California, ACL, Training....Time Flies!
As usual, the past few weeks have flown by so fast I haven't had a chance to post.
My Trip!
This is Kristen and I in San Diego in Old Town, the day that I left. It was hard to leave! I had a great time in her beautiful city- seeing the sights, eating great food (too much of it), drinking wine, and most importantly - catching up.
ACL
The next weekend we headed to ACL fest for 3 days of music, sun, and food. We were able to catch quite a few bands that we wanted to see (Cat Power(!), Aimee Mann, TV on the Radio, Frederico Aubele, Ween, Jose Gonzales, KT Tunstall, Phoenix....But we missed a few good ones too (Flaming Lips, Gnarls Barkley, Gomez) and we couldn't hear Willie Nelson from where we were sitting, so we left early- bummer. I really thought that taking a 5 year old to an event like ACL was going to be difficult, but it was actually pretty easy and really fun. We brought along an umbrella for shade and a notebook and pens for Marcel to draw with and he was perfectly happy sitting on a blanket, listening to the bands and drawing.
A few more pictures can be found here. I had a great time, and have my sights set on other weekend long festivals in the future. If you can, you should try to make it to Austin for this festival- the bands were great!
Hiking Plans
So it looks like my brother and I have narrowed down a section of the Appalachian Trail for our hike this summer. We are looking at Vermont, from near the state line up to where the Long Trail and the Appalachian trail split after Killington Peak, I think it is just over 100 miles. The section that we will be hiking is where the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail overlap, so we should be hiking with other folks doing thru-hikes as well. Now, I need to start getting some gear together. And a book about the trail would be a good idea...
This is my brother/hiking partner and Marcel at my grandparent's camp in New York. We both share a love of the outdoors...but my mother has informed me that we do not share the same political views... sounds like there will be some debating going on as well as hiking!
Viva Terlingua!
So I started training for Sunmart a few weeks ago with the Rogue group again. I made the decision to do the 50K instead of the 50M after looking at my crazy October schedule, and then really thinking about what my "goals" are right now. With Marcel's starting kindergarten, and everything else going on in our lives (house stuff, birthdays, visitors, vacations) My focus hasn't been on running as much as it has in the past. I'm still getting out there and running, but it isn't consuming my thoughts the way it used to. I'm not sure if a 50 miler is actually a goal of mine right now, I've been thinking much more about the summer section hike and backpacking trips. I'm also interested in rock climbing, and may join the rock climbing gym (with Marcel) after Sunmart.
In a few weeks we will be heading to Alpine Texas for the Marathon 2 Marathon race. I will be doing the relay with a friend, and Zack will be running the full marathon. This will be the first race Zack and I will run together (though I will finish at the 13.1 mile mark) and I am really looking forward to it. In addition we have plans to go to Big Bend, Terlingua, and Marfa- Texas places I have yet to see!
