Heartbroken during the drought

 This made things real for me like no other.

How the Mississippi River should look at Coon Rapids Dam (this is normal flow, not flood stage) 

How the Mississippi River looks today, in the worst drought since 1988, and the worst drought in the modern history of how droughts are recorded.

Loony Challenge Training: Week 1

A couple notes here:
There's no "race weekend" this year, and so no "this many weeks until race day" posts.
I'm thinking to do the 10K the first or second week in October, and the 10 mile run the week after that.
The 5K will be done with Olive at her chosen route and pace.
This is a different kind of training plan than I've ever done before.  Much more focus on activities besides running, with the goal of staying balanced, active, and strong.


Sunday:
Planned: Run 1 mile; walk or bike
Actual:1.85 miles running.  1.81 miles walking. 7.13 miles on the bike along the parkway.  The walk and the bike ride were mostly a tour of all the trees that came down in the tornado last Friday.

Monday:
Planned: Run 1 mile; weights; Zumba or walk
Actual: Weights: 40 mins youtube video before work. Run 2.33 miles, mostly at MAF, nice low heart rate. Walk 1.77 miles after work. I thought about Zumba but then Captain Smiley cooked me a steak. So, priorities.

Tuesday:
Planned: Run 3-5 miles
Actual: 4.2 miles run, partially along the river.  This was a really solid run.  I was able to keep my heart rate nice and low, which hasn't happened in a while.

Wednesday:
Planned: Long run; Zumba
Actual: 6.01 miles running with Olive along the Rush Creek Trail. 0.6 miles walking cool down and checking out the Coon Rapids Dam.  Long runs with Olive continue to be a highlight of my week.
I did not do Zumba because 7pm is hard sometimes and I was already at 15,000 steps for the evening.

Thursday:
Planned: Run 1 mile; weights; bike ride
Actual:  I ran 1.7 miles and that is all.  I thought about weights or riding my bike, and then, did not.  I'm okay with it.  I'm tired from an earlier than normal meeting and yesterday's long run.

Friday:
Planned: Run 3 to 5 miles; walk to start the weekend?
Actual: Ran 2.71 miles; I was not feeling it so I walked 0.75 miles to get home and I was okay with that.  It was just so hot out.

Saturday:
Planned: Run 3 to 5 miles; Zumba
Actual: 5 miles run is completed.  I zumba'd for about 10 minutes.  It was hot on this run and I am pooped.

From the first week I learned I don't always love biking as much as I think I will.  Usually I'd rather just go on a walk.

COVID 19 - August 19

Quality Miles Wednesday: Hitting a workout outside!

Plan: Warm Up, 5 mins hard, 2 mins easy, 4 mins hard, 2 mins easy, etc.  Cool down
Actual Mileage: 3.97 miles

Route: I tried Rush Creek trail but it was a hot mess (so different from last year) so I ran on the trail next to the river and then finished up along the dam.  I don't know why I thought this workout would be easier on the road than it is on a treadmill. 

Weather: 30* and some wind.  The biggest news is I got to wear my sunglasses!
Wardrobe: I am in love with this outfit!
Top: Running t-shirt, InkNBurn top, buff on my head
Bottom: Nike running shorts under the pink pants, wool compression socks, Altras
Execution:
Warm up: Roughly 1.3 miles and I did not fall on any ice, so that was good.
5:00 at 10:17/mile pace, 2 mins easy
4:00 at 10:01/mile pace, 2 mins easy
3:00 at 9:49/mile pace, 2 mins easy
2:00 at 9:52/mile pace, 2 mins easy Messed up my descending splits!
1:00 at 8:59/mile pace.  Wowsers!
Cool down

High Points of the workout: I mean, that last split right?
Struggles of the workout:The real 'struggle' today is knowing how to pace myself.  Which I'm not that great out outside.  It's why I do all my workouts like this on a treadmill.
From today I learned: What worked best for pacing was running 'from my hips' if that makes any sense.  Keeping my form tight, small steps, high cadence.
Next steps: I can't believe I did this workout outside at these temperatures.

Bonus: Also picked this route so I could take pictures!

Marshmallow Training - 7 Weeks To Go

Sunday Planned: Run 1 miles (long run was done yesterday)
Sunday actual: Run 1.16 miles on the track; Walk 3.3333 miles on the track with Dungeon Master.  Monday weights were done today, abs are not done yet.
From today, I learned: I had a nice talk with Dungeon Master on the track. 

Monday Planned: Either tempo, weights/abs, or run 1 miles depending on how I feel
Monday actual: 1.24 miles
From today, I learned: I forgot to turn off my watch when I came inside, so I'm going to learn from that mistake.

Tuesday Planned: Run 1 miles
Tuesday actual: 1.72 miles plus 0.5 miles walking
From today, I learned: Y'all, I almost bought a house and then I didn't.  It was a wild day.

Wednesday Planned: Run 7 miles, Wednesday weights
Wednesday actual: 1.22 miles of grumpiness. This run essentially got skipped this week.  I've felt lousy and opted for sleep.  It is what it is.
From today, I learned: It's warm enough for capris

Thursday Planned: Run 1 miles
Thursday actual: Turns out, tempo run was today.
From today, I learned: Rush Creek Trail is quite literally under water.

Friday Planned: Either tempo run, or run 1 miles (depending on Monday), Friday weights
Friday actual: Run 1 miles in the afternoon.  I felt like garbage
From today, I learned: Weather is warm enough to run in shorts, but ice is still an issue.

Saturday Planned: Run 6 miles
Saturday actual: 7 Miles around Lake Nokomis.
From today, I learned: The sidewalks are clear enough for me to run from my house, to/around Lake Nokomis and back.  Strava says I have not done this route since September of 2017.  Wowsers.

Quality Miles Thursday

Plan:
Warm up: 1 mile
Repeat 3x Tempo: 1 mile at 11:00-10:30/mile, Easy 1/2 mile
Cool down: 1 mile

Actual Mileage: 6.75 miles

Route: Well, see...I'd planned to do Rush Creek Trail.  But apparently it's underwater.  Like, even more impressive than the water on the Greenway, Under Water!  And I was not getting around that mess. So, I finally got to try the path north of the dam along the river because it was NOT under water.  I took that path north about a mile, and then ran my first tempo mile and half mile easy, then turned around, etc.

Weather: OMG Finally!  It was a gorgeous 48* and fairly windy. Wind was in my face on the northbound legs of this route.

Wardrobe: Shorts, long sleeve shirt, compression socks, Merrel shoes.  (I need to get another pair of these; they are over their mileage.)

Execution:
Warm up: 1.46 miles.  The warm up is long because of the flooding issues I discovered. Thank goodness it was like 0.2 miles into the run.
Tempo: 10:33; 10:33; 10:19
Cool down: 1.3 miles of taking pictures on the dam.

From today, I learned: I told my coach this workout was harder in my mind that it was in my body.  Dreading the workout took a lot more energy than running it. I did feel lousy on Monday and not doing it then was the right decision.

Bonus: I mean, did I tell you about the sunshine.  I'm starting to get a tan on my face and neck from being outside.  In Minnesota.  In March!

Long Run: I have fallen in love with this trail

Plan: Run out and backs north, west, south, and east from the starting point.  Get to 12 miles.  (I needed to go in 'spokes' so I was never too far from my car, just in case, for logistical reasons.)
Actual Mileage: 12.05 miles

Route:
Park at Coon Rapids Dam, Hennepin Co side.
Run north along the river: this didn't last long.  The plow threw a lot of snow from the road onto the trail and it wasn't great.  Headed 'back'
Run west along Rush Creek Trail: Y'all, I am in love with this trail.  It's been a pleasure all winter.  The trail has really been in good shape every day I've come here except one day I arrived and they were actively "maintaining" the trail.  (Then run 'back' to the park entrance.)
Run south from the park entrance: this trail looked really bad, but it kept getting better, and then it'd have a moment of bad but would get better again.  Coming 'back' the bad part was up a little hill so that was kind of brutal.  (Then run 'back' to the park entrance.)
Run east, across the dam and into Anoka Co.  This trail was frustratingly maintained and completely NOT maintained.  It did much better once I got to the road on this side of the river.  And then run 'back' to my car.

Weather: 25-30*, very little wind.  Sometimes sun and sometimes clouds.  It's supposed to snow/ice/rain all weekend and this was going to be a super great day for running so I jumped on it.

Wardrobe:
Top: Wool base layer; purple sweat shirt
Bottom: Grey pants
Feet: Wool compression socks, sock liners (which were a surprisingly good idea given the snow); Altra shoes
Other: I had a hat, gloves, and gaiter but didn't use them.  I wore my running vest and had some water bottles in it as well

Execution: I started running out a little harder than I meant to, but I just kept going because it felt good.  Things got harder/slower towards the end of the run.  But also, the paths were crap towards the end of the run.  So, it's all good.

Nutrition: This was a lunch time run so it was not fasted.  I had coffee, eggs, and a bar for breakfast.  I ran with water and a Larabar.  I had just a bit of the bar while I was running.  Bonus for this run that my water bottles did not freeze.

From today, I learned: I should've run longer on Rush Creek because it was in the best condition.  Though the conditions were starting to get not as good about where I turned, so maybe I did fine?
I am looking forward to the north/south trails in the summer.  Or really in any time that's not covered in snow.  Those things looked great too!

Bonus: I told my coach that if she'd told me when we started, "in February, you'll be all 'hang on, I'm just going to bust out a long run but it's only 12 miles, it's okay'" I would've laughed at her.  And yet, I'm all "hold my beer, I'm gonna run 12 miles now".