Weekend Travel: Minneapolis

You may wonder why I decided to go to Minneapolis in the dead of winter. Great question! The week before I arrived the highs were not getting over the single digits and the lows...well, we won't talk about the lows! Also that does not even count the wind chill. I went to see Lisa and her family, and thought it was funny when she told me that it was going to be warm for the weekend that I was there. By warm, she meant lows of about 2 and highs in the low 30s on one of the days! Woohoo! Break out the Bermuda shorts! 

I met Lisa via blogging about 13 (?) years ago, and when I was working in Missouri in 2011, I flew up to MSP to meet with her for a 10 mile race and our friendship was set. At the time she lived downtown and we had a great time exploring the city, and eating ice cream and Kowalski's sausages. She has always been a good host, and so I went to visit her again when she was living in Charlotte and we had a great time eating fish tacos and having a weekend away in Ashville (if you have not been here, I recommend it). 

Over the years she has come to visit me several times and we always have fun hiking and running and eating and catching up. Of course, life has progressed and now she is married with two kiddos and the visits are a little different, but it is still great to catch up and to be part of life's journey! This visit was just as fun as the others! 

I arrived on Friday to two degree weather and got picked up by Lisa and her little buddy Pablo, who was very excited to see me, even though I have not seen him since he was a baby (he is now almost five)! It was a warm (!) welcome! We caught up over pizza and I even was coerced into having a beer with her husband before heading to bed.

On Saturday, we spent a great time at the zoo. Luckily a lot of the exhibits are indoors, and the two boys sped through the maze of jungle animals before we headed to the main event: the dolphins! The zoo has borrowed dolphins from the Chicago zoo and they put on a really nice show with four of them, even going so far as to have a trainer get in the water with them and do tricks. I was impressed and the boys both sat still the whole time, which was a good sign that they liked it too! Later that day, after it warmed up a bit (~18°) we went for a run around Lake Harriet and then had a nice dinner and I spent some time reading with the boys. 

On Sunday, we did a 10k snowshoe race, which was something I've never done before. It was very fun but our snowshoes were not meant for running! Some people had really cool rubber ones that are especially made for running, but ours were a little cumbersome and both of us were sore in weird places the next day. We stopped off on the way home for some gluten free pastries and I got biscuits and gravy that were delicious! My new mission in life is to recreate this, as it's my favorite breakfast item and I've been avoiding it due to digestive issues. We had a nice dinner and did a puzzle with the Grammys in the background after watching 60 minutes and having the nightly apple with the boys. 

Monday was Lisa's birthday! I worked for a little while and then we celebrated by taking a little run and getting her a free Starbucks coffee before I left her to go for a walk so she could have some much needed alone time. After that, we went for a multicultural lunch of dosa, kimchi salad and grain bowl before she dropped me off at the airport. 

I know that one thing that the pandemic has done for me is to give me a better appreciation for time spent with friends, especially those who are farther away. It's not a given that we will see them often or at all, and as we get back to some sort of normal, I really enjoy time with people who I haven't seen in years! Next time, I'm hosting!! 

Have you ever done a non-running race and if so, what was it and how did it go? What friend or family have you finally seen lately that you maybe did not see over the last few years? 

Women Run The Cities: Part II

As I mentioned in this post, I had a wonderful time last weekend with Lisa in the beautiful city of Minneapolis. But we didn't just eat and see the sights. One of the things that I went to visit for was the Women Run the Cities 10 Mile Race, located in Minnehaha Park.

The night before I set out all my gear. Those striped things are either leg warmers or arm warmers, and were one of the free things we got when we signed up. The race was (shoe) chip timed. The race I had the weekend before was chip timed, but the chip was on my bib, which was super convenient.

This time there was no funnel cake carb loading, just a nice dinner of chicken and pasta, cooked by Lisa and served with a beautiful salad and lots and lots of water. Before the race, as always, I had to pee and not-surprisingly, I also had to go again around mile one. I have a pea sized bladder. It's ridiculous.

Aside from Lisa and I, we also met up with Raquelita, who lives a couple of hours away. She and her husband were really nice! And then we were off! This race was great, it went along the sides of the Mississippi river and was along a tree lined road. There were a few hills, one really big one around mile 4 and one around mile 7. The weather was about 44 degrees when we started but warmed up into the 50s during the race.

I finished first and then ran to the car to get the camera so I could take photos of the girls coming in.

Here is Lisa.

Here we are afterwards. 

Here is Raquelita. 

Afterwards, we went to Victors 1959 Cafe for brunch and some great Cuban food! We also bored Raquelits's husband to death had some great conversations about running, traveling, books and life! These girls were great and it was nice to finally meet up with them! I felt like we had known each other for years.

For those non-runners, you can look away now. Runners, here are my stats:

Total Miles: 10
Total time: 1:23:36 (according to Garmin)
Average of: 8:22/mile
Place overall: 140/1050
I was 14 minutes behind the 1st place girl in my age group and 20 minutes behind the first place overall. That means I need to run at least a 6:22 mile to win next time. YEAH RIGHT!

I felt good the entire time. I always try to keep up with someone who is a little faster than I want to really go. In this case, I was trying to keep it under an 8:30 pace. The first mile was packed with people and so most of it was spent dodging and weaving. Finally around mile 2, the course freed up and I was able to get into a steady pace. It went well until I was running mile 7 and I thought that I only had one mile left and when I got to the 8 mile marker, I was a little disappointed. My right hip and butt cheek were really starting to seize up by then. However, I just pretended I was doing a Yasso and my last mile was actually my fastest (7:55).

All in all, this was a good race. I would recommend it to anyone. OH, I almost forgot to tell you guys. I have never run a 10 mile race before, so this was also my 10 Miler PR! It sure is nice when it's your first time; you ALWAYS PR on your first time!

You may also want to read:
Raquelita's Race Report
Lisa's Race Report 
My Races and Places Page: Other runs I have done. 

One other thing. I JUST signed up for THIS Marathon. It's 10 weeks away. Do you guys think I can be ready by then? I can already run 13 miles. I figured I may as well just keep adding on, rather than trying to start from the beginning next year. However, it is going to be dark a lot (and cold) during my training times. What do you think? Is it do-able? 

What races did you run this weekend? How did you do? Have you ever run a marathon? Was the training intense?

Don't forget to go over to Jills and check out the other Fitness Friday posts!

Women Run The Cities: Part I

Last weekend I went to visit a fellow blogger, Lisa, who lives in Minneapolis. We had a great time walking around the city, over the bridges, back over the bridges, under the bridges, over the river and through the woods.

I knew I would like Lisa (as if I had had any doubts) when she asked if I wanted an apple. When I said yes, she said, "let me grab the apple slicer". I was thinking, "Apple slicer? Isn't that called a KNIFE?" (this girl is batty, people) And then.... VOILA!

Awesome. The girl has gadgets. Everyone needs one of these! 

P.S. This is a Honeycrisp apple, which is native to MN. 

 Lisa, who had a bit of a cold, was still an awesome host. She took me all over the city. First we went to the Guthrie for a view of the Stone Arch Bridge. Good name, huh? I guess somebody just called it like they saw it!

Here we are. Yes we color coordinated on purpose! If you ever need someone who knows how to put the self timer on the camera and get a photo of practically nothing, I am your man. The stone arch bridge is somewhere behind that bannister.

We went to the farmers market, where they had lots of fun veggies. We also got to see a cooking demonstration while sitting in the sun (it was a chilly 44ish when we were outside) drinking coffee. Now THAT is my kind of day.

I had to get a scone from the best place in MN to buy pastries. This was what Lisa said many people had told her, but she didn't know firsthand, since she can't have gluten. Yum! I could have had one of each of these pastries!

And then we went and bought some bratwurst for lunch from Kramarczuk's.  We picked a jalapeno and cheese brat and a wild rice (MN specialty) brat. We cooked those up and served them with a salad and rosemary potatoes. Lisa made sure I didn't go hungry while staying with her.

I wanted to do this, which is to ride around the city drinking and pedaling. But we had other things to do. 

Like...take a walk next to the river. 

And eat Gelato.

We also spent time walking over the Stone Arch Bridge, taking photos, walking around downtown, drinking coffee, eating guacamole and browsing the bookstore. 

So yes, as you can see, we did the things I love most: walking, taking in the sights and, most importantly... EATING. Lisa must have named another half dozen restaurants that I will need to go to next time I come to visit. But there is always too little time and too much to do!

Lisa was a great host and we had a great time. Now I'm trying to convince her (and anyone else who wants) to come to San Francisco so I can return the favor. It sure is fun going to visit people and it's nice to have a local to show you around! 

I wasn't just there to stuff my face though. Tune in on Friday when I talk about the 10 mile race that we ran on Sunday!

What did you do this weekend? Have you been to Minneapolis? Have you ever crossed the Mississippi on foot?