Long Run Friday: Blue Hill Trail

Plan: 7 miles easy
Actual Mileage: 8 miles.  Because logistics.

Route: I ran the "long" Blue Hill Trial Loop first.  On my second time around, I took a shortcut across the top, just to decrease the mileage.

Weather: 70s, partly cloudy, a bit of wind.  Absolute heaven!
Wardrobe: I wore an Ink N Burn outfit with compression socks for this one.  Long socks is one of my only requirements for trail running.  I used my Merrels today and they did great. I could've actually done this one in my Minimus shoes if I'd planned ahead.
Execution: This was actually a hard run.  The footing wasn't as good as it has been in the past.  Mostly due to unevenness of the grass and tons of groundhog mounds.  (Or really, name your subterranean mammal that digs mounds, I'm not fussy.) 

From today, I learned: I'm proud of myself for gritting this one out.  I focused a lot on "leading with my hips" up the hills and on the uneven footing.  And then I focused on really enjoying the spots with great footing.

Bonus: This is the trail I think "If Chris ever comes to town, I'm taking him here and showing him all the poop".  There was one pile I am reluctant to identify as bear poop.  It was big.  But I don't want that to mean there are bears near that trail.

Trail Run Wednesday

Plan: This has to be a fast run because of some timing issues.  So, run fast.

Route: Blue Hill Trail  and I find the elevation map on here to be the most accurate to my own experience.  Somehow, Strava is not doing this one justice.

Weather: High 70s or low 80s, slightly humid, crazy sunny, and there was a fair bit of wind later in the run.  Garmin is saying about 10mph, but it felt like more than that.

Wardrobe: Guys shorts, 2xu tank (the one where in theory the pockets are a good idea, but not so much in practice), hat, trail shoes, tall socks. It looked like this:

Execution: I tried to keep myself in check for a little while, because I did not have a long warm up, but eventually I just let it rip.  I had a blast.

Nutrition: The run was only 4.5 miles so I didn't carry anything with me. Instead let me tell you how happy I am that I did not step on this turtle: super happy.  PS - it's a boy!

From today, I learned: Running into the wind: don't force it.  Focus on form and keeping the movement fluid.
Running fast can be fun but exhausting.
Don't look at the pace.  The pace is for trails and without a solid warm up. 
Do a solid warm up on race day.

Bonus: Remember that year I had 'trail Mondays' and it was a thing?  That was also the year I found all of the ticks in the world.  I really enjoy this trail and I wish it were closer to me.  I'd solid bring back Trail Mondays just for this.

Hanging with the family

Friday

Mom and Dad arrive late.  My head hurts so bad I think it will explode.  I took Nyquill and went to bed immediately.

Saturday

Run: An easy 3 in the morning, one of the few moments my head did not hurt
Morning: Zumba with B
Afternoon: MIA and special exhibits  The headache is back.
Supper: Tiny Diner

Sunday

Run: 1 mile and my head may explode.
Morning: Took sudafed.  Walked at Lake Nokomis and did the home shopping tour of Minneapolis and St Paul (that's east and west River roads)
Afternoon: Hang out at the pool.
Evening: Minneapolis Pops Concert with Olive.
Supper: Sober Fish

Monday

Run: Long run for the week.  My head is feeling much better.
Morning: Ate breakfast and herded the family into the car for a drive up to St Cloud.
Activities: We spent the middle part of the day hanging out at the Munsinger Clemens Gardens including a picnic on their deck and exploring the dam on the river. We were all pleasantly surprised by the gardens. Most of the literature says people spend about an hour there.  We spent like four hours there.  Mom was in her bliss.
Evening: Mom was curious about the sub for Zumba.  We did about 20 minutes of class.  We had supper at Tiny with Dungeon Master.

Tuesday

Run and Weights at the crack of dawn.  Though I have to say showering at the gym was certainly the better logistical option so that may continue for the rest of their trip.
Day Activity: Sherburne Wildlife Refuge has been on my mind and I really wanted Mom and Dad to see it. It started off kind of rough.  To hear Dad tell it, he was attacked by wild vampire flies.  We talked to the rangers who sorted us out and pointed us to a couple other paths where the flies wouldn't be so bad.  We walked and did a wildlife driving tour as well. We saw Pelicans, a Kingfisher, Sand Hill Cranes, and an Eagle nest.  I aw an eagle flying around on the drive up, but it was on the wrong side of the car for everyone else to see it.
Evening activity: We had an early supper at Zen Box Izakaya, walked around on the Stone Arch Bridge, and then saw a preview performance of The Legend of Georgia McBride.  That's one of the funnier shows I've ever seen at Guthrie.  Mom and Dad really enjoyed it too.

Wednesday

Running at the crack of dawn, again.
Activity 1: Lynx Game with the family.  "Camp day" was hilarious, and surprisingly full for a Lynx game.
Activity 2: Hell's Kitchen for lunch.
Activity 3: Sculpture Garden walking around.
Break: Nap time! 
Evening Zumba with Mom in the park.
Supper at Tiny Diner

Thursday

Running and Weights in the morning.
Shopping: I was captain grumpy pants and wanted to shop alone but didn't.
Spin: Mom tried Spin class with Dungeon Master.
Supper: At Birchwood which was a request of Mom.

Friday

Running 1 mile in the morning
Errands, coffee, and checking out a river nature center in the morning with Mom.  Also, I'm trying to finish Hunger Games and get them out of this arena alive.
Afternoon: Bike Ride around Lake Nokomis with Mom.  Olive took Dad on a walk because neither of them were down with the green bikes.  Then we hung out at Sandcastle.  I am shocked to tell you, I have no pictures of this.
Evening: Loving Vincent and Bite Squad.  I now find myself sad for Mom and Dad to leave, and missing their company already.  Sigh.

Saturday

Running: I woke up at 4:30am when they emptied our dumpster.  I didn't fall back asleep immediately, so I did my run around 4:45am.
Bike ride: Mom wanted one more bike ride.  We did Bde Maka Ska and Dad walked around the lake.
Lunch: Leftovers
Afternoon: Mom wanted to see the Aquatennial.  They had the Upper St Anthony Falls Lock and Dam open to visitors, including some of the observation decks and cat walks that aren't normally open.  Dad did not do the catwalks but I did.
Evening: Wedding party (not the wedding, just an open house/reception) for a couple of friends.  Mom and Dad got to visit with Dungeon Master, Olive, and experience a 'Minnesota Goodbye' .

Sunday

4:30am - I woke up to do my long run.  Trust me, this is the only way things will work.
7am or so, family wakes up, eats and starts to pack.
8:26am - Mom and Dad leave.  I am sad to see them go.
Current situation: 2 loads of laundry done and air drying
2 loads of laundry done and folded
2 loads of laundry drying as we speak.  This may be a laundry record for me.
Floor has been swept and washed 

Blue Hill Trail - Sherburne Wildlife Refuge

Trail: Blue Hill Trail at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.  Here's a map and some other info.  If the Mahnomen Trail is anything like Blue Hill, I want to explore it too.

Parking and Logistics: This trail head has a legit identifiable parking lot off 289th Ave NW.  It has pit toilets which are clean and well tended, just lacking plumbing.   It's good enough to check all the items on my list.

Hills:  Not really.  This route had a couple speed bumps but was pretty flat.  There was an optional quarter mile climb up a hill to an outlook which I did not do because of scheduling issues.

Ease of Running: This is one of the most runnable trails I've ever been on.  I wish it wasn't so far away.  This starts out on a semi-sandy part, goes to praire, lake shore, pine forests, and then oak/cottonwood forests before coming back to the parking lot.  Everything is wide and totally runner friendly.  I had a blast.

Nature: I did not see any Sandhill Cranes, but I may have heard them.  I heard lots of birds and all of the little frogs.  I saw a lot of what I believe is fox poop.  I had to google black bear poop to make sure it wasn't that.  I was all 'what would I do if I saw a bear out here on this prairie?  I would be dead.' 

 
Will I come back: I mean, I hope so.  That trail was wonderful, just the right distance, and utterly runnable.  There's another trail down the road I'd like to check out, and it's also close to Sand Dunes State Park.  I've been there, guess I should write that up too.