Rolling Hills

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I had no idea there were so many rolling hills in the country side by my parents. I was in Wisconsin this weekend to pick apples and watch the Packers-Vikings game with my dad so I also did my last long run before the 10 mile. With the idea of tapering, I only ran 7.5, but I swear the route I did only had about a mile of flat elevation. It was a very hard run and told me I’m in shape for a flat route, not a hilly route. I have to work on this since I recently signed up for the Big Sur Half Marathon!

Parking Ramp Hills

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My friend I’m training with came up with a great workout this week. Running the parking ramp. After a short run to warm up, we ran hard up the levels of the parking ramp. We sprinted up a level, walked the ten feet to the next level and sprinted again. We did the four levels twice and then a couple more for good measure. I’m pretty sure anyone that saw us in the ramp or from the building find us a little crazy, but it was a great work out.

A Tomato

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My tomato plant is finally bearing.


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Weekend Runs

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This week’s long run went a lot better than last week's. I even unexpectedly went close to 10 miles Friday evening. I then got up Saturday and did the Blubber Run with a few friends. The Blubber Run is truly a fun run so we didn’t run very hard, plus I didn’t have it in me to run hard. For the first time I didn’t time myself in a 5k and just relaxed and had fun.

Mental Challenge

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Today I went for an 8 mile run with my friend I’m training for the 10 mile with. We ran Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet and needed about another mile to make 8. We continued around Calhoun a little farther with the idea we’d turn around and come back to our starting point. While I’ve already hit 8 miles before in my training runs, this run presented a new mental challenge. Going past our start point and running to turn around and come back just made me think about how far I had left to go to just turn around and go back. Physically I was doing okay, but I started to feel a negative attitude. I was already at a point where I was fatigued and thinking about finishing. My friend and I agreed that next time we run a route that we need to add mileage to, it needs to happen in the middle.

Fall Color Report

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The Minnesota DNR is already posting the Fall Color Reports. You can even upload your photos of fall colors at state parks.

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Apart from a rough time running in the super heat of Las Vegas, I’ve had several successful runs lately. Today, however, was another story. I’m not sure why, but 3.5 miles this morning was more difficult than the 8 on Saturday. It’s a good reminder to keep going and work towards a better run the next day. Hopefully this is true of tomorrow!