Birthday Brick Smashfest

Merry Christmas! Having my birthday on this day is very special because I can generally be assured that nobody forgets it. But because my friends and training buddies are usually celebrating with their families, I've never gotten to do a birthday smashfest with friends on my actual birthday. I've gotten used to just heading out to run a few miles by myself. Well, that changed today! I got to celebrate my 37th birthday with a bike/run brick with Linda - Hooray!

Today's ride gave new meaning to getting blasted on your birthday...it was winnn-dy. With gusts. Yipes! The wind steadily picked up throughout our 25 mile ride, and we got to ride back down Blanco with a cross-tailwind that carried us home at 30 mph. That is my very favorite road in the whole city to ride - what a treat to get to fly down it on my birthday!

When we got off our bikes back at the cars, we were amazed at how strong the wind had become. A shopping cart had been pushed across the Target parking lot into Linda's car. After she propped it up on a curb, the wind was so strong that it knocked it down and sent it flying across the parking lot again! We noticed the flags flapping in the parking lot across the road and decided that we needed to take a picture to prove how ridiculous the wind was (and how awesome we are for riding in it - haha).


Just moments after we took our photo, a huge gust literally blew Linda over and almost knocked her off her feet! She grabbed my arm and I caught her and she didn't fall down. After a minute of uncontrollable laughter, we took off and ran our easy 20 minute run.

After our run, as we were leaving to drive home, Robert pulled up! He was on his way to go and pick up the kids. He took this slightly more serene photo of us. Note the flags in the background. :)

Maybe next year I can find a way to do a 100x100 swim for my birthday, but until then, Merry Christmas and happy new year! I think it's going to be Smashing!