Spiders and Snakes

I had no plans to run Saturday morning. I awoke early as usual, had my coffee and decided to head out to Government Canyon State Natural Area. I headed out at 7:15 AM for the 15 minute drive. It was surprisingly cool. The ranger at the check in station joked about needing to don a wool cap this morning. 70 degrees, a cool breeze, and low humidity is a welcome change from this awfully hot summer we've been having.
I filled my camel back with water, a hand held with water and stuffed my waist pack with Succeed electrolyte capsules, my camel back pocket with my phone and keys, and my handheld pocket with a lara bar. Where's my hat? Oh s%$t! I forgot my hat. Well I reached for my bandanna and as I checked for my reflection in my trucks windows to wrap my bandanna on my head, I saw my hat on my head.
Going up the trail I walked the steady incline at a fast pace on the Sendero Balcones trail for about the first mile then running the flat, downhills, and slight inclines to the twin Oaks trail at mile 2.5. Twin Oaks from this point is a steady descend. I was surprised to be running through spider webs. I thought for sure some one had been up or down this trail before me today. I had arrived late and had seen more cars than usual at the main parking lot. I wasn't looking for webs and just took it in stride when all of a sudden I caught a SPIDER in my mouth! Right between my lips! Phew! Plaw! Spit, Spit! Phew! What are the odds? RIGHT IN THE MOUTH! Thank God I was in the process of exhaling! It felt like a fuzzy gummy bear with legs! I wiped my mouth over and over again with my bandanna, Rinsed my mouth out with water, and spit over and over again. I was afraid to drink water. What if the spider regurgitated or excreted on me? AAHHH! I've eaten bugs many times in my life running and biking and joked about extra protein but spiders I can do without. Thank you very much!
The rest of my 10+ mile run was great and I felt better as I went on. Even picking up the pace and working on my speed as I attacked the hills and sped up on the flats and downhills, when all of a sudden a mountain biker up ahead waves at me to slow down. As I approached him walking I saw what he was looking at. A checkered garter snake had caught a toad and was in the process of swallowing it. WOW! what a sight. We discussed helping the toad but hey, we've got to let nature play itself out. The toad seemed to have resigned itself to it's fate. Soon another trail runner came by and we watched the process for a while but realized the snake was going to be busy for quite some time. I took some photos with my cell phone camera and we moved on.

RAIN!

It's been SOOOO long since we've had any rain in south Texas. On top of 45 consecutive days of 100+ degree days, we haven't had any substantial rain all year.
Today as I left work I dreaded running in the 100 degree afternoon again. Should I just go to the the gym and hit the elliptical trainer? As I arrived home I felt a cool breeze and off to the west I saw dark clouds! Wow, is rain on it's way? Thunder and lighting off in the distance was exciting! I checked the radar and noticed most of the rain was developing south of my house and moving away, with more moving in from the north, but a big void right over my running route. Aw shucks, no rain for us. Well the cool breeze was pleasing and summoned me to RUN in the creek trails. I wore my gore tex running shoes just in case and wore my iPOD. It felt so nice running under a cloudy sky and a cool breeze. 3 miles into my 6 miler small raindrops were falling on the dry parched dirt trail. Drops of rain were causing subtle puffs of dirt to rise from the dry powder like trail. With more thunder and lighting around I decided to put my iPOD in my camelback pocket. I had read a report where the iPOD acts as a lighting rod and people have been burned in thunder storms while wearing an iPOD. The rain became heavier and I was enjoying every minute. In most of my runs during this summers HOT dry weather I would stop 2 to 3 times on a 6 miler to rest. On this run I did not stop once. As the rain got more intense it felt even better. One block from home. I took off my hat and walked with my face facing the sky. Raindrops hitting my face, I wiped the water off with my hand. Arriving at home I stood on my drive way enjoying the rain as it continued to hit my face. RAIN, So good, so good.

Spinning

I was once asked what I like better, Riding my bike or running. I said running because I just put on some shorts, shoes, and head on out the door. As opposed to biking where I have to load up the bike, drive to a safe location, air up the tires, don all the special gear, ride and then reverse the scenario to drive back home.
I was out for a 45 miler on the road bike today. Sure, It's a great form of cross training. But sometimes I feel like I am missing out on a great trail run. Once I am out on the road though it is such an exhilarating feeling. There is nothing like reaching a steady cadence of 100 revolutions per minute! Spinning the legs and feeling the wind in your face.
I headed out on a training ride in preparation for the up coming MS 150 bike to the river with some friends. A group of 7 of us headed out from Helotes Tx. to Rio Hondo for a great ride on roads following the "Texas hill country trail".
We came upon a team time trial competition on Hwy 471. Those guys were Moving!
At the 30 mile point we stopped at a convenience store and soon a group of about 50 riders came in.
After re-fueling we were off to tackle the toughest part of our ride. A 7 mile stretch of steep rolling hills. Once we crested the last hill we thought it would be clear sailing for the last 8 miles to the finish until we hit a strong head wind!
Zack, The "KID", blew us away as he steadily faded off into the distance.
Josh, Tim, and I formed a pace line to the end.
What a rush! Spinning at 20+mph, inches behind your buddy's wheel in a pace line.