Worldess Weekends - So much SUNSHINE!

Looking at the Bandshell at Lake Harriet

The view of downtown Minneapolis over Lake Calhoun

Yes.  That is a dude riding his bike ON Lake Calhoun.

Down the awesome part of the Ft Snelling trail.  There's still snow here even though I was in a t-shirt.

Looking at Ft Snelling; this means I've climbed the steep hill.

The Mississippi River with downtown Minneapolis in the background.

At the end of the run, right before I collapse.

Stop:  Howl at the Moon!

Prodcutivity and then... I hit the wall. Musical edition.

650am or some, the alarm went off. What to wear? 
730am I did a hill run with running Beth.  The guy at the front desk of the JCC looked at my running outfit (grey sweatpants and a grey jacket with reflective patches) and said "you look like pavement".  Nice.  We did Beth's torture route which involves one of the steepest hills in St Paul as the starting point.

Here's the profile (above) and the route mapped out (below).  You can see the climb in the beginning and the descent at the end is quite prolific. 

Theme song for the activity: Lizz Wright - Hit the Ground because apparently I look like pavement.  Also because Beth was afraid of falling down on the pavement while descending that steep hill.


900am I had coffee with my old boss.  The one whose kid would always have a banana for me at my races.  (See why I liked working for her?)  She wrote my personals ad because she wants me to start dating (oh joy).  This is only slightly more appropriate now that she's no longer employing me. 
Theme song for the activity: Rosemary Clooney - Come On A My House because my iPod played it for me while I was in the car on my way.


1100am I met with Kelli at Bolder Options to learn more about the Dublin Marathon trip.  It involved talking to another Kelly (spelled differently) and hearing all about the itinerary.
Theme song for the activity was supposed to be "Giving" by Collective Soul but I couldn't find a link.  Instead, enjoy some Sara McLachlan - Good Enough.


200pm I went to a work meeting.  This is my one Friday a month to work.  When I went to the meeting, I'd planned on taking a walk afterwards.  When I got out of the meeting the sunshine was no longer available.  Sad.
Theme song: Work has no theme song.


400pm or whenever I got home - I went on a cleaning marathon.  I cleaned my room, did laundry, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, fixed the radiator face in my bedroom, took out the recycling, cleaned out the vacuum, hung up/folded the laundry, loaded the dishwasher and generally rocked it.
Theme song for the activity: Patty Griffin - Heavenly Day because my iPod played it and it was a really nice day.


600pm or so I absolutely hit the wall.  I was so done.


640pm I actually finished all the cleaning.  After six I lost my energy and really slowed down so folding the laundry and making the bed took longer than normal.

A week full of ups and downs

Monday I was still in Cincinnati at the start of the day.  I did Jazzercise and had breakfast with Mom.  Then it was time to head home.  The flight was half empty which was awesome.

• Ups of the day: My flight was half empty.
• Downs of the day:  I correctly told my mother that she has a very negative outlook on, well, everything; I do much better when I'm not around that.  But I could've been nicer about it.
• Exercise: Jazzercise.  It's not really my thing (like, at all) but it is a well put together program and can be a really good workout.
• Theme song: Rolling in the Deep - Adele becuase she can bring it!

 
Tuesday started with my annual lady doctor exam.  And the lady doctor had a student who was learning.  So I got to have two exams.  So full of suck.

• Ups of the day: Can't remember a thing.
• Downs of the day: two exams. 
• Exercise: None.  I went home and took a nap.  I wish I'd had a tranquelizer.
• Theme song: Born to Fly - Sara Evans.  My pooky bear and I used to play this song together.  I hadn't heard it in a while and was happy when it came on for me.

 

Wednesday started off better.  I went to water running and had a great workout.  At the end of the night Qat Lady and I went to Punch Pizza and then to buy bikes at Target.  Which lead to a discussion about trunk size in a Cadillac.  The thing you don't realize is the handlebars and the wheels make up that third dimension of the bike.  (The bike has two dimensions, like all the dead bodies that can fit in the trunk.  Thanks Qat Lady)

• Ups of the day: Free pizza and bike shopping.  Duh.
• Downs of the day: I had to wake up at 5:30.  Seriously, compared to the day before, Wednesday was great.
• Exercise: Water running.  It was a challenging workout.
• Theme song: Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice.  It's been all over my iPod lately.

 

Thursday (that's today) I worked, was trained on brain injuries and then did a double dose of exercise. 

• Ups of the day: There was that free lunch at an Indian restaurant.
• Downs of the day: I can't think of anything.  Tuesday was really the down for the whole week.
• Exercise: Circuit class then an hour on the elliptical.
• Theme song: What Doesn't Kill You - Kelly Clarkson.  I am totally the girl who dances and sings to her headphones while on the elliptical.

Bonus songs for the week:

• Bon Iver - I can't make you love me/Nick of Time.  Because I knew Bon Iver before the Grammy's.
• OAR - Heaven becuase it's been that kind of week.

Cincinnati Surprise - Sundday

It feels like Saturday.  Maybe that's becuase I'm not working tomorrow.

This morning I woke up and headed for a run.  Happily the wind had died down from 20mph to 10mph or so.  I didn't bring my neck gator, or too much gear at all, but I was happy with what I had.  I did a long-ish hill run.  Everything in Cincinnati is a hill run.

It's just a little out and back course that I do along Erie Avenue.  It's okay running but the sidewalks are narrow in a few places.  I finally understand why "Summit Ave has really wide sidewalks" is a big deal.

 
That hill at mile 1 is every bit as challenging and straight up as it looks but it's early enough in the run it's not that bad.  It's fun as hell to run back down.  Actually, practically the last mile is down hill which is a nice way the end the run.

Above is Hyde Park Square and Grater's.  Below is the view before I summit the beast and head the last mile home.  It was one of very few stoplights I hit on the run today.

It was colder than hell but at least there was sunshine.  That made it nice once I got used to the wind.

This Sunday is also Brunch Sunday. Mike and Linda (of the house I grew up in) have a brunch every year with tons of homemade food.  It's wonderful.  I've missed it every year since I lived in Minnesota.  I was thrilled to make it back this year.  I saw Emily (also of the house I grew up in) and lots of parents of people I'd gone to school with.  I also saw Mrs Cartel, now of the house I grew up in, but I did not ask for a tour of the old place.  I'm sort of over it.

In the afternoon Dad and I headed down to Kentucky to see some of my favorite people in the whole world.  And then they climbed all over me.  All afternoon.

These guys were my hosts.  We played, stood on our heads, and tried on each others shoes.  Ben looks great in mine!  We had spaghetti for dinner.  Luke says it's better than Grandpa Tom's but someone may have put him up to that.  When we got home Mom tried to watch me type on my blog.  It's rude to stare over someone's shoulder while they're on the computer.  Just saying.

Surprise! I'm in Cincinnati - Saturday

Remember that surprise vacation I mentioned earlier this week?  It was a super deal on a plane ticket to Cincinnati with the conditions that I fly out on Saturday and return on Monday or Tuesday.  Thankfully my boss is awesome and obliged when I asked for the day off.

 

Saturday was more of an adventure than it needed to be but I appreciate my neighbor's support nonetheless.

• 7am is when I woke up and got ready.
• 8am is when my neighbor (thank you!) insisted on *picking me up* for a 920am flight.  I was not thrilled.
  
• 820am I arrived at the airport and every security checkpoint was packed with weekend flyers who don't know what they're doing.  (I told you we needed to get here earlier.)  There's one checkpoint with a Black Diamond lane.  Luckily I know where that checkpoint is and how to work the black diamond lane.  Sadly, it's also the only checkpoint with body scanners instead of metal detectors.  Whatever, I need to make my flight.  It's time to compromise.
• 840am or so I made it through security and walked back to the correct side of the airport.  Still faster than waiting in the other lines.  I went to find my gate and saw the "this tram is out of service" message.  Fine; I'll walk the half-mile to my gate. ::Shaking my head::  It is almost a half mile; someone measured it because there was drama over why we needed a tram to begin with.
• 920am flight boards on time and eventually arrives early in Cincinnati.
• What I learned from this:  Lie to Gib about what time my flight is so he gets me to the airport with enough time that I don't have a heart attack running through security and sprinting to my gate.  And thank you for waking up early and taking me.  I hope the move is going well.

 Just a PSA for those of you traveling through CVG. 

When I got into town our first stop was Skyline.  Duh.  Once I was properly fed, I took a nap. 

I'd planned on going out for a run.  But the 20 mph winds discouraged even this Minnesota girl from heading out.  Instead I made up my own little circuit training routine, just with exercises I could remember from the classes, and did that in my parents basement for 60 minutes.  Some of my exercises included Burpees from the devil, alligator pushups (similarly from the devil), cross-overs, jumping jacks, and all kinds of other good stuff.  I worked up quite a sweat and it was ultimately a great workout.  And I'm happy I only have to do it once.

A friend of the family invited us to see a movie at the Omnixmax.  Rocky Mountain Express was, um, okay.  But clearly not photographed (cinematography?) by someone who'd had experience with the Omnimax film format.  Like, the screen is five stories tall.  Macro shots are not needed.  And wide shots of a long trail look silly because the train is curved on the curved screen.   I also got to see a friend I'd worked with before I moved to Minnesota.

After the movie we hit the Bangkok Bistro for dinner.  One of my other Cincinnati favorites. And then I went to bed thinking of the inescapable "long" run the next morning.

Wordless Weekends - Cheaters Never Win

Many many suprises this week

Monday I worked all day.  At the office.  It wasn't even one of those "let's work in my pajamas most of the morning" things.

• Exercise: 75 minute circuit class, 55 minute Pilates class.  I did not die.
• Television: Castle,
• Soundtrack: Marchin On - OneRepublic.
• Surprise for the day: I was at the office at 8am.

Tuesday it was unseasonably warm.  Also, the DFL caucus was about as interesting as watching paint dry.  And our ballots were about as official as a student council election.

• Exercise: Run around Lake Hiawatha and Lake Nokomis.  It was very stiff and hobble-ish at the beginning but loosened up by the end.  Runners - wear your reflective vests!
• Television: None.  Any recommendations for Tuesday night television?
• Soundtrack: Infinity - Guru Josh Project.
• Surprise for the day: I think I booked an extra vacation.  WIN for me!

Wednesday was another busy day.  Why am I working so much?

• Exercise: Water Jogging at the YWCA.
• Television: None; I can't think of any shows on Wednesday either.
• Soundtrack:  Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
• Surprise for the day: Have you ever made a presentation to a group of orthodox Jewish women about Medicare?  I have.

Thursday I was in my car all freaking day.  The first meeting was far away and ran late and that set the tone for the day.

• Exercise: 55 Minute Circuit class; 30 minutes on stationary bike.  Working it!
• Television: The Finder.  It's new this season but continues to be engaging.
• Soundtrack: Back in Black - AC DC.  It was played during circuit.
• Surprise for the day: The amount of time I spent in the car.

Friday I lounged around most of the day.  Nice right?

• Exercise: None.  In my defense, I've exercised for six days straight.  On the seventh day I rest.
• Television: Fringe!  I'm liking the way it's going so far.
• Soundtrack: Northing Ever Hurt Like You - James Morrison although I didn't really listen to much today.
• Surprise for the day: I lost my laundry card.  $%&#!  Also, my federal taxes are e-filed in an endeavor that took waaaaay less time than I'd anticipated.

 

Sunday Long Run

I woke up planning on a lap around Ft Snelling with running Beth.  I was a failure at finding my running partner this morning.  I still haven't figured out how we missed each other.

Most of the last week I spent on my couch in this position, so I still wanted to run but wasn't too keen on Ft Snelling without a running buddy or foreknowledge of the trails.  (I was expecting some level of ice.)

Instead I drove home, got some food and water and headed out on an 11-12 miler.  (It adds mileage when the running trails aren't clear.)  Here's the route I took:

I did the Run 5 Walk 2 interval again.  Because there's no way I should actually be running 11 miles right now.  It helped break the run up.  Around the lakes I'd try to think about how far I could go in five minutes of running and see where I'd actually be.  Most of the time I was a pretty close to what I thought.

It's hilarious to me that this is acceptable in Minnesota this winter.  It's been like 40* several days already.  Nonetheless, thanks for the lights because I thought they were great.

The trail situation around the lakes was, um, interesting.  Most of the time both the bike path and walk/run paths were clear.  But the walk/run path was never plowed so there were some impressive patches of ice.  I stayed on the bike paths most of the time.

I did wear a neck gator today.  A lesson I learned from my last cold weather long run.  It felt really hot at first but by the time I got to the lakes I was glad for it.

An ice fisherman drilling holes on Lake Calhoun.  If you look closely in the background you can see downtown Minneapolis.

I've posted a few pictures of the Bandshell before, mostly from the lake side.  Here's the other view of the bandshell that I see on my runs.

Heading to the walking bridge over the interstate; that's the "one mile to go" bridge.

Looking down an alley by my house.  It was a really cool shot, zoomed in that alley goes on forever.

Finishing off the water in my bag so I could clean the thing out. So far, two nice runs with the new Camelbak. I haven't come close to drinking all of the water in it (which is a good sign for long hot summer runs).   That means I can run further right?

Highlights of my playlist for this run:

• Cobra Starship - You Make Me Feel.  This song just kept going and I couldn't figure out who it was.  It's new to my iPod.
• Guru Josh Project - Infinity.
• MissDaja feat Nicki Minaj - Mean Walk.
• Usher - More, fitting for Superbowl Sunday
• Kelly Clarkson - What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger).  My new favorite song.

LinkFEST

• Motivational Fitness Quotes - Running releases a lot for me too.
• I'm almost out of laundry detergent and totally planning to try making my own.  I'll let you know how it works out.
• I never put it together that the Anoka Hennepin School district is in Michelle Bachman's congressional district.  In other news, I can now add two and two.
• Best auto-correct fail ever!  Basically safe for work.
• Google's new privacy policy: Explained.
• For the multiple friends I have who are teachers or about to be, you may find this helpful.  I am very right brained except I loved teachers who would lecture and tended to do better in their classes than any others.