Minnesota Heat

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What else is there to talk about but the heat. I live in an older condo with radiant heat so we have no central air. I love the charm of a building built in 1920, but right now I'm fantasizing of either new construction or winter. When I bought my place, the woman sold it with two window units, saying the two could cool the whole place. I'm not sure I believe this, but I've also not tried. I only put one unit in this summer in my bedroom. My logic was that it'd be cost saving and I'm tough enough to handle a warm day or two. Ok, I'm not that tough. Well, at least I discovered the one could cool a third of my place so I have a few doors closed and have about 3 rooms and a hallway cool (-ish) right now. However, this is my evening:

Mmm. South Dakota sweet corn for dinner. Better eat that at the table. Wait... not cooled.

Oh! That documentary my friend loaned me. Would love to watch that tonight. Wait... not cooled.

My computer. Gotta get on my computer. Wait... not cooled. Damn... going to brave it. Think I need another shower.

runnings
My run wasn't actually very good tonight, but there is nothing like a few bumps in your personal life for motivation. I went to the gym (considering it is 94° F at 9pm probably explains my not running outside) and ran 5.5 miles. However, now my left knee hurts. It started around 3 miles, but of course I kept going. I'll give it a little ice and hope this doesn't turn into anything.

Things To Do

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Things to do in Milbank SD:

• Find the house your friend grew up in
• Go to a bar in the neighboring town of 112 people
• Check out the granite quary
• Ogle at the large Lutheran church in town
• Nap
• Go to a restaurant/bar on Big Stone Lake for your friend's class reunion
• Pick sweet corn

It's a pretty simple list, but it was a lot of fun.

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The heat didn't lend itself to any running in SD. I actually didn't bring shoes either.

Weekend Trip

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I'm off to Milbank South Dakota with a friend this weekend.

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Happy Grocery Shopping

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After the gym I wanted to stop quickly for a few groceries so I popped over to Kowalskis. I know my bill can be higher at Kowalskis than at Rainbow, but I find it to be a more pleasant shopping experience. Tonight highlighted that. I efficiently picked up a few things and made my way to the check out. DJ checked me out and chatted me up. Now, some of my friends may say the more likely story is I chatted up DJ, but I like to believe the conversation was due to a friendly, happy employee. The start of our conversation:

DJ: Did you find everything you needed?

Me: Yes thanks.

DJ: Did you pick anything up for me?

Me: (pause) You know, it slipped my mind.

DJ: (laughing) I like that! Good response! You didn't give me a "do I know you??".

The conversation moved to a discussion over my groceries but the whole time DJ was smiling and laughing. It ended with him politely asking my name and telling me not to be a stranger.

Perhaps not everyone would be thrilled with a random conversation and the case is just that I love talking to people, but it made me leave the grocery store smiling and considering going to Kowalski's more often.

runnings
Because it is still quite warm out I made my way to the gym after work again. I haven't figured out where to try running 800s or how to do them on the treadmill so I just ran 3.5 miles. I'm not fond of the treadmill and it was a little more unpleasant due to the fact that my headset isn't working well, but overall it was a decent run. I think bumping up the treadmill speed actually helps my attitude on the treadmill.

We Have Bunnies

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My neighbor discovered a nest of bunnies in our backyard. It explains the adult bunny that has been frequenting our property as of late.


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I squeezed in time between work and volleyball to visit the gym and do a 3 mile run tonight. I didn't like being so pressed for time but at least I made it. The time crunch did motivate me to bump up the treadmill speed at least.

First Experience Kayaking

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This past weekend I went kayaking on the St. Croix with two of my friends. I had never kayaked before, but I have to say I loved it. I felt a lot more secure in a kayak than a canoe and there was something calming about being in my own vessel. A canoe doesn't easily offer the opportunity to be alone on the river, soaking up your surroundings, since it frequently is a two person endeavor. Even though there were three of us, we had plenty of time to take relaxing moments alone on the river. I'm the kind of person that surrounds herself with people, but I found a lot of enjoyment in being immersed by trees and nature, but with friends a few paddles strokes away. I think I can speak for each of us saying we had a great time together and alone on the water.

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No run today.

Washboard

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I went to more Music in the Zoo on Friday. This time I saw Nathan Zydeco Cha Cha. How often do you get to say your favorite band member is the washboard player?


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Apparently I chose to do other sports besides running this weekend (kayaking and racquetball). I'm telling myself this way I'm ready to dive into a running schedule next week.

BWCA Fire Photos

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Some residents near the Gunflint Trail took some photos of the BWCA fires from the the south side of Seagull Lake:

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I had planned to run today at noon. I forgot socks.

Reading Personal Blogs

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Future Tense covered the Profile of a Blogger this morning. According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, about 8% of internet users keep a blog and 37% of bloggers cite "my life and experiences" as their primary topic. Of the 57 million adults who read blogs regularly, they must be reading some personal blogs (versus politically oriented, sports oriented, etc.). So how do people choose what blogs they read? I'm sure it frequently has to do with knowing the blogger, but what about reading those blogs of unknown people? If the focus of that blog is someone's personal life, what draws us to it? Is that person's life interesting? Is the writing exceptional? Or perhaps we just feel like it's acceptable eavesdropping.

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I figure after a fairly successful 5k it's ok to take a day off.

A Time

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Here goes. My first post with a time in it. Tonight was the LifeTime Torchlight 5k and I can say I'm pretty happy with my time. I ran it in 24:04. That makes it about 7:46 minute miles. I did hope to run 8 minute miles, but it was one of those goals that I was only half committing too. I really wasn't sure what I could do. I was thinking it'd be nice to break 8 minute miles, but I was also preparing myself to miss it too. I may have to rethink this strategy.

66°F

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I never knew I could be motivated by 66°F. I knew it was supposed to cool down last night so I set my alarm to get up for a run this morning. After the inevitable first snooze I actually jumped out of bed thinking "I have to get up for this weather". I checked it out and it was 66°F outside. I honestly wanted to get out for a morning run. Granted, that one snooze screwed me so I only went for a 3.5 mile run on the Greenway, but it was great. We neared 100°F this past weekend (maybe we hit it... I haven't seen confirmation) and the humidity was brutal, but as soon as I heard it was to cool off Monday evening I actually got excited about a run this morning. It got me out there and I'm 3.5 miles happier for it.

Loud Art

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To beat the heat this past weekend I spent some time at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. We first headed to the new Target Wing. I couldn’t believe how loud it was. People were standing in the middle of galleries having conversations as if they were standing at a restaurant waiting for a table. At one point while I was viewing a painting, a person next to me started reading the painting’s placard out loud. The museum was fairly busy so I certainly didn’t expect silence, but I was surprised at the voice levels people were using. And it was largely just the Target Wing. In other areas of the museum there were the expected hushed voices. The Target Wing focuses on the MIA’s collection of modern and contemporary art. Could this be an influence on people’s behavior? When the art appears less classic or fragile do people become more at ease or careless?

runnings
I've figured out my 10-week training program for the TC 10 mile should start next week. I'll actually be running for 11 weeks, but this way I don't have to worry about missing a long run while I'm in the Boundary Waters in August. I'm going to work out some amalgamation of Hal Higdon’s novice and intermediate 15K training programs. I want to do the long runs of the intermediate program but the weekday runs may look more like the novice.

Ford Plant Legacy

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Yesterday morning on MPR, Cathy Wurzer interviewed three generations of a family that worked at the Ford plant in St. Paul. The plant is closing as early as 2008. When I first heard the news of the closing I was disappointed, thinking about St. Paul loosing such a good employer. I really don’t know anything about working at the Ford plant, but I assumed Ford was a good employer because of the number of well paying jobs. A lot of jobs will be lost when the plant closes, but Cathy’s interview made me rethink how good it was to work there. The three men did talk about the strong community at the Ford plant, however, what surprised me is when one man said “The pay was good, and the benefits were great… it’s the only reason I stayed there otherwise I would have been gone.” The men talked about pressure with the amount of work, time standards, and physical stress. It sounds like these men had both positive and negative experiences at the Ford plant but they didn’t seem too upset about the plant closing. When asked about the legacy the three had created at the Ford plant, the youngest man stated “Well I’m just going to have to do like my grandfather did way way back in the day. Just try to start a new legacy.”

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I got up this morning around 7:30am to run and it was already 78° F outside. I still went for the run, but it wasn't very comfortable. I would have liked to have done a long run, but I decided it would be best not to try. So I did the 4.5 mile Greenway loop I did earlier in the week. I haven't been the best about running this week because my parents are in town and because I don't like the weather. While running this morning I did figure out there was one solution to both these problems. Get up earlier.

Very Hearty of You

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I got to my first show of the season at the zoo last night. Even if I only make one zoo concert this year (hopefully not) I couldn’t have asked for a better one. Not only were the Indigo Girls fabulous, but also the crowd was immersed in the show. Whenever there was a pause in vocals, claps, cheers and hollers would inevitably ensue. And by about half way through, the audience got over their Minnesotan good manners and stood up and moved to the music.

The crowd enjoyed the Indigo Girls and it seems the Indigo Girls enjoyed us and were even impressed with us. Amy Ray commented on the heat stating she was impressed with how we not only had the cold but the heat as well. She said it was “Very hearty of you.” I think that's flattering, right?

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Finally. Yesterday I got up early enough to run in the morning. Due to my well developed snooze skill I was up a little later than I intended to, but I did work in a 4.5 mile run on the greenway. It was great to be up and I didn't mind the temperature too much (although I was dripping when I finished). There seemed to be an exorbitant amount of bikers out and I only crossed paths with a handful of runners. I'm guessing the runners got up a little earlier than I did and finished before I was done pushing snooze.

Hazecam

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I stumbled across this interesting link. You never know when you may need to know the Minneapolis air quality. Now you can check hourly. And on the hazecam you can get a visual of the air quality. Or at least a nice skyline view of St. Paul.

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I didn't get a run in today, but I did play racquetball with a friend this evening. After playing we did an abs workout. It's been quite a while since I've worked out with someone on weights or abs and tonight reminded me what a good motivator a workout partner can be. I definitely did a lot more tonight than I would have alone and I even had a good time with it. I'm looking forward to some sore abs tomorrow.

I've never been fond of running with people, but like the abs workout tonight, I'm starting to think it would be a good motivator. I did run with a friend a few times last winter and one of the times when we went out it was somewhere around 17° F. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done that run without him. I don't think I need (or want) someone doing each run with me, but having people doing similar training would be a good motivator. Any takers?

Mayflies On The Radar

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Last Thursday night there was a large enough hatch of mayflies near La Crosse WI that it showed up on the weather radar. Not only did they register on the radar, but they were piling up in drifts on bridges over the Mississippi. That's too many bugs for me.

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I got in a 3.5 mile run and 3 mile run yesterday and today at the gym. Both were decent runs and I even have upped the speed on the treadmill a bit. I also just signed up for the Life Time Fitness Torchlight Run on July 19th. It should be a fun 5k through the city and perhaps I'll be able to judge where I'm at in my running. I'm hoping for a cool evening... in July. I'm guessing chances of that aren't very good.

Team USA Minnesota

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I just discovered Team USA Minnesota , a distance training center here in the Twin Cities. The website states “Along with other groups across the country, Team USA Minnesota is a coordinated effort to bring local resources together to dramatically improve post-collegiate American distance running and to develop future Olympians.”

I think it’s exciting to have such an organization here. There are some very talented runners in this group. In fact, the top American male and female runners to finish the Atlanta Peachtree 10K on the 4th of July were from Team USA Minnesota. Last year Team USA Minnesota member Katie McGregor won the women’s TC 10 mile race in 55:11. I’m certainly not going to make anything near that time this October, but it does explain who it is that are the top finishers in the races I’ve been in.

I do have to say it is also amazing to browse through the website and look at the various photos of the athletes. Wow. Muscle tone.

Perfectly Legal

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There were no illegal fireworks at the cabin... really....


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I did a 7 mile run Tuesday morning on the Greenway and around Lake of the Isles. Again, I'm feeling like I'm not as far out of my training from the half marathon as I thought. I'm not going to say I felt like I could have gone another 3 miles though. My runs haven't been speedy, but my attitude is improving. Now... to start a training regimin and think about running hills and intervals...

Back In The City

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I just got back in town after a few days at a friend's cabin. It was a great time, but I'm not sure I can use the frequently used term get-away to describe it. People have cabins and lake property and often explain it as their retreat and get-away from the city. I'm not aching to get out of the city. In fact, I chose to come back before the 4th so that I could have a day in town before going back to work. I did enjoy sitting out in the sun, riding in a boat and grilling artery clogging food while at the cabin, but I look forward to coffee at my local coffee shop, a beer with friends at a bar, and even some plain people watching in my neighborhood tomorrow. The cabin and friends there were relaxing, fun and certainly entertaining, but a lot of it for me is going where my friends are versus getting away from the city.

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It has now been three days since I've gone for a run. I chose to not taking my running shoes this past weekend, knowing that there would probably be a couple late nights and a couple beers too. Well, now its time to put down the beer and pick up the running shoes and I'm looking forward to it.