What I Love About Austin
What’s not to love??
Another list…
- Swimming – If you live in Austin, there doesn’t seem to be any need to swim in a traditional pool, and definitely no reason to swim inside. They have two of the best swimming locations that I have ever experienced. First, there’s Deep Eddy, which is pretty close to a traditional pool – it’s got lanes and walls – but it’s spring fed fresh water (no chlorine) with pool-like visibility and it’s 33 yards long. It’s always between 68-72 degrees, and when I swam I’d guess it was at the higher end of that range, so it was chilly at first, but once I got warmed up it felt great. They have lap swimming (maybe eight lanes?) all day and when I went – mid-afternoon on a Saturday, it was busy, but not packed. It’s also the oldest swimming pool in Texas, so it’s got that going for it. The second is Barton Springs. Barton Springs is also spring-fed, but it’s much closer to the open water experience. There are no lanes at all. It’s 1/8 mile long and there aren’t walls to push off from. The bottom is rocky and there are fish and turtles swimming alongside you. The visibility isn’t as good as Deep Eddy, but it’s still clearer than most lakes or the ocean. There are people swimming every which way, so you really have to be on the look-out for crashes. You can swim laps whenever you want, but it gets crazy packed during the middle of the day and with people swimming where ever they want, trying to swim laps under those conditions can’t be fun. Early mornings (before the kids get up and moving) seem to be a safe time to swim. It’s even free if you’re out of the water before 9AM (after that it’s $3!). So that’s all great, but it is C-O-L-D, COLD! They say that Barton Springs stays a constant 68 degrees all year round. After 40 minutes of swimming (no wetsuit or earplugs, but I did wear two swim caps), I was pretty much frozen. It was also hard for me to swim fast, what with the sighting and people to swim around. Unlike an open water race where everyone is swimming roughly the same direction, at Barton Springs you have people going up and down the length the pool, plus side-to-side and some people just bobbing around. Before I try to do a long swim in Barton Springs again, I’d better toughen up some, or bring a wetsuit!
- Running Town Lake – Lake Austin (really a river) runs right through the middle of town. And going around the lake is a 10.1 mile trail perfect for running or walking or riding (knobby tires only). Parts of the trail are dirt, parts are paved. You can cut the course short by cutting across the river on one of a few bridges. It’s mostly flat, but there are some little hills. There’s plenty of shade on most of the trail. There are lots of water fountains and the nice people at the local running store, Run Tex, provide large coolers of water at two places along the trail. Despite all that, it gets hot out there, so for my long run Tuesday morning, I carried my own bottle (I learned that lesson after Sunday’s run with Elizabeth when we both thought we might die from overheating and dehydration!). Finally, there are some really bad-ass runners on that trail, which is always fun to see.
- Friends – We have some really great friends in Austin. My closest friend in Austin, the guy who convinced me to move there in the first place in 1995, is Charles (pictured up top with Elizabeth and I). He is about the nicest, most generous person you’ll ever meet. A great tour guide, he’s lived in Austin his whole life and knows people all over town. It was great catching up with him and hanging with his wife and son (we didn’t meet his daughters on this trip). Some other friends of ours, Tad and Carrie, moved down there from New York recently, so now we have more excuses to visit.
- Food – There is no shortage of fantastic food in Austin. I think the city is best known for its barbecue and tex-mex, but you can find it all in Austin. And it’s hard not to find yummy food. We ate at Shady Grove, Hula Hut and Iguana Grill and had great ice cream at Amy’s (a local chain). We didn’t hit a whole list of places that I meant to get to – Guero’s, Chuy’s, El Arroyo, Magnolia Cafe, Kerbey Lane, Stubb’s, Salt Lick, the list goes on and on…
- Bars/Nightlife/Patios – You know I’m not a big drinker and around New York, I don’t go “out” very often. But, I think it would be hard to stay home at night in Austin. The bar scene is great and the big thing in Austin are “patios” at the bars. All the bars have outdoor spaces, either on their roof or around the front or side of the building. The bartenders and waitresses were all super nice and drinks are cheap. My friend Charles owns a couple bars – Doc’s Motorworks Bar & Grill (on South Congress) and Doc’s Backyard (in South Austin). We hung out at Doc’s Motorworks a bit and really enjoyed it. I’d definitely recommend it – and not just because my friend owns the place! Our other favorite place from this trip was Key Bar on West 6th Street.
- The Weather – Sure it was hot when we were there, really hot. But it was worse in New York that weekend, hotter, more humid and all around miserable. And Austin’s nice out all year. Their winter is sorta like New York’s spring.
Run #1 – June 10 (8:30am)
Distance: 11 miles
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 153
Course: Town Lake, Austin, Texas
Conditions: Hot, Hot, Hot (high 80’s), sunny and humid
Run #2 – June 10 (7:45pm)
Distance: 7.5 miles
Time: 1:00
Average heart rate: 144
Course: West Side Highway to Battery Park
Conditions: Low 90’s, humid, thick air, evening run
Strength – June 11
Swim – June 12
Distance: 3,500 yards
Time: 1:09