All in the family

Firstly, just a few things about last week's group run. The massive rainstorm (say what?!?) pushed our 7am run time to 3pm. It also forced us off the trail and into the neighborhoods, on a brutal, hill-intensive 4 mile course. I don't have to tell you I sucked wind. Thankfully, my trainer was with me and helped me get through. I love you, trainer. Oh, and we got lost -- not lost in the sense of not knowing where we were, but lost in the sense of "where the heck did our group go?" We found them, and our little detour allowed us to get away with only doing 3.6 miles. But, just so you know, in the summary below I'm calling it 4.

My highlights this week were getting to cheer on my sister-in-law as she ran the Capital to Coast Relay (the LONGEST running relay in the U.S.) and getting to hang out (and run) with my brother.

I don't fully understand the Capital to Coast relay, but the gist of it is that teams of 8-12 people run from Austin to Corpus Christi (223 miles), starting on Friday morning and finishing Saturday night (yes, they run through the night.) My rock star sister-in-law ran 4 legs of this race, a total of around 23 miles, with about an hour (or less) of sleep. This calls to mind the t-shirt we saw one of the runners wearing -- it said, "Running is a mental sport. We're all insane." Yep. That about sums it up.

But I gotta tell you, the insanity is contagious. We had a blast driving around from point to point and cheering her on. We are super proud of her.

After dropping my sister-in-law at an exchange point near Buda, my brother and I headed to Town Lake (or Lady Bird Lake, for you people who like to rename stuff) for a 3-mile run. It was noon already and a little warm and a lot sunny, but I did it and even sprinted the final tenth of last mile. I guess little sisters never quite outgrow the desire to impress their older brothers. We wrapped up the afternoon with some tasty tacos from Chipotle. And yes, I ate all 3.

Yeah, we're at a football game. We talked about running.

Summary of the week:

• Sunday, Oct. 9 -- 4 miles (see anecdote above) with the group (sort of)
  
• Tuesday, Oct. 11 -- 2.7 miles at the track
• Friday, Oct. 14 -- 3 miles at the lake with my brother
• Sunday, Oct. 16 -- 5 miles with the group