Houston

A week ago I returned home from Houston. It was a great trip and I got to see Catalina again. She is going to arrive in Vancouver again on Thursday, so it was a taste of things to come.
We did the usual hotel stay and joined the conference to see our friends. This meant late nights. There was free, low quality, alcohol, and I tried some champagne on the first night, but I couldn’t be bothered after that. I stuck to cans of pop. This was a weekend where I decided not to bother watching my sugar intake, so it was hedonism for me. They also made the mistake of giving me access to a buffet dinner, and I will admit the third trip was probably one more than I needed, but I still had room for desserts.
That said, I still ran every day. Part of me wants to say that was not a good idea, but who am I kidding? I have a pattern I have to maintain. Let me elaborate though.
Since I didn’t want to have to run when I was having fun with Catalina and friends, I decided to run before my flight on Thursday. Since I had to be at that airport at five in the morning, this meant I was out running at 2:45 AM. Stanley Park is a lot more skunky at that hour. It shames me that I have to correct people that I mean there are lots of skunks, not that it smelled of pot. That sort of skunky is more during the day.
In the mornings in Houston I did my runs. There is a lot of pavement in that town, but I found ways to get to the bayous and ran along those. They are murky affairs, surrounded by decaying trees, and they probably have alligators. It was different, but not as scenic as Vancouver. Despite being in the low 20’s there, it is still greener in here.
My biggest problem was that my legs were hurting on every run. I initially blamed the cramped seating on the airplane, but I think the real issue was that my shoes were old. I had run about 600km on them, and I think they had expired. I could keep up my regular pace, even accounting for traffic lights, at the start of the weekend, but by the end, every step hurt too much. When I got back to Vancouver, I stopped using those runners, but my legs still feel bad. There are bad knots in my glutes that are making things my runs slow.
In any case, I was still having a good time in Houston. There was even a pool party at one point, but as usual it was too cold for people. For non-Canadians. I did get to be inside a giant inflatable ball with Catalina that was tossed around the pool; she was obligated to wear a hamster costume. It was not a problem for her.
We ended the weekend at her new place. It a rental she is living in temporarily, so she isn’t trying to make it a home. It was also the most difficult place to run from; it’s a gated community only accessible by a freeway. Still it was a nice place to be with her.