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I went out on Lake Austin this morning as this is probably the only day in April I will be able to get out there between Easter and NI Connect. And the best part… I caught the first fish in the kayak! The skunk is off! I mean, they weren’t giants, but it was great to actually get bites and get them in the boat. The first two were on a drop shot with a 4” Missile Magic Worm in Blueback Secret. The third one was on a 2.75” Swammer on a Dirty Jigs Tactical Mini Underpin 1/8oz. From that point on I couldn’t get anything. ...

When I went to run yesterday I was expecting a 53 minute run. But the Garmin had updated my suggested workouts overnight, so I had a 1 hour 6 minute run waiting for me. But honestly, I was glad it did. I felt great. That’s the best feeling longer run I’ve done yet since I’ve been running these past few months. I felt strong beginning to end, and I didn’t feel like my hear rate ever spiked when I was going up any of the gradual hills around the neighborhood. ...

Today we transitioned back to Austin. The transition days are always stressful, but today’s was pretty seamless, honestly. The cats did well in the car, and we made it back in 7 hours flat with a stop for gas and lunch. My run on Saturday got way harder than I expected to, given that I had done the same distance on Wednesday and felt great. I ran 5 days this past week, taking Friday and today (Sunday) off. I ran 18 miles total this week - that’s the most miles I’ve ran in a single week in probably since before we got married when we were training for the 2004 Austin Marathon. ...

This week was definitely the most intense week I’ve had running so far. It started out Monday with a threshold workout. It was basically 15 minutes at the race pace, which the Garmin figured was right at my lactate threshold. I was very nervous about this workout all weekend. I really wasn’t sure if I could do it or not, but I knew I was going to get out there and give it a shot. I found a route that was mainly flat if even slightly net downhill, just because since it was pace based and not heart rate based, going uphill did me no favors. ...

This week was my first full week of working out that I’ve had in quite some time. I did take one day where I went for a long walk instead of doing a run, but I was really sore from the Bulgarian split squats that I did the day before, and I think it was the right call. The key is consistent movement, after all, and I figured a 45 minute walk was better than a 30 minute run where I just felt like trash. ...

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“5712”] One of the floats in Orpheus [/caption] Mardi Gras was this week, and as always we had a wonderful time. The parades with their floats and marching bands are always cool to see, but the best part is getting to spend that much time with all our friends. Rex on Mardi Gras morning was shortened by not having bands because of the weather that blew through later in the day, but Carrie and I have never gotten so many “float beads” than we did this year. Each float in Rex throws their own bead with a medallion that is tied to the theme of that float. Since the crowd was so much lighter due to the weather, we were really able to get a lot of these beads. Definitely one of the cooler things you can catch (that you don’t have to fight for, e.g., a Muses shoe) during Carnival. ...

This post will be short. We’re deep into Mardi Gras activities. We headed back to Baton Rouge this evening as we are both working tomorrow, and then we’ll head back to New Orleans in the evening for Orpheus and to watch Rex on Mardi Gras morning. It’s been great to see everyone and to get in some of the parades. The parades are a blast, but they are exhausting. I love Mardi Gras, but come Tuesday night I am glad that it is over. Definitely not something you want to do all the time. But that’s part of the magic of it. It does just come once a year. There’s wisdom in the seasons, not everything needs to be available all the time. ...

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“4032”] GiGi needed extra snuggles the morning after driving to Baton Rouge. [/caption] It’s always weird when we transition from Austin to Baton Rouge (and vice versa). This time is particularly odd since I will be heading back to Austin for work for a few days in the middle of the week. And then you throw in the extra craziness of Carnival, and it has been (and will continue to be) weird. ...

We spent this weekend out at lake LBJ with some friends. My friend brought his new fishing kayak, and I brought mine. The Bronco Sport was pretty full on the way out there. This trip was the longest distance I’ve driven with the kayak, so I was a little nervous on the way out, but it held up fine. Friday morning I took the kayak out in the cold and hit the lake. ...

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“5712”] The PWR129 stripped down on top of the Bronco Sport. [/caption] First off, I did a test run of getting the kayak up on the Bronco Sport, getting it strapped in, and driving it around the neighborhood. It’s a little bit of work out (I have something on the way that should help with that, more on that in a later post), but I got it up. Once all the straps are tightened it doesn’t want to go anywhere. It will be interesting to take it on the highway. Also, this practice run allowed me to work out some ordering issues (for example, you can’t load anything through the tail gate once you tie down the back) and work through the packing checklist. I didn’t know how easy the loading and unloading process was going to be, but now I feel confident that I have it under control. ...