Chilly, Lazy 12-miler at Ft Snelling

Taper Time!

I got up this morning to run at 6am and I was out the door shortly thereafter.  I had a banana but no real breakfast.  That may have been my one true mistake for the day.  I got pretty tired towards then end of the run, even though I wasn't moving very fast.  Time to eat my Wheaties I guess.

One smart move I made for the day was I allowed my phone to vibrate every mile but I turned down the volume so I couldn't hear the girl telling me how fast my mile splits were.  I could've cared less about pace pretty much the entire run. It was lovely.  Minnehaha Falls was kind of busy, as people were arriving for Women Run the Cities.  I didn't go exactly by the starting line but I was very close to it. It's actually sort of my least favorite day to run in that area because of all the people walking to the race.

I tested out a new shoe/sock combination for today's run.  I love ProCompression socks, but something just was not working right today.  It's the first time I've tried to run in the socks; they're normally for recovery.  I'm not sure if it was the socks, or the way they fit in my shoes, or the way I tied my shoes, but something just was not working.  I'll go back to my other socks for race day.  I do need to stick with the shoes.  I'm still glad they're not as ugly as that picture.  I have another 30 or so miles to get them broken in for race day. 

The trail itself and Ft Snelling were gorgeous as always.  It was about 45* when I set out in long socks, shorts, arm sleeves and a shirt.  I stayed pretty chilly the whole run.  There was still a 3/4 moon up in the air as I was running.  I tried to take a picture of it in a few places but failed miserably.  The leaves on the trees are all still green, although some of the ivy and low lying bushes are starting to turn bright red.  I'm hoping this means well have a full burst of fall colors for marathon Sunday but who can say.

At the end of the run, I held a plank for 2:00, part of my "21 Days of Planks" workout series.  The perfect outdoor planking position is hands on grass, feet on concrete.  If you weren't sure.  After that it was a little stretch, then a quick change and off to help the Qat Lady.