Trail Monday: Trail Sunday

Today was the final trail run before my only trail race of the year.  The most important thing this run did was help me make a decision about which shoes to wear on race day. It's not the ones I wore today.

Trail: Ft Snelling's Pike Island.  I've run here several times before this summer.  The loop around the island is roughly 3 miles, so it's the shortest of all the trails I've found acceptable.  The Anoka Preserve is technically shorter, but I'm divorcing that trail.

Hills: The island itself is fairly flat.  The run on the mainland from where I park my bike to the island is another story. This is the hill I use to identify my "max heart rate" for heart rate training.  174BPM may be a new record for me.  Is that good or bad?

Ease of Running: There was more gravel on the island than there has been in the past, and that's what hurts me in my itty-bitty minimal trail shoes.  It's clear gravel was added to some parts of the trail that had been flooded for a while, probably as a way to improve drainage. And it was those moments it was clear to me I needed different shoes for the race.  Shoe choice aside, this path is an absolute pleasure.  It's wide and clear and most runners don't even bother with trail shoes on it because it's so well done.

Nature: I saw road kill on the bike path.  I can't imagine being the biker who managed to run over a squirrel.  How does that happen? 

Will I come back: Likely.  I've liked this path for several reasons.  It's by far the closest to my house and the only trail that doesn't require me to drive to it.  I also like the excuse to add biking to the workouts.  The trail is short enough that I can easily do it, even when I cut back miles for the post-race season.

Bonus Trail Friday: Baker Park Reserve Part II

I found myself badly wanting to break in my new trail shoes.  I'd tested them on the rather tame Lake Minnetonka LRT Trail but I badly wanted to know how they'd be on grass and rougher trails.  I knew I'd be around Baker Park Reserve at the end of the day, and it seemed like I could make a 6 mile run work in my schedule this week, so I jumped on the chance.   I'd been here once before and was looking forward to the rematch.

Trail: I ran the horse trail around Lake Katrina, though I don't think I saw that lake once.  The horse trails are largely grass.  Long long grass.

Hills: These hills do not stop.  That hill at mile 4 is hard, but I 'ran' up most of up.  That hill at Mile 5 is awful and I walked.  Bombing down the other side was an absolute blast though.   I found myself thinking that the rolling hills on the Baker paved trail would actually be good training for the Flying Pig. 

Ease of Running: Awful.  And then wonderful for moments, before it goes back to awful.  The first time I was here, I knew nothing about trail running and just thought "running in grass is hard".  Then I ran at Elm Creek and thought "this grass is way shorter than Baker, and that makes things much easier".  Today I just thought, "this grass is too long, this is no fun".  The grass is crazy long and the footing is jacked in some places.  I know the course is groomed for horses and it's probably a great trail for that.  But running it is slow and hard.  The parts of the course that run through the woods are a pleasure and I lived for them.

Animals: This was not a big animal day.  I saw butterflies and dragonflies and not much else.

Will I come back: I find myself torn. I like Baker, and the location is sometimes convenient for post-work runs. But it's not so fun running on the horse trails.  I think if I do come back, I will check out the paved trails and see if I'm any happier there.

Trail Monday: Lake Minnetonka LRT Trail

I had many many needs today.  They included a long run, breaking in new shoes, not getting the new shoes muddy, and avoiding horse trails as much as possible.  I'd been thinking about the Lake Minnetonka LRT Trail for a while, and it met all my conditions.  I've run this trail twice before, slightly different parts.  Once last summer and one other time last winter when my phone died.  It was winter and it was cold. 

Trail: Lake Minnetonka LRT Trail.  Similar to River Bluffs, this is a crushed limestone trail.  The surface is interesting enough to call it a trail, but tends to drain well and be utterly non-technical.  I started in Excelsior, and ran a 5 mile out, 5 mile back route.  I picked this particular spot on the trial because I thought it would offer the best views of the lake.  I was so right.

Hills: No lie.  I felt like I was running up hill all of the time.  You know those days when flat ground looks like it's up hill?  Turns out there may have been some truth to my feelings, given the elevation profile, but probably nowhere near how I felt.

Ease of Running: Absolute pleasure.  Have I mentioned the crushed limestone?  The trail was actually packed today, and the hardest part of running when when the trail got narrow, and there were bikers and runners and walkers.  Oh my.

Animals: I saw birds of prey, ducks in the ponds and dogs on leashes.  There were way too many people out to expect to see a deer.

Will I come back: I think so, but sporadically.  This trail is crazy scenic with all of the bays on Lake Minnetonka.  This trail is also crazy far away, and on not the funnest route in the world to traverse, so I pick my moments sparingly on this course.

Trail Wednesday: Sadness

It's been a little while since I've had a Trail Monday.  Step back weeks, storms, and a road trip were getting in my way.  I'm having a low mileage week this week, but still needed to get in some trail work, so I headed to a trail I hadn't run on in quite some time.

Trail: Anoka Nature Preserve, where I've run before and loved, but it's quite a short trail really.

Hills: There are some rollers here, rolling down to the river bank and up away from it, but nothing terribly steep nor painful.

Ease of Running: Nightmare. This is where my sadness came.  I've been here before and the trails were grassy in the "farm" areas, and sandy to dirt in the wooded and shaded areas.   They were heaven and utterly runnable.  At least in my memory and old pictures. 
I don't know what happened in the last year.  Because now, in real life, they are big fat gravel roads.  The kind of big fat gravel rocks that hurt your feet to step on.  The loop I did was 2 miles and that was absolutely all I was going to do.

Animals: Do high school students count as animals?

Will I come back: Sadly, no.  I'm so over that gravel pit it's not funny.

Trail Monday: Minnesota River Bluffs Trail

Today, I had the odd combination of needing to do both my trail run and my long run.  I considered various options.  It seemed highly unlikely that I'd run around the Pike Island loop three times.  It'd rained last night so both Baker and Elm Creek seemed unlikely candidates.  I had strongly considered the Lake Minnetonka LRT Trail but there is way too much construction between me and the trail head to make that viable. I settled on an old favorite, The Minnesota River Bluffs Trail. 

Trail: It's a dirt trail, but long enough to get in a full 10 miles.  It's paved right at the beginning and then again near the bridge up/over 62.  The rest is beautiful packed crushed limestone.  I've been on the trail several times, and am getting more and more familiar with it.  My favorite parts are around the lakes which are always quite scenic.

Hills: The only real hill of note is the one leading up to the overpass over 62.  I walked up on the out and the back, mostly in honor of keeping my heart rate low but also as an excuse to eat and take a drink.  Yes, miracle of miracles, I packed food and water today.

Ease of Running: I almost feel bad calling this a "trail run" because it's not nearly as dramatic nor technical as where I typically go.  It's a crushed limestone trail on what I assume to be an old railroad bed.  This trail has the distinction of being my first foray into running on a non-paved surface.

Animals: There were some birds, no deer.  There was a dead frog.  When I see frog road kill on the bike bath, I tend to blame the frog and not the biker.  This path is actually unusual for the number of people I see when I'm on it.  There were a few runners and loads of bikers.

Will I come back? I've missed this trail and it was nice to be on it again.  This is actually a great trail for winter running because it's so nicely cleared.  The horse trails turn into snow mobile trails and I assume they are off limits to hikers.  Logistically it's a bit different now for me to come here.  I used to come some days after work but my territory has changed slightly so I don't get down to Hopkins anymore.  In addition, all of the roads between me and this trail head seem to be closed, bridges out, under construction, etc.  It took me a while but I was able to work out a back roads way of coming and going, so the fall and winter running here is looking positive.

Trail Monday: Elm Creek Park x3

Last week I did not trail run.  I did lots of other running and just didn't make it to a trail.  This week, I thought I was going to bail on running, but headed outside on an errand and found it to be the nicest day ever.  I headed out to the trail after all.

 Trail: The horse trail continues to be brutal.  About 1/4 mile of it was mowed today.  That was the best thing ever.

Hills: I figured out today that one of my favorite down hills comes at almost the exact middle of the course.  I walked up most of the uphills and ran all of the downs.  The Larisa Danis plan is going strong.

Ease of Running: It's getting harder.  I can't even imagine what Baker is like.  The grass is getting way taller.  The woods are still generally a pleasure.

Animals: The number of frogs and toads I saw today was biblical.  I also saw deer, a hawk, wild turkeys and tons of butterflies.  The butterflies are my favorite though impossible to photograph.

Will I come back? My own personal challenge for the day was to go faster than the last time I did this course.  I managed it well, though mostly by utterly ignoring my heart rate.  My heart rate average was still 146 bpm for the entire time.  I needed a confidence booster in anticipation of the trail running coming up next month, so I went a bit harder than usual.

Trail Monday: Elm Creek Again

Today marked my second trip to the north loop of Elm Creek Park Reserve.

Trail: I did the horse trail again, and this thing is brutal.  It's well marked, and a very nice loop.  Total distance is around 7 miles.  Today was wild flower day.  There were clovers, black eyed susan, queen anne's lace, and any number of purple flowers I can't name.  This song was in my head the whole time.

Hills: Perhaps the most frustrating part is that the hardest section comes in the middle, and it's near impossible to get my running groove back after that middle rhythm section.  

Ease of running: I agree with my earlier statement for the most part.  This trail is really runnable for a grass trail.  In most of the places the grass is mowed or worn down from the horses.  There were a few puddles, though nothing as bad as the first time around.

Vermin: I am thrilled to report a tick free run. It was not mosquito, gnat nor fly free though.  Many good insects lost their lives today.  Jerks.

Other animals: This may be the first time I didn't see a deer.  I may have seen something drinking from the lake, but I felt like what I saw was too still.  I did see a falcon, eighteen million frogs, and all of the butterflies and dragonflies.

Will I come back: I now have a determination to conquer this trail. I am so slow on this thing.  I want to keep going on it until I get stronger and faster now.

My New Special Power

This story brought me a certain amount of glee as I read it.  Not earlier when I was trying to drive though.

My new special power for the summer - name a road and I'll tell you where the construction is.

Where I work: 
169 - May actually be done
100 - Stay away. 
394 - I've been staying away at rush hour, but had no trouble getting to Costco in the middle of the day on Monday.
494 - Really really really stay away, except if you get into the construction zone you can't really get out.
US 10 - Being re-done in Ramsey, lanes are all over the place, as are big trucks.
94 - being made wider between Rogers at St Michael.  The combination of the 94 project and the 494 traffic patterns are outstanding.

Where I live: 
Lake Street - being resurfaced by my gym.
31st Street - about to be resurfaced and painted with bike lanes.
26th and 28th Streets - rolling closures while they are resurfaced and protected bike lanes installed.
Those of you familiar with south Minneapolis will understand that the biggest east/west streets across the city are all closed at the same time. 

Because I love St Paul too: 
35E and US 52 - I don't even understand what's happening in St Paul, but it gets wild over there by the river.
MN 5 - Remember that time I tried to take Nathan to the airport and we got in the monster traffic jam from hell?  It's because of this bridge.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  But give me another road.  There's more I'm sure.

Trail Monday: I forgot all about it until Saturday

Trail running has all these intricacies that make it a bit harder to schedule for me.
Sunday I'd actually thought to do a trail run but it was crazy hot and then stormed all night.
Monday the aforementioned storms put me off running on grass and dirt for the day because I'm basically against a mud slog.   Tuesday night I did make it to Elm Creek but it was crazy hot again, and I was without proper trail shoes, and in a part of the park where the horse trails are much harder to follow.  The rest of the week went on until last night when I was all "I haven't done a trail run yet this week.  Doh!!"  

Trail: Ft Snelling - Pike Island.  This time I had a goal of running six miles, so I wound up doing and odd mix of a loop and out and back on the island to get the correct distance.  (One loop around the outside of the island is roughly 3 miles.)

Hills: Yes, that one hill.  Anyone who's ever run at Ft Snelling knows what I'm talking about.  See what it does to my heart rate?

Ease of Running: This is the most runnable trail of the three I've done so far.  It's got a wide flat path.  There were some giant puddles in a couple places, but I was able to pick my way around them without any trouble. It was a bit rocky at times, and sandy at other.  I found myself wishing for a shoe with rock plates in a couple places, and I'd never felt like that the other times I've run here so I'm not sure what's up.

Nature: I saw some deer coming up from a drink at the river, and a fresh Bald Eagle sighting that was pretty cool.  I also thought I was going to get attacked by some crows.  I'm not sure what they were so mad about.

Will I come back: Well obviously.  I'm digging this route a lot, partly because it's so much closer than any other option that exists, and I can squeeze it in quite early in the morning if I need to.  Adding biking into the workouts has also been a positive for me so I'd like to keep it up.

June 30 Day Learning Challenge: Yoga

I read about the 30 Day Learning Challenge.  It sounded interesting and I thought about what I'd want to learn.  Resuming my efforts with Duolingo came to mind.  What I ultimately landed on, though, was doing Yoga for at least 10 minutes per day for the entire month.  Learn by doing.   Since I wasn't going to take a class every day, Youtube videos seemed my best option.

The beginning: I had a lot of luck with this in the beginning, and had fun discovering different types of yoga and different videos along the way.

The middle: I stayed strong through the middle of the month, missing a day here or there, but not feeling too terrible since I was still averaging over 70 minutes per week and running is really the only 'every day' streak I've ever been able to maintain.

My undoing: Vacation for the last week of June had been planned long before this June 'Liz learns to do yoga' business.  I actually did some Yoga and stretching on vacation, but I didn't plan to do it the way I should've.  I mean, when I thought about running I looked at maps and routes and considered alternate routes and what 'trail Monday' would look like.  I didn't do the same thing for this, so I didn't have a space picked out in my mind to practice, nor a time of the day, etc.  So most of the time it just didn't get done becuase too many other wonderful things distracted me.

Overall: I spent an average of 11 minutes per day stretching or doing Yoga in June.  Yes, I have that information in my training log.  Shut up.    

Thoughts: Despite it being more like the "21 day challenge" than a 30 day challenge, I'm glad I gave it a try, and I learned some things along the way.  I really like Restorative Yoga.  I really dislike downward facing dog for extended periods of time. I like stretching best directly after a run, with a second best being directly before bed.  Stretching and Yoga tend to make me pancake-like.  Anything that helps me relax is a good thing.

Will I keep up this habit: I actually really enjoyed the Restorative Yoga and have added some of the videos to my various YouTube playlists so I can keep doing them.  I don't know that I'll do it every single day, but I do like the idea of having that to aim for.

Some of my favorite videos: 

• Yoga Practice for Runners - I've done this one several times, mostly after runs.  It's the most challenging and 'active' of all the videos.
• Restorative Yoga - my first date with Restorative Yoga.  There's some awkwardness when the camera momentarily stops working but I generally liked it.  
• Restorative Yoga Video - different from the one listed above; I didn't like this one as well at first, but I quickly came to love it.  It's a bit slower than the other video in the best way possible and totally relaxing.
• Yoga for Hips.  I run and bike and sometimes Zumba. It's important.
• Yoga, An Evening Practice  I liked all of the Ekhart videos that I tried.  Her voice has sort of a hypnotic quality to it, so it makes you forget you're upside down and trying to stick your front leg behind your head to scratch your back, or whatever weird positions she tries to get you in.
• Bonus: Not a video. But this is hilarious. 

Trail Monday: Trail Sunday Again

Trail: I hit up the Ft Snelling Pike Island Trail again.  A couple of weeks ago, I rode to the trail by bike and had a great run.  This week, I took a slightly different route by bike and started my run in a different place, but still had a great run.  This the most runnable dirt trail I've found, and the biking is a nice touch.

Hills: Did I ever tell you about that giant hill at Ft Snelling?  Here's the elevation profile?  Guess where is the island and where is the mainland with the giant hill.

Ease of Running: I ran this in my Skoras.  Not even trail shoes.  Because the trail is that good.

Nature: I did, in fact, see a deer.  This deer had a very small rack.  But I saw him on the bike trail on the way home.  Happily, I did not encounter any wild turkeys because they are mean.  It had rained recently so there were one billion snails.

Will I come back: I'm digging this bike/run scenario and digging the trail too.

Would you rather

Thanks to HRG for the questions.

Would you rather run along a beach path or a mountain trail? That beach path in North Carolina was pretty special. 

If you could choose the flavor of gatorade at your next race’s aid stations, what would it be?  Whatever.  I'm only taking a sip or two.

If I gave you a $100 gift card to a running store, what would be the first thing that you would purchase with it?  I've had my eye on one of the Garmin Forerunners, but I'm a sucker for clothes and shoes.

Do you prefer to follow a training plan or wake up and decide then how far and how fast you want to run?  LOL.  A training plan with paces.  You make me smile.

Would you rather start your run with the uphill and end on the downhill or start your run with the downhill and end with the uphill?  Definitely end on the downhill.

When you can’t run, what type of cross-training do you choose to do?  I do not understand this question.

What is your preference: Out and back, point to point or loop runs?  Out and back or loop is usually my first choice.  I do point to point runs, but it usually involves packing a bus pass and some extra clothing to get home and it's just a bit more logistical work for training.

If you could recommend ANY running related item to a new runner, it would be a: Besides a good pair of shoes?  I think the Couch to 5K training program is really fantastic.  But only if the runner already has shoes.

Do you ever see any wild animals while out on your runs?  Yes.  Lots of deer, ducks, geese, herons, etc.  Wild Turkeys and mad geese are my least favorite. Blue Herons are hands down my favorite.

Ever gotten lost while out on a run? Yes. Isn't that part of the fun?

If you could have one meal waiting and ready for you each time you got home from a run for the next 30 days, what would that meal be?  Bacon and eggs with fresh bread from the bakery.  That's what I make for myself when I can.

Capris or shorts: what do you run in most often?  In the summer I wear shorts. 

At what mile (or how many minutes) into your run does your body start to feel like it is warming up and ready to go?  I usually warm up for at least five minutes to .5 miles.  On longer runs, my body starts feeling good around mile 3.

What do you do with your key when you run? It involves a carabiner.

If you could relive any race that you have done in the past, which one what it be?  My first marathon in Amsterdam was pretty special.  And the least awful I've felt in any of them.

What type of run is your least favorite type of run?  The ones where I have to go fast up hill. Seriously, I don't do a lot of running that I don't really like.  I run for fun, why torture myself?

What has been your biggest motivation lately to get out the door to get your run on?  This whole run streak business, but also my body has just been feeling good lately and seems to want to move.

When you go for a run, do you leave right from your front door or do you drive somewhere to start? In the morning before work I leave from home.  In the summer after work, I head to a trail near wherever my day is ending.  

When running in daylight are sunglasses a must or an annoyance? 
Must.  And honestly, I never thought I'd say that.  Between running in the heat and wearing sunglasses, I barely recognize the person I've become in the past year. 

When you get tired, what keeps you from quitting?  Have I run my mile?  That running streak will keep me going.  Also, seeing my heart rate stay lower and my body get a bit faster in the recent months has been really encouraging.

Trail Monday: Barefoot on the beach

Trail: I was on vacation, so my 'trail' was the beach at low tide. Most of the time, I was on Bird Island, with all of the other people.  One of my cousins wanted to get up and run, but he only made it a couple of miles because he had to pee and didn't want to use the ocean.  It was nice having company for a minute.  I wound up doing 6.7, and the blisters were kicking in for the last mile or 2.

Hills: LOL.

Ease of running: This was straight up packed sand and it was an absolute pleasure.  I ran barefoot.  I learned that running barefoot on the beach does in fact cause blisters.  I got some honkers mostly on my big toe and second toes.  Nothing popped and a band aid for a day or two set the problem right. 

Nature: There were dead jelly fish, live crabs, lots and lots of birds, dogs and other people.  I did not see any deer.

Will I come back: I really really hope so.

Trail Monday: Trail Sunday

This is a special edition of Trail Monday.  Due to a forecasted day of rain tomorrow, I wanted to get in the trail run today. 

Trail: I decided to ride my bike over to Ft Snelling State Park, and run around Pike Island.  It's by far the shortest of any of the trails I've run.  This is a step back week for me, so a short run fit nicely into the rest of my schedule.

Hills: Well, there's that one hill at Ft Snelling that I walked my bike up.  Pike Island itself is almost pancake flat.

Ease of Running: By far the most runnable trail I've been on.  There was no grass.  It was packed mud/dirt/sand and gloriously free of mud.  If I want a longer run in the future, I think I will try multiple laps of the island.

Nature: No ticks.  I have continued my streak of seeing at least one deer on every trail run.

Will I come back: The appeal is the most utterly runnable trail I've found so far.  The wild card here is transportation to the trail.  Parking at the trail head is more complex than you'd think, which I knew ahead of time. The bike ride kind of wore me out ahead of time.  Despite the ease of running, I didn't have the fastest time out there. I think as I get stronger on the bike, it will be an appealing option to head back this way.

Trail Monday: Elm Creek Park

This is an "after work" edition of Trail Monday, because I had an irregular edition of "working Mondays".  (Normally I work Tuesday - Friday.  I don't understand how people regularly function on 2-day weekends.)

Trail: I chose Elm Creek Park Reserve for geographical and logistical reasons. Last week I'd found myself unequal to navigating the walking trails at this park, but after careful study I decided if I parked at the Hayden Lake Road entrance, I should be able to pick up a horse trail and have a reasonably easy time following it.

Hills: The hills on the course are for real.  Both up and down.  Though, I found them somewhat fewer than Baker Park Reserve.

Ease of running: I found this path eminently more runnable than Baker as well.  I think even though there was a lot of grass, it was cut shorter or managed differently in some way.  The shorter grass was way more pleasant for running. I am still on the "Larisa Dannis Plan" and not worrying too much about running the ups, or even all of the flats.  But I felt like I ran a lot more of this one than Baker last week.

Nature Vermin: The ticks were crazy nuts here. I hate ticks. At one point I stopped running and pulled six or seven off me.  Only two had bitten, the rest were on my socks and shoes, and one of my belt.  I stopped a few more times and then was crazy careful at the end of my run to check and check and check again.  I learned from last week to pack a change of clothes and was glad I did.  I packed my running clothes up in a plastic bag.  When I got home, sure enough another tick was in there crawling around on my socks.  Gross.

Other animals: I almost stepped on a snake. Even though it was a wee tiny thing, it scared the crap out of me.  I also almost ran into a deer.  You think I jest.  Tons of dragon flies and surprisingly, toads.  I also saw a turtle at the end of the run.  Awesome.

Will I come back: We have really got to figure something out about those ticks.  I run in long socks but my knees were exposed.  I hate to come out here running in long pants in 85* but it may be necessary.  I'm considering it because the running was really good compared to Baker which seemed comparably tick free.

Trail Monday: Baker Park Reserve

I find myself accidentally registered for the William O'Brien 10 Mile Trail Run this September.  I originally registered for June 2014 which was flooded out and then I deferred my September 2014 entry because it was the week before Loony Challenge and I just couldn't make that work.

In support of surviving this race and not injuring myself, I decided that Mondays when I'm off work, I should head out to the trails and run on them instead of on the paved paths much closer to home.   Three Rivers has some great parks.  I've scouted out Crow Hassan Park though never really run there. French Park is one of my favorites, as the Medicine Lake Trail runs through it.  Though I've never gone off road in that park either.  Elm Creek is another absolute gem, but when I looked at the map I found myself unequal to deciphering a route I could take. I wound up at Baker Park Preserve because I knew where to park and following the grass trail looked fairly simple as the grass trail parallels the paved trail basically the entire way.

Thoughts on the run:
Nature: This run was straight up gorgeous.  There were lakes, deer, turtles, all kinds of birds.  Some places, all I could see around me was the park and it was wonderful.  Though Minneapolis has some world class parks, it doesn't have anything of this size really.  It was wonderful to spend time here. 

Hills:  There are some for real big hills, but lots and lots of little speed bumps as well.  I decided to follow what I'll call the Larisa Dannis plan.  I focused on running the downs.  I ran up whenever I felt like it but didn't focus on that so much.

Grass: It's kind of hard to run in long grass.  I'm not talking about prairie grass.  The path I was on is primarily groomed for horses in the summer, so the grass does get mowed from time to time, but it was about a foot tall in some places.  The footing was a bit uneven and the going was slow.  I found myself very glad I started practicing the trails now.

Woods: Running in the woods was an absolute pleasure because the footing was utterly stable and solid.  Later in the run, I found myself walking more on the grass, but any time I got packed dirt under my feet I really enjoyed it and moved pretty well.

Clothes: I ran in my trail shoes and ProCompression Socks.  I found some of the grass dewy as well as a couple legit mud spots.  My feet were soaked but blister free when I got back to my car.  I packed a pair of flip flops but almost wished for a complete change of clothes.  Glad I didn't take a dive in any of the mud!