Basically, I shopped so he would have an "at home" dressing room session . We didn't know the weather was going to change so drastically otherwise earlier in the week he could have shopped for himself.

The bands were a lot of fun and they really kept you going. Every mile we'd mute our i-pods and listen to the band and run while we clapped our hands to the beat above our heads in the air.
At mile 9.6 our friends Bethany and Joy were there to cheer us on. It was great to see them. They made a sign and switched out names for all of our friends participating. We had to stop and give them a hug.

We had a 12 min mile up until mile 6. Then, we slooooooooowed down. We finished at 3:28. Next time we plan to train for a full 12 weeks and follow a good training schedule. I would like to do another 1/2 marathon in the near future and I'd also like to work toward a new personal best. The time to beat for me is 2:48 (Houston 2007).

It was a fun day, overall. I'll sum it up with my most memorable moments...
5. Seeing Randy Beamer, news anchor for WOAI Channel 4. He was right in line with us to hop on the shuttle
4. Running through the beautiful King William District.
3. Passing the Alamo. It was really neat being in a mob of people all participating in this huge event.
2. The B-A-G-E-L-S after the race. Gosh, either I was delirious and starving or it was the best thing I've ever eaten. EVER!
1. Doing this with Nathan.

Backyard BBQ

Sunday we had a little BBQ to celebrate Joy's birthday. She had her 2 girlfriends from high school in town, Nicki and Cayla. We had a nice evening just hanging out with friends! Happy Birthday, Friend!!

Here's the littlest party goer...

3 Years!

Yesterday Nathan and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary and it really was the perfect day! We both were off from work. I had a hair cut at 8:30 and Nathan slept in. When I got home we watched a little TV...naturally, there was a ton of election results coverage. I definitely wanted to see a little of The View since they are all so opinionated on this "Hot Topic". I loved what Elizabeth said and I can relate to her on this...."I may not have been the first to stand behind Obama but now I will jump in that line and support our president because that is what as an American I believe we should do". Well said!

I digress. Back to our anniversary.

We had brunch at The Gunther House and it was delightful! Nathan had pancakes and I had a waffle. We shared an order of biscuits and gravy. Mmmm! Everything is good with gravy. After we ate we drove out to Vanderpool TX to go to Lost Maples. It was a nice drive. About 2 hours. The weather was so nice.

Here's a picture of the start of the East Trail. It's just under 5 miles and gets very, very steep. You'll see in a minute. Since it was a Wednesday the crowds weren't bad at all. The colors were magnificent. The park rangers even said that this year is looking to be "the best in a long time" so if you can, plan an outing to Lost Maples soon and go DURING the week.
Here we are at the top of Lost Maples. It's quite a climb. I've been out a few times and the East Trail is my favorite. I think it's easier to take this trail clockwise (it makes a big circle). If you have ever had knee surgery, like me, you'll want to go clockwise too. The left side of this trail is as steep as the right (duh) but the left is mostly small rocks on a steep climb. Hello, can you say WIPEOUT???? Yes, I tend to end up hurt and on the floor when doing outdoor activities. I didn't this trip, thank goodness!
The right side of this trail has more stair like steps which make it easy coming down. Going up is easy for knee challenged people. It's the coming down part that gets tricky and the stairs help.
Nathan is doing an "Olan Mills" pose that I put him in....Once we finished our hike we got back in the car and headed back home. We had dinner reservations at The Melting Pot. Nathan had requested one of their tables in the area they call "Lovers Lane". It's a tucked away hallway with 3 little private booths for couples. After hiking all day we were starving!!Here's our little table for two. It's a half booth and the table is connected to the wall so there's a lot of privacy. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and The Big Night Out.
Mmmm!
A 4 course meal starting with cheese fondu, next a cobb saldad followed by the main course Lobster, Filet Mignon, Shrimp, Chicken, Pork, Tortellini and finally, we chose to end our feast with their Turtle Chocolate fondu.

Here's how I felt at the end of the night...

Happy Anniversary to my best friend! You sure do make life a whole lot of fun.