With TV, news, music, and gosh darn near everything else available on demand these days, it’s borderline ridiculous when some things we love aren’t available at a moment’s notice. Well, today I learned of another life necessity that doesn’t depend on the schedule of others: Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches!
In the land of endless Tex Mex, true Latin food is hard to come by. Sure, there are a handful of restaurants that serve South American cuisine, but only one trailer (as far as I know) that specializes in Latin-Cuban food. Don Churro has a menu full of Cuban goodness including sandwiches, churros, and other traditional fare that sets it far apart from the other trucks in town.
It’s been a long time (too long) since I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy the non-mainstream, authentic flavors of Pueblo Viejo. My last visit resulted in an outstanding breakfast taco that left me wanting to try everything else on their menu. Well after far too many months I was able to make my way back over to the East Side and get my taco on.
Eight weeks down, seven to go. Training in week 8 was a bit unique with three 6-mile recovery runs, a 14-mile midweek run, and a 16-mile long run. The recoveries each went well enough if not uneventful.
It was kind of nice to have several easy runs all lined up. Tuesday’s 14 miler was faster than expected, mainly because I knew Colin was also going to be running 14 miles (in Connecticut) and I wanted to put up a good showing. Well that jerk a) “got lost” and ran 15 miles; and b) was tired so probably going to be a little slower. He ended up still being faster, even with the longer distance and being “tired”.
I’ll keep this brief. I’ve visited Short Bus Subs many times now, always impressed by their educationally humorous (yet appropriate) named offerings. Instead of my usual Summer Vacation, my most recent visit for lunch took me to a new-to-me sandwich that left me reaching for water after every bite. Saying it was spicy is an understatement.
After a great weekend in Seattle it was back to the Austin grindstone for Week 7 of training. Things started off a bit shaky with a red-eye that netted me about 3 hours of sleep taking me straight from the airport to the office. To make up for the lost morning I laid down 7 easy miles in 102* heat after work.
The heart rate was higher than a normal recovery, but I’m ok with that. My goal was to simply survive. Tuesday was even less fun, feeling nauseous during and after the run. I think my body was still out of whack from the travel and weird sleep schedule, but I got through it.
About a month ago I set forth the challenge to myself to tackle the Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich Skyscraper — 5 scoops of ice cream sandwiched between 6 cookies. Anyone can participate, giving Coolhaus a few days notice, so I chose August 13th as the challenge day– first because I’d be running 20 miles and second because it coincided with the 5th Annual Austin Ice Cream Festival. What better way for Coolhaus to showcase their amazing ice cream sandwiches than with an eating challenge at an ice cream festival!
Just a quick update on the Team VW front. I’ve been putting in the miles and sticking to the plan (as you know from my interesting and informative weekly updates). Well Team VW sent over some swag out of the blue. Sitting on my front door when I got home from work was a bubble-wrapped envelope busting at the seams with some pretty sweet gear. Inside was a t-shirt, water bottle, one of those string backpacks, and Dean Karnazes’ book Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss. Definitely a nice surprise to keep the motivation up now that I’m getting into the heart of my training. Thanks Team VW!
Six weeks down, zero runs missed. Last week was the first real big week. On tap was 50 miles of left foot, right foot, repeat. The real highlight though was our trip to Seattle. That’s right, Ev and I escaped the swelterfest known as Austin and made our way up into the Pacific Northwest for a long weekend for rest and relaxation. And running.
I talk about the weather here a lot. I think it’s because it’s so universal. I mean, everyone has to deal with some form of Mother Nature’s wrath at some point. For us Texans it comes in the form of heat. Relentless, punishing, uncompromising heat. Just this past week we had three days in a row with a high temperature of 107*. We’re not talking heat index either. And say what you will about “oh it’s a dry heat” False. 80% humidity in the mornings which makes even the low of 79* at 6am a beast to deal with. What’s a runner to do? It’s inescapable (especially with my self-imposed “No treadmills. Ever. Again.” policy).
Austin's 10-day Forecast
Well, there is one way to escape the heat., and that is to escape Texas altogether. The little lady and I are currently (as I type this) on a plane to Seattle for a long weekend that should be high on fun and low on responsibility. Part of that fun is going to rest solely in being able to be outside without melting. In planning for Saturday’s 18 mile long run I felt it worthwhile to see what kind of conditions I’d be dealing with. The only word that comes to mind is “perfect”. Here’s the 10-day forecast for Seattle. Just compare that to Austin’s 10-day (which has really been the 50-day forecast). I mean, it’s not even fair.
Seattle's 10-day Forecast
I’m more excited that you can imagine to go for a run and not think about the weather. Maybe I’ll even spare you any mention of the weather in the next blog post, but I wouldn’t count on it.
