Before and After: Drought Edition

 We're having a very real drought here in Minnesota.  The rest of the country is at flood stage of almost everything.  Here's pics taken in the same place at Sherburne Wildlife Refuge, at the side of the road on the same stopping point.  One was taken April 28 and the other was taken July 1 this year.

Water is so low. 

COVID Diaries - May 11, Redux

Phew, okay, y'all, there is still an option for classic blogger.

Like, why is HTML code so hard to recognize?

So, if I were more chatty, and like trusting that the blog post will come out right, I'd tell you all the things.

I had eyes the size of hub caps this morning and thought I could do all the running.  Turns out I didn't have breakfast and have actually lost some fitness so I cannot do all of the running.  But, also, I do not feel like death on toast when I get done with three miles.  So, that's good. 

I haven't told my coach all this? Maybe she'd want to know?  I'm not sure.  Comes from being an introvert, right?

Sherburne Wildlife Refuge was wonderful as always.  But apparently I need to sync my phone to my old computer more.  She's getting a bit full of data for now.  Sigh

On the way home, I faced construction and other logistical issues, which turned into "let's go to this other Costco which is mildly on the way home".  I straight up bought all of the fizzy water.  Because that's how life is going y'all.

For supper, I strongly considered a restaurant nearby but there website was having issues that made me not trust my order would be taken correctly.  So I wound up making myself pasta.  Mmmmm.

Then I talked to Mom and Dad for a while.

On Amazon Music, I'm over here reliving my high school years. It's been a lot of Dave Matthews Band and Matchbox 20. 

Covid Diaries- May 11

Oh boy. Blogger, don't fuck this up. I am not a fan of the new design. HTML code shouldn't be this fussy. Today, I woke up feeling like the queen of the world. And therefore didn't eat breakfast. So, obviously it wasn't a super run, but it was fun and I felt good at the end of it. So that's what's important right? Next up, I practiced for "talent night" which is a happy hour theme this week. I have a song in mind but I'm not announcing it yet. Then, I thought it'd be fun to see the Heron Rookery. Right up until the moment the train was stopped on Lyndale. Stopped. So, instead I headed to Sherburne Wildlife Refuge. Where I could not hit the education center and lake due to road construction. I basically spent all day on the wildlife trail. Dear blogger: I effing hate this layout. How do I get the old format back please?

COVID Diaries - April 25

So, I woke up around 8am, stayed in bed, and went back to sleep.

I woke up for reals around 11:30am.  After a bad dream about not making my mile.  Trying to run and trying to run, and literally, I couldn't go far enough.  There were walls and hedges and issues...

I am surprised to report that I wound up at Sherburne Wildlife Refuge today, after several days of me thinking I wouldn't go. I ultimately self-negotiated no trail running, but any walking, picture taking, and sketching that I wanted.   Honestly, it turned out to be a phenomenal day. 

Blue Hill Trail has an overflow parking lot. Y'all I did not even know there was another lot.  I've never seen more than two other cars besides me parked in the regular lot.  I decided to skip that walk in honor of social distancing.

I hiked the Oak Savannah... something.  There were a lot of Trumpeter Swans this time.  I also saw Loons, but they were so far away, I couldn't take a picture.  This is the site of "Dad thinks he'll be eaten by flies but really we just looked at Pelicans".  No pelicans today.  I guess that means I have to come back.  Right?

I also did the Wildlife Drive. It was fascinating to observe the wildlife.  I saw a Red Tail Hawk; nesting Bald Eagles, Blue Heron, Sand Hill Crane (I think only one?), some weird duck, Trumpeter Swans, and I basically don't even mention Canada Geese anymore, right? 

It was also fascinating to watch the humans/cars/bikes on the Wildlife Drive.  (I adore Wildlife Drive, and will sneak it in anyway I can.  Even on work days if I'm in the area.)  There were bikes, but they were actually finishing the loop as I was starting.  Some of the other cars went super fast, I just pulled over and let them go around.  A car or two was taking things as lazily as I was.  (Think 5-10mph for a 7 mile loop.) At least one car had humans wearing masks inside the car.


When I got home, I took a minute to gather myself.  Then I went out for my run.  I went a bit longer than 1 mile, and tried to enjoy the phenomenal weather we're having.

Next up was laundry.  Oh.  Y'all.  Sometimes I do not have enough drying racks.

I ended the evening with a Happy Hour Zoom call with my people.

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.