Bridge to Bridge

Saturday's run was "only" 12 miles. Heh. I love being able to say that. Just a few short months ago, I was afraid of 12 miles. It feels good to see progress in my running.

We started out at 7 a.m. to beat the heat. No getting lost this time; I knew this route! Just tell me where the water stop will be. I ran up the east side of the River Road and it was joyful. As I ran north, other groups were heading south on the same road. One group was the MDRA--I don't know if they were training for Grandma's or kicking off the Twin Cities Marathon training, but there were a lot of people.

After that came another herd of runners--the Team In Training group. "Go TNT" I said as I passed them. "Whoo-Hoo" they replied. They're training for the Nike Women's Marathon and I felt envious. Marathon Envy--who knew? Maybe I can sign up for that next year.

The weather was beautiful--clear skies, 70 degrees. Rowers were slicing through the water, their coach shouting out motivation. I wondered if I would run better if I had a coach that yelled at me. Probably, but I don't really want to be yelled at.

My iPod battery was dead but that was fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to hear the Canada geese as they passed overhead in V formation, calling out as they flew. People who live near water dislike the geese but since I don't have to deal with goose-poop, I like them. Especially the babies, which I haven't been able to photograph yet.

We ran along the River road, from the Ford bridge to the Washington Ave. bridge, which is by the University of Minnesota campus. When I got to Washington Ave. I stopped to take a picture of the Weisman Museum. It's a modern art museum designed by Frank Gehry and built in 1993.



I ran around on the campus, trying to find a bathroom. I didn't really have to "go", but I figured I'd take advantage of the proximity to modern plumbing. Unfortunately, everything was closed! The student union didn't open until 9 a.m., and it was only 8:45. Waiting around for 15 minutes wasn't something I was willing to do, so I left.

I headed south along the East River Road, crossed at the Franklin Ave. bridge, and continued down the West River Road, which was shadier. There were a lot of bicycle riders and many of them were wearing numbers. But it didn't seem like much of a race. Later, I found out that it was a bicycle equivalent of the Race for the Cure.

Normally I eat gels for energy. But I got a sample of Shot Bloks from the nice people at Cliff Bar, so I tried it on this run. It was really good; like eating gummy candy. I'm definitely going to have some of those on the marathon. I can handle about three gels, but after that it's hard to choke them down. So it will be good to have an alternative.

The water stop was under the Lake Street bridge. My water bottle was empty but I knew I was close. I was so happy to see the familiar container! I filled the water bottle with sport drink and chomped on a few Starburst candies. But I didn't linger. I'm trying to emulate the race, where there is no resting except for the walking breaks.

As I approached the Lock and Dam, I passed some other runners going the opposite direction. It was the LTF running club from Bloomington, a nearby suburb. They ran on their own, even though they left from our club. They started later. We exchanged "Good Job" and I wondered how far they were going. By the time I realized I should have told them about the water stop, they had already passed. Turned out their coach knew about it, but they didn't run that far.

While I was running across the Ford Bridge, the Bloomington running group passed by, heading back to the club, like I was. When I arrived, they were milling around stretching and I asked the coach if they were going out for breakfast. He said yes and I met them there after showering and changing into street clothes. Next Saturday we're scheduled for 8-10 miles. And the one after that is Grandma's!